Exercising Financial Restraint Leads to Financial Security
Just as physical exercise is essential in order to live a long, healthy life, exercising financial restraint will do wonders for your economic situation. While not easy, avoiding impulse buying, saving up your money until you are able to purchase something that you would like to buy instead of buying it on credit, or simply being content without something are all key steps to financial security.
One of the best ways to develop a thrifty lifestyle is to quit carrying around all those cards. Leave your debit cards at home. Cut up your credit cards. Start paying cash for your purchases.
When you have to hand over cold hard cash for something, you will most likely to take your time before deciding if you are really willing to go ahead with the purchase.
Set aside your money for specific purposes and only use if for those purposes. Some people go so far as to put it in separate envelopes (each one labeled for a different use like groceries, gas, rent, utilities, medical, etc). If you don’t have money set aside for something you want to buy, then it is a good idea to wait until you do have money in that envelope.
Another way to develop your self-control is to set up a waiting period for purchases. Three days would be ideal but you should wait 24 hours (at least) before following up on a purchase. If you still want it and just can’t live without it after the waiting period (and you have the money already set aside), then it is probably a good purchase for you to make.
Find an accountability partner. For many people this is their spouse, although sometimes spouses will go out of the beaten path to avoid talking about finances. Be open and honest with someone about your financial situation and make sure it’s okay to call them when you are feeling tempted or weak. Support is one of the most important elements to developing any positive character trait.
Self-control in a frugal lifestyle is all about restraining your impulses so that you can make wise decisions. It will help lead you to a place where you can develop a plan for your future and begin the process of implementing that plan. Self-control teaches you to walk away from anything not in line with your goals.
While is isn’t always easy to say no to things, by learning to exercise financial restraint and by getting the needed help from your accountability partner, it will quickly become second nature.
