What is a financial fast?

A financial fast consists of refraining from spending discretionary income on goods or services that are not necessities.  For a period of 12 days beginning Monday January 20^th-Friday January 31^st, you can only buy bare essentials like food and medicine.  You should refrain from window shopping, on-line shopping, or online browsing of any kind because these lead to the temptation to spend money on non-necessity items.

Examples of non-necessity items are:

*restaurant meals or buying meals at work                    *buying coffee at coffee shops

*entertainment, such as movies                                        *buying gifts or gift cards

You can have fun on the fast, you just can’t buy or spend on anything that isn’t a necessity.

Lastly, you cannot use your credit or debit cards, you can only use cash to buy necessities.   This is to separate you from credit cards and debit cards too.  Contrary to belief, debit cards are not the same as cash. Studies show that people spend more using both of these than they would with cash.

What’s the point?

Obviously, to save money but not just for 12 days.The idea is to take this time to become more aware of how you normally spend and to figure out a smarter, long-term approach, including what expenditures you can do without long after the fast is over.

While the focus of this exercise of restraint is financial discipline, all are encouraged to take this opportunity to initiate other goals to start 2014 on the right foot.  Examples are:

*Physical—daily activity, creating a workout schedule

*Spiritual—daily meditation, prayer, etc.

*Diet—drinking x amount of water daily, monitoring what you eat, keeping a food log

To help keep everyone accountable and motivated throughout the shared journey:

• A private Facebook Group will be created so members can post how their day went, light hearted chatter, motivational notes, etc. 
• There will be 12-minute conference calls scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:00pm
  • Conference dial-in number:  (712) 432-0075 Participant access code:  885878

On the last day of the fast (January 31^st), 12-Day Fast members will be invited to The Herndon Agency office for an end-of-day celebratory event where light food and beverages will be provided.

Let’s make 2014 our best year yet!  Join the group and take advantage of the opportunity to create new habits in multiple areas of our lives to DO and BE better!

Sincerely,

Adam Herndon