Get Your Spending Under Control With This 21-Day Financial Fast

People sometimes “fast” so they can get their appetite under control and lose weight. During that fast, they don’t eat food.

You can use the same concept when it comes to money to get your spending out of control and avoid debt. And during your “financial fast,” you won’t spend money.

While there are several ways to do financial fasts, let’s discuss one that’s 21 days long.

What Is the 21-Day Financial Fast?

The 21-Day financial fast is a challenge you can put yourself through now to curtail bad spending habits that can put you in deep debt for the long term. Here are the basic rules:

1. Purchase necessities only.

For 21 days, you will be cutting out luxuries, such as:

• Eating out.
• Going to the movies.
• Making online purchases.
• Buying birthday gifts.
• Taking vacations.
• Going to the hair salon.
• And so on…

In short, if you don’t 100 percent need it to survive, you don’t buy it.

What do you need to survive? Things like housing, food, utilities, transportation, and medication.

2. Use cash only.

One easy way to control spending is to stick to cash. Doing so leads to a feeling of actual separation and loss when you pay with dollars versus a card.

On the flip side, not spending and keeping that cash in your wallet can lead to feelings of happiness and pride over showing self-restraint.

3. Keep a journal.

Documenting your 21-day journey is key to pinpointing your spending issues. Write down anything you’re feeling during your fast in terms of money.

For instance, if you find an urge to splurge on luxuries, write it down. Also, document all of your expenditures.

4. Do it for 21 days.

It’s called the 21-day financial fast for a reason. It lasts 21 days, not 10, and you’ll need to commit to the full three weeks to reap all the rewards of this challenge.

Could you do the fast for longer than 21 days? Yes, but doing so may become too difficult to the point that it leads to stress.

21 days is the perfect amount of time to fast – no more and no less.

Benefits of the 21-Day Financial Fast

To complete this challenge successfully, you’ll need a good reason why you’re doing it. Here are some benefits that can help you pick out that reason, so you stick to the challenge for the full duration.

• You can start saving immediately – By only using cash and sticking to necessities, you can stop the financial bleeding that may have occurred from out of control spending.
• You can limit debt – Since only cash is being used, you can keep your debt down so you can pay it down instead of letting it spiral out of control.
• You can get a clearer picture of your spending issues – 21 days without luxuries or credit cards could lead to significant savings. As you look through your journal, you can see what you genuinely need to buy and what isn’t so necessary.