Most of the talk in the financial blogosphere is pretty negative these days. Just about everybody is talking about the slowing of economic growth, the stagnant housing market, increased numbers of bankruptcies, and the looming recession.

In times like this it is probably wise to cut things back a bit, just in case things get worse before they get better. One way to approach this kind of situation is to go on a financial diet. It is almost inevitable that we extend ourselves financially during good times and then have to rein in some of our spending habits when things slow down. This is probably a good time to lose some of that extra weight.

Just as with dieting, keeping your finances under control is mostly a psychological battle. You have to create a plan of attack where you detail how much you're going to spend and what you're going to give up. Then you have to develop techniques to keep yourself on the straight and narrow.

Just as with regular dieting, there are rules you should follow when doing some finacial dieting. One of the most important is to avoid binge spending. Develop a daily and weekly budget. Try to include everything that is important and eliminate everything that isn't. Then don't let yourself get sucked into impulsive buying. That may be fine when your finances are healthy. But when you're trying to nurse them back to health resisting this kind of tempation can make the difference between success and failure.

On the other hand, nobody's perfect, so don't go overboard if you give into your weakness. When you buy something you told yourself you would not buy, put it behind you and get back on track. Just try harder not to do it next time.

In fact you might consider bringing the fun right into your plan. It can often be beneficial to compensate yourself with small perks or indulgences on occasion, just to take the daily grind out of the "diet". Just try to stay within your budget. That will give you the satisfaction of splurging and the sense of accomplishment that comes with meeting your goals.