It is so easy to just go out and buy something for yourself, and even easier to have others spend their money on you. Most of us don’t know what it’s like to not have the luxury of being able to spend money freely and absent-mindedly.

For a week, I challenged myself to cut all expenditures from my life: food from the cafeteria, coffee from Starbucks, buying clothes, paying for gas, online shopping, etc. To make it even harder, I tried to cut out ways I could get around this restriction by forbidding people from spending any money on me. Now the food in my house was already bought, and I needed to eat, so those kinds of things obviously didn’t count. My goal was to not let any more money be put out for me than was already spent.

The first day of my challenge, I thought this was going to be easy. I didn’t buy much anyway. Then I realized I had forgotten to pack a lunch that day, but since I couldn’t buy anything, I was stuck. Luckily friends of mine decided to be philanthropic and share their food with me.

That night, since my brother had come home from college, my mom, grandmother, and him all went out for dinner. However, if I went and ate, I would’ve been an extra expense. So instead, I made myself some rice and chicken, and sat at home alone while my family went out to dinner.

As the week progressed, I figured something out. Much social interaction circles around the spending of money – going to Chipotle, going to get coffee, going to the movies, going shopping. By cutting out the expenditures of my life, I was also cutting out a significant amount of social interaction. Yes, I could go with them, but what was the point?

The task grew increasingly difficult, and it began to take a toll not only on me, but on others as well. My mom had to figure out a way to feed me without buying food or ordering carryout, which wasn’t necessarily a big deal, but an inconvenience. It was this inconvenience factor that finally led to my loss.

On Friday night some friends and I got together over someone’s house. They decided to help me out with my challenge by letting me cook dinner rather than going out or ordering. However, we were all starving, and there was no food available for cooking in the house. I felt like an imposition, and though they insisted otherwise, I gave in and told them to order a pizza.

It was impossible for me to go a week without expenditures. Luckily, my gas tank has persevered the whole week, but if it hadn’t what could I have done? Sometimes, spending money is necessary and cannot be prevented.

Claire Grunewald is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com