Top 5 Things to Try for 30 Days

5. Cash Only
Stop Using Credit To Make Purchases For 30 Days

Put back those scissors, this is just for 30 days (for now!). Instead, take your cards out of your wallet and put them somewhere safe. One effective way to freeze your spending is to trap your cards in a block of ice. If you find yourself in a shopping fever, you have some time to cool down while the ice melts.
Prepare yourself for your 30 days by making a budget.  While you’re at it, get a copy of your credit report. If you notice any mistakes send in a dispute letter right away and your credit score could be improved right around the same time that your 30 days end (that’s how long it takes for the bureau to investigate and correct errors).
This is an excellent exercise but will require courage. It’s an opportunity to discover the reality of your spending habits and your financial situation while you practice living within your means. People “Living on a Cash Only Diet” experience empowerment, less stress, reduced debt, and a sense of accomplishment. Negative aspects of a cash only lifestyle are delayed gratification, required planning and prioritization skills, and a lack of spontaneity (CNN.com).
4. Stop Watching TV
No television for 30 days.


Do you think you could turn off your television and leave it off for 30 days? It might be easier for you if you actually remove the televisions from your house (or at least hide the remote controls!). Nneka at balancedlifecenter.com offers 43 suggestions for how you can spend your time instead, including: traveling (with your $2000 in savings each year), dancing, making love, taking classes, socializing, and exercising. She hasn’t watched TV in over a year and says, “It’s saved me money, freed up my time, and given me back my opinions.”
There is a website dedicated to the ills of television called turnoffyourtv.com (“Kill Your TV”) that lists famous quotes as well as links to health and education information, poems and essays, and non-TV activities. Some of the arguments against TV from this site: watching TV makes you fat, television addiction, and the effects of TV violence on children. Another viewpoint is that watching television can be good for you as long as it is not excessive. Born in 106 BC, Roman philosopher Cicero once said “let moderation be your [TV] guide” and even kidshealth.org states that “television, in moderation, can be a good thing.”
3. Keep A Journal
Write journal entries for 30 days.

A journal is “an account of day-to-day events… a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use” (merriam-webster.com). Traditionally, journals are made out of bound paper but you can also record your journal entries onto scraps of paper or your computer. It’s easier to make your journal a part of your daily routine when you do it at the same time everyday. Pick a time that is convenient for you. Right before you go to bed, while you drink your first cup of coffee in the morning, on the subway in to work, while your children are napping, or during your lunch hour- whatever works for you.
The Change Blog lists 5 key benefits to keeping a journal: a better understanding of yourself, improved writing skills, the ability to transport yourself to another time in your life, increased accountability, and enhanced positive thinking. Are there dangers to keeping a journal? I found a young woman in a Yahoo forum who claimed that her journal habit was making her very emotional, over-analytical, and negative. There could be also negative consequences if other people read your journal, depending on the content.
2. Walk Everywhere
Use Your Feet As Your Only Means Of Transportation For 30 Days

Hang up the car keys, get some good shoes, and walk everywhere for 30 days. During a bus strike in my city, I realized that it only took me 45 minutes to walk to work. The trip took me over a bridge from one end of the city to the other and I never would have thought it was a walk-able distance until the bus strike and a lack of cab fare forced me to try it one day. You can check out distances beforehand (I use yahoo maps) and you might also consider using a pedometer (step-counter) to measure how far you go each day – it can be very rewarding.
You can read about real people who walk everywhere (and why) at the experienceproject.com. My favorite reason is that feet are  “cheap, easy to use, environmentally friendly and not likely to cause a lethal accident” (Clem79). Of course, it’s good exercise, too. I love my city, and I continue to do a lot of my travelling by foot to this day. Sometimes other means are necessary (ambulance rides, large furniture moves, large distances) so you will either need to schedule your 30 days very carefully or be willing to make exceptions. (Is your commute too far? How about cycling or using public transit for 30 days instead?)
1. Get Up Early
Get up at 5:00am seven days a week for 30 days.

Personal development blogger Steve Pavlina gets out of bed at 5:00am every morning. He recommends that you get up at the same time every day but go to bed when you are tired because “your sleep needs vary from day to day.” He also offers this advice: “the longer it takes me to get up, the more likely I am to try to sleep in… always get up right away” (How to Become an Early Riser).
This experiment is first on this list because it is very easy to arrange- most people already own an alarm clock- and yet it can have such a huge impact on a life. You might argue that getting out of bed early is extremely challenging for you, but I will argue back that “early” means different things to different people. If you are currently getting out of bed at 11:00am every day, first of all let me say that I am actually very jealous. I have two kids and I am often awake a 5:00am, but not by choice. Anyways, if you get up at 11:00am right now, you might want to commit to getting up at 8:00am for 30 days. Just think- you’ve just extended your life for 90 more hours!
You could: write that first novel, spend more time with your kids, train for a marathon, or build a giant Lego version of yourself – go for it! You could use the extra time over the next 30 days doing the 9 other things on this list (growing a vegetable garden, walking to work, writing in your journal).
Leo Babauta gets up at 4:30am every day and lists numerous benefits at zenhabits.net, including: time for breakfast, increased productivity, watching the sun rise, and avoiding rush hour. There are health risks related to sleep deprivation, and there is also the risk that you may be cranky if you are forcing yourself out of bed. However, I personally like the idea of actively controlling what time I wake up rather than being at the mercy of my children, so I might give this one a try in August. I’ll let you know how it goes.
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