It’s been said that quitters never win. That aphorism doesn’t always ring true. In fact, I know many quitters personally who have indeed won at life. They’ve given up one path for another and found success along the way. They’ve quit their jobs, bad habits and trying to please others. They’ve given up on the status quo.
Quitting requires courage. You may have to swim upstream or make a 180 degree turn. In the end, quitting might just save you — your time, your money, maybe even your life. I dare you to choose one thing to quit this week. Don’t know where to start? Consider the following options.
Quit your bad habit
Smoking, drinking, consuming too much sugar, swearing — we all have bad habits. Cutting your bad habit loose frees up space in your soul and sometimes even if your wallet. But before you stop that habit cold in its tracks, take a moment to consider a plan of action.
Research shows that making drastic changes in our lives don’t always lead to long-term success. In fact, if you want a bad habit to transform into a positive one, you’re better off making gradual change over time.
When it comes to addictive substances, seek out professional help to guide your steps. And if your bad habit costs you big bucks, have a plan in place to do something with the money you save. Allowing that extra cash to simply flow back into your checking account will cause it to vanish into thin air. Use the dollars you save to pay off debt or save toward a specific goal.
Quit subscriptions
Daily, we all subscribe to a number of services. E-mails ping our inbox. Products are delivered in boxes straight to our door.
Cancel email subscriptions that lead you toward spending more money. After all, if you don’t know about that great sale, you can’t spend money you don’t have buying things you didn’t know you needed.
It’s also smart to cancel subscription box services. While it may be fun to have items show up at your door every month, odds are good that you either don’t need the products inside or you can’t afford the regular expense.
Quit cable
The average cable bill comes in at $103/month. The industry has increased its rates at 5 percent per year, outpacing inflation. Even if you don’t calculate the inflation, a consumer can expect to spend approximately $1,230/year on cable. If you begin paying a cable bill around the age of 23 and continue until you’re 80, this means you’ll spend that amount (plus inflation) for 57 years. For you math whizzes playing along at home, that means over your lifetime you’ll spend over $70,000 on cable.
I don’t know about you, but I’d love to do a lot of things with $70,000 and none of them involve sitting on my rear end watching reality TV. Even if your phone, cable and internet are bundled together and canceling it only saves you $10 per month, you’ll still save around $7,000 over your lifetime.
Quit complaining
The most toxic seven words I hear from people who want to pay off debt are as follows: “We’re already doing all that we can.” While we can all feel stretched to our limits financially, odds are good that you could do more to improve your financial future. You could take on a second job. You could reduce your lifestyle. You could sell some things you own. You could make a drastic change like moving in with your in-laws.
Henry Ford famously quipped, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” Our attitudes influence every area of our eyes. If your outlook toward the future remains bleak, more than likely you’ll live up to that outlook. And while having a positive attitude doesn’t mean everything will smell like roses, you’ll be more likely to handle difficult challenges when they come.
When you find your words, thoughts, or actions trending negative, pause and redirect your course.
Whether you give up people pleasing or simply hit unsubscribe on an email, choose one thing to quit this week. The difference might seem minimal on the surface but overtime quitting can change your world.
Greenwood resident Cherie Lowe and her husband paid off $127,000 in debt in four years and now live debt-free every day with their two kids. She is the author of “Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.” Send questions, column ideas and comments to newstips@daily journal.net
