Look after the pennies

It occurred to me yesterday that I could interpret a phrase my Dad used to say in a far more positive way than I've ever done. He used to say "look after the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves". Of course I knew exactly what he meant - be frugal, save pennies whenever you can, your pounds will grow - and oh how successful that message was! I have ongoing struggles now not to be frugal, to allow money exchange to flow, to buy something that's full priced, rather than wait until it is in the sale!

As a mistress of procrastination, and just more than a tad of laziness, I spend hours and hours searching for inspirational blogs, websites, Facebook messages etc etc, in order to become inspired and get on with what I need to. I KNOW that I need to take action, that's the only way the tasks will be done, but often remain in the inactivity of reading and planning instead.

Just lately I've been drawn to the idea of taking very small steps to achieve a goal, I'm trying it, and it works! I ask myself what is one very small thing I can do towards getting to the goal I'm aiming at, and then take action. An example is that I decided to remove just one item of rubbish from the garden, and that would be fine for that day - a tiny step to clearing it. I did that and one small corner of the garden is decluttered, it feels easier than the overwhelming task of getting it all done at once.

So, back to the pennies and pounds, in the same way as penny watching provides gains in the pounds, setting mini tasks provides gains in completion of the whole goal.