How many times have you told yourself that you will quit spending money? How many times have you told yourself that you will stop going out in order to save money? Chances are that most people couldn’t come up with an answer because the number would be too high. The reason for this? We all lie to ourselves.
I’m not afraid to admit it, I lie to myself way often than I should. The reason for this is that we often get so eager to try a new idea after we read about it that we get so into the positive results without considering the work required to get there. I have shown a few friends in the past how much money they could save by not going out on the weekends that they got so excited and claimed they would never go out again. What happened? They went strong for two weeks and then felt horrible when they finally did go out for drinks again.
Today I’m here to share with all of you a simple but yet very effective tactic that I’m in the process of mastering myself; instead of telling yourself you will quit a certain negative financial habit, simply work on reducing it. Let me explain my strategy for making this possible:
1. Target your problem area(s). For me my main problem is spending too much money on food. I know that it would be impossible to state that I will never pay for food again because it just wont happen. Over the last few months I have gotten to the point where I plan almost every meal. I go to the grocery store beside my school and I purchase a days worth of food for under $10. This is a great improvement for me but I have one more thing left to do, to try to eat every breakfast meal at home. Whatever your problem area is you must be realistic and willing to work on it.
2. Set a realistic goal. Don’t tell yourself that you will quit eating out, instead set a goal to eat out only a certain amount of times a week. Like I mentioned earlier you may go strong for a week or two but eventually you will return to your habit if you try going cold turkey.
3. Focus on the power of LESS. Trying to eliminate all of your weaknesses at once is very short sighted and will only lead to more problems down the road. Instead try to find ways to do certain things less often.
If you got plans to go out for next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, call one of your friends to let them know you can’t make it on Thursday.
If you eat out three times a day then make it a goal to make your own sandwich for lunch.
These are just a few very basic examples of how you can save money by simply performing less of a certain financial habit. My major take home point for today is to quit lying to yourself and be realistic when you set financial goals. Do you guys think I’m a bit too harsh today? Or do you feel it’s about time we all stopped lying to ourselves?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This post is just what I needed. One problem I have (and hate to admit, mind you) is my tendency to eat out almost daily! It kills me financially and isn’t good for me physically either.
Baby steps are the key, and I’m going to set more realistic goals.
I think you’re right on. It’s so easy to slip up and spend a few bucks here and there, so the ‘cold turkey’ approach makes it hard. When you miss, discouragement makes it harder to keep going. I like this post a lot.
Great advice.
I am a bit lazy when it comes to cooking so I eat fast food too much. A few months ago, I swore off McDonalds for a month. Ha! That didn’t work, but I when I told myself I would cut back to say 3x a week then I got better and some weeks I would end up going once!
Well you can always make more money to cover those extra splurges.
Or you can have someone paint a picture for you of what may happen if you continue on this destructive course.
@Trevor Eating out is really convenient but as we all know it makes your pockets feel very lonely. I have been working very hard on reducing my spending on food over the last few years. The fact that I’m serious about nutrition makes food a bit more expensive for me.
@Jeff The cold turkey approach is wishful thinking but not very realistic.
@Dee I have gone years without McDonald’s but somehow I eventually find myself with a big mac in my hand. So don’t worry you’re not the only one spending money on McDonald’s.
@Tom Having someone paint a picture for you may sometimes be the only method for motivating you to improve on certain things.
I care too much for my health to eat out.
I guess that winds up making it easier for me to save money, too… but that isn’t even the intended purpose.
I would say an easy way to stop eating out so much is to look at the health benefits, too!