Hi guys!
I want to challenge y’all this weekend to do just *one* thing to better your money, or the wallets of those around you. We talk a lot about theory and strategies and a whole mess of other financial goodness here, but at the end of the day it’s kinda pointless without *taking action*.
So today I want you to commit to doing just one thing that will improve your wealth no matter how big or small. It can be as simple or complicated as you’d like, but you have to make sure to do it, and then come back here and tell us so we can aptly congratulate you :)
Here are some ideas if you have no idea where to begin:
- Start a budget
- Revamp your budget!
- Update your net worth
- Pay off any lingering bills
- Make an annoying phone call to FIX a lingering bill!
- Make a spreadsheet of all your financial info
- Make an extra payment towards debt!
- Cancel a subscription
- Lower a monthly bill
- Check your credit score
- Check your credit history (can usually do both in one spot)
- Research something you keep on putting off (insurance, a will, other boring things)
- Fill out this spreadsheet and see how far away/close you are to financial freedom
- Get a filing system in place for your $$$/taxes
- Take out a $5.00 bill and give it so someone who needs it
- List out all your financial goals on one paper
- List out all your financial *accomplishments* so far on a piece of paper!
- Sell something online/store/yard sale
- Help a friend out with money advice
- Test out a new $$ app
- Donate to a good cause
- Make up a good cause!
- Mow someone’s lawn/some other hustle
- Start a blog on money (highly recommended ;))
- Go the entire weekend without spending a dollar! Which admittedly is the opposite of taking action, but you can fix that by then xfering over what you normally would have spent into your savings thereby closing the loop.
You can do one of these, right? I’ll also accept any forms of de-cluttering and reorganizing too, but only if it’s something NEW you’re going to do that you weren’t already planning on ;) No cheating!
Tell us what you’re going to do below if you already know, or come back later and share your success stories. Again, could be anything big or small – it doesn’t matter. Just do one actionable thing and make some progress!
I want at least 50 pledges, please :) You can do this.
*****
PS: Extra iFives for doing multiple things…
[Photo up top by andrechinn / modified by J$]
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I’m in, I’ve been planning to sell a few things at an online store for months now but this weekend I will take action!
My wife had been telling me to do the same for months, not until two weeks ago did I actually start throwing a few items on ebay. It’s amazing how fast things can sell nowadays, now all I hear is ‘I told you so’, lol. best of luck on the sales this weekend!
Thanks for the encouragement Jay. Today I finally stopped procrastinating and put stuff on the Finnish ebay!
Work it!
I will make a list of my debts and will start clearing them by priority.. will pay the high interest one’s first
Right now, I’m planning to have a garage sale. I told my younger sister about it and she’s very interested with it too.
Does it count if I already update my networth every weekend?
I know this is counterintuitive since its spending, but I think we are trying to go on a date. But its been budgetted for already!
Dates > Money :)
Dear J. Money, I will do one of your suggested things but hadn’t picked which yet, I just wanted to say your “internet high five” made me laugh and cheered me up :) Thanks :)
happy weekend!
I plegde to stop procrastinating and take action this weekend to get my trip to Kilimanjaro paid for early so that I can use the climbing expenses to bank in on travel rewards and get the flights free (thank you richmondsavers.com).
I also pledge to spend time working on my finance blog since I haven’t been able to spend much time on it yet (but I’m not sure if that counts since I was already planning to do that anyways).
Kilimanjaro! COOL!!!
This weekend I pledge to organize the information for the personal finance workshop I’m doing for a group of college students this month. I’ve been putting it off because there’s such an overwhelming amount of information and motivation that I want to pass on, but I know I need to approach it “bird by bird” a la Ann Lamott.
that’s awesome!!
will you be blogging about it, or sharing the course online?
i think you should :) it can help so many people!!!
I’ll blog about it and share materials, for sure :)
This is really great! Anyone can do one thing without getting overwhelmed!
I’m in, great recommendation. I haven’t updated my net worth for a while, so this needs to get done for sure. I donate to my son’s preschool regular basis, so that’s a check as well. For me, it always important to increase my income streams as well and this is definitely going to be one of my goals this week as well. Great recommendations! High five! :)
I pledge to do several of your recommendations this weekend! High Five!
I’m in! Picked up a side hustle for Sunday (in addition to my already flourishing side hustles!) so that will bring in some extra dough…maybe I will start a blog! I’d love to get out of debt in 2016 & it would be a great accountability tool…
Happy weekend!!!
DO IT!! Our community is great online, and you never know what opportunities can come from it… NO way in hell did I think it would turn into my career and make me more money/friends than I have ever had in my life :)
Why am I just seeing this? Thanks for the vote of confidence…that’s exactly what I needed to hear!!
I’m moving the rest of my IRA out of a bank CD (I know, I know…I might as well put it in a mattress) and into my Vanguard account.
Smartest thing I’ve read all day!
Holy peer pressure! Okay, okay, I’ll finally make a claim on my computer that is broken but still under warranty. Pinky promise.
And pinky promises are no joke – so I know you’re serious! :)
This weekend, I’m going to start organizing my home office for my side business, and I’m going to look at lowering a monthly bill. I ran some earlier retirement numbers the other day, and I was less than impressed with the results. Time to make a change for the better.
you and me both, sister…
Ok, I’m going to call the competing trash and recycling provider in our town and find out why two of our neighbors recently switched trash service (gotta be the price, right?). Then I’m either going to switch our service to the other provider or use that info to make our provider lower their rate.
I didn’t even know that was an option??
I am going to work some more on my estimated tax spreadsheet and if I’m feeling wild, I might even get everything in one folder. They’re sort of related, but I’m taking two high fives anyway.
haha… getting wild up in here – watch out!
I am in and will try to do a few things off the list! Happy Friday ~
So we did a few things on the list….we installed a new gas log and the old one will be taken to the scrap yard for a little $. My daughter and I cleaned out her closet and sold to a second had store…getting about $75 for unwanted items. The balance of the stuff is being donated today to the church.
WAY TO GO!!! That’s so cool!!! :)
Did another weekend…..Daughter received $147.50 cleaning out 2 other closets and we cleaned the garage for a big whopping $5.80 in scrap! Such a good feeling :)
It’s a beautiful thing :)
My goals are updating my net worth as of 10/31, listing some old books to sell on half.com, and seeing if I can negotiate down my daughter’s ER bill from September – and if not just pay it.
OMG. This list is AWESOME!!! I might have to print it out and make it a point to cross them all off by January 1st. As for this weekend specifically I can committ to canceling a membership, and revamping my budget. I’ve been studying it pretty closely and I think I have found the chunk of change I need to make large enough payments to my debt every month and get it paid off within 2 years. So I plan on gettingn all of that formulated this weekend so that hopefully I wonthave any surprises over the holiday that thwart my plan. Thanks for the awesome post!!!!!
You’re gonna get a $hit ton of high fives for that! Work it!
working on a monthly budget this weekend for the first time with the hubby. He is finally on board
Thanks for the prodding, I needed it. First issue: homeowners insurance. New quote is SO much higher than expected I will stop by in person to see why. May end up staying with existing fly by night no name provider (I hope not). Next is go online and make a decision about 2016 medical insurance for me. Choice is $131 increase vs. $288 increase (80% vs. 90% coverage). 2016 is the last year of the better deduction (7.5% AGI exclusion vs. 10%), so it’s time to stop procrastinating and get it done, which means a budget revamp for next year with two higher insurance premiums and the same fixed income! Next is buy an Internet only modem compatible with our horrific cable company ripoff provider so I can drop home phone and cable TV. With the hit we’re taking on insurance it’s no longer an option. Finally, presuming I’m not burnt out on all things finance, look up the retirement finance blog info I started months ago and maybe actually write a first post! High fives all around, let’s do this thing!
Lots of good stuff brewing over there! Break it up into two weekends if you need to so you don’t burn out. They’re all great ones!
Hey J. I’m in…..I pledge to do several things on your list and report back Monday. Great idea. Internet High Five.
Time to get serious about switching phone service, because we’re still on $$Verizon. We’ll research this weekend, and hopefully get a cheaper plan by the end of the week.
Look into Republic Wireless if you’re talking about cell phones!
https://budgetsaresexy.com/2014/07/republic-wireless-review-cell-phone-savings/
We thought about it but I think we’re gonna go with Cricket. It’s a little more, but we’ve had trouble with Sprint coverage in some places we go regularly where Wi-Fi won’t be an option. Even with buying new phones and our Verizon buyout, we figured we’d break even in 7 months and save $87 a month after that.
I’ve heard good things about them too :)
I’m on “vacation” this week, so I’ll pledge to do a fun one like testing out a new finance app =]
I’m going to get last year’s outgrown winter clothes to the consignment shop or ready for the ski swap happening next weekend.
I will update my net worth and plan out some freezer meals. Have a nice weekend.
I just wanted to know that I am always looking forward to your blog post. They are so entertaining and informative. It’s funny that you posted this today because I just started our monthly budget this morning. Being a newlywed, it’s a bit difficult because we need to merge our finances and it’s really something new to us. So we are working on it this month.
I also have been working on not being useless stuff, like clothes that I do not necessarily NEED, but just WANT for the sake of it. Since August, I have not bought one single outfit. This is a big accomplishment for me ;) I started being contented with what I already have and started selling stuff that I don’t need online.
Way to go Elle! I’m so glad these articles are helping you out – this one was a fun one to put together :)
Hi,
Your post reminded me of our newly wed days. Twenty years ago I was a new teacher and my wife worked in a restaurant as a prep cook. We lived in a 650sq foot little rental cottage on the coast and money was crazy tight. Money was a reoccurring cause of fights cause there never was enough money at the end of the month and eventually some unforeseen expense came up.
Somehow we ran into this book. http://www.amazon.com/Financial-Peace-Restoring-Hope-Family/dp/0670873616/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1447529824&sr=8-2&keywords=financial+peace.
It was a life changer for us. Three kids and twenty years later we own our own property debt free, a substantial portfolio and haven’t had any money arguments in years.
It will be the best $4 you ever spend. And if you like that one I have a long list of other books/blogs that you will enjoy and grow rich on.
Cheers!
Rock on! Way to take action!
I’ve started keeping a daily journal of tasks, etc. In the daily journal this morning, I just added a corner that says “Money Spent:” – If I try to keep that at $0 as many days of the week as possible, that would help considerably! Thanks for the inspiration!
Excellent idea!!
I journal every morning too (Mon-Fri at least) and love that idea.
Love the iFive. Reminded me of years ago at work when we attempted to access something on the internet that wasn’t allowed at work we got “the BIG RED HAND”. LOL Great reminder of a happier time of life.
I try to sell something on Facebook resale pages in my area just about every week. I have my budget on a spreadsheet. I copy it over every month and use it also for a checkbook register to keep up with my balance by adding debit card uses & withdrawals throughout the month. We keep very little cash on us in an attempt to spend without tracking.
Going to work on resolving my personal email issue with completing my Acorns account.
I’ve seriously been thinking of starting a blog. If anyone can share where I can find information on starting a blog and especially how to monetize it for maximum profit I am open to suggestions. Do I need to focus on one topic or can my blog consist of a few topics?
Thanks for the motivation JMoney. Have a great day.
Big read hand – hah!
RE: Blogging – I’d only do it if you’re passionate about a subject and want to have fun. The money part is definitely possible, but it takes a looooong time and there are plenty of other ways to make $$$ – and faster – than blogging ;) So I always recommend people just doing it for fun and not even thinking about the $$ for the first 3-4 months, and then if you’re still enjoying it and want to keep going consider the $ part then.
I’m doing a side hustle this week where I’m running a computer game show for this person’s 40th birthday party at some swanky restaurant in downtown LA. Boom! Now if I can just figure out how I’m going to stay up past 10pm….
Thank you for your post, J! All week, I have been trying to “find” enough time to call DirecTV and cancel my account. I just did it!! I cut the cord!! Since I watch less than 5 hours of TV a month (I had DirecTV when my daughter lived home), it should have been a no-brainer but I let it drag on…..I think I was dreading the spiel I would get from calling them. They were pretty good about it. And last week, I downgraded my phone service from unlimited to a plan that has me more than covered. All in all, +$86 in my pocket per month. Woohoo!!
BOOM!!! Love to hear that!
I am in….I need to overhaul the WHOLE budget…PLUS do some MAJOR filing…i wont tell you how long its been but….after taxes for 2014 was done…yea…anyhoo..THAT should keep me fairly busy for 2 days…
I just made a list of all the financial accomplishments we’ve done so far. I am quite impressed with us! haha. Made me inspired to see how far we’ve come and we don’t really have much left to do!
And the best part? No one can ever take them away from you :)
Besides this list giving me a panic attack because I see about 20 things that need done in my life, I accept the challenge because I LOVE crossing things off of lists :-)
I will be hustling this weekend, which for me requires some investing capital, so I won’t be able to complete the ‘not spending any $’ part, but check me off for hustling and the whole ‘start a blog’ idea ;-) That’s enough to keep me busy through the weekend and for the rest of my freakin life!
Haha… you’re a hustler, no doubt.
I love this approach to taking things one small step at a time.
I think this weekend I’ll list out all my financial accomplishments so far this year… I’m sure it’ll give me the boost to feel proud of myself and to figure out the next things I need/want to do to finish the year strong.
Thanks for the motivation!
I plan to mow my own yard and save $30. :)
That’s not going to do a lot for our unexpected $7k AC replacement tomorrow though. Yeeowch!
I have a no spending day scheduled for Sunday. I actually just assigned a client the “homework” of asking herself every day for the next 30 days “what am I doing to better my financial situation today?” and she has to have an answer every day and do what she says she’s going to do. It’s important to ask and challenge yourself on these things.
Hot damn! Now that’s a challenge.
Is it ok if I already did the things today before I read this article:
1. after a week of listening to NPR’s story on the destruction of the rainforest, I checked on the charity rater and sent money to the Rainforest Trust.
2. 1st pay check of new job: so updated my budget.
3. Paid my bills
4. Paid the debt I occurred to my mom when I moved.
any good $$ move counts – congrats :)
“Sell something online/store/yard sale”
I’m going to list the camera lens I meant to sell on Craigslist this weekend!
Happy Friday!!!!!
Hmmm…well two days ago I did my net worth (in the positive!), yesterday I tried to save mula by seeing if triple A was better than my Geico road side service (not), and today I MAXED out my 401k!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Enough exclamation points? I think that should count right?
That’s what I’m talking about, baby!
I pledge to get a bike, stop my nicotine addiction, cancel gym membership, get rid of an insurance and cancel broadband connection (free data on cell phone paid for by my employer). Should net more than 2500$ in a year. Though the bike cost needs to be subtracted w 1250$.
I pledge to write down all of our financial goals on a piece of paper. I’m putting it on the calendar now. Thanks!
Hi J$, long time reader, first time commenter ;) I’m in! I will pay some bills I’ve been putting off, plus return some clothing I’ve been meaning to return. Somehow that feels like I’m getting extra $$$ even though I’m not ;)
Well, it will be extra $$$ cuz it was already out the door and now you’re scooping it back up! So as long as you then put that money somewhere good (savings/debt/investments/etc) I’d say it’s a perfect win :)
hello. i payed a bill in full aaaaaaaaaaaaand i just cooked dinner- so i saved money right there by not going out. =)
J$, love the page bro and truly inspired me to become financially independent and side hustle like a mofo. Its Friday and just sold two things on ebay, for the weekend I am starting a new budget and looking into some investments so my $ will work for me hopefully a percentage of as hard as I work for it. Keep up the momentum homie. KCCO
Beautiful.
Love this! I pledge to look into lowering my Internet bill this weekend. I’ve wanted to do it for a long time and haven’t had the time. (excuses, excuses) Thanks for the friendly yet effective kick in the pants ;)
I’m finally going to call my ISP to try to negotiate back down to my intro rate. They cranked up my bill $20 after the first year and I’ve been putting off asking for something lower. Tomorrow will be the day for sure!
I ended up switching to Bright House! They were offering 3x my current downstream speed for nearly $30 less than what AT&T was charging me. I was at the fastest AT&T could give me at my apartment already. With an installation fee of only $50, I’ll have my money back in two months, a permanently lowered monthly budget, and wicket fast internet. Thanks for inspiring me to finally make these phone calls!
You did it!!! BRILLIANT!
I pledge to finish filling out the settlement claim paperwork from a car accident I was in. i’m just making it bigger than it probably is (I hope).
And thank God you’re alive and able to do that too! Sounds scary :(
Working hard on my portfolio and promoting a new service I created for my clients. Also made up my goals list for 2016 and using a pomodoro app to boost my productivity. Will look further in the list, we need all the help we can get :D
I am dogsitting, further padding that side-hustle account!
I’m putting in 500-1000 into my taxable account
I always keep my Net Worth and Assets updated weekly and monthly in a spreadsheet and via MINT & Personal Capital
Count me in. I plan on looking for more Jordan’s to sell this weekend.
My 1 year old is rocking his Jordans this weekend :) $7 from a thrift store – woop!
You can’t beat that deal!
I’m doin’ it! I absolutely LOVE this stuff. This is one of the blogs I read regularly to stay motivated. This weekend we’re going for the gold. We’re having the discussion THIS WEEKEND about selling one of our cars (paid for) to pay down debt and invest for our future! Thanks for keeping it real, J. Money! :)
-Mrs. Money Monster
Great way to take action!
And awesome blog name too – going over right now to check it out :)
I paid off a bill I’ve been putting off!
* I will send in my daughter’s insulin receipts for reimbursement.
* I will make a $40 donation to celebrate a raise.
* I will spend money only on my weekly grocery shopping.
This week I re-allocated my portfolio.
I was almost 100% in S&P 500 index funds.
Now I’m 65% S&P500
25% Russell 2500
and 10% Bond Fund.
All with very low expense ratios and no loads, of course.
Hahaha, I like the high-five!
Ok, well, I didn’t see this until this morning, but there’s still time! I’m going to pledge to do TWO things:
1. I will quit Apple Music. Because, let’s face it, I do not use Apple Music. And yet it is sitting there sucking $10 out of my bank account on a monthly basis.
2. I will take a bunch of clothes I don’t wear anymore to the consignment shop, to see if they will buy any of them. I had been meaning to do this for a while, but now I’m committing to actually do it this weekend for real.
Music to my ears!
(see what I did there?)
haha, yup, very nice. :)
SO, I just quit Apple Music, which honestly was a little confusing to figure out how to do, so I’m pretty proud of myself.
I also took a bunch of clothes to the consignment shop, but they didn’t want any of them, because I guess my stuff is not stylish enough. :/ So I just dropped them off at Goodwill instead. At least they’re out of my apartment!
This is a really a nice, community-oriented challenge — thanks, J.! :)
Thanks so much for participating and making it fun :)
Thanks for the post. Always great to use the weekend to better your money! I just took another look at ATVI stock and learned from my mistake of selling.
Have a great weekend!
I pledged to just pay off the last $141 of the furniture loan (0% interest) that was left for our media room furniture. I just did that (didn’t know they even had an online site I could do it on, yay!).
I also will list a Renaissance Festival ticket that I won’t be using this year.
Just listed the ticket for $20 (bought 5 months in advance for $13 instead of the reg. priced $26). Fingers crossed!
Haha… good job.
Today I’m going to work on side hustle that is launching later this month in addition to a new blog. If I start making money on a side hustle now, I can reach my goal of having two cars paid off by June. #getit
Great goal!!
I will be updating our first single income month budget that I have yet to do this month!
Also, instead of purchasing some new supplies for baby proofing around the house, I was able to re-purpose some things from the basement that were just collecting dust! DIY win!
This past week I paid off my last high interest credit card!! Now I am going to clean off my desk and sort any tax and banking statements I have accumulated there. Then I will sit down and work on researching dividend paying companies that I can afford to invest in and read through their 10K’s and prospectuses. Then I shall be working it out on a spreadsheet to allocate my capital towards my remaining low interest debt and future investments. Gotta figure out what to do with all my additional cash flow since the credit cards are paid, so new budget in the works I guess!
Oh wow – you have your hands full, haha… I hope you knocked a lot of it out!
Today is the right time to better my money. Today, I am planning to do meal planning so that I know how much I am gonna spend on food and what healthy food I am gonna prepare for my family. I feel so excited about this.
Not sure if this count because I’ve been thinking about it for a while but I’m getting ynab. I scrolled through about 15 of your posts but I found the one with the discount. We just went from getting paid weekly to bi-weekly and lets just say it hasn’t been pleasant.
it’s always annoying changing up budgets/pay schedules but good job taking action on it! and good job finding that discount too – hah :)
I just finished revamping my budget and discovered additional funds that I used to add to regular payments!!
I may be a little late to this party, since the weekend is almost over…but I pledge not to go out to eat this weekend. Since I only have lunch and dinner left I’m almost home free!
I did the grocery shopping for the week and saved about $50. My wife tends to get lots of other things not on the list when she goes.
The high five has me cracking up.
A lot.
I love it.
My money thing this weekend is… spending a ton of it, to destress my life, heh.
I started a blog!! My face is red because I’m embarrassed to tell anyone. It is a little scary and it needs work, but it is started! Thanks for the challenge. It was the motivation to actually take action instead of just thinking about it.
WAY TO GO!!!!!
It’s always scary at first but you get used to it :) Wishing you nothing but positive vibes and success!! Love to hear this!
done !!!!
I just took a few hours to finally understand how to use YNAB and move our spreadsheet budget to it.
High five from the capital of Europe !
Haha… rock on.
This was an awesome challenge! I chose the “lower a monthly bill” assignment. I had been putting off calling my cable provider (rhymes with ox) for a while bc I need to see why my bill increase almost $50. This seemed crazy to me because I was in a price-locked contract. So I called over the weekend, long story short they tried to say the promotion was expired. I spoke with the sales agent and I told him I would cancel if the price was not reduced. 45 mins of talking later I got the price reduced back to the level I was paying until the end of 2016! So I calculated the savings to be approximately $430!!!
Thanks for the homework! I am becoming a fan of this blog!
BOOM!!!
Now imagine doing that with other bills too?? :)
I just saw this post (I know, I’m a slacker at checking my email) but I actually completed this homework without even knowing it!! Just last weekend I signed up at textbroker.com as a writer and I’ve already earned around $15! So excited because this is my first side hustle! (I’ve done a few things like Swagbucks or randomly helping out at my mom’s daycare, but this is the first side hustle that I think will bring in decent money on a consistent basis if I put forth the effort)
Nice! Congrats!
Once you get going (and if you like writing about $$$) you should start pitching yourself to other $$ bloggers. Lots of them hire writers and pay more than $15 :)
I’m in! Today, I’m going to set up/revise my financial spreadsheets to make them easily updateable (updateable?) on a monthly basis to track net worth. While net worth isn’t “what it’s all about”, I like to see progress and this will help me in that direction. Thanks for the challenge!
-DP
Beautiful. Do it!
This weekend, I’m going to open up a no fee savings account. Then I’m going to do research on stocks and investing for when I make the big move from mutual funds to stocks in the new year. I have big plans next year and want to get ready for it!
Check out Simple.com if you’re hunting for one!
The cool thing about focusing on and doing just one thing is that the good feeling we get after success often leads to getting done just one more thing, and then another, and then another. These are the legendary ‘small steps’ that are often and rightly promoted as an effective way to attack what otherwise feels like an out-of-reach goal. Like saving enough for retirement!
It’s like you’re a financial blogger or something ;)
Great post! Thanks for the nudge. We all can use it. Today I will not replace our broken dishwasher with a new one and instead spend time finding a used one on Craigslist to install.
Cheers!
Done! I found three under $50 that I think will work. Here is hoping they will be there when I drive in to Portland on Weds! If so we save over $400!
GOOD LUCK!!!!
Thanks for the challenge. This week (shooting for Wednesday or Thursday) I’m going to make a phone call on a monthly bill!
I hope you do!! Your future self will love you for it :)
I’m going to check my credit , it’s been over 6 months if not a year since last time.
Sending you positive credit vibes!
I have to spend a little money this weekend, but it’s planned for my car — emissions testing and annual registration, but beyond that I had already planned to do a no-spend weekend, and then to work towards a no-spend week and month (for January).
I am going to pledge to also FINALLY list a few things on eBay that I haven’t been able to sell locally on Craigslist.
I also will update my Etsy shop and write three blog posts for my debt reduction tracking blog.
Good! I hope you do try out that no-spend month too – that one alone single-handedly got me to stop shopping so damn much back in the day. Highly recommend it :)