Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims across the world, and it consists of constant prayer and fasting throughout the whole day. It’s a time when everyone tries to make the most out of the month and change for the better after Ramadan ends.
So before Ramadan started, I sat down and thought about what I’d like to change about myself… my foul mouth.
Swearing is obviously frowned upon, but using swear words had become a part of my daily life and I didn’t want to carry this on during the holy month.
So I had an idea: I created a ‘swearing pot’ on Monzo. I vouched to myself that every time I swore I'd add £1 into my swearing pot. Then at the end of Ramadan, I’d give the total amount of money away to charity.
so I made a swearing pot on monzo. this ramadan every time I say a bad word I’m adding £1 to the pot. at the end of the month I’m giving it to charity🥺 pic.twitter.com/x5IYKTooX1
— intí (@mscrispss) 6 May 2019
Here’s how I got on:
Date: May 6th, Day 1 of Ramadan
Why I swore: Told my friend about my idea and she thought my total was going to end up being £100, so I cussed her out. Also went to Tesco’s with her and ended swearing a couple more times… Friends don’t help at all.
Running total: £4
Date: May 7th
Why I swore: So I forgot about my idea and ended up using swear words as descriptive words. This consisted of describing how good the food I was going to break my fast with tasted, but in a more dramatic way.
Running total: £7 – at this point I was rethinking my idea.
ya’ll I was with @leylaaaj for 30 mins and suddenly £4 went out of my account
— intí (@mscrispss) 6 May 2019
Date: May 8th
Why I swore: Took another trip to Tesco’s. I was fasting and wanted to get my favourite crisps which are always on offer. Not this time though, full price £1.99. I was so annoyed, and fasting didn’t help.
Running total: £9
"I was annoyed, and fasting didn't help"
Date: May 9th
Why I swore: It’s exam season and all I could think about was deadlines upon deadlines, and how I haven’t revised. But I couldn’t revise without snacks, see my problem? Being stressed resulted in a foul mouth.
Running total: £12, I was literally on the verge of giving up my idea.
Date: May 10th
Why I swore: Still at university trying to do my work, left the building to go home and realised I left my MacBook charger. Googled how much a MacBook charger is and almost fainted. Decided to take the train back to university with some hope. I ran into the room and saw my charger in the same place. A rollercoaster of emotions.
Running total: £14
"Realised I left my Macbook charger at home. Googled how much a charger is and almost fainted"
Date: May 11th-12th
Why I swore: One word: retail. I feel like that’s enough to describe the reason why my pot increased. My fellow people who work in retail will understand.
Running total: £17
Date: May 13th-14th
Why I swore: At this point I was a week into my swearing pot plan and I was getting a little better. But I stepped on my nephew’s toy and my life flashed before my eyes.
Running total: £16
"I stepped on my nephew’s toy and my life flashed before my eyes"
Date: May 15th
Why I swore: The reason? My FRIENDS. These girls were deciding which restaurant to go to. Yet again, like they always do, they asked me. Why am I always the one deciding where to eat? Leave me alone.
Running total: £17
I hate my friends just wanna let you lot know.
My pot is going to increase ££££ along with my blood pressure.
— intí (@mscrispss) 13 May 2019Date: May 16th-17th
Why I swore: At this point, the only thing that could make my pot increase was university. Midway through exams and assignments. Not understanding a topic was irritating, no snacks was still a problem.
Running total: £19
"Not understanding a topic was irritating, no snacks was still a problem"
Date: May 18th-19th
Why I swore: Back to my retail job on the weekend. For some reason I forget about my swearing pot when working. Rude customers and fasting do not go together, so of course the pot increased.
Running total: £22
"Rude customers and fasting do not go together"
Date: May 20th-21st
Why I swore: Not much happened today, nephew spat up on my new hoodie. That’s about it.
Running total: £23
Yo why is fasting getting harder and harder?????????
— intí (@mscrispss) 20 May 2019
Date: May 22nd
Why I swore: Today was the last day of my exams and I walked straight into the shopping centre to buy myself a skateboard. I wanted to try out something new. But learning how to skateboard definitely added a few pound coins into my pot. It’s not easy at all.
Running total: £25
My friends really enjoyed the idea of telling me to add to my pot every time I slipped up. But that’s what makes me more aware of how bad my habit of swearing is, which then teaches me to shut my mouth. I’ve planned to keep using this idea in the future, regardless of Ramadan ending.
After creating my pot and tweeting about it, a lot of people came forward and decided to go through with the same idea. I chose to title my pot a ‘swearing pot’ but others came up with naming their pot based on something they would like to work on for themselves personally.
Amazing doing this too thanks https://t.co/6xandWXLGM
— لبنى (@XXVIIR) 6 May 2019
We’re now on the last day of Ramadan now and I feel like I’ve improved. But let's just see if it lasts!
Email content@monzo.com if you have a fun story about how you use Monzo! We’ll pay you £25 if we interview you 😃