Skip to main content

Money Challenge: Spend Less in 21 Days

Most of us have that one category that's difficult to keep in budget. Taking 21 days to consciously cut spending in that one area can help change your habits and get your spending under control. Give it a try!

What is the ONE thing that you spend too much money on? For me, it's clothes. I love a good old-fashioned shopping trip. In fact, I have be intentional about not browsing online because clothes are my weakness. It takes great commitment and it's not perfect, but it's something I constantly work on.

I'm here to challenge you to spend less on your weakness for 21 days. By cutting out your weakness for 21 days, you'll reset your spending patterns. This can be a great way to get back on track financially -- especially if you're spending too much in one area of your life.

The rules
Choose one thing to spend less on for 21 days. Spending less means that you don't have to cut out your spending completely, but you should make a challenge for yourself. The point is to make it a positive and healthy experience.

You can give yourself "cheat days," or adjust however you need to.  However, it's important to set the rules for yourself before you start. You shouldn't make exceptions during the challenge based on how you feel -- instead plan ahead. Make it fair for you so it's a positive experience.

So, here's what you need to do...

Step 1: Decide what you're going to cut down on

Think about your spending habits and decide what you want to cut down on for 21 days. Think about how this will positively impact your financial health (and help you create better spending habits).

If you don't care much for shopping, then it makes no sense to cut out shopping. On the other hand, if you regret how much you spend going out on the weekends, then cutting down your eating out budget for 21 days may be perfect for you.

Step 2: Organize your calendar for the next 21 days
Start by putting your "start date" and "end date" on your calendar to keep yourself accountable.

If you are not cutting out your spending completely, indicate when you will allow yourself a "cheat day". If you're cutting out Starbucks, then maybe every Sunday you allow yourself on Starbucks cup of coffee.

You'll also want to put on your calendar "check-in" times where you can track your progress. I suggest checking in every evening at a specific time. This will help you create a habit of reflecting on a day and holding yourself accountable.

If every day is too frequent for you, then schedule time every few days or at a minimum once a week to think about how you're progressing on the challenge.

Step 3: Start the challenge and journal your progress
Start your challenge and journal your progress on the days you've elected to reflect. By writing down your progress, you should find that you're processing the experience and truly reflecting on your progress.

Journaling is an excellent way to track how you're feeling and what you're thinking during the challenge. Additionally, you'll have these writings to look back on after the challenge is over. If you are thinking about doing another challenge in the future,  your journal will be a great reminder of what the experience was like (much better than your memory).

If you want to go even further, you can create a budget journal that holds your thoughts and financial plan for more than just 21- day challenge.

Step 4: Evaluate how you did
The day after you finish your challenge, take some time to evaluate yourself. Here are some questions to get you thinking:

1. Did you succeed?
2. How did you feel in the beginning of the challenge compared to how you feel now?
3. Do you miss what you gave up?
4. How did the challenge affect your budget (do you have more money left this month)?
5. What did you learn from the challenge?

Step 5: Celebrate!
After you've completed your challenge and reflected, it's time to celebrate. You should be proud of yourself for accomplishing the challenge--tackling your weakness is no small feat.

Give yourself a reward (this is important because it will reinforce positive behavior) and congratulate yourself.


Location: Birmingham, United States

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Best Way To Budget? Try Pen And Paper -- How Bullet Journaling Can Fix Your Spending

Bullet journaling is a new and trendy way to track your spending. Using pen and paper can make you more active in your budgeting and can be fun too. Here's how to start keeping a bullet journal. You can hear it in the swell of retro-inspired music. You can see it in the resurgence of vinyl records and vintage cameras. You can feel the hum of simple circuitry in the air. Analog is back. Analog products fill a very real, very legitimate desire to untether from the digital world we've been enslaved by. In a society where the speed of information is ramping up at an exponential rate, the world of analog is a reminder to slow down and connect to your surroundings. The analog approach can be implemented in a variety of ways -- even budgeting. The bullet journal community has embraces this pen and paper approach to money-management, developing simple and time-saving methods to track and organize your finances offline. What is bullet journal budgeting? The goal of bulle...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Recognize the Signs of a Gambling Problem

 Whether it's buying a weekly lottery ticket or taking an annual trip to Vegas to blow off some steam, gambling is a fun and harmless diversion for many people. For others it can become a problem that creates a variety of issues, including extreme financial hardship and deep debt. Let's take a look at some of the tell-tale signs of a gambling problem.  When Gambling Goes Beyond Entertainment Win or lose, gambling should be nothing more than a fun activity. When it stops being fun and becomes something that dominates your thoughts or conversations, that's a sign it's becoming a problem.  Gambling with Money Meant for Other Things It's one thing to have a few dollars set aside every week for lottery ticket or putting a line item in your entertainment budget for a trip to the casino every few months. It's something else entirely if you're gambling with money intended for other things like rent, food, and paying bills. Gambling with money originally planned to c...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Avoid Debt Consolidation Scams

  If you're in significant debt, the prospect of becoming rent-free can be alluring. So alluring, in fact, that you might find yourself caught in any number of scams along the way.  One common way to pay off debt is through consolidation. This involves combining all your debt and taking out a loan that goes toward paying it off each month. Debt Consolidation can help simplify and streamline the debt payoff process, and it might even save you a little bit of money, too.  Still, the debt consolidation industry is rife with scams. Companies might say they offer debt consolidation when, in reality, they're for-profit debt settlement companies looking to take advantage of people.  Warning signs of a debt consolidation scam  When you're searching for a way to consolidate and pay off your debt, you might come across companies online that promote debt consolidation.  But some of these companies aren't offering to help you with debt consolidation. Instead, they're d...
Post a Comment
Read more