Rules of the Game

There are several questions that come up when I say I'm not buying anything for a year, such as...

• What about food?
• What about gas for your car?
• If you get sick, are you not going to go to the doctor?
• That sounds like a terrible idea (not so much a question but does come up every now and again)

Obviously, there have to be some rules around this thing, as I can probably justify just about any action.  Also, I'm not highly known for having tremendous amounts of will power to affect change in my life, so, some written rules would be useful.

After excluding the necessities (healthcare, food, gas/car maintenance, home maintenance), I decided to classify things into 2 categories:  Those that directly affect me, and those that indirectly affect me.  The direct things are things that I, and only I, would receive any benefit from.  The indirect things are those things that I would receive some benefit from, but were not solely spent on me.  Examples...

Things that I spend money on that affect me directly:

• Clothes
• Shoes
• Books
• Gadgets
• Eating out by myself

Things that I spend money on that affect me indirectly:

• Projects around the house
• Eating out with family / friends
• Events / vacations with the family

The rule is:  I will buy nothing that directly affects me, and will only spend money on those things that indirectly affect me if someone else initiates it.  For instance, if my family wants to go out to eat, it will have to be my wife's suggestion, not mine.

That's the plan.  I'm already feeling a bit nervous about it and I haven't even started yet...