Having A Plan To Save Money And Sanity

About 95% of the time, I’m a really nice person. Most of my jerkface moments, however, happen when I’m hungry.

Those who love me know I need to be fed at regular intervals. Most people also know that I plan ahead for these moments myself by keeping snacks around in case Low Blood Sugar Nicole starts to come out. At home, I have a snack drawer and in my car and purse, I usually have something high protein ready to go. While sitting in my cubicle once, my then boss commented, “Wow, it’s like a grocery store back here!” If I am anything, it’s prepared.

Snacks are one way I plan ahead. A side benefit of being the kind of person who does this (besides not getting hungry enough to turn evil) is I save money from having to buy expensive and often subpar snacks in transit. Planning ahead is good for being frugal! I bet if you think about it, you have a plan just about every time you save money, even if it is as basic as bring your own snack.

Planning ahead also saves me money in a more official way in my business. I could tell my local small business counselor was floored when I showed up for our first session a year ago with a business plan. She told me a lot of people don’t bother to do this. Gulp.

Recently I’ve gone back and looked at my business plan and found that it has kept me on track as far as helping me make decisions in line with my priorities. Since generating revenue from presentations is a big part of my business goals, for example, investing in an LCD projector and portable screen with a fellow small business owner made sense. Renting an office space with no conference room did not, no matter how much I want to get all those electronics out of my home office. My office shelves might look like a cross between a yard sale and Radio Shack but my business plan has helped me put money where it counts.

A woman with a plan… that’s what I am. Maybe it makes me a little boring but at the very least my planning keeps me from becoming a jerk and spending money I don’t need to spend.

What do you think, friends? Does regular planning help save you money? Or maybe the more confessional, fun flip question to this: Did not planning ahead cost you big that one time?