Personal Finance News Tuesday 1/22

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

How to Do a One-Month Spending Freeze

by Meg Favreau/Wise Bread on 16 January 2013

Making a big financial change is like getting in a cold swimming pool. You can oh-so-slowly walk from the shallow end to the deep end, shivering all the way — or you can hold your nose and just jump in. It might not be pleasant, but it sure is faster — and you might be surprised at how quickly you acclimate to the water.

Similarly, if you’re looking to overhaul your finances — whether you want to pay down debt, save more, or just spend your money wisely — you can develop little habits bit-by-bit, or you can jump into the pool with a spending freeze. By cutting out all unnecessary spending, you can jump-start your financial goals — and discover lots of fun, free things to do that you might have never thought of.

You can do a spending freeze for any amount of time — a week, two weeks, even a year — but one month is a nice. It’s enough time that you can save what feels like a significant amount of money, but not so long that it feels like it’s going to go on forever. (For longer time periods, check out our article on How to Do a

Spending Fast in 16 (Easy!) Steps.)

Here’s what to do.

 

Look at Your Budget

Actually, there’s a step before this — start a budget if you don’t already have one. The only way you can take control of your finances is to understand where your money is going.

Now, look at what you spend money on every month, and separate the needs from the wants. Common “want” categories include clothing, entertainment, and dining out — but there are other, sneakier wants too.

For example, how much of your weekly grocery bill is wants, and how much of it is needs? Also look at regular subscription services — such as newspapers or Netflix. Many will allow you to put your subscription on hold without actually cancelling it.

After you’ve done this, make a revised version of your budget where you spend nothing on these want categories.

To read the entire article from Meg Favreau/Wise Bread:
http://www.wisebread.com/how-to-do-a-one-month-spending-freeze

Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. -John Wooden

Hi my name is Philip J. Miano and I am the founder of PJM Personal Finance and Productivity Coaching specializing in Budgeting, Debt Reduction, Bank Reconciliations, Goal Setting, Time Management, and Organizational skills. Please visit my website: http://pjmcoaching.com