Willpower is apparently a scarce commodity, so I’ve made an executive decision on several personal and financial matters in my life.
1. I am now letting Mint.com keep track of my spending instead of manually entering in my receipts.
2. As long as I save around ~$1,400 to $1,500 a month, I’m content. No need to agonize over a $2 bagel in the morning.
3. All willpower (and brain power, so it seems) is now to be directed toward Project GMAT until August. By the way, did you know that a prime number is a number greater than 1 that is divisible by only itself and 1? I forgot… until now.
4. Non-work life will now focus on studying on weekdays, and class + CB on weekends. And sleep, of course. Can’t forget that.
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I wish they had Mint.com for Canada! It looks so much easier than all the other budget programs I’ve tried (and failed) using!
Interesting article…I definitely need to make my own “Decision 2008″. I have so many goals lined up that I’ve let them take over me, and as a result, nothing is really getting accomplished! I seriously need to cut back. Thanks for the idea!
This is so true. The things fighting for my willpower right now are:
* quality time w/fiancee
* work
* video blog
* standup
* health (biking to work)
* new dog (training)
And I also will have to start studying for the GRE in time to take it before fall applications. To be honest, health and work have fallen to the bottom of my willpower pile.
WRT studying, a great way to study (especially vocab) is with using spaced repetition, Wired has an article on the popular program Super Memo (which I think his hideous), that covers the concept quite well.
Spaced repetition is effectively flash cards + software that helps you study at the optimal time to embed information into long term memory.
I’ve been using the free program Anki to study new concepts at work, it’s impressively effective.
Hey there,
I started using Mint several months ago and have greatly benefitted. 24/f here and in a similar situation with the various saving goals! It’s only getting better…and in the near future you’ll be able to add in your student loan and retirement accounts to get a clear picture of your net worth. Good luck!
I finally gave up and decided I will start using Mint.com.
Manual entering is a pain in the ass. And I hate having to check off receipts, stuffing them in an envelope even after entering them and reconciling again when the statements comes in. Willpower should be conserved toward making more money!
What percentage of your monthly income are you saving? I’m having a hard time setting a goal for myself, and when I see yours it makes me want to cry because it’s almost as much as my monthly take-home pay!