海角大神

I remember that feeling all too well.

I鈥檇 scrimp and save for a whole month so that I could make an extra payment on a debt. I鈥檇 fire off a check for $1,000 more than the minimum payment and I鈥檇 feel good about it.

Then I鈥檇 look at the remaining balance鈥� and I鈥檇 feel disheartened. All that effort, and there鈥檚 still a long way to go.

The thing to remember about big life changes is that聽you don鈥檛 measure the success by what happens in the first month or even the first few months.聽You measure success over a long period of time.聽

One month of better behavior just isn鈥檛 enough. One extra payment just isn鈥檛 enough.

The changes you make need to be repeatable.聽They need to be a new way of living for you, not just something you鈥檙e doing right now to get this uncomfortable bill out of the way. If you don鈥檛 address it in that way, that nasty bill is going to be right back in your face before long.

That鈥檚 why the real path to success 鈥� for me, anyway 鈥� was all about聽trying lots and lots of new things and, frankly, discarding most of them.

For every five frugal tactics I鈥檝e tried over the years, I鈥檝e tossed four of them aside. Those tactics didn鈥檛 fit into my life. They brought me genuine unhappiness or discomfort in some way. They left me feeling bad or cheap. They left me without things that I really wanted in my life.

When I faced the kinds of changes that I didn鈥檛 like on the whole, I discarded them. I looked for new angles, new strategies, new tactics.

I kept trying. I still do. I look for ways to聽permanently聽change my behavior that resulted in less spending (or more income) that don鈥檛 encroach on my life in any negative way.

Skipping a treat once just isn鈥檛 enough. You need to figure out if this treat is something you need in your life permanently. If it is, then figure out a way to make it cheaper. If it isn鈥檛, then eliminate it from your routine and make it a rare splurge.

Making an extra payment once just isn鈥檛 enough. You may be saving some interest in the long term, but that interest is going to keep hitting you and hitting you and hitting you. A focus on eliminating your debts needs to be a permanent thing, not a summer fad.

Making a meal at home once just isn鈥檛 enough. You might have saved $20 on dinner, but if you make up for it by going out twice in a row, you鈥檙e not really saving much. It鈥檚 the聽routine聽of meals at home that saves a lot of money, and teaching yourself that routine makes an enormous difference.

Making one Youtube video or one blog post just isn鈥檛 enough. You might earn a buck or two from that one-shot deal, but it takes a lot of content to consistently put money in your pocket.

One little change just isn鈥檛 enough.

The post聽聽appeared first on聽.