It’s time to come clean with myself: I have a spending problem. It’s not pretty, and I want to, maybe NEED to, curb it. Like most things in life that’s going to be a lot easier said than done.
I think I realized the extent yesterday and it put me into a real funk, one that’s looming over me as I write this. For the past two years, I’ve been working diligently to keep track of every penny I spend. It’s been helpful for me to see where my money goes in an out, but I found a way around feeling the sting of my overspending. Like the phenomenon many a college student knows after a schedule of bottomless brunch, day drinking, and the mid-day nap that ultimately leads to a night rally, I black out.
I came back from a trip to Chicago on Monday, and it took me until Thursday to finally enter the expenses of the trip. That’s when the numbers spoke for themselves. A seemingly harmless weekend of dinners, drinks, and AMAZING comedy (I’m looking at you Second City) had turned from swipes on my debit card from my budgeted spending amount to mindless credit card swipes. A black out.
I’ve decided I need a reset. Spending has always been my Achilles’ heel. I’m great at convincing myself I need something, straying a little from my budget here and there, and sometimes blacking out completely. For the month of October, I’m hoping to do a little brain rewiring. My plan is three-fold.
- Save 50% of my pay check.
- Do not use my credit cards.
- Frugality on steroids.
Part One: Save 50% of my pay check.
Saving 50% of my pay check sounds super daunting, even when I consider the fact that I’m including things like paying over my credit card minimums as savings. I currently have a budget that generally does that, and it should be working in my favor. What my recent epiphany has shown me is that the black-outs have been ruining all my best laid plans. Which leads me to…
Part Two: Don’t use my credit cards.
DO NOT USE YOUR CREDIT CARDS BRIANA! Don’t use them! I often use my credit instead of my debit cards to take advantage of the cash back offers on restaurants, gas stations, streaming services, or whatever else is promoted at the time. After, I pay myself back. Unfortunately, I have to come to terms with the fact that right now, I just can’t handle it right now. As much as I say I’ll pay myself back, I’ve shown myself that I’m going to have the best intentions then overspend.
Part Three: Frugality on Steroids.
While I’m no stranger to buying in bulk and cooking almost every meal at home, this month I’m going to take it up a notch. I want to challenge myself and see how much I can actually go without (like when I REALLY REALLY am craving sweet potato hash and I have all the ingredients to make it except for an onion instead of going to the store and inevitably buy more than just the onion not to mention the unnecessarily burnt fossil fuels, I’ll make some fajitas with the black beans and bell peppers begging to be cooked).
I’m also planning to reduce my purchases per week. I heard about this idea on a podcast I enjoy (AffordAnything). According to a Slickdeals survey, the amount of impulse purchases we make in a year adds up to around $5,400. I don’t think my number is that high, but I think forcing myself to only make purchases when I need to will cut out the impulse.
This is a little bit of a faux-frugality because I already know I have two trips planned in October – New York for my birthday and Denver to see friends (ok and boyfriends). I have to be extremely thrifty while I’m home to make up for what I know I’ll spend while I’m gone.
Bonus part: Supplement my income.
I will soon do a whole post on this. However, I’ve been working with a company teaching English online, and while I’ve booked a few classes, currently, it’s not working to its fullest potential for me. This month, I’m planning to join another company and try to revamp my profile on the first.
Implementing all of this in one month feels like the overspending equivalent of quitting cold turkey. I do expect some withdrawals, but I know that this will be better for me in the end.
