A short-lived no-spend experiment in Beijing | 在中国，省钱就是“浪费”

A woman in Britain went a whole yearwithout spending money. No eating out, no drinks at the pub, no new clothes,books, not even train tickets.

Financial journalist Michelle McGagh madesome exceptions for necessities; mortgage, utilities, life insurance, charitydonations, and broadband and mobile phone bills. She also set aside a modestamount for toiletries and food.

She saved a whopping 22,000 pounds, theequivalent of 188,000 yuan, plus she'll reap the rewards of writing a bookabout the experience, so an all-round frugal success story.

Economists, businesses and governmentswould be horrified by such thriftiness. If this no-spend experiment wasreplicated widely, the economy would grind to a halt. It's the stuff ofnightmares for policymakers particularly here in China where consumer spendingis taking over from industry as a key growth driver. Rather than tightening thehousehold budget, traditionally good Chinese savers are being encouraged tolash out in order to keep cash registers ticking over at an increasing pace.

Not that the bean counters need to worrytoo much. It's not like there'll suddenly be masses of people throwing awaytheir bank cards or disconnecting their e-wallet.

But McGagh's strict no-spend policy doesmake you think twice about where your hard earned yuan/dollars are going andwhat you can and can't live without.

Since reading about the year-long penny-pinchingfeat, I've tested how long I can survive without touching a jiao/cent.

Moving to China has already made me muchmore money conscious. There's nothing like trying to squish all yourpossessions into a Suzuki swift that struggles to accommodate more than twopeople, to make you realize you've been wasting money on too much stuff.

Being unsure about how far my new salary ofunfamiliar currency would stretch in Beijing also forced me to keep a detailedspending tally. This morphed into my first ever budget, albeit scribbled on theback of my Chinese homework sheet.

I have embraced instant coffee and realizedno one notices if you wear the same outfit each week (and if they do, thenthey're not really worth worrying about).

Even with my newfound financial focus, Ihave barely lasted more than a day without approaching a cash register or theonline shopping cart.

I wonder how much is me and how much isChina. How would this British champion of frugality have fared in Beijing?

For one thing she didn't have thetemptation of online shopping platforms like Taobao. Of course, many shops inBritain have online outlets, but there's no equivalent for Taobao and onlineshopping is nowhere near as pervasive as it is in China.

I can't imagine cooking all my meals. Notjust out of laziness (although it does sound exhausting) but I could hardlyconjure up hot pot, Peking duck or jian bing in my kitchen. And never takingadvantage of Beijing's extensive food delivery network would be a wastedopportunity. 

While McGagh did manage one holiday ridingher bicycle along the coast and camping along the way, my plans to see as muchof China as possible would be severely limited by this method.

They say you've got to spend money to makemoney. I've come to the conclusion that it's also true you've also got to spenda little to get the most out of life in China.