Have you put a lot of great budget changes to work for you only to find yourself backsliding time and again? Keep trying. Just like a work out routine, the more you do it, the easier it gets. Here are a few tips to help you re-commit to being financially fit.
Take it slow and Easy
Don’t try and do everything at once. It’s easier to make small changes, and then only one at a time. Add a new change only when you think the old habit has really been set aside, once and for all. Use your new habit to help you quash the old one.
Let’s say you want to reduce how much you spend at the movies, how many DVDs you rent each week, and how much television you watch. Don’t say “no” to all of these things all at once. Try cutting movie going by one-half, DVDs to only weekends, and don’t worry about television at first. Once you get the movies and DVDs down pat, then try working on the television viewing. Go slow, and only do as much as you can.
Monitor, monitor, monitor
If you aren’t looking at the spending in all your accounts-chequing, credit cards, lines of credit at least every two weeks-and once a week is better-new commitments can easily backslide into old bad habits. And when old debt starts to mount up again, and you feel overwhelmed, it can be all too easy to just give up, and return to all those ways that got you into trouble in the first place. So watch your accounts like the proverbial hawk for old spending habits, and quash them as quickly as you can.
Make the changes that make the difference
The easiest way to keep bad habits from creeping back into your lifestyle is to change them completely. So, keep using cash, or return to using cash, if you’ve given it up. Don’t let yourself start slipping out that credit or debit card-“just this time”-or before you know it, you’ll have blown your budget once again. There was life before plastic-and you can survive without it. Lots of people do.
Check it on payday
Monitor your accounts at least every two weeks-payday is a good choice because we never forget that date. Schedule yourself to look at the spending, payments, and balances of all your accounts then-and every time there’s a cheque deposited to your account.
It’s much easier to look over a few lines on your statement for the week than an entire month’s worth (or worse-six months’ worth or longer). You can always remember when you pulled out that credit card last week, and make changes to keep you from doing so next week. Do you find yourself always buying expensive extras from the gas stop whenever you fill up? Maybe someone else in the household needs to buy the gas, and you need to stay out of the corner store. But it’s a lot easier to keep up the good habits if you’re catching and halting the bad ones every week or two and not every month or longer.
Re-committing to good budget habits is just like a fitness routine. Every time you skip one, it’s easier to blow the whole thing off-but every time you do a financial work out, you’re in better shape for whatever budget issues might come at you in the future.