Fiscal Fast Week!
What is Fiscal Fast Week? Well for those of you who have never heard of a fiscal fast, I seriously suggest reading The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches by Jeff Yeager. It's a great read and Jeff Yeager has a lot of great tips for helping you view your money differently and bonus he's funny!
Basic of a Fiscal Fast: One Week Without Spending Money.
So, I decided two days before my kiddos 5th birthday to start a Fiscal Fast. This ironically also happened to be the day that our grocery credit card came in the mail. When I looked at my calendar and saw "5th Birthday Pizza Party" all I could think was, "Well maybe next year," and "It's a good think I had everything for his birthday dessert." I just re-planned to something simpler. He's only 5 and simple is probably better anyway.
I have wanted to do a fiscal fast for a while but my motivating factors really seemed to make sense for this week.
1. We fly across country the day after the end of the fast.
2. We are moving the beginning of next month. So, we need to get rid of the extra little things and food that has been collecting anyway.
3. I think starting off our new journey with a good mind for our spending is a great start.
Honestly, this looks like a great opportunity and half of me says, "this is going to be easy and probably fun." and the other half of me says, "omg... this is going to be way harder then you think. What the hell are you thinking this is crazy." Either way, I'm planning on doing this and hopefully doing it again in another 6months when Luke is actually home. I think I will be up for the challenge of having both of us involved even though that will be tough. I mean come on 2days into a juice diet we both fell off the wagon and went to Jack In The Box. It was bad! But you live and you learn :)
Break Down Of What You Do:
1. No Spending Money - Basic Rule
2. No Stockpiling Food - The point is to get rid of the extra things that been building up in your house. You might have to get creative but you should not go hungry if you shop like normal Americans.
3. Bills - You should make your Fiscal Fast Week a time that
a) you are not paying your bills.
b) a time to re-evaluate your bill spending. Have you tried getting a better deal on your current bills by calling the provider? or Maybe your lazy and don't want to call. Have you tried BillCutterz. BillCutterz professionally negotiate your bills for you! Read More.
c) Maybe just maybe, there are services you don't need. I know we cut out our Ipad service and some internet subscriptions we just didn't use. Now I tried cutting out Netflix, but let's be realistic I have 5year old who has a Nabi. He was just not happy, didn't understand and well he was making me crazy. I know we can cut out Netflix but that will wait to a later date with things are less crazy and it probably won't be permanent.
4. Transportation - Okay, fill up your gas tank before you start a fast because no buying gas this week. So, maybe bust out your walking shoes and bike too. If you take public transit well figure out how to figure that out for a week and maybe preload your transit card or just keep the money set aside. Either way, this week is a good week to re-evaluate your transportation and find alternatives that don't cost anything. And heck, you might find that those walking shoes look good on you and maybe you lose a few pounds. :D
5. Kick Those Habits!!! - Cigarettes, alcohol, lottery tickets, the movies, fast food, ect. NOPE You don't get to stockpile them and you don't get to buy them. You'll thank yourself later.
6. No Buying Clothing - Fiscal Fast Week is actually a great time to go through your closet and recycle old clothes to make new outfits or just get rid of the extra stuff you don't use. Rule: If you haven't used it in a year it's probably time to get rid of it.
So there you go that's the basics to a Fiscal Fast Week. Do you think you can do it? I'll check back in with you all on how I did and let you know how tough it was.
