I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

The motivational power of the “X”

In the past month or so, I read a post on another blog about using a calendar to help motivate not spending.  I just spent the past little bit trying to find the original post, and I failed.  If anyone reading this recognizes where it came from, please leave a comment and remind me, I want to give credit where it is due!  Anyway, basically, every day you don’t spend any money, put an “X” on that day on your calendar.  Then, when you are going to spend money, look at the X’s you have — have you been spending money a lot?  Not very often?  It gives a little reality check into how often you are spending.

Well, I love the X.  I love putting an X on the calendar at the end of the day, and I love counting how many times in a week I managed to put an X down.  It *almost* makes me not want to go out and spend any money.  Almost.  I still hear the siren song of Target calling me… but maybe it is muffled a bit.  I use blue highlighter and X right over the number of the day on the calendar and it gives me way more satisfaction than I would ever have guessed.

I need to go out this afternoon and buy diapers for my youngest, and then tomorrow I am going to a scrapbooking night which costs $5.  I find myself regretting I didn’t plan better and spend for both these things on the same day.  Two days without an X.  Three, really, because yesterday I paid Dreamhost and it will become four because Saturday I grocery shop so it never gets an X.  I’ll have to buckle down for Sunday.

The motivation of the X reward helps me to not want to spend money on a particular day.  The budget itself is what helps keep my overall spending in check within any particular month.  Apparently I need a lot of built in motivational rewards.  So far I haven’t gone crazy spending money in a single day once I lost the X for that day and I am hoping the budget itself is what is keeping me from doing that.  If things get too complicated they won’t feel like rewards any longer and I’ll be back to square one.

I love the X.  I wish everyone to have happy rows of blue X’s on their calendars too.

~J

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