From our Finance Hack Series:
Hard Core Financial Diet
This one is pretty hard core, but it’s great for those who don’t want to commit to a long term program.
Call it a Frivolous Expenses Fast, or a Finance Diet, if you’d prefer, but the idea is very simple. For a limited time (2 weeks, 10 days or a month) cut out all expenses that are discretionary. Continue to pay all your bills, by your (necessary) groceries, etc. Just don’t spend ANY money on frills for your predetermined time.
No eating out (unless it’s a business meeting, etc… and approach these as frugally as possible), no expensive coffee on the way to work, etc, no movies, concerts or other purchases you don’t absolutely need. Remember, this is intended to be for a limited time period! Money is for spending, we want you to have nice things, as long as you can afford them! This is just a great way to take a look at your non-essential spending.
Here’s a quick visual recap:
Here are some of the major benefits to this strategy, namely:
- Save money on things you don’t necessarily need.
- Get a realistic idea of how much you spend frivolously over a certain period of time.
- Acquire some great info on how much you spend on non-essentials and assess whether you need to address that, or simply begin including it in your budget.
- Bonus: Probably lose a little weight? 🙂
So cinch up your purse strings or wallet and give it a try!
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