I have been reading Money Drunk Money Sober by Julia Cameron and Mark Bryan for five weeks now, and meticulously counting my money as one of their exercises.
In week three, they list a series of twenty-nine questions in a fearless inventory of one's money behaviors.
I'm a little behind--as in everything else--with my reading, and I did commit to reading one chapter a week in this book as I go through twelve weeks of recovering sobriety in my finances.
As for the week three Inventory list, I can't answer all the questions in one go, and I intend to simply answer one each day. Let me answer question number 2 here.
List five efforts you have made to control your spending.
I don't think I can list five efforts. Maybe at most, three.
First, the Counting exercise described in the book, where you list down all monies in and out. Spent and earned. Sometimes the very act of listing a would-be outrageous and impulsive purchase arrests the act before the money leaves my hand.
Second, Journaling, also described in this book. Like breathing and walking meditation, writing about a need to buy something helps me look at it squarely and objectively. It's similar to the walk-away principle. If I want something, I walk away from it and let the impulse pass for a few days. If after a while I still think about the item, then maybe I really do want it and must make space in my budget for it.
Third, allotting ten percent of my paycheck for book fund, another ten percent for theatre fund, and another ten for gadgets fund. I can't spend more than that, and if the item is a little more than the ten percent, I need to wait till next income till I get enough money to buy the item.
Okay, the above behaviors do not always work, especially around the purchase of books. I love books. Hardbounds of my favorite authors. Hard-to-find first editions. Yeah. I can walk away from gadgets, clothes, spas... but bookstores. Oh, boy. Boy oh boy.
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