In a world where diet fads come and go, Weight Watchers has stood the test of time. Nearly 50 years old, the program designed to slim your waistline could hold the keys to fattening your pocketbook.
Participants in Weight Watchers track their food consumption using a points system. Point values are assigned to everything the dieters eat. The number of points consumed at each meal is recorded in a food journal, and the diet participants are allowed to eat anything they want as long as they stay within their daily points “allowance.”
The success of the program is in part due to the fact that the daily points allowance constrains how much the dieter eats. But there is a more subtle, and just as powerful, secret to the program’s success.
Simply by tracking something, we become more conscious of it.
Because they have to determine and record the point value of all meals, Weight Watchers participants become conscious of everything they put in their mouths.
With this conscious consumption, gone is the mindless eating that sabotages so many diets.
We can apply the same concept to master our finances. Like dieters who struggle with mindless eating, most of us fall victim to mindless spending.
Whether it’s the morning coffee, the daily newspaper, eating out for lunch, or indulging in the latest fashions, we all spend money without giving it much conscious thought. Buying becomes automatic, a conditioned response devoid of active mental scrutiny.
Become a Weight Watcher of Your Money
The fastest way to turn around your finances, is to track every penny you spend. Carry a small notebook and record all your spending. I know it sounds extreme. But as with the Weight Watchers program, the actual practice of tracking the spending makes you more conscious of it. It busts you out of the “mindless spending” cycle.
But, there is a second benefit. You discover exactly where your money is going.
Really, how many of us truly know exactly where our money goes? Could you recite how much you spend every month on groceries, morning coffees, vending machines, or clothing?
As the saying goes, control your money or it will control you. Tracking allows you to pinpoint the wasted dollars that undermine your financial health.
Give It a Test Drive
I know this sounds like a lot of work. It can be inconvenient. But, financial FREEdom is never FREE. As financial expert Dave Ramsey can attest, do what no one else is willing to do today, so that tomorrow you can do what no one else can.
If you don’t think tracking your spending is your cup of tea, just take it for a test drive. Try it for 30 days. In just that amount of time you can break the cycle of “mindless spending” and start thinking consciously about every purchase you make.
And if you decide to continue, you’ll get an even better handle on where your money is going and how to make it better serve you.
Are you guilty of mindless spending? Do you track how you spend your money? What methods do you use to follow the dollars?