A Chicago man has accepted the challenge of a cash-free life. If he can make it a year without spending any money, he'll earn a cool $100,000 from the website Groupon.
Josh Stevens may win a lot of money -- if he can last a year without spending a dime.
Stevens is the "lucky" winner of an opportunity from Groupon, a popular website for <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_2_0>coupons
</NOBR>. He's attempting to go without his worldly possessions for a year -- and his home, job and family -- and find a way to make do on nothing but coupons and ingenuity.
Why? For a prize of $100,000.
"I've always been a deal seeker," the 27-year-old Stevens told MainStreet. When he was still in his teens, Stevens convinced each member of his family to join a group phone plan rather than pay for individual phone lines. He has also spent long nights camped outside Best <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_4_0>Buy
</NOBR>.
"When the Xbox 360 came out, I waited outside the store for at least a whole night and then sold one of them online for $5,000," he said. And why? "I just find it really fun, like a game."
So when Groupon announced its "Live Off Groupon" challenge in February, Stevens jumped at the chance.
Groupon is an online coupon site that e-mails a discount offer each day to members in more than 40 cities. Recent deals included half off the price of a Bollywood dance course in New York and rate cuts on gym classes in Los Angeles. The catch is that the deals go into effect only when enough people buy the coupon; the model encourages users to forward offers to friends.
Groupon partners with businesses whose services it's pitching and guarantees them a certain amount of cash upfront. So far, more than 1.6 million coupons have been purchased since the site was launched in late 2008.
Nearly 400 people applied for the Groupon challenge by creating YouTube videos explaining why they thought they were the best candidates. Groupon narrowed the field to six finalists who included an unemployed woman who cited her lack of financial obligations as an asset and a butcher with dreams of becoming a photojournalist. Stevens beat them all. "I was definitely surprised and very excited," Stevens said about being selected. At the time, he was waiting tables in a Chicago suburb and applying for MBA <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_11_0>programs
</NOBR>.
"As soon as we saw his video, we were smitten with Josh. It really stood out from the pack," Groupon CEO and founder Andrew Mason said. Stevens' video features over-the-top scenes in which he uses printed Groupon coupons to overcome challenges, including battling a bear and saving a friend's life.
Stevens' video may have won Groupon's heart, but he still had one more challenge. Each finalist had to visit Groupon's Chicago headquarters and do a trial run, living only on coupons for an afternoon. Stevens hopped on a mail truck to travel around the city, paid for a cab ride with a cookie and a $5 gift certificate, and got a Lego souvenir of the John Hancock Center by giving a "nice lady" a coupon for free admission to the landmark skyscraper. All in all, he demonstrated to the judges what he had always known about himself: He was able to make cutting corners seem fun.
"In the end, the consensus is that Josh was the man who was most likely to survive and be the most entertaining to watch try and do it," Mason said. But Stevens conceded that he's now facing some real obstacles.
He rents an apartment in Chicago, but his lease isn't up until the end of July. "It's difficult on such short notice to find someone to sublease," he said. "So I'm trying to get out of the lease earlier."
On top of that, he's only allowed "limited" visits with his close friends and girlfriend during his yearlong adventure. "It's not ideal, but the rules are the rules."
The rules are tough. Groupon's contest requires the participant to abandon his job, leave his apartment and put his belongings in storage. The company pays for a one-year hotel stay and provides an unlimited number of free <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_0_0>coupons
</NOBR>. The discounts, also called "Groupons," are typically for fun activities and restaurants, so the challenge is to find ways to cover practical costs, such as clothing and toiletries.
"This will be a catastrophic disruption to your life. You'll be living out of hotels, eating a lot of sushi, and taking enough yoga classes to kill a small fox (which you may also have to do)," Groupon's website says. "You're going to have to be resourceful. For example, how will you use a Groupon if you need cash to cover tax and tip?"
But Stevens has people rooting for him, including the company itself, which is on the hook for $100,000 if he's successful.
"I do hope that he makes it through the year, but I hope that it isn't too easy. I want him to suffer a bit," Mason said, but then clarified: "I want him to suffer just a little bit."
Stevens hopes to parlay his exposure into a career as a food critic. "I'd love to get a spin on my own show or to write a book," he said. But Stevens also said he'd be interested in working at Groupon, though Mason has privately warned Stevens that he may not even want to hear the word Groupon in a year.
And the $100,000 prize? "I'd like to use it for a down payment on a home and possibly to go to grad <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_5_0></NOBR>School.
He may be a frugal fanatic, but Stevens knows how to spend wisely.
This article was reported by Seth Fiegerman for MainStreet.
Josh Stevens may win a lot of money -- if he can last a year without spending a dime.
Stevens is the "lucky" winner of an opportunity from Groupon, a popular website for <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_2_0>coupons
</NOBR>. He's attempting to go without his worldly possessions for a year -- and his home, job and family -- and find a way to make do on nothing but coupons and ingenuity.Why? For a prize of $100,000.
"I've always been a deal seeker," the 27-year-old Stevens told MainStreet. When he was still in his teens, Stevens convinced each member of his family to join a group phone plan rather than pay for individual phone lines. He has also spent long nights camped outside Best <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_4_0>Buy
</NOBR>. "When the Xbox 360 came out, I waited outside the store for at least a whole night and then sold one of them online for $5,000," he said. And why? "I just find it really fun, like a game."
So when Groupon announced its "Live Off Groupon" challenge in February, Stevens jumped at the chance.
Groupon is an online coupon site that e-mails a discount offer each day to members in more than 40 cities. Recent deals included half off the price of a Bollywood dance course in New York and rate cuts on gym classes in Los Angeles. The catch is that the deals go into effect only when enough people buy the coupon; the model encourages users to forward offers to friends.
Groupon partners with businesses whose services it's pitching and guarantees them a certain amount of cash upfront. So far, more than 1.6 million coupons have been purchased since the site was launched in late 2008.
Nearly 400 people applied for the Groupon challenge by creating YouTube videos explaining why they thought they were the best candidates. Groupon narrowed the field to six finalists who included an unemployed woman who cited her lack of financial obligations as an asset and a butcher with dreams of becoming a photojournalist. Stevens beat them all. "I was definitely surprised and very excited," Stevens said about being selected. At the time, he was waiting tables in a Chicago suburb and applying for MBA <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_11_0>programs
</NOBR>."As soon as we saw his video, we were smitten with Josh. It really stood out from the pack," Groupon CEO and founder Andrew Mason said. Stevens' video features over-the-top scenes in which he uses printed Groupon coupons to overcome challenges, including battling a bear and saving a friend's life.
Stevens' video may have won Groupon's heart, but he still had one more challenge. Each finalist had to visit Groupon's Chicago headquarters and do a trial run, living only on coupons for an afternoon. Stevens hopped on a mail truck to travel around the city, paid for a cab ride with a cookie and a $5 gift certificate, and got a Lego souvenir of the John Hancock Center by giving a "nice lady" a coupon for free admission to the landmark skyscraper. All in all, he demonstrated to the judges what he had always known about himself: He was able to make cutting corners seem fun.
"In the end, the consensus is that Josh was the man who was most likely to survive and be the most entertaining to watch try and do it," Mason said. But Stevens conceded that he's now facing some real obstacles.
He rents an apartment in Chicago, but his lease isn't up until the end of July. "It's difficult on such short notice to find someone to sublease," he said. "So I'm trying to get out of the lease earlier."
On top of that, he's only allowed "limited" visits with his close friends and girlfriend during his yearlong adventure. "It's not ideal, but the rules are the rules."
The rules are tough. Groupon's contest requires the participant to abandon his job, leave his apartment and put his belongings in storage. The company pays for a one-year hotel stay and provides an unlimited number of free <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_0_0>coupons
</NOBR>. The discounts, also called "Groupons," are typically for fun activities and restaurants, so the challenge is to find ways to cover practical costs, such as clothing and toiletries."This will be a catastrophic disruption to your life. You'll be living out of hotels, eating a lot of sushi, and taking enough yoga classes to kill a small fox (which you may also have to do)," Groupon's website says. "You're going to have to be resourceful. For example, how will you use a Groupon if you need cash to cover tax and tip?"
But Stevens has people rooting for him, including the company itself, which is on the hook for $100,000 if he's successful.
"I do hope that he makes it through the year, but I hope that it isn't too easy. I want him to suffer a bit," Mason said, but then clarified: "I want him to suffer just a little bit."
Stevens hopes to parlay his exposure into a career as a food critic. "I'd love to get a spin on my own show or to write a book," he said. But Stevens also said he'd be interested in working at Groupon, though Mason has privately warned Stevens that he may not even want to hear the word Groupon in a year.
And the $100,000 prize? "I'd like to use it for a down payment on a home and possibly to go to grad <NOBR style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana, sans-serif; COLOR: darkgreen; FONT-SIZE: 100%; FONT-WEIGHT: normal" id=itxt_nobr_5_0></NOBR>School.
He may be a frugal fanatic, but Stevens knows how to spend wisely.
This article was reported by Seth Fiegerman for MainStreet.
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