Zen & The Art of Budgeting – Saving Money the Japanese Way with a Kakeibo Journal

First, there was Hello Kitty. Then Tamagochi came along, and we cried when our little babies flapped off to the big digital chicken coop in the sky. More recently, the planet lost its collective mind chasing virtual monsters all across the globe with Pokémon GO. Finally, we sold or threw away everything we ever owned because Marie Kondo told us to.

The list of Japanese-inspired fads is a long and (mostly) illustrious one. And not without good reason. The unique Japanese approach to art and life has its foundation in the deeply rooted Japanese concept of “wabi-sabi”, which emphasises a clean, minimalistic and mindful approach to life. In a word, it’s very Zen.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the Land of the Rising Pikachu has also made a typically elegant contribution to the world of household money management and budgeting: Kakeibo (pronounced Kah-Keh-Boh). 

What is Kakeibo?

Kakeibo is a unique approach to budgeting that combines number crunching with mindfulness. The centrepiece of the strategy is the Kakeibo Journal, where you keep a monthly written record of your financial activity, track your progress and honestly evaluate your performance. Basically, it’s a brilliant way to bring Mindfulness to your budgeting activity.

Kakeibo was initially conceived by Japan’s first female journalist as a way for housewives to keep track of their family finances. While the stereotypical image of the Japanese housewife conjures up visions of the obedient, subservient woman, anyone who has spent time in Japan would know that this is far from the truth. Underneath their kimono, Japanese women are most definitely wearing the pants. Most importantly, they ruthlessly control the family purse strings. Until the days of EFT, it was the norm for Japanese men to hand their pay-packets over to their wives unopened. If they behaved, they received some pocket money. 

It’s no surprise, therefore, that the secret to becoming a budgeting samurai was invented by and targeted to the Japanese housewife.

How Does Kakeibo Work?

Step 1:

Kakeibo seeks to establish some system in your daily money usage by asking four simple yet fundamental questions:

1. How much money do you have available?

2. How much do you want to save?

3. How much money are you spending?

4. How can you improve?

Answers should be written in your journal. You can use a custom made Kakeibo journal, blank journal or type it up on your device of choice. Whatever will give you the best chance of keeping up regular entries is the way to go. 

Step 2:

Once you have these answered, it’s time to break down your spending into specific categories. And we mean really specific. This step is an OCD’s dream as you’re encouraged to drill down as deep as possible to track every dollar to the minutest degree. This way, you’ll be able to cast a highly critical eye over every single aspect of your purchasing habits, which will bring you to the next step. 

Step 3: 

This stage will require you to be brutally honest with yourself. Here’s where you classify every category and sub-category into the following designations:

• Needs: The things you can’t live without. Rent, car repayments, mobile plan, petrol, basic foodstuffs, clothing and other basics of life fall into this category

• Wants: You might feel like you cannot live without a daily $4.50 bottle of watermelon-mint flavoured kombucha. However, let’s be honest here, you somehow managed to survive your entire life until the delicious fermented beverage became a thing. You’ll manage without, trust us!

• Extras: There are always little things that come up from time to time. New tyres for the car, parking fines, doctors’ bills, your mate’s birthday present and the like would fall under this banner

• Cultural: This one can be difficult to distinguish from Wants. Technically, you can live without your Netflix subscription (no, that’s not a typo…), but nobody expects you to be a hermit. Give yourself some allowance to enjoy your life, but don’t abuse the privilege! 

Step 4: 

Now it’s time to have a good, hard look at yourself. At the end of each month, make a self-assessment of how you did. Ask yourself these questions:

• Did you achieve your savings goal?

• If so, what did you do right? If not, where did you go wrong?

• Are there any categories in which you spent too much? 

• What can you do better next month to meet or exceed your goals? If you’re smashing it, this would be the time to evaluate your goals and, if necessary, make them more aggressive.

Write all this down in as much detail as you can muster. You can then use them to draft up your revised goals and strategies for the new month. In this way, you will continually tighten up your spending foibles. Over time, if done right, you can radically improve your budgeting skills and reign in wasteful spending habits. 

If despite your best efforts you’re struggling to make the numbers fit, you can always give Speckle a call. We can help you figure out whether you qualify for fast cash loan. Alternatively, we can point you in the right direction to get the advice and assistance you need to master your finances. 

Kakeibo takes a bit of patience and commitment, like any budgeting strategy. As Japanese fads go, however, it’s up there with the best for your personal wellbeing.  

Definitely beats chasing augmented reality monsters around the country!