Small Steps Forward

I don’t know what to do in the grocery store anymore. I’ve been eating before I go, and now, instead of grabbing what appeals to me, I go wandering the aisles like some lost, drifting soul, wondering what on earth I might want later. This is probably why people create menus and shopping lists before they go shopping.

It’s amazing what gets cleaned up when you start focusing on money. I’ve been noticing how large my food budget is and I’ve been wondering how I can prune it.

Some pruning is already happening naturally as I start eating regular meals. I don’t leave the house hungry anymore and that seems to change what I buy (less chips and snacks) and how much I spend. More pruning is happening with me only taking a little more than I plan on spending. And, it’s funny, the more I prune, the more change I get from the cashier. I’ve heard the same things happen when gardeners prune trees. Pruning seems to result in more to harvest.

But all this order starts happening to all these different areas of my life as I begin to apply financial discipline. And the only things I’ve done so far is read blogs, listen to podcasts, read at books, and put 10% of my money into savings. Just that has lead to regular meals. Well, more regular meals.

And the saving hasn’t been easy. For three months I’ve been doing Dave Ramsey’s Baby Step 1 and for three months I have sabotaged myself, working to employ old habits of dipping into savings when to support my financial indulgences. And for three months, I have allowed the sabotage but stopped myself short of dipping into savings, despite the consequences of having more month at the end of the money.

It’s amazing what one small step can do. It’s like dropping one small pebble in the ocean and having that result in a 20-pound fish nibbling your line. It’s amazing.

You need to try it, dropping your pebble in the ocean. Not ten percent? How about one percent? Write that check to savings today. Yes. What are you waiting for?