For the past three decades our culture has become one defined by instant gratification. Self-discipline, as it relates to spending and saving, is not practiced in the U.S. like in years past. People join the Armed Forces to achieve discipline in their personal lives. Students attend college to achieve independence or career objectives. If an individual believes that frivolous spending is beyond their control they are wrong because their thinking patterns are distorted, skewed, and illogical.

The decision to spend money impulsively may result from an illogical conviction that individuals cannot control this drive. This belief is reinforced by shrewd advertising aimed at a person's emotions. Human beings are very connected to emotional reasoning and take it for the truth. Emotions result from the way one looks at things. How a person views the world around them. Astute marketers package their product or service in a series of positive schemes that are skillfully aimed at provoking internal thoughts among individuals. Feelings are created by ones thoughts. Once these thoughts are processed and given meaning, positive or negative, this in turn causes a person to take action.

The answer is to assess your monthly spending. Record your monthly checking account statement and credit card statement separately utilizing a yellow legal pad. At the top write out the month that these accounts pertain to. For example, if your checking account or credit card statements begin at the first of the month record this as January 1, 2007-February 1, 2007. Next, write down to whom you wrote the check to, the date written, and the amount the check was for. One will basically be copying their checks written in a 30 day period from a mirror image as reflected from their bank statement. If you wrote 3 or 300 checks, record each and every check according to this simple format.

Analyze each check and write in the margin essential or non-essential. Use a red pen to denote essential because these are monthly bills or debts owed on a recurring basis. They are a part of living and are essential for this purpose. A blue pen can be used to signify non-essential because these expenditures are just that-non-essential. Why a blue pen for these entries? Once these non-essentials are added up and a person realizes how much they spent in a frivolous manner it will probably put one in a "blue mood".

Write the dollar amount in red of all your essential spending, and blue for all your non-essential spending for the month. The yellow legal pad using a colored coded system allows for a quick and easy breakdown of where your money has been spent. Retail shopping, dining out and entertainment will dominate the non-essential spending.

Finally, by following this method a person is on their way to finincial discipline through monthly analysis. Also, by educating themselves to thinking patterns that affect human behavior, individuals can overcome this reckless spending pattern.

Learn more about this author, Robert Hunter.
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