Personal finance can be scary, but it is a key tool to add value to your life and momentum towards your health goals. So where do we start? Begin with a budget!
Tracking your expenses and income can show you if you are living within your means. Once you know exactly how much comes in and exactly how much must go out, you can make a plan that aligns with your wants and needs. Whether it’s less out, or more in, here is one rule to make the most of your circumstances. It comes from Ramit Sethi and his book “I will teach you to be rich”. This is a non-affiliated recommendation, the guy just has good content.
Rule of thumb: Spend more money on what makes you happy and less on what doesn’t make you happy. In the context of health and fitness, spend money on what takes you towards your health goals and stop spending money on things that retract you from your health goals.
For example, I don’t get much value from eating fast food. It costs a lot more per meal than when I meal prep and it makes me feel like crap relative to my healthy meal prepped food. If you could save $20 a week here, you could then spend that money on something that serves your desires. For example, this $20 a week could be spent on a dance class, gym membership, in-home exercise equipment, or any other fun class you’ve been interested in. It depends on what you like or your interests! Tons of possibilities. Really, financial budgeting is the equivalent of building mindfulness for your mindset, it is important to start seeing progress!
Again, this change starts by knowing how much you are spending on things that don’t bring you joy, and it requires some thinking about that which does bring you happiness. Take 5 minutes while you eat and shower post workout to think about these things and as always please share your lifestyle changes with the CCHS community! Thank you for reading!