Financial fitness is important to David Bach.
So much so that he quit the gym this year.
Don’t misunderstand.
He still believes in physical fitness.
But quitting the gym was about financial wellness
It was also about facing financial reality.
As part of his New Year financial planning, David ran his expenses through the ClarityMoney app.
They have an automatic feature to find what Bach calls your Double Latte Factor.
That is your fixed monthly expenses hitting your credit card each month.
Basically, the app summarizes them and reminds you that you are paying that amount each month.
Then it gives you the option to just click and unsubscribe.
So it was right there in front of him on his phone.
The evidence was clear. Bach just was not going on a regular basis.
Like many of us, he was hesitant to quit because he felt he should go. But it was a very expensive aspiration.
So he did the math.
Bach was paying $206 a month.
That means he will save $2472 in 2018.
Over a decade, that will add up to almost $25,000 Bach is NOT spending.
That is also money he could be investing and earning more money.
He likes that math.
He is also not giving up on physical fitness. Just on paying for things he is not using.
Bach is now working out with BeachBody on demand streaming workouts.
That runs him just $99 a year!
And his building just got a Peloton bike in the gym, so he can spin each morning for free.
In fact, Bach plans to cut one thing he is not using each month of the year.
The fact is we all have things hitting out bank accounts each month that we believe we should be using, but we don’t.
For me, it is my audible subscription.
I used to love to listen to books. So I have been hesitant to cancel my subscription. It feels like something I should be doing.
But the reality is that my audio time is now focused on podcasts, including my own Financial Grownup podcast.
And I’m going through a phase where I want to read physical books. I find it more calming. I’m able to be more focused. Printed books have a new appeal. They feel relaxing. Audio books have started to feel like a chore.
But if you cancel, you lose the credits. And naturally I have a lot of credits. So the subscription has limped on at a cost of $14.95 a month. That’s about $180 a year. At one point I tried to cancel and was convinced to just “pause” the subscription. So I did. But that was denial.
So this year I decided to take a cue from David Bach and I did it. I used up the last of my Audible credits and hit cancel. I stayed strong when they tried to get me to re-join with all kinds of tempting offers.
I know myself and what I need.
And I’m confident that if I ever want to come back, they will be happy to accept my money.