Categories: competition, life, saving, Yakezie

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger

 Alright, so this past month of pure spending cuts may not be the worst hardship imaginable, but it was a struggle. And I must give a shout out to Schwarzenegger for knowing about winning, as this guy does not have a college degree, and has a resume that includes a stint as governor of California, actor, and world champion body builder.

 MAIN TOPIC; Lessons Learned

 For those of you just joining, I was challenged to participate in a spending reduction challenge last month by Jacq at Single Mom Rich Mom. We were joined by Christine at Money Funk and Laura at Move to Portugal. The competition was: who could beat their own monthly averages in variable spending categories. The winner would be determined by reducing spending by the greatest percentage; WINNERS for individual categories and overall.

I thought it would be fun, and I was flattered to be asked. Not once did I think I would win, and I really didn’t know how the competition would affect me since I had NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE.

 I’ll start with the life and personal finance lessons learned from participating in the competition. Think about whether they would apply to you.

1. CONTROL: I love control. I like to control myself and those around me. The competition reinforced that there are some things one can control and others you cannot. For example, I could not control my husband’s spending. But I could certainly almost control my own. The fact that my bi monthly hair appointment came in June was out of my control. Jacq at Single Mom Rich Mom couldn’t control when her annual car tax came due.

 The takeaway: Control what you can, accept that you cannot control everything.

2. DO NOT GRADE YOURSELF: Throughout the month I wondered how I was doing. I was even tempted to check my progress. But, I refrained from checking, practiced smart shopping habits  and cut back where I could. I figured that even though I wanted to win; win or lose, I would benefit from the competition.

 The takeaway: My job was to compete, the results would come later. Obsessing about how I was doing wouldn’t make any difference. I don’t need to grade myself.

 3. COMPETITION IS MOTIVATING: If I did not have the June challenge, I wouldn’t have tried to cut my spending for the month. Our family spent almost $500 less than we normally spend. The competition was motivating, but it was also difficult and constraining. There were things I wanted to buy which I didn’t. I cut waaay back on groceries.

 Jacob at Early Retirement Extreme asked if I was going to continue. The short answer is, I might try another competition month, but I will not continue changing my spending to match the June challenge month. Our family has a budget which allows for saving, spending on what we value, and charity. We have emergency savings and investments. And it’s working for us.

 The takeaway: Competing with a partner or two towards a goal is a wonderful way to make a difficult task more fun and up one’s motivation. This was my first time, and I would definitely try it again!

THE RESULTS

If you hung in for the entire post, thank you. Here are the final results.

OVERALL WINNER: BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance

with a JUNE decline of 36.56% in the variable spending categories

 I was happy to win and also surprised. I never thought I would be the overall winner. It’s sweet to win, and it’s also fun to compete! 

ACTION STEP

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.

Ask a partner to join you in a competition; make achieving a goal more motivating and fun. Try it with spending, losing weight, or any other challenge.

Let me know what you think about competing towards a goal. Have you tried it before? How did it work out?

Image credit: McDuck 17

YAKEZIE SHORT CARNIVAL 

Check out these personal finance articles by talented Yakezie writers:

7 Wealth Building Strategies  at Invest it Wisely

How Would $1,000 Change Your Life?  at Financiallly Poor       

 “Enough” by John Bogle – Review & Introduction  at Engineer Your Finances

 

Categories: competition, life, saving, spending

“Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.” George S. Patton

I’m proof that Patton is right, because I LOVE A GOOD CHALLENGE.  But hey, wait a minute, he forgot about Canadians-my arch nemesis and competitor: Jacq at RichMomSingleMom is from Canada. OK, Patton MUST have been referring to North Americans.

MAIN TOPIC: What’s Going on with the Catfight?

OK, here’s the deal. I agreed to a spending reduction challenge with Jacq @ Rich Mom Single Mom, Christine @ Money Funk, and Laura @ Move to Portugal, back in the beginning of June. Jacob @ Early Retirement Extreme,  the king of spending reduction is our commentator/ moderator.

 At the time I thought it was a great idea. Now I’m wondering, WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Here is a summary of the challenge:

1. Competition categories:  Auto, clothes, eating out, entertainment/recreation, groceries, & household/personal care.
2. Methods: Get a personal baseline by averaging out spending in those categories.
3. Track spending in those categories for the month of June
4. Compare personal spending to baseline

Goal: Reduce spending in each category. Report to other competitors the percentage decrease.

Winner: Greatest percentage decrease vs. own benchmark.  Overall winner and category winners

Last week I wrote complained about my plight. My husband was not as committed to the challenge as I was. After hours minutes of thought about the wonderful advice from many of the spectators to this dramatic event, I accepted Sam @ Financial Samurai’s suggestion to motivate El Carino (my husband) for the competition with a PRIZE!! OK, that’s going pretty well. Now he is mindful of his spending and referencing the challenge too!

Next, my daughter returned from college last week. Although I considered recommending a family fast for the entire week to cut down on groceries and eating out, I knew I could not do that to myself!!! Fortunately, so far she isn’t eating too much!!! Of course both of them are wondering why there isn’t much food in the house!!!

 So what to do……. I really want to WIN!

PRACTICAL APPLICATION:  Here are the Secrets to Coping with Spending Cuts

At one time or another we all need to cut back our spending a bit. Sometimes it is for a time limited period; job loss, unexpected expenses, or some other unforeseen occurrence. Other times, the spending cutbacks need to be more permanent. Regardless of whether you need to cut back a little or a lot, for a short time, or a longer one, HERE ARE SOME WAYS TO COPE.

What not to do:

1. No cold turkey. Just like in dieting, if you cut back too much, you become too deprived and set yourself up for a spending BINGE.
2. Don’t bully your family-they will rebel (Take it from someone who has tried and failed). Enlist their participation and make it beneficial for them as well.
3. Do not spend your leisure time SHOPPING. That’s just stupid, like a dieter visiting a bakery. Reduce the temptation to spend.

What to do in Order to REDUCE SPENDING:

1. Reward yourself and your family with non monetary rewards; time, free activities, & experiences. Who knows, it may even improve your familial relationships.
2. Enjoy the challenge of the game. I happen to be competitive, so being in a COMPETITION makes cutting back on spending FUN! After all, I might WIN. You can adapt this to your own family, or set some goals and compete with yourself.
3. Ask yourself this question, “IS MORE BETTER?” Robin and Dominguez, authors’ of Your Money or Your Life stated, “If you live for having it all, what you have is never enough.”
4. Figure out for yourself when “enough is enough.”
5. Balance, moderation, and small changes lead to big results. Take your spending reduction “one day at a time” (Alcoholics Anonymous). You can do anything for one day.
6. Start today, don’t procrastinate.

What cost cutting strategies work for you? How do you keep motivated to spend smart?

ACTION STEPS:

Get a notebook and label it: “(your name) Personal Finance” and keep it by the computer. Use it to keep all of your personal finance goals, thoughts, activities, and plans.  

1. Write down everything you spend for 1 week.
2. At the end of the week, spend a few minutes looking at those expenses.
3. Ask yourself these questions;  Would I buy it again? Did I get enough pleasure from my spending?
4. Summarize, where can you cut spending without excess pain?

Photo credit: Ourania2005

 

YAKEZIE SHORT CARNIVAL

The Cost of Your Car @ Sustainable Life Blog

Health Care for Kids when you can’t Afford it @ Eliminate  the Muda

How to Overcome the Pitfalls of Zero Based Budgeting @ Wealth Pilgrim 

Learn more personal finance from these excellent bloggers.    

Categories: personal finance, competition, Yakezie

Last week, Jacq at RichMomSingleMom  threw down her gauntlet and challenged me to a contest:

WHO CAN SPEND THE LEAST IN THE MONTH OF JUNE

Now, I am really competitive (just ask my husband) and always up for a friendly bit of competition. So I picked up the gauntlet! In the meantime, two other personal finance bloggers wanted in on the competition: Christine @ Moneyfunk  and   Laura @ MovetoPortugal. So now we have 4 uber- competitive women participating in the “Catfight of the Personal Finance Blogger Chicks.” THIS IS GOING TO BE HUGE!!

Now, BarbaraFriedbergPersonalFinance strives to: Educate, Inspire, Motivate for Wealth in Money and Life. Additionally, you get basic personal and financial wealth building principles here.

This contest will serve as some “EXTREME PERSONAL FINANCE” training on your path to becoming rich and happy. And along with the competition, I promise you some unique money saving solutions and fun competition; kind of like “The Biggest Loser”, only not with lbs. but with savings.

So follow along here this month… every so often you will get a progress report on how the competition is going, and at the end of the month, a winner will be announced.

Please root me on!   AND

Stay tuned for some awesome PERSONAL FINANCE entertainment.

photo courtesy of Castle Rock Aikido

YAKEZIE SHORT CARNIVAL: Health Savings Accounts are Awesome-7 Reasons @ FreeFromBroke; To Buy or Not to Buy; The Cost per Use Method @ Personal Finance by the Book; Is Becoming a Millionaire the Rule Rather Than the Exception? @Financial Samurai