Money Wellness: Is Money Making You Sick?

I live by the mantra that every day is a bathing suit day! It keeps me conscious of my body so that I don’t stray off of my daily routine of eating good foods and making healthy choices. If I don’t do these things, the pounds will magically appear, and it will take me a lot of time and money to get back in shape. Let’s take a closer look at the connection between money and your diet. If you worry about money, chances are that stress is leading you to make bad food choices. There is a reason we have the term comfort food, and many of us reach for those comfort foods when we are stressed.

The biggest connection of all between money and diet is that there are many parallels between good eating habits and good financial habits, and it all comes down to discipline. Think about it; if you can’t say no to junk food, fatty, salty foods, or snacking late at night in front of the television, are you more or less likely to balance your online checking account, review your checking and savings accounts at the ATM, or track how much longer you have to pay your loan? The more disciplined you are with food and maintaining a healthy diet the more likely you are to have good financial health.

First, take inventory of what’s on your kitchen counter. Much like organizing your bills and receipts, look at what you routinely have readily available.

Second, curb the carbohydrate appliances and containers. We are all so carbohydrate-crazed lately because monitoring your intake can help you lose or maintain weight. So if you have a toaster, a toaster oven, or another appliance or basket that stores your carbs, put it away ... In order for you to have Money Wellness, it is crucial you do not skip a doctor’s appointment you really want and need. Instead, make that one visit work for you. I have many friends, relatives, and colleagues (like Jason) who have talked themselves out of going to see doctors because they know it is not usually about one visit. It is about prescriptions, trips to the drug store, referrals to other specialists, and follow-up visits. Your time is your money, so let me help you make the most of any doctor’s visit, which I hope will lower your stress. Here is my five-part Money Wellness plan for dealing with stress and your anticipated expensive doctor visits. ... Money Blockers are those little conversations we have in our heads that convince ourselves: it’s not so bad or I’ll get to this later. For me, later lasted six years. So after you take that initial, all-important step of answering the question of what money means to you, the next step is to identify and become aware of your Money Blocker(s).

Here are some common examples of Money Blockers:  I will have more savings someday.  I am working extra hours and doing more work, so I am likely to get a nice raise or promotion.  I don’t need to ask for a raise or a promotion, because my boss will “do the right thing.”  I am going to inherit my parents’ house and their investments. Combined with my income, I should be set for later years. ...

When I looked at my renewal letter, my gym membership jumped up to $2,000 a year. Immediately, I had to do some math to justify this cost—the cost of my fun. So I started looking at how many times I went to the gym over the past year. On average, I went three times a week. Remember, one of my mantras is every day is a bathing suit day! So it would cost me roughly $13.88 for each visit. Then I had to consider, do I get $13.88 out of each visit? Well, I do spend at least an hour there, so roughly it comes out to twenty-three cents a minute. Then I stopped and thought this is insane. What am I doing? Twenty three cents a minute for my fun, not to mention how good it is for my health; what was I thinking? But there you have it. The price analysis and rate of return on my fun that I needed to justify.

Always keep in mind the correlation between fun and health. Not to have fun is to damage your health. When you jeopardize your health, you spend money on doctor’s visits, medications, special foods, and sometimes special medical equipment. You may also experience a loss of work and income. ...

I firmly believe that those who handle money with care and respect have a better relationship with money and are more successful with money. It absolutely pains me to see people crumble up money as if it were scraps of paper to be shredded. When I see loose change on a counter, on the floor, or next to dirty clothes, it is like hearing nails on a chalkboard to me. What is really happening behind the scenes is that these actions are saying money is not important or money doesn’t mean anything, when it actually means a great deal. I believe money needs to be taken care of; it needs to be nurtured, which is the physical manifestation of respecting what money can do for you ...

When dealing with money and stress and gauging your level of happiness at any moment in your life, I have a few Money Wellness steps you can take. They have helped me and others who have asked for my advice. First, become aware of the connection you are making with money and happiness with every purchase you make. Awareness is putting a spotlight on an underlying issue you want to address. I am certain this will make many people uncomfortable, but pushing through comfort zones in order to get crystal clear about this connection is necessary.