Need a New Method to Stay Motivated?

A lot of my friends think it must be hard not to make a paycheck and depend solely on my husband.

“Does he let you shop? If I were a stay-at-home-wife I’d spend too much money!”

It’s true. It’s hard not to want to go shopping every day. You’d think you’d get bored and sick of cleaning, laundry, web surfing, organizing, etc. and turn the mall into your daily “hangout” spot. And it does at times. On days where I’m feeling bummed, I treat myself with a visit to the mall or to a bookstore and it’s really hard not to buy anything! I think the hardest part of being at home instead of working is not making any money. I feel guilty if I want to go and get a pedicure, or buy some clothes, or get a facial. Some days it’s hard to get motivated to do much and I definitely feel like a bum!

So… a few months ago I decided to come up with a system to feel like I’m getting paid for being a stay-at-home-wife. I know this job can’t come close to the amount of work it is to be a stay-at-home-Mom, but it IS work and I do feel like I should be paid or rewarded in some way and earn money to use on myself. For example, I despise cleaning! Of course, we had to cancel our cleaning service when I stopped working, so now it’s my job if I want to live in a sanitary environment – and I do. We were probably spending up to $120 a month, so why shouldn’t I earn a little bit of money for cleaning the house myself. We’ll still end up saving money because I’m not going to charge myself that much to clean this house! So now, to motivate me to clean each week, I’ve been rewarding myself points for cleaning and these points, of course, turn into real money for me to spend on myself. Cha-ching!

My husband says, “Where is this play money coming from?" when I told him about my new system, but I quickly informed him it wasn’t play money, it was real money, and it was coming from his pay check. But, I then quickly assured him I would be saving money in the long run because I would be less likely to shop unless I EARNED it. And I’m telling you – it really works!

Here are some examples on how I reward myself points:

Item	Points Awarded
Eating healthy	Up to 4 points based on how healthy I was that day
No mocha or latte	3 points (I’m addicted and I never get these points - it’s costs about $3 to get this drink every day which is why it’s a whopping 3 points)
Drink only water or green tea (no sodas, hot chocolate, reg. tea, wine, etc.)	1 point (I still get this point even if I have a mocha – but I can’t have any of those other drinks. Can you tell I’m addicted to my Starbucks each day?)
Walk dogs	2 points
Clean house	20-30 points (depends on how good of a job I do)
Brush dogs’ teeth	2 points
Groom dogs (wash and give Brady a haircut)	15 points for Brady (costs me $70 if I take him to a dog salon so I’m saving money here!) and 5 points for Mason
Wash dog bed	2 points
30 minutes cardio	3 points
Strength class	2 points
Yoga class	2 points
Volunteer	2 points per hour
Sub	20 points per day (get paid $60 so $40 goes towards stuff not directly for me)

These are just a few of the items. I’ll also give myself points for yard work, organizing, etc. as things come up. This may seem crazy, but it really works and you don’t have to be a stay-at-home-wife to use this. Think about it – you’re going to spend the money on yourself anyway. Don’t you think you’ll feel better about spending the money if you feel like you’ve earned it? Of course you will!

So, the next time you don’t feel like going to the gym or cleaning your bathroom, set up a self-spending account and reward yourself with points. Keep track and be honest! For example, I’m -116 points in my account right now because of the holidays, and I had to get my hair done the other week, and I really needed some maternity pants. Some friends say, "Don't use it on maternity clothes - you can't help that!" but if I'm not strict with myself, the system won't work. Even though it's frustrating to be in the hole, it does motivate me to keep up with my chores, to exercise, and to eat healthy so I can go back to positive side and reward myself with a pedicure or a facial or maybe some new clothes for the baby.

I hope this sounds like a fun thing for you to start and a great way to help you stay on track with your New Year’s resolutions. Reward yourself for whatever you’d like – Ex. If you’re trying to quit smoking – give yourself a point for every time you want a cigarette and don’t have one.

It definitely has been a lot of fun keeping track of my points each night and a great tool for me.

Happy Point Tracking!