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Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

What Will You Do with the Final Days of 2021?

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What Will You Do with the Final Days of 2021?

I’m on several personal finance and healthy eating groups on Facebook. Routinely, right about now, newbies to the groups post about their big plans in January. In January they’re going to start paying down their debt, saving more, eating healthier. They jump right to January even though, as of today, there are 39 days left in 2021. That is 5.5 weeks left. Don’t throw in the towel on your goals just because we’re approaching the holiday season! You can still make a positive impact on your life in the next 5.5 weeks!

How We Self-Sabotage at the End of the Year

Let’s be honest. Many of us can do some significant damage to our lives in the last few weeks of any year. We tend to lose control and let loose. Then, we have to pick up the pieces in the next year. I used to exhibit that kind of behavior every year!

For instance, one year, my husband and I overspent on Christmas gifts. Our budget was extremely tight, and we needed three months of the new year to get out of the hole we had dug! Three months for one night of Christmas Eve shopping.

What Will You Do with the Rest of 2021?
Photo by Food Photographer | Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash

I used to do the same with my food consumption. Starting at Thanksgiving, I would give up and eat all of the good things with abandon. One year, I gained 10 pounds from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. I was gaining at a rate of two pounds a week for five weeks. That’s ridiculous!

What Will You Do with the Final Days of 2021?

Luckily, I’ve gotten older and wiser. True, we are entering the holiday season, which can make reining in our budgets and our food consumption a bit more difficult. However, Thanksgiving is only one day as is Christmas. We’re talking two days in the remaining 39 days of the year.

You still have time to make this year different.

Mind Your Budget

Imagine that, for the next five weeks, you stick to your budget. You don’t overspend. Then, when you start 2022, you’re starting with a clean slate. You’re not in the hole from overspending. How great would that feel?

Enjoy on the Holidays

Likewise, feel free to celebrate on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Enjoy the drinks, the food, the company. But just enjoy the food and drinks on that day. If you love pumpkin pie, eat a slice (or two) on Thanksgiving, but then eat normally the rest of the days. Your body can handle one day of indulgence. It can’t handle 39 days of indulgence!

Final Thoughts

Far too many of us self-sabotage as we enter the holiday season. We worry that we’ll miss out. We think that we don’t have any self-control during the holidays. But that’s not true. Instead, we need a mind shift. Indulge on the actual holiday, but the rest of the days, live your normal, typical life. You’ll be so much happier on January 1st if you do.

Read More

9 Ways to Get Your Child a Christmas Gift If You Can’t Afford One

4 Frugal Ways to Keep Kids Busy During Christmas Vacation

What Christmas Expectations Are You Setting for Your Children?

This New Year, Take the Time to Look Back at What You’ve Accomplished

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The year is wrapping up, and we’re all hustling to finish our holiday shopping and prepare for the perfect Christmas season.  Then, just a few days later, we’ll be intent on improving ourselves and making ambitious goals for the next year.

I love taking the time to plan what I want to accomplish in the new year.  I spend a few weeks planning and writing down each goal.  I share my goals on my blog, and every month I update them with my progress, which helps keep me accountable.  With this process, I’ve been able to reach at least 75% of my goals every year.

If you, too, are a goal setter, you may focus only on the future, but that can be a mistake.

New Year Look BackInstead, before you start looking forward, take the time to look back at 2013 and all you have accomplished.

For instance, my husband and I are in the midst of paying down a mountain of debt (the balance was $57,966.01 spread across credit cards and student loans when we started paying it down at the end of 2011).  Every month money is tight, and honestly, sometimes I wonder if we’ll every be in a comfortable position financially.

My husband keeps reassuring me that we are in a better position financially this year, but I always assume that is what he says because he’s a free spirit and I’m the financial worry wart.  However, I took the time to look back, and I realized that he’s right.  We are in a much better place than a year ago.

At the beginning of January, 2013, my student loan balance was $4,218.94.  This month, I just paid it off.  That’s only one example.  In each area of our lives that I looked at financially speaking, we’re in a better place.  While I don’t necessarily feel the financial difference, the numbers on the paper don’t lie; we’ve made progress this year.

When you’re in the midst of a financial struggle, whether it be paying down debt, trying to build your savings, or trying to increase your income, feeling like you’re not making any progress is normal.  Getting ahead occurs so slowly that you often feel like your stagnating when you’re not.  Inch by inch, you’re making progress, but when you’re deep in the forest, it’s hard to see anything besides your immediate location.

You need to consciously look at where you were 12 months ago so you can appreciate where you are now.

But most of us never take the time to do so.  That’s too bad because by reflecting on the progress you’ve made, you can build your confidence and make accomplishing your goals in the future even more likely.

Plus, by looking back at what you’ve accomplished and the progress you’ve made, you can better set your goals for the next year.

A car has a rear view mirror because you have to see where you’ve been and what’s behind you to help you continue going forward.  The same is true with your financial life.

Have you taken the time to look at the financial progress you make every year?

Take a Challenge To Start the New Year Off Right

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If you would like to start 2012 on the right financial footing and want to do something that is attainable, consider taking a challenge.  Two of my favorite challenges are spending challenges and pantry challenges.  Take either or both of these challenges, and you will find extra money to do with what you please—to save for a new vehicle or home, to bulk up your emergency fund or to snowflake on your debt to get it paid off faster.

I have already spoken about the spending challenge, otherwise referred to as the No Spend Month as an excellent way to raise money for Christmas gifts, but it is also good to
do another time of the year.  Choose one month when you limit your spending for disposable items such as groceries, entertainment and gas by as much as 50% of what you typically spend.  You will find yourself being mindful of what you spend money on because there is very little money to spend.  If you normally spend $800 a month on groceries, entertainment and gas and you vow to slash that amount by half for one month, you now have an extra $400 available to meet your financial goals.  (I often have a no spend month in February.  The psychological boost of knowing it is the shortest month of the year makes it easier to stay the course.)

Save MoneyAnother challenge I try to take at least one month a year, but ideally two months a year, is a pantry challenge.  All of us have some extra items lurking in the cabinet.  I often buy ingredients for a certain recipe, but then if I don’t get a chance to make that recipe, I often still have the non-perishable items on the shelf a few months later.  With a pantry challenge, you try to use up what you have.  A common misconception is that you are not allowed to grocery shop at all.  That is not true.  Just like a spending challenge, you set a designated amount you want to spend.  Say you spend $600 a month to feed your family of five.  During a pantry challenge, you decide you will only spend $200 for the month.  That means you must try to make meals from ingredients you already have on hand.  This is a great way to not only save money but also to use up food that may be nearing its expiration date so it doesn’t go to waste.

If you would like a little extra money for your financial goals this year but you don’t have the time or inclination to work more hours, having a spending or pantry challenge may be the perfect solution to generating more money in a limited time frame.

Have you taken part in a challenge before?  Were you successful?

photo credit: 401K