Comments on: Living on $34.01 a Week

By: Dan K

Dan K — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 03:54:47 +0000

I live in northern PA and we have snowstorms during the winter. This allows for our electricity to go out at the most opportune times.

A year ago this happened. No showers. No T.V. Only a quiet winter night and the crackle of the wood fire.

I have to admit that I am an addict to t.v. and the internet. I really think t.v. is a terrible use of time and plan on never paying for it (right now it is included in my rent). But that few days was the absolute best. I never felt more at peace. I had a wind up emergency radio, my dog, and family. It was really a peaceful time and made me appreciate everything I had.

By: MoneyNing

MoneyNing — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:43:36 +0000

There’s absolutely no need to be jealous. Yes, money is important to all of us but I’m sure you will agree that family is much more important than money, and that money is a vehicle to meet our goals and not the goal in itself.

Sure, I can be more frugal when I’m alone but without my wife, having money is meaningless. It was a fun experiment, and it would be fun to try it with my wife as well.

Perhaps you can try it with your family and see what happens? Of course, the purpose is to have fun and to actually deprive yourself If you do try it though, report back and let us know how you do!

By: Patricia

Patricia — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:35:18 +0000

I find it interesting that you did this experiment at a time when you were alone. I know I could live very frugally by myself, but with two–and sometimes three–near-adult daughters and a husband, I find it really difficult to cut back on things like food. The mom instinct to provide a healthy variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, for example, is hard to ignore (and fairly pricey!). I also notice you had the benefit of eating food your wife had prepared ahead for you. How would you do if you really had to do it all yourself?

I’m not trying to put you down. I love your blog and I think this was a great experiment. I guess I’m just jealous because I know I could save so much money if I were living on my own!

By: Fred Cash

Fred Cash — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:01:22 +0000

Wow, that is a great test. I have to say that you almost thought of everything and I think I’m going to try something similar and see how much I can live on. I know there are times when I’m spending more, but there are some weeks where I think I might be close your amount. Over the past two months my wife and I have been cutting back on going out and trying to save money. We are trying to save enough for a house, and have saved thousands over the past two months by eating at home more, cutting coupons, and trying to not to do any extra activities. It’s been quite boring, but we are almost at our goal so it’s worth it.

By: Pev

Pev — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:24:34 +0000

That’s a neat experiment. I don’t know if I’d be able to do that – filling up on several jugs of water for free at the local fitness center kinda makes me feel pretty embarrassed.

By: Isabelle

Isabelle — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:51:55 +0000

It really is amazing what you can do, we have done this kind of thing when we wanted to save fast – or when I bought a sofa in the sale and paid cash leaving only £10 in the bank for the month’s food! We could have paid by credit card and paid it off with minimum payments and the sofa would have cost twice as much – mmmm, a no brainer really!

By: Ray The Money Man

Ray The Money Man — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:45:06 +0000

Love your experiment! It is actually my life and not because it has to be. We are trying to put every penny, and I mean every penny, into the oil market right now so I guess it is sort of an experiment. Being a vegetarian I can eat for $20.00 a week. Really, $20.00.

Great post!

P.S. A wonderful quote I read this week “every penny you spend is risking a little bit of your future”

By: Gayle

Gayle — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:40:00 +0000

Very interesting experiment, and I applaud you. But I do have one bone to pick – when you got your water from the fountain by the fitness center, you simply transferred your own expenses to someone else. It’s a personal choice, but one I wouldn’t make.

By: Mary@SimplyForties

Mary@SimplyForties — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:21:47 +0000

Interesting. Even though in real life you’d have to factor in a week’s percentage of all your non-negotiable bills like mortgage, insurance and utilities, it’s still a great way to figure out what you can trim on your discretionary expenses. Good post!

By: financial freedom

financial freedom — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:15:51 +0000

Wow. I did not know living on 34 dollars a week is possible. I should try this one day.