It’s the first of June — and we’re ready to get started on our second group 30-Day Challenge!
It was amazing to see all of your shares and updates on our first challenge. I can't wait to see the positive changes you make in this next group effort.
So Justin… What’s the Second Challenge?
For the second 30-day challenge at Optimal Living Daily, we took your feedback into consideration.
The theme of the challenge is: MONEY TRACKING.
CHALLENGE: Track your expenses and income throughout the month of June.
If you've never tracked your money, it can understandably feel scary and nerve-racking to even think about it!
If tracking your spending feels unimaginable, you might want to check out our post on budgeting tools and why tracking your finances is important. The post gives an overview of different money tracking apps you can try (Justin personally uses YNAB and Personal Capital together).
There's nothing wrong with using good old pen and paper — and a calculator — if that's your preferred method to log all your expenses.
The idea is to gain awareness of where your money is going, and how much is coming in, so that you have a clear picture of your finances.
Quick tip: Avoid overwhelm by focusing on TRACKING your income and expenses. Don't worry about how much you should be budgeting or saving just yet — just keep the focus on money tracking.
How to Participate and Be Included in the Book Raffles
- Share that you're committed to the monthly challenge! You can do this in any or all of these ways:
- Post a picture on Instagram while you're doing the challenge (include #OLD30Day and @OLDPodcast to notify and tag us) *
- Or comment on my post about the 30 day challenge in our Facebook Group (pics encouraged)
- Or if you're not on those social networks, comment on this post below
- Sign up for our newsletter for the latest updates.
- Repeat #1 half way through (for accountability) and at the end of the month. I'll give reminders in the email newsletter.
* As this is a financial-related challenge, we don't expect you to publicly share screenshots of your actual income or budget. See the “printable download” section below for ideas of pictures and comments you can share!
Blog Posts to Give You Ideas and Inspiration
To give you some motivation on why money tracking is important, you can check out some of our blog posts here on OLD Podcast:
- Budgeting Apps to Track Your Expenses
- How Do I Overcome My Fear of Money?
- Personal Finance: Make It Personal
- How To Adopt Financial Habits That Stick (ep. 822 of Optimal Finance Daily)
- 7 Surprises After Tracking Every Penny In and Out of My Life for Nearly 7 Years (ep. 255 of Optimal Living Daily)
Printable Download
As this is a financial-related challenge, we don't expect you to publicly share screenshots of your actual income or budget.
The calendar below has some weekly prompts that you could answer. And you can post your answer as a comment, picture, or video story 🙂
There's a digital version below, or you can download a PDF version to print.
Feel free to create your own questions and answers as you come to your own realizations during the challenge.
Why Join?
Our community is made up of friendly and supportive members who are always interested in optimizing their lives.
It is fun to have encouragement, accountability, and more among listeners of the podcasts 🙂
You can share your progress and pictures, and check the posts from other members such as:
FB comments and posts from the first 30-day “decluttering” challenge
What Else Do I Get?
We'll be doing book giveaways — and you can choose the book you want if you win! Names will be collected via the shares and comments on Instagram, Facebook, and here on this post, so be sure to follow the instructions above!
The book list includes (and some of the books are autographed!):
- Push Journal by Chalene Johnson
- 131 Method (signed) by Chalene Johnson
- The Art of Productivity (signed) by Jim Stovall
- The Power of Having Fun by Dave Crenshaw
- Good Enough by Kim Foster Carlson
- Live, Love, Explore by Leon Logothetis
- Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by The Minimalists
…and many. many more!
Can I Share an Idea?
Many of you sent in GREAT ideas, like:
- A social media detox
- Quitting junk food and soda
- Improving the quality of your relationships
- Getting rid of items
- Avoiding negative affirmations
You may already have an idea you’ve been wanting to do as part of a 30-day challenge.
Send us an email if you’d like to share your idea! We'd also like to hear what's working for you and what would make this process easier.
Some Money Tracking Quotes to Inspire You
If tracking your spending makes you nervous, perhaps some of these quotes will show you why it's important:
- “It's not your salary that makes you rich, it's your spending habits.” ~ Charles A. Jaffe
- “A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” ~ Dave Ramsey
- “Money, like emotions, is something you must control to keep your life on the right track.” ~ Natasha Munson
And here are some quotes from our subscribers and Facebook group members who had a blast with our first “decluttering” challenge:
- “I have started the challenge. . .the great thing is it always ends up being more. Just getting started starts a great chain reaction.” ~ Paul K.
- “I cleaned out a chest that I've been putting off for too many years and got rid of a ton of stuff.” ~ Lisa I.
- “I actually got my car totally clean so far and my apartment is halfway done. It was a tornado.” ~ Amberlee B.
Now it's time to get excited for more awareness with your spending habits after 30 days!
My husband and I finally found a money tracking app that works for both of us. We’re in.
I already keep track of my expenses.