海角大神

Most of the frugal steps I take in my life are little steps. I drive the speed limit on my way to a friend鈥檚 house, which saves me fifty cents and gets me there a few minutes later. I eat leftovers for lunch. I put together a meal out of what鈥檚 on hand instead of heading immediately to the grocery store. I spend a few hours playing frisbee with my children in the yard.

They鈥檙e all little steps. They each save a few cents to a few dollars. Individually, they don鈥檛 radically change my financial life. They鈥檙e just good little choices.

The end result of these little steps is a bigger checking account balance than I might expect.聽That鈥檚 a very nice thing to have.

I remember quite well the feeling of looking at my checking account balance and realizing I didn鈥檛 have enough to cover the bills. I haven鈥檛 had that feeling in a long time.

Of course, having a surplus in your checking account can be a pretty big temptation, too.

You look at that bank statement or that ATM receipt and you can鈥檛 help but think things like 鈥淚 could afford that new phone鈥� or 鈥淟et鈥檚 go out to eat at that expensive restaurant next Saturday.鈥� You鈥檙e standing at the store, looking at some items you might not have otherwise purchased, and that nice checking account balance pops into your head, and so you mentally give yourself permission to make that purchase.

If you do this, those little steps go to waste.

Sure, the things you鈥檙e spending your money on might be a nice short-term perk, but all you鈥檙e doing is聽shifting your short-term perks around.聽You choose to eat leftovers a few times, then you eat out a few times when leftovers would have been fine. You spread out your grocery store visits, but when you go there you buy a bunch of things you don鈥檛 need.

If you鈥檙e doing these kinds of things, it鈥檚 just聽one step forward followed by one step back.

The little steps can make a life-altering difference if you鈥檙e not constantly undermining them with your other choices.聽Choosing to do something financially sensible doesn鈥檛 help if it鈥檚 followed soon by a choice to do something financially foolish.

If you want to have financial success in your life,聽the 鈥済ood鈥� financial choices need to become the routine and 鈥渘ormal鈥� ones.聽The financially sensible choice is the one you just do by default, and the financially foolish ones are the ones that seem abnormal. The potential mistakes are the ones you think about very carefully and usually put aside.

If you reach that point, the little steps lead you straight to your financial goals.

So, how do you reach that point? Practice. Consistently make the good choice. Find things that bring you joy in your life that are also financially good choices. Try things you鈥檝e never tried before that are financially reasonable and, if they鈥檙e enjoyable, add them to your life.

The more you do these things, the easier it all becomes. It becomes聽natural, and when it鈥檚 natural, it鈥檚 normal to always do it that way.

If the financially sensible route is the natural route, then you鈥檙e going to find yourself taking steps forward without taking steps back. You鈥檒l find yourself with a checking account balance that grows, and that鈥檚 followed by debts that shrink.

The little steps seem hard at first, and they can seem 鈥渦n-fun.鈥� Keep at it. Focus on making the financially sensible choice at every opportunity. Seek out things that are both fun and financially sensible and build on them. Before long, they鈥檒l all seem normal.

When that happens, financial prosperity will begin to seem normal, too.