# How long without spending a cent? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630 "2006-08-07T00:54:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/1 "2006-08-07T00:54:40Z")
Starting right this minute, how long could you go without spending any money? No cash, checks, credit cards, nada. I know you are “spending” the rent money every day you live there, but go with me here. How long before you needed to buy gas? Food? Medicine? Porn? The longest I have ever gone without spending a cent was about a week. Then I needed gas to get to work. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/2 "2006-08-07T00:56:18Z")
Until tomorrow morning. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/3 "2006-08-07T01:09:22Z")
We’ll need gas in the car by Tuesday morning at the latest, and we’ll need to go grocery shopping by Thursday. If I were to deliberately plan it out I could easily go two weeks, which is the theoretical limit as our mortgage automatically comes out every two weeks. Practically speaking, though, it would be unusual to go a day without spending something. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/4 "2006-08-07T01:12:45Z")
I probably have to go to the pharmacy tomorrow, and I know that I have some doctor bills right here on my desk, under a more friendly-looking pile of books. I generally spend money every day, but often it’s just a few dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/5 "2006-08-07T01:13:21Z")
Until about Friday I think. I’ve got sufficient food in the house for that period and my weekly travel pass runs until then, so I could get to and from work. No car, so no need to worry about petrol. I’d have to go shopping again on the weekend though. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/6 "2006-08-07T01:15:08Z")
If necessary, excluding stuff like mortgage, telephone, utilities, I often go a week. If I were willing to live on what’s in the garden and freezer, and not care that I’d run out of milk, a month easily. When I was teaching overseas on a very low income, it wasn’t unusual for me to spend less than $25 a month, excluding the above and groceries. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/7 "2006-08-07T01:33:54Z")
Let’s see…my gas tank is full, my fridge is semi-full, I have plenty of toilet paper and birdseed… I work tomorrow…there’s food there, no tolls to pay… I think I’ll run out of either milk or juice by Friday. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/8 "2006-08-07T01:39:48Z")
I can’t see going for any time at all. I’m spending money every day, all the time. But some of it I don’t have to pay until the bill comes at the end of the month. - internet access costs about 64¢ per day. - electricity runs about $2 per day. - Gas (furnace & water heater) runs about $4 per day, averaged on a yearly plan. - Water, sewer & garbage pickup is about $2 per day. - taxes on my house run about $5.20 per day. - my house & car are paid for, so unlike most people I don’t have a bill for that. So just from these, it looks like I pay about 58¢ per hour, just to live in my house with electricity, heat, and running water. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/9 "2006-08-07T02:10:39Z")
Yeah, but this exercise excludes those. Unless they come due tomorrow, of course. that’s why I saved this thread for after the first of the month. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/10 "2006-08-07T02:25:48Z")
If forced to, I can probably eke out a living for close to a month. As a matter of course I generally spend a little each day. Bad habit I know. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/11 "2006-08-07T03:40:31Z")
Well, there _are_ a couple of non-food things I need to get from the store after work tomorrow, and I’ll also be mailing a check for a parking permit tomorrow. Otherwise, I’m in pretty good shape here: plenty of food, just bought milk, bills are current, full tank of gas, and a 3-mile commute. I could easily make it to the weekend, when my mom might come for a visit – in which case I’ll be buying us lunch. If she _doesn’t_ come I can make it until Monday the 14th at 3pm, at which time I’ll be getting the keys to my new rental and handing over a check for August’s rent (prorated). If I weren’t about to move, if I didn’t go visit my friends or family, and if I could make myself live on what’s in the pantry/fridge, I could probably make it to the end of the month. As it is, though, I will probably spend money tomorrow – I buy my lunch just about every day. I happen to have some leftovers to bring tomorrow, but my co-worker and I will still walk to the deli where I will most likely buy some chocolate or something. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/12 "2006-08-07T04:03:55Z")
I’ll add: We have emergency kits in each car, good for two people for three days, plus a house emergency kit good for two people for a week each, plus a big bag of food for the cats. The notion is that we should be able to manage well in the house with no water, power, or trips to the grocery for about a week, which I assume translates into being able to survive without spending money for a week. More, if the power doesn’t go out, since we have a freezer in the garage. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/13 "2006-08-07T04:16:31Z")
About three and half weeks. I’m on an oil rig in the niddle of the Caspian Sea and there’s not much to spend money on. Some of us just have to be different. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tashabot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tashabot/32/6250_2.png) [@tashabot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tashabot)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/14 "2006-08-07T05:21:01Z")
I have, so far, gone…since Wednesday without spending money, because I simply had none. We just moved into our own place (the boyfriend and myself) and we’ve been broke as fuck. My mom did buy me a bunch of food (she’s being so cute about me moving out…and of course, I really appreciated the food, which I told her), but other than that, nothing spent. We get money on Wednesday… I’m still really hoping my ten dollar expense check for gas usage (I don’t travel a lot in my job) comes in tomorrow. Then I’d have cigarette money. ~Tasha ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/15 "2006-08-07T05:39:59Z")
If I don’t buy something for dinner tonight, we’ll be forced to eat tinned soup (and Mr Cazzle will grumble). So I’d say less than three hours. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/16 "2006-08-07T05:41:03Z")
If I wanted to, I could easily finish the week without spending anything. I’d probably run out of milk and maybe bread, but I could live with that. Of course, I’ll be working nights this week and I’ll need Tim Horton coffee to keep me alive… so I won’t actually make this a non-spending week. What? I can quit anytime I want. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jimbeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/858c86/32.png) [@jimbeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbeam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/17 "2006-08-07T10:09:09Z")
I have gone for weeks at a time without spending any money. I realize what t-bonham said about daily expenses but you did dismiss that in the OP. The freezer and pantry was full. I just let the bills go for awhile, quit work and said f\*\*\* it. It might have been months I don’t know. I lost my family in a car wreck last year and it’s taken me a LONG time to do anything. I have a well for water. I live in the country so when the light company turned off my electricity I just rewired the house bypassing the meter. I let the phones go. The house was paid for so that didn’t require any money. The car was destroyed so I didn’t have a car payment. I let the car and homeowners insurance go. The only time I went anywhere was if I had company. Yeah, months would probably be right. I’m trying to get back on my feet again but it’s tough. I still can’t really talk to people. Hope y’all never have to find out the way I did how long you can go without money. Maybe I can get back to work soon. Wish me luck. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-without-spending-a-cent/367630/18 "2006-08-07T12:59:32Z")
[QUOTE=jimbeam] Wish me luck. [/QUOTE] I do. I’m sorry for your loss, and wish you the best.