Withdraw Day

Today is the first of the month and the first day of the Feb Four Hundo Challenge. I'm starting off on an optimistic note and crossing off my first day assuming I will not spend $400 today.

Earlier today, I walked into my bank--thought about robbing it--and instead legally withdrew the $400 in cash I will use to pay for my food, drinks, transportation, entertainment, and other non-mandatory expenses over the next 28 days.

Most people in Texas look like this

I have some ideas about what I will cut out--restaurant dining, alcohol, coffee shops, concerts--to reach my $400 goal, and what I will increase--cabbage consumption, coffee at home, friends with special talents I find entertaining.

Not actual size 

But what does $400 really mean compared to my normal discretionary spending? Below is a snapshot from my Mint account of my spending for the month of January. I had to make the print rather fine to fit it all, but if you really want to learn more about the lifestyles of the rich and the famous go ahead and zoom in.

The things that jump out are that I spent $241 on Alcohol & Bars, $432 on groceries, $218 on restaurants, $172 on clothing, and $753!!!!! on unbudgeted expenses. That's $1816, which is way more than $400. Yikes! Looks like I'm going to be eating a whole lot of cabbage, going sober, and reining in my impulse buys of velour track suits and ostrich egg omelettes.

You can keep track of how I am doing here. Diddy will be watching in his velour track suit.