I took on a non-financial New Year’s challenge this year.
I decided to give up refined sugar and alcohol until the end of February.
I know. I know.
Yesterday night was the first night where I really came close to caving in. I was fall-asleep-on-the-couch-before-dinner tired when I got home from work, and eating pizza (which is full of sugar, btw) with a cold beer sounded like the best thing anyone has ever suggested.
Now, I didn’t cave in, but I came thisclose.
In that moment, before I went back to the fridge and made myself a salad, I realized that I’m probably not alone on the whole “screw this New Year’s thing, I want to go back to the way things were when I was allowed to have a craft beer” thing.
A lot of people are likely feeling one of two ways right now about whatever they decided their Big Radical New Year’s Change was going to be this year – especially if it relates to money.
You might be one of them.
You’re either sooooo ready to be done with this already, since you – like me with the sugar-and-alcohol thing – are really starting to feel the drawbacks that seemed super manageable for the first few weeks.
Or, you’re one of the 33% of people who have already given up on your resolutions, and gone back to the same old habits, whether they’re spending habits or eating-cookies habits. Or even just eating-salsa habits, because did you know that sugar is in literally everything?
All that is to say, I get it – building great habits is no cakewalk.
(Not only because I can’t eat cake right now.)
But if you, like me, need a bit of a boost to recommit to those resolutions that seemed soooooo good only a few weeks ago, here’s what I’m doing to get myself through the next month of my commitment to no sugar and no alcohol.
Harnessing the Power of Fresh Starts
There’s a reason I love the start of a new month so much, and it’s not because of the balmy weather we can expect here in Ottawa on the 1st of February.
It’s because I get to start a new budget spreadsheet.
Nerrrrrrrrd. I know.
But there’s something to be said for starting fresh.
By the end of any given month, my carefully planned out month of spending has devolved into a series of
“Oh I forgot I’d have to renew my license plate sticker to avoid another ridiculously expensive ticket.”
and
“I forgot that I was going to register for my first CFP class this month.”
Before you know it, my targeted 50% savings rate is nothing but a pleasant image in the rearview mirror as I take stock of my actual spending for the month.
Which is why I so look forward to the power of fresh starts.
At the start of a new month, I’ve got a blank slate to try again and hit my goals for the next month – and the way I’ve structured my spreadsheets is a perfect reminder. No more watching my spending creep up past 50% and waving goodbye to my goal.
It’s a very hopeful day when I start a new budget spreadsheet, because it gives me a fresh start.
That’s why I’m applying the power of a fresh start to goals other than just tracking my spending – namely, not eating sugar or drinking alcohol.
Instead of thinking of this as the mid-point of a two-month challenge, I’m going to do everything I can to frame it as the end of my January challenge, and the start of a fresh new February challenge.
That’s an option that’s available to you too, no matter what your New Year’s Thing is.
- If you’re trying to save a certain amount (or percentage!) of money, but ran into some unexpected expenses this month? No sweat – start fresh in February.
- If you’re trying to spend less on something, like lunches at work, but found it was hard to avoid in January? Don’t worry about that. Give yourself a blank slate once February starts.
- If you’re trying to kickstart a side hustle to earn more money, but you didn’t see much traction in January and you want to throw in the towel? Don’t. Use February to set some new goals and habits to take your side hustle to the next level.
Will you be using the power of a fresh start in February to keep going with your goals? And what are you working on? I’d love to hear about it! (Or do you have superhuman willpower and don’t need a fresh start? Teach us your ways. For real.)
Im not huge on resolutions. Mine this year was eat more veggies. Pretty simple to stick to. I just live like normal, but make a point to eat some damn veggies every day. haha
As for pizza…consider making your own! I make my own crust and there IS a tablespoon of sugar, but it is just to activate the yeast I think. I use storebought sauce, which probably has sugar…but otherwise it is pretty simple. And SO much better than frozen
I thought about making my own actually! The sugar to activate the yeast is definitely the problem, so no pizza for me until the challenge is over – but I totally agree that homemade is best by far! I’ve tried making homemade sauce before in a slow cooker, which was actually pretty low key and not at all as involved as “homemade sauce” tends to sound, lol.
Kudos on the veggies! I like that a lot – it’s such a great thing to add, and I’m a big fan of adding things (although clearly I had to learn that again as I took away sugar and my precious, precious craft beer, haha.)
Any tips on making a spread sheet? do you have a template you could share?
Hey Rachel – I’ve been thinking of posting my basic spreadsheet, so this is great validation that some people might actually want it! It’s like… REALLY basic, which worked well for me since I didn’t have to worry about fitting everything into a category and I could just focus on tracking my spending. I’ll work on that! In the meantime if you want a link to the Google Doc I’ve been using for the past few months just shoot me an email at [email protected] and I’ll send it your way!
Great thank you!
This is excellent, wise-beyond-your-years advice, registration tickets not withstanding 🙂
Hahaha I like to learn things the hard way sometimes, what can I say. Thank you so much! It means a lot coming from you, I so respect your writing and your perspectives on this stuff!
Sounds a lot like my annual January food/money cleanse. It feels great!
It does! Except I want a beer! Hahaha no, I kid – it’s really not as bad as I thought it would be, and my cake cravings are mostly exaggerated. Honestly, given that by now a regular orange tastes SUPER sweet to me, I think some of my favourite cake recipes might taste uber-sweet by the time this is all said and done. Have you ever found that after one of your January cleanses?
Only for Mr. T — he doesn’t really want sweets for a long time after a cleanse (he even declines birthday cake for his birthday in February). I, however, have no problem jumping right in on cake and brownies as soon as it’s over. 🙂
Hahaha I’ve been playing around with sugar-free brownies if you’re craving something during the month next year – you heat up about 1/4 cup of all natural peanut butter, mash in 3 ripe bananas and add in 2 or 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder. Pop it in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees and voila – “brownies”!
I honestly think sweets will be pretty easy to stay away from afterwards – but beer? Beer is happening, possibly at midnight on the night of February 29th, lol.
Fresh starts are the BEST and I love thinking of each month as a new start. Sometimes, I even like to think of each day as a new day 😉 haha. Great job on cutting out sugar and alcohol for a month! What prompted you to make the change?
It was actually something I wanted to try after reading that book about habits, Better Than Before! It talked about how some people do really well with absolutes – like, “I never eat sugar” as opposed to “I can have one chocolate every day, but no other sugar.” I fall squarely into the former category, because it is never, ever just one chocolate with me, haha. I realized that my at-work snacking habits and my at-home casual beer habits were probably not the healthiest things I could be doing, and as a bonus, this avoids my prime baking season too. It’s so easy to bake an entire batch of cookies for two people on slow Saturday nights in the winter! So I decided – with about as much forethought as I give anything, which is not a whole lot – to just dive in head first. I borrowed a ton of books from the library, reassured myself that sugar is the devil, and here we are!
But seriously sugar is like really bad for people. I’m still totally going to eat it… but omg.
The problem with resolutions is that most people, once they break it, simply think it’s over. Say you had caved in last night. Would you have picked back up on staying away from those two things or would you have simply slid back into your old habits simply because you had one backslide incident. Most people go for the latter instead of recognizing that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
Oof, I am so known for doing the “Oh well, I might as well just cave in!” thing when I fall off the goal-wagon. That’s partially why I wanted to write this – to remind myself that it’s ok to jump right back in and grant yourself a fresh start if things go a little off the rails!
NO REFINED SUGAR?! Girl, you crazy. I tried that and only lasted 3 days, when I realized I could only have so much balsamic vinaigrette on my salads. All the power to you, I’m super impressed! I totally agree with fresh starts. I am looking forward to a new February workout routine (which will need to be adjusted due to a sports injury restricting any walking), and also starting to power through on my 2016 savings goals. January is always a hard month after holidays, which means I truly believe we should start resolutions in February. Keep up the willpower my friend!
Thanks Alyssa! I only realized that about balsamic vinegar recently too, so I made the switch to homemade apple cider vinegar dressing! The most shocking things were the ones like “fresh salsa” that was full of sugar. Come on, salsa makers. Be better. Or stop calling it fresh. Basically, if it comes packaged in just about anything I’ve been giving it the side eye and finding sugar in it.
SRIRACHA INCLUDED. COME ON WORLD.
And honestly, I am ALL FOR starting resolutions in February – that is the smartest thing I’ve heard in a while, and next year, I am so on board! I hope your workout routine goes well too. Serious kudos for working around your injury too, instead of doing what I’ve been known to do, which is just… totally stop until I’m not injured :S.
I also love fresh starts. Life can definitely get in the way of goals but you can always recharge and get going again. I take a lot of strength from that. Good job on being sugar free! That’s particularly hard, so keep at it girl. You got it!
Thank you so much Kara! To be totally fair, I kept fruit in my diet, but scaled back on how much – so I do have at least a few sweet options. So many people made fun of me with my “birthday banana” as my sweet treat for the day this week, lol. To be fair, I would have made fun of me too! I’m half worried that the ultra-sweet things I’m used to baking as treats are going to taste sickly sweet after this.
Wow, good for you managing an entire month without sugar. I would suffer so hard, I don’t often share my salsa recipe,but I’ll make an exception so if you do want a killer (and I mean it’s the best ever, for real) recipe, let me know! No sugar necessary, so it passes your *torture* resolution. I have a hard enough time packing lunches without worrying about added sugars.
I have the advantage of being able to eat anything without gaining weight, so my resolution was more around fitness; I had my goal set as hitting the gym once each week for January. I’ve been a total of 7 times so far…so I mean, I’m done for the month right? 😛
Febraury is 2 times a week! Working myself up to a regular routine.
I always find getting started is the hardest part, so if it’s something you know you’re going to struggle with, I always try to start small and work your way up. Once you’ve done it long enough to make it a habit, it’s easier to stick to.
Good luck with February!
Oh that is the best approach to the gym ever! I’ve done the working up thing and setting weekly goals for how many times I go, and it was the best – I actually stuck to it for almost a year! (Aaaaaand then I bailed after a cold knocked me out for almost a month, and never got back into it.)
And um, YES PLEASE on this salsa recipe! Can I shoot you an email at the email you listed when you submitted the comment? I’ll guard it with my life, I swear! (Your email and the recipe!)
I feel you, once you stop it’s hard to start again.
And definitely email me! I’ll have to find my written down version to send you 🙂
Heck yeah! Each day is a new day! Start fresh and make today great!
Thanks Mike! I love the enthusiasm! And so much yes to seeing every day as a fresh start 🙂
I’m definitely looking forward to a fresh start in February… I was doing so well… And then I went on vacation… so I have a couple days to get organized again and back on track before February, then it’s going to be a kick-ass month!
P.S. so impressed by no booze and no sugar… as I sit at my desk snacking on peanut butter m&ms…
Oh man peanut butter M&Ms sounds AMAZING right about now! I’ve been having all-natural peanut butter with apple slices, but I’m pretty sure one of my big indulgences when the cleanse is over is going to be a straight spoonful of Kraft peanut butter. Sugary deliciousness…. Mmmm.
And yay for fresh starts! Vacation is always, always a free zone for me where nothing really counts because it’s vacation, haha, so I totally understand. February is definitely going to kick ass 🙂
yes for sugary kraft goodness… I’ve been eating apples and all-natural peanut butter as part of my breakfast… but man what I wouldn’t do for the occasional spoonful of kraft peanut butter… sounds like you eat peanut butter straight from the jar too?
Is there another way to eat peanut butter?! (I tried to find a good Gilmore Girls reference to peanut butter but Google and my memory failed me on this one, I’m so sorry.)
But yes to eating it right out of the jar. It’s my jam. I’ll start with like, a banana and a spoon of peanut butter and then it just turns into a spoon and peanut butter.
Every time I get back on the budgeting horse I feel great and I always end up benefiting. I loved this post because I really prefer looking ahead with positivity, instead of beating myself up over mistakes made. Great post & as always, really well-written 🙂
Thank you so much Kat! I totally agree – looking ahead with positivity is so, so valuable. When I first started tracking my spending I would get so hung up on spending I hadn’t anticipated that I’d totally bury my head in the sand and end up not looking at my budget for like… weeks, lol. But then when I finally did it never ended up being that bad!
Oops I guess my full name doesn’t display – oh hai it’s Katheryne 🙂
I know those feels and I hear you – it’s never that bad at the end of the month (unless there’s some truly major catastrophe), especially with an emergency fund and a budget-y attitude from the get-go. I also love a new month because I get more inspired with my meal-planning grids. Yay spreadsheets haha!
Hahaha I’m a creep and totally knew because I can see your email address in the system on the website, but wanted to go with the flow and use the name you had posted just in case it was like, an anonymity thing! I tried that one time and now my photo is all over the blog, but I hear some people are pretty good at it 😉
And it’s true – the end of this month, which I thought was going to be soooo bad from a budget perspective, turned out to be OK! And because I was honest with myself about my spending this past month I’m in a great place to totally rock February.
Happy new spreadsheets day tomorrow! Because omg, spreadsheets. <3.
Hee hee, I figured as much but no, I am not being a sneaky ninja, just an extremely infrequent blog commenter! 😀
Good job with the Jan-Feb transition! And yes, totally omg spreadsheets <3 😉
OH my gosh refined sugar sneaks its way into ev.er.y.thing!! My fiance and I attempt to avoid refined sugar throughout the weeks as much as we can (although you can even find it in things like tortillas…why!?). It takes me such a long time to purchase items at the grocery store because I scrutinize every label. Now, when it comes to the weekends we usually allow ourselves some desserts & craft beers. That’s been our way of making it work for us for the last year and a half! I would be surprised to see how you react when you eat such items again like cookies, etc. All of the sudden – the sweetness is amplified and almost too much when you’ve eliminated it for awhile! I always attempt to view a fresh start for each month, and not just the new year. That’s how my goals become ongoing and a growing process! Keep up the great work, and so much power to you for avoiding giving into the pizza & craft beer desire!
Thank you! Although when March 1st hits, you had better believe I’m having a craft beer ASAP, lol.
I think your approach sounds great and super balanced, with weekdays sugar-free and weekends with a few more indulgences! Although I think I’m going to be very squarely in the “eww that’s so sweet” camp with my normal treats, because out of curiosity I tried a teeny taste of some salsa we got that accidentally had sugar in it, and it tasted like dessert salsa. I’ve been doing pretty well relying on my fake desserts, like brownies made of natural peanut butter, cocoa powder and mashed bananas, haha. Those actually do taste pretty good as long as you add in enough banana! (Lmao I know, I’m basically suffering from sugar Stockholm Syndrome.)
Have you seen the lecture on sugar by Robert Lustig? It’s on YouTube–check it out if you haven’t! Cutting sugar has been one of the best things I’ve done for myself. Buying fewer packaged goods means less sugar and less $. Winning. 🙂
Oh man I really want to! One of the best books I read when prepping for this was The Year of No Sugar and the author was super-inspired by that exact talk, so she brings it up a lot – I’ve been meaning to watch it! And honestly, I was planning to do a blog post on “what does it cost to give up sugar” but like… it’s not actually more expensive so far. Which might still make a legit blog post! But we’re used to being careful to not buy too much fresh food, and not eating too much processed stuff, so it hasn’t been all that much different. I just pay a little more attention when we’re buying things like salsa, that’s all!
I absolutely LOVE when my budget resets! I’m glad I’m not the only one that geeks out about a clean spreadsheet. 🙂 I just came across your site through a link on Our Next Life and I love everything I’ve read so far. Excited to see more from you.
Thank you so much – budget nerds unite! I just checked out your blog and really like your writing too! I can’t wait to follow your journey, especially as a fellow “maybe early retirement isn’t for me but this financial independence stuff sounds pretty great!” personal finance blogger.
Oh my gosh I’m glad you posted here because I am really digging your blog. I’m just starting to dip my toe into the KonMari method & I really enjoyed your post! 🙂
Amazing perspective Des! And I am really enjoy your comment section too. Particularly the “early retirement isn’t for me but financial independence sounds pretty great” and spreadsheet love <3
I am in full agreement with your non-resolution. My New Year’s Eve post was a simple quote about attitude. Life is truly 90% what we make of it.
http://reallifeofanmsw.com/2015/12/31/attitude/