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Debt loss and weight loss: a two for one
By Anita |
Since beginning my I’m Not Going to be a Slave to Debt Anymore journey last September, I’ve noticed the following:
Everything that applies to money applies to food too.
For instance, the excuses are the same, are they not? Someone who is 20-40 pounds overweight and not yet in crisis mode about it because they aren’t obese or aren’t experiencing health problems yet often says the following things:
“I’m not THAT overweight.”
“I eat mostly healthy foods.”
“I have a bum ankle thanks to that football injury when I was a kid and can’t exercise like I should.”
“Keep a food journal? Hahahahaha. As if. How OCD is that?”
“Weight gain is just a normal part of the middle age/menopause/post-pregnancy/sit in an office all day deal and society has this outrageous size zero mentality and that’s unhealthy.”
We often make the same excuses about money, especially if we aren’t in crisis mode:
“A spending plan? You really mean a budget, right? That’s unrealistic. And too much work.”
“I don’t spend THAT much money. At the end of the month it’s all gone and I don’t know where it all went but I certainly didn’t spent it on myself. I’m not materialistic.”
“Yeah, I’m in debt, but that’s a normal part of life in this society because we need a house in a decent neighborhood with a decent school district, I have kids and therefore need a new van with all the latest safety features and that won’t break down, I buy healthy food and that costs a lot of money, etc.”
Sometimes the pain (physical or otherwise) of being overweight eventually reaches the point where it is more painful than the remedy (losing weight). Sometimes the pain of being in debt reaches the point where it is more painful than the remedy (losing debt).
The pain remedies for both excess weight and excess debt are pretty much the same, are they not?
- Track your expenses for a short time (keep a food journal).
- Make a spending plan based on your expenses (determine how many calories you need each day and plan meals accordingly).
- Don’t exceed your budgeted amount each month (don’t eat more calories than you need each day).
- Save 10 percent of your income so that you can pay cash for those big expenses (eat fewer calories on days when you know you’ll be indulging later in the evening at a party or special dinner).
- Read about personal finance, talk to an adviser if necessary (exercise).
- Make a plan for retirement savings (increase longevity by being more mindful of nutrition and the types of foods you eat).
And so on.
So the good news is that when you become adept at personal finance, those skills easily transfer over to food. And vice versa. And aren’t food and money two of the most important things we have to deal with each day?
Topics: Debt |
January 25th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
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