This is a fun little feature that I started last month and it ended up with others joining in and really enjoying it. Surprisingly March went by without any major purchases or significant financial mistakes, probably due to the fact that I have been so busy with work and school. Despite not making any extravagant financial mistakes I still managed to continue with the same small mistakes.
1. Junk food addiction. Yep this affects every aspect of PF- personal finance and personal fitness. Granted I will only spend a couple of dollars a day on junk food a day but it adds up. It also kills a mile run or workout to eat junk food at night. In case anybody cares (which I doubt) my junk food of choice is a bag of Doritos and/or a bag of peanut M&Ms.
2. Can’t seem to kick the caffeine habit. I hate excuses but working and studying full time definitely requires a quick boost at 6 in the morning. Maybe it’s because my school has coffee stands conveniently located beside my 8 am classes or maybe because I just love the taste of coffee.
3. Little retirement contribution. Some say I’m too young to worry about retirement but I figure I would rather have too much money in my retirement account than not enough. In March I did not contribute as much as I would like to towards my retirement account.
4. Didn’t train hard enough. This has nothing to do with personal finance but it’s a part of my life that I take very seriously. My workouts haven’t been as intense as I would like them to be and I haven’t done as many 1 mile runs as I would like to.
Alright guys March was a decent month for me, what about all of you? How did you guys mess up in March?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve actually done pretty well in March. I did take £60 out of my “emergency fund” for a non-emergency (let’s just call it some emergency fun), but on the plus side, one of my fixed rate bonds matures soon. I’ve made a “financial report” for myself detailing all the little bits of money I have squirrelled away – a lot of which I’d forgotten all about! I have some chasing up to do in April, but it’s let me see exactly where I stand.
You should be proud you contributed anything to your retirement account. You’re way beyond pretty much everyone your age, and even tons of people older than you.
But if you want to ensure you contribute enough each much, automate your investments. Set it and forget it, and you’ll never have to worry about saving enough.
I was never really a coffee guy but had it from time to time in college when studying late. I then got hooked on green tea and have not gone back to coffee at all. It’s a great substitute, still has caffeine but is very healthy for you. I recommend giving it a shot.
Hey dude dont worry so much the important thing is you can identify the problems and look for ways to solve it.
I would suggest, you make your own coffee at home in the morning instead of buying it.
And as for the snacks, either buy in bulk or try and make some yourself, there is plenty of recipes out there.
Well the retirement, clearly you didnt contribute as much since you spent the money elsewhere, i say next month you contribute first to your retirement, pay yourself first.
March for me has been actually very exciting, i became debt free and are now cracking the code on budgeting, achieved a 1k emergency fund. Of course, there were a few downfalls but its all part of the process.
@Suzie Bee It’s alright to have some fun! I look forward to hearing how you did at the end of April.
@Philip Best of luck to you with the MS150 bike ride and good luck on trying to walk the day after.
@ Jason Unger The reason I don’t automate is because even though I work full time hours I’m technically a part time employee. My income fluctuates and there are sometimes months where I won’t work as much as I would like to.
@Craig Oh I love my green tea too but it’s more of a beverage I drink on a cold afternoon to keep me warm.
@tom Don’t worry this is meant to be more of a humorous thing rather than a sulking session. I refuse to buy snacks in bulk because then I will have no choice but to eat them everyday. At the moment I’m able to go days without junk food sometimes simply because I don’t stop at a store. Congrats on being debt free and building that emergency fund! I hope to have more updates from you.
@ MyLifeROI
$100 is a lot to spend in a weekend. That said, the reason to scrimp and save is so that you have money for things that you get REAL PLEASURE out of. Had you spent that money on credit card fees or an overdraft charge on your bank account I’d agree you’d messed up, but it sounds like it was well worth the expenditure!
It’s all about bang for the buck!
It is always important to work out as often as you can. I do not know about you but working out or exercising makes me a feel a whole lot better about myself.