I'm brand new here, trying to evaluate and re-shape my lifestyle. I feel like my active participation in a typical consumer lifestyle has damaged not only my finances, but the environment/world around me and my own freaking soul. You all have been very thought-provoking and inspiring :)
Today, as a first step, I totaled up what I spend annually on dumba$$ crud that is either totally unnecessary or actively hurting me and my health. I'm a true creature of habit, so when I say things like "I smoke 4 cigarettes a day", it's true (I have a schedule). But this s&%t is stupid, expensive, and ends right now.
Per Day Cost Per Unit Cost Per Day 365
Cigarettes 4 4.4 0.88 321.2
Subway 1 9.73 9.73 3551.45
Diet Coke @ home 4 9.99 1.665 607.725
Diet Coke @ work 2 1.75 3.5 1277.5
extra snack 1 0.99 0.99 361.35
Total: $6,119.23
WOW. Don't even tell me how much that's worth compounded at X percent over X number of years. One punch in the face a day is about all I can do right now.
All of this ends right now. I can make cold homebrew coffee to replace the caffeine in the coke, I can brown bag my breakfast and lunch instead of getting fast food 2x per day, I can drink water or make tea at work and Jeebus only knows why I need that daily extra snack at the vending machine. I'm not physically addicted to nicotine, so I know I can quit smoking without physical withdrawal. I already possess all the tools and supplies at home to make these changes.
Just posting this for the sake of honesty. Maybe it will help some other poor noob evaluate the actual cost of the stupid s&%t in their life.
So my challenge for March is to put an extra $510 (1/12 my annual spending on stupid crap), PLUS my regular $300 payment to my $41,000 student loan, and not miss that money because I've replaced the stupid spending with the smarter choices. True, those smarter choices will still cost something, so really I'd be saving a bit less than $510 per month, but that's the whole point of a challenge, correct? I will allow myself to do the $510 spread over my 2 March paychecks so I don't have to do a single lump sum.