Once again, my readers are keeping me honest. Earlier this week I came up with three very good reasons why I should not go on a spending moratorium, but you all rejected my pleas and voted overwhelmingly to put myself through this wacky experiment.
As of Friday morning there were 112 votes. About 45 percent want me to go on a spending moratorium, 27 percent say it’s silly, and 13 percent (15 readers) agreed to go on the spending moratorium with me!
It’s nice to know I’ll have company. 
Three readers in particular encouraged me to take the plunge.
Katie said:
I challenge you to go on a complete spending moratorium! Don’t buy ANYTHING (except phone, utilities, rent) for 30 days. See how long you can live off of the groceries you already have on hand. You will be surprised. Be extra careful about how much electricity & gas you use–unplug appliances, play a game instead of watching TV or read a book, don’t leave the light on when not in the room, etc.
Kristin at makingcentsoutoflife.blogspot.com said:
I think that if your hubby is willing, you should do it jointly if you are going to do it at all. Kind of like a diet, it’s easier with support. I think it’s a very worthwhile experiment that anyone who does it will benefit from because it will save you a ton of money as well as force you to be content with things you already have. By not spending, you focus your efforts on other parts of your life and can make those things better. Heck, if I could stay out of Walgreens I might get more done.
Sarah said:
I’m doing this in June. It’s a really interesting experience. I’m still buying food, gas, and other things I consider necessities (like a new filter for my PUR–though I stretched the old one farther than I thought possible). I’m also have a budget plan but this really is making me consider and evaluate every single purchase. What’s fun is how other people respond: I’ve had more offers to buy me lunch than ever before!
So here are the ground rules for my spending moratorium.
Allowed purchases include rent, one tank of gas, groceries, utilities, my Internet and cell phone bill. My automatic monthly savings withdrawal remains unchanged.
Business expenses, such as flyers or postage, are allowed.
During the moratorium I’m allowed to use any gift cards I have currently have in my possession (either previously purchased or received as gifts).
I’m allowed to receive gifts as long as they are a true gift and not a way around the moratorium. (This is a gray area I’ll try to define later.)
The 15 readers who voted to go on the moratorium with me should send me an update about how they are doing at least once a week. Don’t think you can get away with not participating just because, ahem, I have no idea who you are! Participating readers, let me know if you are using my ground rules or setting your own (and what they are). I’ll regularly write about what we are struggling with, our creative solutions, and lessons learned on BargainBabe.com.
The moratorium starts July 1 and ends July 31, 2009.
Remember the days when text messages were $.10 each? Or even $.15? Now T-Mobile joins AT&T, Verizon and Sprint in charging $.20 per text, reports Engadget and Poynter. This fee applies to users who don’t have a texting plan or who go over their monthly allotment of texts.
But there are free alternatives to texting, which I discovered a few months ago. Here’s a recap from my earlier blog post.
Call me a late adopter, but I just discovered a free alternative to texting, something I am doing a lot more of now that I have an iPhone. I was facing a much higher texting bill – going from 200 texts a month ($5) to 1,500 a month ($15) – when a friend told me about Google Talk.
Now I’m not worried about buying more texts or going over my allotment. And this deal is not just for iPhones.
Smart phones like the iPhone and Blackberry have free instant messaging as part of their data plan. There is also AIM from AOL and Yahoo! Messenger. Instant messaging is about as close to texting as you can get without paying for it.
For iPhones and other smart phones, I recommend downloading Google Talk on your phone. If you have a BlackBerry and want to chat free with other Blackberry’s, use Blackberry Messenger, which is part of the phone’s operating system if you have a data plan. The Pearl, 8800, and Curve models support Blackberry Messenger.
Now you can instant message your heart out, and not worrying about the cost of texting.
My sister Aicha is spending the summer observing women and children with HIV/AIDS in Africa to improve treatment. She has been in love with Africa ever since she went there as a Peace Corps volunteer ten summers ago. Her specialty back then was agroforestry, which meant she taught farmers in the Fouta region of Guinea basic farming techniques.
My mother bought me a plane ticket to visit Aicha, above, in Guinea for my college graduation present. Three days after leaving New York City we arrived in the remote village of Poredaka and settled in for a four week visit. Roads? Ha! Electricity? Ha! Rice for every meal? Yes! Well water that must be boiled? You betcha!
When I arrived my sister had been living in Guinea for a year already. Two things struck me about her concrete, one-room home. The toilet and shower drain were one in the same. And there was a dog-eared copy of Where There is no Doctor by her bedside.
Aicha, who had no formal medical training then, relied on that book for 28 months. After she introduced me to just about every person in the village, I knew the people of Poredaka didn’t even have a book about doctors. Everyone had a festering wound, missing digit or noticeable scar – things that ibuprofen and Neosporin would do wonders for. And that was just what I saw in four weeks.
During her two years in Guinea Aicha trained many farmers, but she realized she could help a lot more people as a nurse. She has returned many times since leaving the Corps, but this is her first time in Africa as a nurse.
This summer she is working for ICAP, the International Center for AIDS Treatment and Programs, in the Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire). You can read about her adventures on the Africa Nurse blog, which is written by another nurse named Mara, who is working closely with her.
One recent post on Africa Nurse blog tells of six things Mara learned since arriving in Africa, including the art of the bucket bath, the importance of having an African name, and just how little locals know about AIDS. A snipet about going dancing:
Last night, as nostalgic for our friends as for the running water in Abidjan, we decided to suck it up and check out “King Discotheque” next door. It did not disappoint. The music was just as good as it was en ville, and the setup was exactly the same. The culture of going out dancing here has nothing much to do with pairing up—quite the opposite, actually. With my sample size of two dance clubs, I can now conclude that what you’re supposed to do is get dressed to the nines and then go dance by yourself in front of the full-length mirror that will inevitably cover one of the walls, staring at yourself. All night.
Also, the the music will inevitably be interrupted every few minutes by a DJ shouting something or other. Last night’s interruption-shouting theme was “Aaaaaaaaicha!”, and some form of my name, alternately, “Maaaaara!”, “Maaaaaria!”, “Maaaaaariam!” or “Maaaaariama!” It’s the most famous I’ve ever felt.
Check out the Africa Nurse blog!
