The Spending Diet

My husband and I recently embarked on a diet program. No, we didn’t need to lose weight. We needed to trim some ugly flab that had crept into our financial management plan, and the only way to take care of it was to put ourselves on a strict spending diet.

Had you asked about our family’s financial habits a few months ago, I would have told you we were quite frugal. My husband and I aren’t ones to spend a lot of time in the stores, and we have simple tastes. Nonetheless, we were spending more than we’d budgeted every month, and something had to give if we wanted to stay out of debt.

Just as with diets involving food, a person can’t go cold turkey when it comes to a spending diet. Bills still need to be paid, food needs be purchased, and the car needs gasoline. What worked best for us was to consider each and every purchase before making it. If it didn’t fall into the “necessary” category, we did without the item.

This has been an eye opening experience. I found myself putting items on the grocery list only to cross them off a moment later when I realized there were many good dinner options already in the freezer. One day I was on my way out the door to buy some greeting cards when I recalled a box full of nice cards on the bedroom shelf. Another day I was tempted to buy our cats a cute new toy but talked myself out of it when I remembered they have plenty of toys; what they need is more attention from me.

A person trying to stick to a budget can fall into temptation just like a person trying to stick to a low-calorie diet. In my case, I’ve found that sale catalogs and store ads are best put in the recycling bin as soon as they come out of the mailbox. I also stay out of the stores unless absolutely necessary. We used to grocery shop every week. Now we only go one to two times a month, and we save a lot of money by not picking up “bargains” that weren’t on our list. Likewise, we pay for our gasoline at the pump so we no longer buy coffees and snacks each time we refuel.

We “weigh in” at the end of every week, talk about what did and didn’t work for us, and consider options for the week ahead. During one of these weigh in sessions, my husband realized that when he and our son ran errands together he was spending an additional $20-40 per trip on impulsive things. Once he became aware of the habit, his spending dropped by 90%. Again, it was a case of little morsels adding up into a lot of extra fat.

We’re doing well in our pursuit of financial fitness. We know we’ll have to remain vigilant and work hard to maintain our new financial physiques, however. Fortunately, we’re both committed to sticking with this program for the long term and look forward to enjoying a healthy financial future together.