I realized this morning that managing money is like dieting.

Really?  Yeah.  Think about it.  When you diet, you restrict yourself to eating certain foods.  You give up other foods or don’t eat them a lot.  You may even keep a food diary and write down everything you eat.

Now, let’s look at money.  You restrict what you spend on (or should) because you have a budget.  Maybe you cut down on the number of times you go to a restaurant and cook at home.

You give up spending for certain things or limit your spending in various areas.  For example, maybe you don’t buy coffee at the local coffee shop anymore. 

And like a food diary, you write down everything you spend stuff on.  Keeping track of your spending will help you keep withing a budget.  It’s just like writing down the food you eat will help you keep within your calorie intake.

And the moral of today’s post is….

Managing money is like dieting.  Think about it the same way.  Just like you restrict calories, you restrict spending when it’s money.