3/28/11
When I started the Thrifty Spender Experiment, I knew there would be challenges, but I underestimated the difficulty. I especially underestimated the power of temptation when it comes to day to day spending. Day to day spending, or what I term, convenience spending, can be and is a real budget killer. See if these sound familiar: the Starbuck’s coffee in the morning, lunch out because you don’t feel like making lunch or eating what you brought, the cocktail after work, a long commute home in the snow and stopping to pick-up some dinner versus making dinner, the bottle of wine for dinner, the snack or drink from the vending machine, the list goes on.
Not only have I seen spending temptation in my own life, but also in the lives of my clients; you can spot it almost instantly as soon as you see a bank statement or credit card bill, daily charges at restaurants, a long list of small transactions. Such miscellaneous spending can add up to hundreds of dollars per month and thousands of dollars per year.
I have a fairly strong personality and conviction, but even I have a hard time with spending temptation. We all say it to ourselves, what is another $2 here, or $5 there. Well, it does add up. My “excuse” is convenience. As an attorney, I am very sensitive to time and I value every minute and try to be as efficient and effective as possible. But in reality, if I don’t spend the time now to conserve money, I may have all the time I want in the future, but no money.
The Solution
Remove the ability, remove the temptation. It really is true that common sense is not all that common. The solution is surprisingly simple. Don’t carry with you any means to pay for anything; it’s the only way I found that actually works. When you get home tonight, remove all your credit cards, debit cards, ATM cards from your purse or wallet. If you have more than $20 cash, deposit it back into your checking account. If less than $20, just spend it down; sort of ease into going cold turkey on spending. This exercise may be a real eye opener and will test you; it is very likely you may feel the psychological symptoms of withdrawal. On the weekend, feel free to put back the cards and run your errands, but during your work week, leave your spending ability at home.
Now, if you truly are addicted to miscellaneous spending, this exercise may require further changes. If you eat out for lunch every day, you will need to start preparing lunches and bringing lunches and snacks with you. But other than that, most of the miscellaneous day to day spending is lifestyle fluff and certainly not a necessity. Also, you will need to give a little forethought to buying gas for your car when you notice fuel getting low.
One final point, if your first instinct is to scoff at this solution and you start coming up with excuses not to do it, that is called denial. So, if you say something like, “what about emergencies;” you more than anyone need to try this exercise for a week.
http://www.**********.com/blog/2011/...er-experiment/
When I started the Thrifty Spender Experiment, I knew there would be challenges, but I underestimated the difficulty. I especially underestimated the power of temptation when it comes to day to day spending. Day to day spending, or what I term, convenience spending, can be and is a real budget killer. See if these sound familiar: the Starbuck’s coffee in the morning, lunch out because you don’t feel like making lunch or eating what you brought, the cocktail after work, a long commute home in the snow and stopping to pick-up some dinner versus making dinner, the bottle of wine for dinner, the snack or drink from the vending machine, the list goes on.
Not only have I seen spending temptation in my own life, but also in the lives of my clients; you can spot it almost instantly as soon as you see a bank statement or credit card bill, daily charges at restaurants, a long list of small transactions. Such miscellaneous spending can add up to hundreds of dollars per month and thousands of dollars per year.
I have a fairly strong personality and conviction, but even I have a hard time with spending temptation. We all say it to ourselves, what is another $2 here, or $5 there. Well, it does add up. My “excuse” is convenience. As an attorney, I am very sensitive to time and I value every minute and try to be as efficient and effective as possible. But in reality, if I don’t spend the time now to conserve money, I may have all the time I want in the future, but no money.
The Solution
Remove the ability, remove the temptation. It really is true that common sense is not all that common. The solution is surprisingly simple. Don’t carry with you any means to pay for anything; it’s the only way I found that actually works. When you get home tonight, remove all your credit cards, debit cards, ATM cards from your purse or wallet. If you have more than $20 cash, deposit it back into your checking account. If less than $20, just spend it down; sort of ease into going cold turkey on spending. This exercise may be a real eye opener and will test you; it is very likely you may feel the psychological symptoms of withdrawal. On the weekend, feel free to put back the cards and run your errands, but during your work week, leave your spending ability at home.
Now, if you truly are addicted to miscellaneous spending, this exercise may require further changes. If you eat out for lunch every day, you will need to start preparing lunches and bringing lunches and snacks with you. But other than that, most of the miscellaneous day to day spending is lifestyle fluff and certainly not a necessity. Also, you will need to give a little forethought to buying gas for your car when you notice fuel getting low.
One final point, if your first instinct is to scoff at this solution and you start coming up with excuses not to do it, that is called denial. So, if you say something like, “what about emergencies;” you more than anyone need to try this exercise for a week.
http://www.**********.com/blog/2011/...er-experiment/
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