- A friend of mine once challenged me
that I would not be able to pay off
my $82,000 in debt in seven years.
He bet me $100 that I could not do this.
Long story short, I paid all of them off in four years,
and I didn't make him pay me that $100
because I'm a nice friend like that.
Instead I have a yearly reminder go off on my phone
on that particular date that we made that bet.
And every time that notification pops up on my phone
I text him and tell him he's an idiot.
In this video I'm gonna give you
seven money saving challenges so that you can save money
faster than ever.
I'll even give you a bonus one towards the end
that doesn't even have to do with saving money.
Hey I'm Jarrad from Debt Free Blueprint,
where I show intelligent people like you
how to get out of debt and create freedom
through your finances using the Debt Free Blueprint.
I would love you long time if you Hulk smashed
that thumbs up button.
Thank you so much in advance.
Let me know in the comments down below
of any kind of money saving challenges
that you've tried in the past that you really, really like,
and you want to let me know about.
If you want more personal finance videos just like this one,
then hit that Subscribe button
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to deliver them to your beautiful face.
Challenging yourself is a great way
to remember that you can actually do
what you think that you can do.
Now these money saving challenges
can kind of keep you at the top of your game.
It's kind of like an athlete practicing
on days that they don't have games.
You need to stay fresh and ready at all times.
So why not get some practice in?
The same thing goes for your money.
You're working towards becoming a pro,
or even maintain your pro level status.
So to do that, you need to be constantly
challenging yourself and testing yourself
just to make sure that you're still in good financial shape.
Anyone can say that they could save 60% of their income,
but if you're not doing it or haven't done it
for an extended period of time,
then I do not believe that person that's saying that.
Think of it like practicing for a competition.
If you ran a 10 mile race last year
then stopped training for a long run like that,
then what makes you think that you'll be able
to run that far again without training for it?
Unless you have that Mickey Mantle gene
that I heard that some people have.
I don't know if I believe it though.
I like money challenges to kind of keep things fresh
and to switch them up a little bit.
It can also give you a way to kind of stay focused
on one challenge as opposed to trying
to save in multiple areas in your life.
It can even give you new ideas of where
you can cut your spending, or even where you can
make more money.
The cool thing is that this has the potential
to last well beyond that current challenge
that you set for yourself.
Plus it makes your personal finances
just a little bit more fun and sort of gamifies
the whole thing.
I'm one of those weirdo personal finance nerds
so always having money challenges going on
for someone like me is like having
fantasies about discovering a new
high interest yield savings account.
By the way, a good one is Ally.
Now it doesn't matter how long you choose
for each challenge.
Some work best for a week, a month,
or I've even seen some people do it for a full year.
A money challenge isn't made to be forever,
unless you realize that you really like doing it.
So as you go through this process
remind yourself that this challenge isn't forever.
A 30 day challenge is not very long at all.
The first money saving challenge I highly recommend trying
is to keep your cards and cash at home
unless you're going somewhere that you need to use them.
If you don't have it then you can't spend it.
I've found this super helpful when making sure
that I'm not trying to find something to snack on at work.
I am a fat kid at heart, and if you give me the option
then I will be more likely to go buy food
that I don't really need at work.
The same thing goes for if you're driving
home from work and you get a little bit hungry.
Even though you have food at home
you may feel like, hey let's stop at a Chipotle real quick
to grab a quick burrito.
Plus us humans really stink at this sort of thing,
so leave all of your money at home
so the decision automatically defaults
to an easy, um, no.
Now I know some people who might be really scared
to leave the house with no money,
but the likelihood of you needing that money
at all times is really, really slim.
Unless you're planning to actually
go to the grocery store, leave your stupid money at home.
Next, don't online shop for one full month, 30 days.
The reason I really like this one
is because most of the things that we buy online,
we don't necessarily need right away.
Because of that, you should put a little bit
of a ban on yourself when it comes to online shopping.
If you really feel the need to online shop, then do it.
Kind of like window shopping though, but on the internet.
Add things to your cart that you want to buy,
then close out of the window once you're done
kind of window shopping, or internet window shopping.
I've actually taken this one step further
and unsaved all of my credit card information
from my Amazon account to add a little bit
more friction to the online buying process.
To go one step further, I don't keep my wallet
close to my computer.
I personally leave it in my bedroom
which is actually two floors above me.
So instead of being able to click that Checkout button,
the one click save, I can't do it anymore
because the number isn't saved on Amazon.
And instead of entering my card number
into the checkout area of Amazon,
I have to go up two floors just to get the card
that I would need to purchase something.
I know it sounds stupid, and very childish
because all I have to do is walk upstairs to get my card.
But just that little bit of friction
helps prevent me from spending money
on things that I don't really need.
If you do end up online shopping
then use a service like Ebates
to help you save a little bit more money.
Link to sign up with Ebates is in the description.
The next money challenge you can do to save more money
is to choose a month where you don't spend
any money on entertainment.
The rule is to only allow yourself
to do things that are free.
Now this is gonna force you to look
for new ways to have fun for zero dollars.
When I did this it opened my eyes
to how many free things there were
to do in my local city or even surrounding cities.
Nerd alert, I found that my local library
held all kinds of different talks
that I probably would have never gone to before.
The one that I actually really, really enjoyed
was this dude talking about ancient Egypt.
And I now know a little bit too much
about the different dynasties from many
of those Egyptian kingdoms that existed in the past.
Hey I warned you with the nerd alert, okay?
This is also the perfect way to head to the library
and start reading more.
Now, I love reading, but with entertainment
like Hulu and Netflix, we forget about the type
of entertainment that humans have been using for years.
Books.
So downgrade all of your entertainment subscriptions
for 30 days, and start finding other alternatives.
Unattach from some of that technology for just a little bit.
Once again, 30 days is not very long at all,
so I'm sure you're gonna be able to handle this.
This next one gives you a little bit more freedom.
I want you to choose an amount that you want
to save for this month.
Then work your budget around achieving that number.
A way you could do this is by removing
the full amount from one budgeting category,
or even removing a little bit of money
from multiple categories.
For example, I like doing this every now and again
just to see how I work around spending less
on things like gas or even dates.
When I spend less on dates, it forces me to think
of other fun ways to entertain women throughout that month.
Now I'm not gonna lie though,
I've tried this on first dates,
and the girl will sometimes think that I'm kind of cheap,
until I explain what I'm doing.
Then, I get either one of two responses.
She either thinks that it's fun
or she thinks that I'm a straight up weirdo.
Which I'll agree with her that I'm a little bit different,
but oh well, onto the next one.
Try to get a cheaper rate.
I want you to take the next 30 days
and pick one or two bills to try to get them lowered.
Now these can be one-time bills
or even recurring monthly bills.
I've noticed that sometimes we get caught up
in our day to day life and completely forget
about really questioning how much we're paying
for certain things.
This easy to miss mistake has the potential
to cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars more
than you had to pay in the first place.
I do this every year towards the end of the year
where I call multiple companies to try
to get my bills lower.
Think of things like cable companies,
internet companies, or even insurance companies.
You can especially do this with your insurance company.
If you have credit card debt then you can even
try to call to get your interest rate lowered.
Or maybe you could even work on transferring
your credit card balance to a zero percent interest card
to save you some money while you're
paying off that credit card.
Now you might take a small hit on your credit
when you're opening that new card,
but you will save money and you can always build
your credit back up over time.
I also use this method to get a $100 cleaning fee
removed when I rented a car a few months back.
Because I took my pup on a road trip
and she kind of left a little bit of dog hair behind
that they charged me for.
All it took was a 10 minute call
and they removed the charge completely no problem.
The next challenge I have for you
is to avoid eating out for a full month.
Now if you're like me, then this is a little bit crazy
but it is a huge, huge money saver.
I give myself two cheap meals per week
where I go out to eat, so doing this kind of thing
stinks when I'm doing a challenge,
but I usually make it just fine for 30 days
by eating at home.
It's not the end of the world.
Since I have $80 per month budgeted for cheap meals,
I save an extra $80 that goes towards investing
a little bit more money that particular month.
Now some people might say,
um, is investing $80 for one month gonna make me rich?
No of course it's not, but the point of this
is to challenge yourself to work out
that savings muscle that everyone has and needs to work out.
Lastly, I want you to pick a month
where you try to make an extra $200.
Now, this is actually a lot of fun
if you've never done it before.
There are zero rules, except that it has to be done
through a way that is legal of course.
We of course don't want you to lose money
because we have to bail you out of jail.
I've bailed enough of my friends out of jail
when I was younger, so don't be calling me
if you don't follow my rules
because I'm not gonna come get you.
I've been playing around with earing some extra money
by dog-sitting through rover.com,
or even flipping things on Ebay,
which I'll make videos about in the future.
Let me know in the comments down below
what you would do to earn an extra $200 in 30 days.
Once again, I would greatly appreciate it
if you Hulk smashed that thumbs up button,
and don't forget to pick up your free copy
of the Debt Free Prep Workbook.
Links are in the description, or somewhere around my head.
I've also got all kinds of links in the description
for playlists that might help you with investing,
making more money, saving more money,
paying off debt, and improving your lifestyle.
I'll see you in the next one, friends.
Adios.