The Simple Spending Rule That Saves Me Thousands Every Year

Throughout my journey to financial success, I’ve implemented many good habits that have helped me improve my financial discipline.

None of these habits have been more important than what I call The 100 Day Rule.

It’s a simple spending rule that’s saved me thousands, and it’s something I want to share to help you:

• Save more

• Improve spending habits

• Eliminate regret

What is The 100 Day Rule?

The 100 Day Rule is a spending rule I use religiously, to determine whether I should actually buy something or not.

It’s helped me improve my financial discipline, and has become a part of my subconscious actions.

It’s helped me:

• Save more money.

• Avoid poor spending habits.

• Invest more for my future.

And more.

So, what is it? It’s a question I ask.

Upon making a decision whether to buy something, I’ll ask myself…

Will this item have the same value to me on day 100 as it does on day 1?

If the answer is yes, I’ll buy it.

If the answer is no, I’ll refrain, knowing that I’ll be making a mistake if I spend.

I’ll take you through some recent examples of mine, so you know exactly what I mean:

1. I started running at the beginning of the year, and was recently in desperate need of some new, high quality running shoes. My answer = yes.

2. Some friends were playing a video game I didn’t have, nor was I particularly interested in, and wanted me to buy it. My answer = no.

You see the significance of the 100 day rule now?

Sure, I could’ve spent $70 on a video game to play it for a few hours, but I know for sure that I would’ve regretted it afterwards.

I’ve been in that situation before, and regretted it soon after.

When to Use The 100 Day Rule

You don’t need to use the 100 day rule every time you spend money.

When it comes to your expenses, you can break them down into three sections:

• Needs

• Wants

• Savings/Investments

The 100 day rule applies to just one of these sections… wants.

You don’t need to ask yourself this question when you’re:

• Buying groceries.

• Paying rent.

• Paying off debt.

• Investing for your future.

That would be silly.

It’s only worth using for things you don’t need, and things that you fear you might regret buying in the future.

• A new pair of shoes.

• A new video game.

• A new device.

You could definitely throw things like vacations into this rule, but the answer would almost always be yes, so it might be pointless.

The truth is the more times you ask yourself this question, the better your spending habits will become.

It’s not about starving yourself of enjoyment, or making huge sacrifices to improve your finances.

It’s about eliminating the purchases that you’re going to regret within a week or month of buying something.

We’ve all been there, and it’s a horrible feeling.

The 100 day rule will help you avoid it.

Why It’s Important to Use

I came up with the 100 day rule to improve my own financial discipline, but I soon realised that a lot of other people would also benefit from it.

There’s a lot of people today who have terrible spending habits, for a number of reasons:

• Lack of financial literacy.

• The image pandemic.

• No long term financial goals.

And as a result, more and more people are spending their money on things that add zero intrinsic value to their lives.

It happens because people don’t know any better, and this is a problem.

Poor spending means:

• You can’t invest for your future.

• You can’t retire early.

• You can’t provide yourself with options and peace of mind.

A simple rule like the 100 day rule can help you towards a better life, and learning to say no to certain purchases can be beneficial to your long term financial future.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to subscribe (it’s free!) for more financial wisdom every week.