I thought it was time to post an update on the Pennysaverblog 100-Day Challenge. I’ve got 74 days left to go and so far it has been going fairly well.
Here’s what has happened since the first update:
Exercising for 15 minutes a day has been going well, although there were two days that I didn’t exercise. My excuse? I haven’t been feeling very well lately, however, I shouldn’t make excuses, so from now on I am determined not to miss another day during the rest of this challenge.
I wouldn’t consider myself to be someone who is materialistic. Most material things are not all that appealing to me. In fact, for the most part I would say that I am a very contented person. I don’t really enjoy shopping because I seldom want to buy anything. It just has no attraction for me. I am happy as long as I have enough food to eat, a place to live, and special people to share life with.
I used to be different. When I was a lot younger I used to want to buy new clothing all the time. I loved to buy sweaters, and whenever I got a chance I bought another one. Foolishly I also used to want to buy the most expensive brand name clothing and shoes. I think the main reason was because I wanted to fit in with everyone else, and it seemed to me that everyone else wore Nike shoes and Mondetta clothing. I also used to spend every last penny on junk food and renting movies.
Ten days down, 90 more days to go for the Pennysaverblog 100-Day Challenge. So far it has been going well. I have been managing to get at least 15 minutes of exercise everyday. One day I cheated a little but I made up for it by going for a long walk the next day. As I thought, taking the time out of my day to exercise has been my biggest challenge. I know 15 minutes isn’t much, but for me it will take some time to realize that exercise really should be a priority.
So far I haven’t given into the temptation to buy anything frivolous, although I am finding it tough to keep the grocery bill down. No matter how much I try, I always seem to spend more than I expected when I grocery shop. I will have to work harder on that. We haven’t eaten out, though, and I haven’t let myself near any dollar stores lately.
Although you may have failed at managing your money wisely in the past, it’s never too late to start to develop good habits. Whenever you begin to feel it’s a losing battle or that there is just no way you can make ends meet let alone save for your retirement, think of WD-40.
For those of you who have never heard of it, WD-40 is a spray designed to repel water and prevent corrosion. It’s creator, Norm Larsen, invented WD-40 in 1953 after 40 attempts! That means he failed 39 times before finally getting it right! He was persistent. If he had given up, the world would never have been able to benefit from such a product. In the same way, you cannot afford to give up on developing good money management skills. Giving up is not the answer.
There are many ways you can improve your money habits. You can meet with a financial planner at your local financial institution and they can crunch some numbers and help you to create feasible goals for yourself. You can create a budget and stick to it, and you can also read books and Internet articles that will give you ideas on how to save money and invest it wisely.
Although it will take discipline now and mean that you will be making some sacrifices in the present, you will reap the benefits in the future. The sooner you start getting your finances in order, the better off you will be.
It can be really tempting to want to have as much or more than our neighbors, colleagues, friends, family members, etc. It’s like we want to prove a point – that we are successful and important. What most of us don’t realize is that we will be a lot more content and enjoy our lives a lot more if we are satisfied with what we already have. “Keeping up with the Joneses” is an unhealthy lifestyle choice that can cause serious debt problems among other things.
Instead of focusing on what others have and trying to attain those things, why not be thankful for what you’ve got? You will be more likely to save for things that are important to you rather than wasting your money to keep up appearances. Half the time we don’t really want the things we buy anyway – we just don’t realize it until it’s too late to return them.
It’s not that we shouldn’t buy anything – there’s certainly nothing wrong with having things. The main thing is the motivation for buying things should be because they will be good for you, not just because someone else has them.
My goal is to be willing to make small sacrifices now so that I can achieve future goals. For instance, my husband and I try to take a 2 week vacation every year. We forfeit eating frequent restaurant meals and other expensive forms of entertainment so we can save enough to take an enjoyable vacation. Rather than worrying that our neighbor recently landscaped their yard and feeling like we have to keep up with them or rather than being concerned that we are not going out all that often compared to other people our age, we are content because we know that we will soon be able to take a vacation and that we won’t have to borrow money to do it.
Not caring about what the Joneses have is very freeing, and it’s a lot easier on the pocket book. In the long run a lot of people who live expensively are often in debt up to their eyebrows, and I would much prefer to live more simply and work my way towards becoming debt free and ultimately financially free. I know this goal will take a lot of discipline but I am up for the challenge because I know it’s worth it.