At the beginning of this experiment, one of my primary goals was to avoid credit card debt. My financial situation had deteriorated in the weeks leading up to moving into the office, aggravated by an indefinite delay in receiving my income taxes due to identity theft, an organization-wide freeze of raises and bonuses at my work, and the arrival of a hefty insurance bill for an ankle surgery I’d had months earlier. Within a matter of weeks, I’d experienced a $5,000 swing for the worse in my finances.

My refusal to go into credit card debt has been a lifelong goal. I don’t believe in skating by on someone else’s dime, particularly someone whose fine print is riddled with swindles and exclusions. I’ve never been late on a credit payment, and my only debts to date have been “good debts”, for graduate school and my car loan. I wanted to maintain my streak.

Let’s take a look at how I did, using my initial tactical objectives as a guide:

1. Deposit every cent of my subletter’s rent into the bank. Promptly ignore it is there.

Achieved! Although I had a bit of an issue finding a way to deposit Jürgen ‘s cash into my account directly, I did for the duration of my office stay manage to dedicate all $1,000+ to my savings account. Most importantly, I avoided spending any of it erroneously on wine, women, or watches. That was an easy one.

2. Spend less than $20 on average, per day on meals. Start a spreadsheet to track daily meals and their net cost.

Achieved! As stated in my mid-month Finances Status Report, when I reported lowering my daily meal expenses to $17.59 per day, I had no problem reaching my initial objective of $20 a day. Through careful cataloging of meals, using Microsoft Excel to chart daily meal details and the costs associated with them, I found it easy to track my progress. In fact, having a running tally of meal costs appealed to my more obsessive side. I found myself updating the document on a daily basis–sometimes even more often–which motivated me to find creative ways to ensure my meal expenses were kept to a minimum. I negotiated free weekly lunches through work, courtesy of a loophole regarding how my organization rewards unpaid interns. I’d attend events with free food, sticking around afterwards on a few occasions to help “clean up”. I watched portions closely and purchased at sale price whenever possible.

But I did all of this while maintaining as healthy a diet as possible. It is not my prerogative to eat Ramen noodles for every meal, nor am I interested in greasy fast food options. Here is a look at how I fared over the 41 days of meal-tracking:

Evidence of my OCD-ness.

Click on image to enlarge.

Ultimately, I had averaged $16.48 per day on food, exceeding my initial objective by $4.52 per day, or $185 total. The tactic of creating an interactive spreadsheet to track my costs was the defining element in not only reaching my objective, but doing so in a way that cut to the core of a philosophy of frugal planning and informed consumer behavior.

3. Emerge from the experiment with no medical bills, no car payments, and a greatly increased cache of savings to ensure my future lifestyle is a more sustainable one.

Partially achieved!

My medical bills are being worked on and my car payment sum has been significantly dented. At the end of December, I put in my 30 days’ notice at my apartment. In doing so, I ensured that I would no longer pay $1,200/month in rental costs. And I promised myself not to pay a cent above $900 per month for a new place. At the moment, I have returned to interpreting that in the most extreme way, moving back into my office for a wallet-pleasing $0/month.

4. Learn to redefine my notion of comfort by living unconventionally.

Without a doubt, the abstract goal of redefining my notion of comfort was easily clinched.

I’ll cover this more in a future post, but one pares down life’s necessities with ease when he spends six weeks in a situation dictated by the whims and routines of others. Once particular about the routine of my morning, the organization of my bath towels, or the schedule of my showers, I now find myself guided more by the joy an activity gives than by the obligation I feel to complete it. Since moving back to my apartment, I have found myself unclean but without a care after a day of excitement. My fridge has been kept barren in favor of pastimes more intriguing than grocery shopping, and the amount of stuff I own has been slashed precipitously in exchange for more space and increased mobility. This will help me…

5. Emerge from homeless living in a financial position to institute a plan to be car-loan-free by September of 2013.

Obliterated!

At a rate of $200 per month, the new year rolled over to see me on pace to pay off my car by October. But frankly, that wasn’t good enough.

So instead of finding a new apartment this month, I moved back into my office. And in place of paying rent, I dedicated $1,000 to my car payment. As it stands, I owe only $900 on my truck before it’s paid off. That’s five months worth of payments in a single deposit. A major victory.

But my goal is even more ambitious. Since my payments are generally mid-month, I already have $200 set aside to lower that total yet again. By Valentine’s Day, I’ll be down to $700. By March I expect to have it paid off. Seven months sooner than my original goal.

So far, so good.

– TOH