I’m somewhat obsessive about looking at my bank account balances to see how I am doing on my path to savings. There are weeks when I’ll check four or five times. I’m not sure what I expected to see that is very different over that time, but I still do it. This whole frugal living thing takes time to make a huge dent. I can’t expect to look at my bank accounts after one month and say to myself “Wow, I’m only a month from retiring.” It’s a long journey to use any sort of method to financial freedom. So here’s how I am going to deal with my impatience, especially when I have my quick loans and other debts to pay:
Setting up my mini goals
Every month I will try to set myself a goal. It will be something that can be obtained in one month if we live frugally and make good financial choices. Things will start like “having $1,000 more in savings than last month” or “limit eating out expenses to less than $50 this month.” This will be something I can track and be proud of.
Keeping a track of my ins and outs
Every other day I make a frugal choice, I write it down. I’m going to keep a little journal by my desk at work and by my bed at home. Each day I will write something I did that day that helps me to my goal (not having to work). By looking through this at any given time, I will see progress towards that goal.
Limiting my wish list…
If I had walked into the store with a shopping list, I would have bought my $1 worth of fruit, and maybe a bit more (so I would have enough fruit to last a few days), but I wouldn’t have bought the clearance root beer and I wouldn’t have bought the melon. I would have saved about $4 this trip alone. And while that’s not much (about $200 a year if I did that every week), every little bit counts when it is not necessary. Furthermore, discount codes and coupons go a long way when trying to save. Websites like Raise are great to browse through for the latest coupons, as it’s surprising just how much money you can save!
Knowing the fact that these things take time
Well, OK. This is the hardest one for me since I really want to get to the financially self-sufficient point as soon as I can. But I have to remember that these things take time, and it won’t happen overnight, it won’t happen in two months, and it won’t even happen in five years. I’m really on a 10-20 year plan at the moment to get close to financial independence.
If I do these things, I’m sure I’ll have an easier time getting to my goal in a relaxed and happy way (not that I’m not relaxed and happy, but perhaps I’m a bit obsessive, like I said at the start). And I do believe that someday my karma will bless me with a financially stable and debt-free life.
