Get Financially Fit with a New Money Challenge
Today is the last Friday of the month and in case you are new to this blog or my podcast, on the last Friday of the month, I host a happy hour on my podcast where the happy hour ladies and I talk about various money topics while drinking cheap drinks!Today, we are talking about creating challenges to help you stay on track and achieve the goals you set for this year. Many of you who set goals or resolutions for 2017 are probably struggling with them right now, so the ladies and I share some of our favorite money challenges to help motivate you and make the process more fun!Don’t forget to check out The Financial Gym and its tools and resources to help you break free from your financial challenges and live a financially healthier life!
What are we drinking?
Melanie from Dear Debt — Ginger Turmeric Tea à check out her post about using turmeric for teeth whitening!
Tonya from Budget and the Beach — Charles Shaw “Two-Buck-Chuck” Cabernet
Mrs. Frugalwoods from Frugalwoods.com — Oak Leaf Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc
Shannon — Cavit Pinot Grigio
Podcast Notes
Frugalwoods is hosting an ongoing Uber Frugal Month Challenge with over 9,900 participants that began January 1, 2017, but you can start it on your own whenever you’d like!
The Uber Frugal Month Challenge is meant to help you save money and to restructure your consumer mindset.
Check out the Frugalwoods’ Uber Frugal Month: The Ultimate Guide to Saving More Money Than You Ever Thought Possible.
Shannon says you need to focus on your mindset more than anything else if you want to make a serious change.
No matter what stage you are in, everyone’s money journey could ALWAYS stand refreshing or improvements and enhancing.
Frugalwoods admits she still struggles with impulse spending and believes the Uber Frugal Month Challenge gives you the tools needed to combat that.
One of Melanie’s favorite money challenges is having a no-spend day.
Shannon says she gives the no-spend day challenge as homework to several of her clients.
Frugalwoods found a fantastic compounding interest calculator online that has you input an expense you have (like cable) and then calculates how much you would have in 30 years if you invested the cost of that expense instead.
The ladies agree that sometimes it takes more time than you expect to reach your goal but keep working towards it and it will happen!
Tonya says she is not good at challenges in general and relies on self-discipline to achieve her goals.
She took a quiz created by author Gretchen Rubin that helped her understand her personality and why she responds to expectations the way she does.
She advises other rebels/anti-challengers to figure out your personality and experiment with different things to find what works best for you.
Shannon says one of the number one ways to save money is to decrease your variable expenses like food.
One challenge she suggests is the “clear the pantry” challenge where you have to use whatever is in your fridge and freezer to create meals.
If food is very important to you, find other areas in your life you are willing to sacrifice and attempt challenges meant for those areas.
Another challenge Shannon likes is the cash-only challenge.
You can attempt the cash-only challenge for just one day, one week, one month, or even for an entire year!
Frugalwoods and Tonya agree that the cash-only challenge doesn’t work for them.
All the ladies agree that if you estimate your spending, you always end up underestimating it.
Another challenge you can try is automating your savings.
There are so many different types of challenges to help you improve your finances – you just need to find what works for you and follow through!
TAKEAWAY: Find new ways to challenge yourself to do and achieve more financially!