So we are a few months into the year now and I am curious how many of us are sticking to our New Years’ budget. Yes like our pledge to go to the gym 3 times a week and lose 15lbs, our financial workout otherwise known as our budget is often thrown out the window by now also.
Sure we brought our lunches to work for 2 whole weeks, and took the advice and skipped the lattes for a month, we even turned down the thermostat a few degrees and wore a sweater to cut down on our heating expenses. But now most of those budget items are all thrown out the window. However, this is not one of those cases to throw the baby out with the bath water.
Let’s call it a slip up and get back on track. But this time let’s not make it all or nothing. So perhaps the solution isn’t any lunches out, but instead once every 2 weeks we make plans with a special friend and go out for a nice but not too expensive lunch. We’ll really appreciate the food and the company more. The same goes for the Latte, in a lot of instances it’s not just about the little kick we get around 2 pm from our favourite drink but also about the company and the event involved in getting the Latte, so instead we plan on one a week with a really good friend to catch up.
This way we end up saving money, but do so in a way that it doesn’t seem like we’ve only hit ourselves with the stick as we also get a bit of the carrot as well.