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.

The Feb Four Hundo Challenge

The challenge is simple. The Macho Man Randy Savage has called on my friend Sebastian and me to spend only $400 for the month of February. According to several calculators I consulted, that's about $14.30 a day.

"You can get almost 1600 Slim Jims for $400! Oh Yeaaaah!"

Well, actually, Seb and I challenged each other, but imagining the challenge was issued by the Macho Man (R.I.P.) will definitely help with motivation.

Why would we do this, you ask? The convoluted answer has to do with seeking simplicity in our dizzying, consumer driven culture and striving for solidarity with the billions of people around the world living on less than $2 a day.

The simple answer is that Seb and I would, one day, like to be able to do this:

"We're rich biatch!!!"

So how do we do it? Well, we have to start with setting some ground rules. The first is splitting our spending into "mandatory" and "discretionary" spending, much the way the United States Congress does in a straightforward and rational manor.

Our mandatory spending will include rent, utilities, student loan payments, work related transportation, health insurance and healthcare related costs, taxes, etc. We can't really find wiggle room on our mandatory spending, so we are going to block it off and not consider it. 

Our discretionary expenses are what we hope to keep under $400 for the month. These will include things like food (food itself is mandatory but what food we consume is discretionary), alcohol, coffee, entertainment, non-work travel, clothing, grooming products, home appliances, ferrets, etc., etc., etc. 

"Awww, come on!"

Practically speaking, Seb and I plan to discipline ourselves by heading to our respective banks on February 1st and withdrawing $400 in Sacagewea coins. 

x 400

We'll then spend as creatively as possible over the following 28 days and use a Google doc to keep track of all expenses. Whatever is left over we will divide evenly and send to all our readers via Pony Express. 

Think we can do it? Follow along to keep track of our creative consumption, impulse purchases, and to find out what happens to the ferrets!

The Journey

Starting to mentally prepare for our journey, Matty. I don't know if anyone is listening or we are just talking to an empty chair here but I wanted to outline some reasons why I (we) decided to go forward with the project.

1. February is the shortest month of the year.
2. We both have well-paying professional jobs that allow us to cover our bills and lead decent lives. By decent, I mean the ability to pay all of our expenses and have money left over for leisure activities which mostly consist of eating, drinking, traveling--sometimes in concert. We are not broke so please do not feel the need reach out offering loans (grants on the other hand will be accepted and can be made out to the Matty and Sebi Fund [for the children].)
3. My main reason for undertaking this 28 day challenge is to give honest consideration to what I consume and how I consume it. It is not my goal to cut back on the net amount of fun I have  by staying in every night and eating ramen for 28 days, rather I hope to explore innovative ways of consumption that will provide some perspective on what life is like for people who actually have to live this way. This is with the clear understanding that my choice to undertake this challenge is by no means comparable to someone who is forced to live this way.

Cheers,

Seb