EXISTING ECONOMICALLY

The first piece of advice provided by Trent Hamm in 365 Ways to Live Cheap is "Take Little Steps, Not Big Ones."

In this recommendation, Hamm relates saving money to dieting. He tells us that in the same way extreme crash diets don't work, extreme saving 'diets' also do not work. Eventually everyone is going to give in and overspend in order to fulfill a craving that has been lingering in their minds for days/weeks/months...it's only a matter of time.

Hamm wrote "find one tactic in this book and focus on just that tactic for a few weeks, incorporateing it into your life." So here is my new direction. There are 20 sections in this book that give advice on specific categories (shopping, health, electronics etc.) and I have decided to focus on the clutter section.

Currently I live in a one bedroom apartment. My boyfriend, who has his own place, stays at my apartment with his dog every night. Don't get me wrong, I love them both and want them here all the time. With this said, it gets extremely cluttered.

In one week I am moving into a two bedroom apartment with one of my really close friends. This will be the perfect week to start focusing on Hamm's Rule #99: Realize that clutter itself is a giant money sink.