Minus Month Challenge #2

Hello, and welcome to the second “Minus Month Challenge” here at NMI!

Here I take one of my many indulgences and strip it from my budget for an entire month.

The goal isn’t specifically to save a bunch of money, but rather, to save a little while also learning the importance of delaying gratification for the future good of myself.

A minus month can also come with some pleasant side effects such as: weight loss, more energy, better mood, a fatter wallet and spontaneous bursts of joy (OK, not really).

Last month I was successful in stripping candy completely from my budget, and I didn’t buy it once.  It was a good reminder that it’s possible to give up the things we love, for the sake of our future selves, if we’re willing to sacrifice and stay strong.  I’m proud to say that I did.

For the second “Minus Month” challenge, I’m going to go for broke and give up one of the most beloved items of my life…pizza!

I have had an infatuation with pizza for pretty much my entire life.  All of my family and friends would give my brother and me a hard time because of how often we would eat it.

 

 

While it has always been an obsession, it didn’t really explode until I had my first job and was able to purchase it whenever I wanted.  When we finally moved away for college, my brother and I and our roommate got an apartment right next to a Pizza Hut.

For some reason, before we moved in together, we felt the urge to warn our friend of just how much we liked pizza.

US:  “We like pizza”, we said.

FRIEND:  “Yeah, I do too!” he said.

US:  “No, I mean we really like pizza.”

FRIEND:  “Ok then.”

We actually had a room in one corner of our apartment that was dedicated to holding all the used pizza boxes, like a tower.  We made it a goal of ours to reach the ceiling – and we did.  Didn’t take that long either.  I have a photo of it somewhere – if I can find it I’ll upload it here.

I don’t even want to think about all the money I’ve spent on pizza in my short time here on Earth, but whatever – it’s one of life’s simple pleasures.  That being said, if I can go without it for one full month, then there’s no telling what I can do!

 

THE MINUS MONTH CALENDAR

 

I’ll be indicating a successful minus day with the hashtag #DB, which stands for ‘didn’t break’, and a fail day with the hashtag #B, which stands for ‘break’.

 

WEEK 1

Day 1 – #DB

Day 2 – #DB

Day 3 – #DB

Day 4 – #DB

Day 5 – #DB

Day 6 – #DB

Day 7 – #DB – Does frozen pizza, count?

 

WEEK 2

Day 8 – #DB

Day 9 – #DB

Day 10 – #DB

Day 11 – #DB

Day 12 – #DB

Day 13 – #DB

Day 14 – #DB

 

WEEK 3

Day 15 – #DB

Day 16 – #DB

Day 17 – #DB

Day 18 – #DB

Day 19 – #DB

Day 20 – #B – I bought some after celebrating my best friends’ wedding for our wedding party!

Day 21 – #B – And then we had it the day after celebrating our best friends’ wedding.

 

WEEK 4 +

Day 22 – #DB

Day 23 – #DB

Day 24 – #DB

Day 25 – #B – I just wanted it!

Day 26 – #DB

Day 27 – #DB

Day 28 – #DB

Day 29 – #DB

Day 30 – #B – I’m weak!

Day 31 – #DB

 

 

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

So, I failed pretty spectacularly this month, but in my defense, I had a lot going on!  Two of my best friends were getting married (to each other!) so of course we had pizza after the reception.  The next day, while the newlyweds went on a mini-honeymoon, the wedding party cleaned up their house so when they came home it’d be totally spotless – so of course we had to get pizza that night too!  Then, it got sprinkled in towards the end of the month a couple times just…because.

Seeing how this went, I probably won’t attempt this “no pizza thing” for some time.  In my opinion, life is too short for “no pizza” days!

 

WANNA JOIN ME?

 

Got something you wanna do without for a month?  Got a bad habit you wanna break?

Join me as I track my progress with the second minus month challenge!

 

          – NMI