# Starting right NOW, how long could you go without spending any money? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 29, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382 "2005-06-29T16:33:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/41 "2005-06-30T03:17:05Z")
Five hour commute home, thanks to flooding. Need gas in AM. Ignoring gas and bills… aw, I can’t, it’s the 4th. Need to pick up party supplies. Assuming it wasn’t a national holiday… five days, on average. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/42 "2005-06-30T03:34:41Z")
You know, I’ve never tried to not spend money but I’m guessing it would be more difficult than I thought. Right now I wouldn’t be able to go 24 hours since I have a pedicure\* scheduled for tomorrow morning. \*trust me, it’s a necessity! ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/43 "2005-06-30T03:49:49Z")
We live paycheck-to-paycheck, and payday is tomorrow. So, not long. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/44 "2005-06-30T04:25:02Z")
I’m a teacher so I play this game every summer. I stock up on staples in late may and I have a ton of food in the pantry I don’t eat. Excluding rent and bills I could go two and a half months. If I had gas paid for my car, another month. Vanity would get me eventually. At the end of three and a half months I wouldn’t be a blonde anymore and that’s just not gonna happen. You’ll pry my highlights out of my cold dead scalp. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/45 "2005-06-30T04:52:31Z")
I live on a farm and the farm is surrounded by miles of woods. There’s a 12 acre pond here full of fish. I’ve got several guns and plenty of ammo to shoot game and there is plenty of fishing tackle. Also a large freezer full of food. Nobody works away from home, so gas wouldn’t be a factor. If we _HAD_ to, we could probably get by indefinately. Sure would miss the morning coffee though. Coffee and tea would probably run out in a couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/46 "2005-06-30T05:02:28Z")
Until about July 31st. I live with my parents during the summer, and their schedules would permit taking me the 5 minute drive to work… but my car tags have to be renewed by July 31st. ---
**Author:** ![Tamryne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tamryne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamryne)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/47 "2005-07-03T06:15:43Z")
Normally I could last for two to three weeks, if I took my dinner with me to work. I live with parents this summer, so I have an unlimited source of food and gas for my car. But! I am getting my computer in just a few days so as to take advantage of a nice mail-in rebate offered by compusa and HP, so after that I wont be spending a dime until I go back to school. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/48 "2005-07-03T16:52:27Z")
> [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > I can and do go days, sometimes several weeks at a time, without spending any cash (except for bills acruing like phone, etc.). > > I’ll start now and I’ll post again when I spend any money. > > It’s 5:40pm now, 29 June 2005. Ok, just updating like I promised. Last night my buddy Bill showed up in town (he’s on an impromptu cross-country road trip) and I picked up the tab on dinner. So I spent some cash about 10:40pm, 2 July 2005. That’s a few days without spending anything. Not bad, I guess. Bo ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/49 "2005-07-03T18:36:24Z")
I don’t need my car to get to work. And, I have a fair amount of food. Thus, I’d guess a couple of weeks. Any reason for the question? ---
**Author:** ![Axel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6de8d8/32.png) [@Axel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Axel)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/50 "2005-07-03T18:40:17Z")
I could only last till tomorrow morning. Then I have to buy a ticket to work. It’s too far to cycle; only about 12 miles as the crow flies, but I have to make a big diversion to cross the river, so that’s about 20 miles. My daughter’s breakfast club starts at 8 and I start work at 9, which doesn’t leave enough time to get to work on slow rush-hour roads. I couldn’t not go to work - I don’t get paid for sick days. If I managed to wangle it as a holiday, I would only get the morning’s pay I’m contracted for, not the full day I’ll be working. ---
**Author:** ![barracuda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@barracuda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barracuda)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/51 "2005-07-03T18:40:24Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > Ok, let’s narrow this down to exclude rent and bills. Just everyday living. Pretend your rent/mortgage is prepaid for the year and you have no bills coming up. > With the current amount of gas in your car/s and the current amount of food in your house or at work (without paying) how long could you keep going before things started to break down. Like, you couldn’t get to work so you get fired, you run out of food, etc. > What would be the first thing you’d have to pay for. Not counting monthly bills charged to my credit card, I could go 2-3 weeks without spending any money. I don’t work outside the house, we keep ‘survival’ type quantities of food on hand (result of another MB detailing the problems hurricane survivers had in Florida last year), and I can’t think of anything else I desperately need (clothes, etc.). OTOH, SO would go crazy if unable to get out daily, so I guess it evens out. First thing I’d _have_ to pay for would be cat food - in a week or so - but even that could be negociated (give them less daily - they’re pretty spoiled, feed them table scraps, etc.) in an emergency, which is what I think you’re getting at here. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/52 "2005-07-06T12:37:32Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I don’t need my car to get to work. And, I have a fair amount of food. Thus, I’d guess a couple of weeks. > > Any reason for the question? Not really. I was running low on pocket cash and I wondered how long I could stretch it before I had to run to the money machine or make a stop at the bank. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/53 "2005-07-06T18:35:15Z")
I fill my car with gas every Friday on the way home from work and buy groceries for the week. So - from Monday to Friday, I do not spend a dime. Really. However, I live in Las Vegas, so from Friday night to Monday morning, well - all bets are off, or on, depending how you look at it. I spend far more than a dime. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382/54 "2005-07-06T19:02:13Z")
dang it… had to buy some gas and pay the ladies for my laundry… but this is the first time I’ve spent anything since my last post. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starting-right-now-how-long-could-you-go-without-spending-any-money/310382.md?page=2)