Fiscal control
So, when I got back from my trip I started this thing that's supposed to help you get your finances under control, just like writing down everything you eat is supposed to help you get your diet under control. I've been writing down every cent I spend. I've been putting everything in a little notebook, and the most obsessive thing is when I go buy groceries, I don't just put "Groceries" and a total, I've been writing down each item individually, and then marking against each item which meal I have it in. So I'll be able to tell how many meals I get out of each object (box of pasta, pack of cous cous, loaf of bread, box of Special K), but by dividing up all those fractions I'll be able to work out how much each meal cost.
I might never get to that obsessive level of analysis, but if you don't record the data along the way you'll never even have the opportunity for obsessive analysis.
The thing is, even without doing the totals (ave. cost per meal, cost of dining in v dining out, percentage expenditure on dining in, dining out, entertainment and alcohol, etc), the practice is having some big benefits. As my sister said I would, I now triple-think each expense. And if I have beer at home, I don't stop for beer at the pub near work, and if I have bread, I absolutely spend the extra five minutes in the morning to make lunch no matter how late and lazy I feel.
It's more than that. I find I'm able to do brave things now. I guess walking home instead of stopping at the pub is a brave thing, because the walk takes effort and sometimes the prospect of a night at home cooking my own dinner is very non-fun. But I push myself and do the brave thing, and it's never so bad, and the memory of the pub beer wouldn't have been that great anyway, and I get closer to my goal. I'm even pushing myself to do non-financial brave things - go ahead and exercise, launch right into that brief at work even though I just finished another one and feel like I deserve 15 minutes to surf the Sydney Morning Herald web site. Stay back at work to finish off the things that will be useful to be done in the morning. Actually put my hours into our time-tracking system. All sorts of painful things, but I'm now just putting my shoulder down and charging into them, instead of focussing on feeling sorry for myself and like if I'm not maximally pleasured and entertained I will just die.
Discipline. I am gaining financial discipline, and through it I am gaining broader self-disclipine.
And guess what? The universe's magic fairies are rewarding me. Twice this week I have found money in coat pockets that I didn't remember I had. My broadband company gave me a free bonus week. My extra hours at work (doing brave things rather than putting them off) will add up to extra pay in this paycheck. And lo and behold I do have a little bit spare, at the end of a two-week period, that I can use to continue my agressive treatment of my credit card.
I highly recommend this way of living. If you're struggling with something, if you are feeling like a victim or alternatively are feeling guilty and like you could do better all the time, try to micromanage for a month. Write everything down. Even the writing down of it makes you more aware, and that brings its own benefits, but once you can the analysis, you can constantly improve.
p.s. The other thing I keep thinking of is what that guy said in that green book that I have quoted here before - bad things happen quickly. Good things take a long time to happen. It takes a long time to amass the pennies and get your finances turned around, but you can do it, and then the momentum takes hold and you end up much better off.
I might never get to that obsessive level of analysis, but if you don't record the data along the way you'll never even have the opportunity for obsessive analysis.
The thing is, even without doing the totals (ave. cost per meal, cost of dining in v dining out, percentage expenditure on dining in, dining out, entertainment and alcohol, etc), the practice is having some big benefits. As my sister said I would, I now triple-think each expense. And if I have beer at home, I don't stop for beer at the pub near work, and if I have bread, I absolutely spend the extra five minutes in the morning to make lunch no matter how late and lazy I feel.
It's more than that. I find I'm able to do brave things now. I guess walking home instead of stopping at the pub is a brave thing, because the walk takes effort and sometimes the prospect of a night at home cooking my own dinner is very non-fun. But I push myself and do the brave thing, and it's never so bad, and the memory of the pub beer wouldn't have been that great anyway, and I get closer to my goal. I'm even pushing myself to do non-financial brave things - go ahead and exercise, launch right into that brief at work even though I just finished another one and feel like I deserve 15 minutes to surf the Sydney Morning Herald web site. Stay back at work to finish off the things that will be useful to be done in the morning. Actually put my hours into our time-tracking system. All sorts of painful things, but I'm now just putting my shoulder down and charging into them, instead of focussing on feeling sorry for myself and like if I'm not maximally pleasured and entertained I will just die.
Discipline. I am gaining financial discipline, and through it I am gaining broader self-disclipine.
And guess what? The universe's magic fairies are rewarding me. Twice this week I have found money in coat pockets that I didn't remember I had. My broadband company gave me a free bonus week. My extra hours at work (doing brave things rather than putting them off) will add up to extra pay in this paycheck. And lo and behold I do have a little bit spare, at the end of a two-week period, that I can use to continue my agressive treatment of my credit card.
I highly recommend this way of living. If you're struggling with something, if you are feeling like a victim or alternatively are feeling guilty and like you could do better all the time, try to micromanage for a month. Write everything down. Even the writing down of it makes you more aware, and that brings its own benefits, but once you can the analysis, you can constantly improve.
p.s. The other thing I keep thinking of is what that guy said in that green book that I have quoted here before - bad things happen quickly. Good things take a long time to happen. It takes a long time to amass the pennies and get your finances turned around, but you can do it, and then the momentum takes hold and you end up much better off.
posted by Ellen at 9:58 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home