It’s seems like it’s the hot new thing to say these days. The idea is that one (und precisely vun!) minor change will make your financial problems go away forever. It’s also a common theme with weight loss advice.
Stop drinking at Starbucks and retire at 40!
Eat Carrot Sticks with lunch and you’ll lose ten pounds a week!
Yes, it’s definitely possible to save money by cutting out outside eating (and drinking). But it’s a small part of a much larger problem. If most people with bad financial habits actually did stop doing Random Money Waster, they would save a bit of cash. But once that cash is freed up, it can be spent on many other money-wasting things (which unfortunately is usually what happens).
- People cut out the Starbucks and ‘reward’ themselves by going out to eat once a week.
- They stop going out to eat and use that money to buy new clothes.
- They cut out most of their clothing budget and spend that on financing a new car.
It happens all the time, and it’s soooo easy to get side-tracked like that. You’re only treating a symptom, not curing the disease. If having a nice new car is important to you, then I think this is a great way to help cover the cost. Of course, if this is your second or third car you could also b wandering into dangerous territory.
I know it sounds silly, but for me it has been difficult to manage my finances and for the longest time it just seemed like the de facto action was to move the saved money into something else unnecessary. In fact, it was automatic. If I had $25 in my account instead of $15, that money was fair game for anything I wanted or “needed.” I was basically constantly forcing myself into a position where I was living tiny paycheck to tiny paycheck, with no savings or investments (and letting debt slide).
Later I will talk about how I’ve “invested” my money over the past five years.
–Griffin
True Tales of Life and Debt 