Don’t Just Cut Costs, Replace Them With Something More Useful
When your budget gets out of hand, you know you need to cut costs. However, contraction is always perceived as a painful sacrifice. To ease the mental burden, replace your spending with something else.
As lifestyle site The Minimalists explains, completely removing anything from your life makes it feel like it leaves a hole. However, replacing it with something else may seem like a positive change. For example, instead of just cutting the cable, replace your watching TV with a walk. Instead of just ditching fast food, replace it with your favorite meals you can prepare at home. This strategy not only saves money, but also helps you feel happier in life:
You see, I didn’t just do without – I replaced spending with alternatives, which made my instant confiscation less like a sacrifice. Interestingly, once I got out of debt, I was able to get some of these indulgences back into my life, doing it deliberately, discovering which ones I could afford, which ones would add value to my life, and letting go of the rest.
As the author explains, when you remove something from your life to replace it with something else, you will find out which one you really liked best. If you decide to bring a habit back into your life, then at least you know that it is worth your money.
A Few Things I Did To Get Out Of Debt | Minimalists via Rockstar Finance