In praise of the half-arsed money saving effort

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Oh gimme a break. And now, a wise-if-sarky word from our sponsor, Hipster Kitty.

While I have been known to bust a gut on various projects whenever the mood takes me, I’m also rather fond of assorted clever hacks, apps and gizmos that make life simpler and easier. There’s a time and a place for a well-judged short cut if you know what I mean.

I’m also extremely wary of those radical plans that promise you the earth, but are entirely impossible to stick to in the long run because they’re essentially incompatible with the ups and downs of life in the real world. All these bits of advice do is offer you something simplistic, fill you with false hope and finally they make you feel like a total failure when it inevitably all goes wrong. They’re disempowering, and the worst thing about them is that they can leave you feeling like there’s no point in making any kind of effort at all.

They also tend to throw you during the learning stage, the point where you might be feeling a bit delicate or easily discouraged. So I’m here to say that it’s okay to have wobbles in the learning stage – go in with a ‘see how it goes’ attitude and don’t beat yourself up when that new budget or plan doesn’t work. Just learn from it and try to remember that the fine tuning stage is where all the best money management is really forged. It needs to work for you, it doesn’t matter at all that it worked for the motivational speaker from wherever with the fancy website and the expensive book.

So, unless you are having a financial emergency such as bailiffs at the door, I suggest going in with a half-arsed attempt first if you want to pick up new money skills. Don’t overdo it, and don’t strain yourself to breaking point from the off. Set one, two, or at the most three nicely modest goals, and test the water. See how you get on. You can ramp it up later if you find something that’s right for you.

For example:

• Yes, of course it’s expensive to go out for lunch every day. Instead of freaking out, switching to daily packed lunches, and pissing off your usual lunch buddies, try taking a packed lunch to work twice a week. You’ll still save a fair bit of money.

• Making a monthly budget is an excellent idea, but only if it’s easy to stick to. For example, whatever figure you originally allocate to going out / entertainment, increase it by 25% and reduce other spending accordingly. It just works, try it.

Any other take-it-slow ideas? Are you a money hacker slacker too?