“Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship.” – Benjamin Franklin

Getting Practical

Cyril Northcote Parkinson claimed that “work expands to fill the time allotted”. Work is not lone in this neat magic trick. Expenses expand to fill the budget alloted. Trouble really arises when the budget boundaries are ambiguous and unintentionally expand via credit, or through displacing other budgets.

One of the best habits to start once earning money, is to put the maximum sum affordable out of the way. The criteria here is that life should be enjoyable without this sum. Doing that helped me live below my means and save a good amount to eventually put a down-payment on an apartment but it did not curb my spending habits. I am still a consumer. I am still a habitual spender.

If I were to pick and choose my habits, I would want money to be spent either on necessities or on things that bring me joy. To put myself on that path, here are the tiny habit I implemented so far:

• When I feel the impulse to spend money, I ask myself:
  • Is it a necessity?
  • Will it bring me joy two weeks from now?
  • Is it for an imaginary self, I want to be but I am not (eyeing clothes that don’t fit my lifestye)?
• Every morning I drink two glasses of water; after I put down the second glass, I write on a post-it note one finance-related task to be done that day. A pad of post-it notes and a pen are readily availabe next to where I place my glass. Here are examples of small tasks I’ve accomplished over the last couple of weeks:
  • Print out a letter to cancel a redundant insurance.
  • List one regular cost in the finance sheet (a Google sheet to list my income and costs).
  • Lookup other regular costs in my bank account and add them to the sheet.
  • Ask for a new login to my online broker account (haven’t used it in years).
  • Enter the current balance for an account into the finance sheet.
  • Call cellphone provider to ask for a better deal (ended up saving 20€ per month).

Two weeks ago, I had no idea where I financially stand. Today I have, albeit humble, a finance sheet that lists my income, my expenses and my current balances. All by spending five minutes a day doing a small task.