My bus ticket, my morning coffee, my salad wrap from William’s, another bus ticket, a cute headband I saw in the window of that store, a new toothbrush, hair elastics, chicken fingers from M&M’s and yet another bus ticket. This is my average purchase rate per day.
There are times when I spend less and times when I spend more but on an average I spend a total of $25 - $30 dollars a day. Between transportation, food and a few needs here and there this is ridiculous! I’ve never considered myself a big spender, but once doing this math, I know feel I know where all of my money goes. The fact that this seems “normal” to me is shameful. There are thousands of people my age who spend probably close to double that which is another thing to worry about. North Americans in general spend way too much money! When Ian first told me about North America’s addiction to shopping, I thought to myself: Well, I only spend money where I absolutely need to. In fact, I’ve always thought of myself as a smart shopper. With this economic downfall on the rise we have no choice to be cautious and actually attempt to spend money only when it is necessary.
On November 28th North Americans will be expected to participate in Buy Nothing Day. The meaning of the day is pretty clear in the name. I asked Ian, ever so wisely, if this included bus tickets, food, etc. It does! This is when I figured I would have to strategically plan. I can buy my tickets ahead of time, make my sandwich and curl up to watch a movie at night instead of going out to dinner or shopping. If we could all manage to do this for one day of the year, imagine if we could attempt to try it monthly? Or weekly? Imagine if we lived our lives happily, whilst watching where and how we spend our money. Perhaps with all of the saving I could finally afford the new television I’ve had my eye on.
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