The Buy Nothing Challenge

I've been reading about this "BUY NOTHING" challenge - you basically take one month where you don't buy anything except for necessities.  It makes you sit back and SEE what you're blowing your money on and what you could probably do without.  By the end of the month, a lot of people kept their new lifestyle of living cheaper - and they seem to love it!

On one website I found some guidelines.  It mentions that you should NOT purchase any of the following:

• Clothes
• Gadgets
• House Wares
• Furniture
• Salon Services
• Make-up
• Tools
• Entertainment (movies, CD's, out to eat, etc...)

Right off the bat I can see that STARBUCKS would definitely be OUT .. as well as eating out for lunches at work.  Looking at that list, I already don't buy most of those things.  It makes me wonder how much money I could really be saving .. since I don't spend it on those things to being with.  I'm sure I'm not alone - I do waste my money on things so I will probably have to come up with my own "off limits" list. 

My list would probably look more like this:

• Starbucks
• Lunch Outings (Shelby & Myself)
• Magazines
• Nail Appointments
• Random Target Runs
• New Movies (Shelby)
• Golf (Shelby)

I'm trying to figure out what's considered a necessity .. I'm sure that groceries are a necessity, but do you buy only the necessities or do you buy things you WANT.  What about gasoline? Should you fill your car up on Oct 31st and see if you can make it last the whole month? What about church tithing? It's not really a necessity - but it's something we like to do. 

What is your input on this whole thing?  I talked with a couple of friends who liked the idea and I'd really like to have a "Buy Nothing Challenge" where we all participated!!  Am I thinking way too much into this? What are your thoughts?!