A Harrowing Tale of Survival: Woman Goes a Full Day Without Spending Any Money

The Donner Party...the Shackleton expedition...those soccer players in the Andes -- We've all heard stories of people who have survived hardship under impossible odds, but brace yourself for the tale of Alexa von Tobel. She pushed herself to the limits to find out if she could go one entire day without spending any money in the untamed wilderness of New York City:

On Tuesday night I had just returned home after a long day of work and I decided to order in from my favorite restaurant. Forty minutes later, the deliveryman arrived with my pasta primavera and a Greek salad and I handed him $32.50, including tip. Pretty steep for a dinner for one, I thought. I returned to my kitchen counter, brown bag in hand, and it was then that I had a moment: I reviewed my spending for the day and I realized that I had spent well over $80 over the course of the day on menial expenses. I hadn't gone shopping, I hadn't dined out at Cafeteria for lunch, and I hadn't joined my friends for drinks. It dawned on me that the taxicab rides, stops at CVS, the Starbucks lattes, the mid-morning or mid-afternoon snacks, my take-out from the fabulous Italian restaurant, and other trivial expenses really added up; realizing the total cost of it all was a painful but eye-opening experience.

That night, I decided to go on a mission to live a full 24-hour day without spending a penny.


Content warning from this point on. Sometimes the things that a person does to survive aren't pretty.

Link via J-Walk Blog | Photo: Business Insider

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This goes along with the girl asking for donations to fix her credit card debt. And then getting a book deal out of it.

Yes, it's all a good cautionary tale...on how not to be a materialistic d-bag.
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Ummm this isnt hard at all.
I wake eat breakfast.
Drive to work ( if you have to bus it I could see a problem)
Work through the day I drink water and pack a lunch.
Go home have dinner and spend time with the family.
Rinse and repeat.
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I used to work in NYC, and yes, unfortunately a lot of the people I worked with acted this way in real life. They ate every meal "out" or ordered in. No one had food in their kitchens, nor even knew how to turn on their stoves, took taxis everywhere, etc. I am not saying everyone in NYC is like this, not by far, but there is an overwhelming amount of people (especially the younger crowd), that are living their daily lives like this more and more. I was always made to feel weird because I walked the 20 blocks to and from work and brought my lunch and breakfast from home everyday. It's nice to know I wasn't the only one out there....
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Are we talking 0 dollars ? Remember, even if you spend nothing interactively, there is money being spent that day... like that's days rent or days worth of your mortgage, or 1/30th of your car payment, heating, using water, watching tv (electric and cable), interest accruing on your credit card, etc....
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