Money and Love (of Food)

If I had a nickel for every time I heard an analogy relating to fitness and money, I would need to be quite strong to pick up all of my nickels (if that pun makes cents).

Anyway, the age-old advice to lose weight is “Eat less, exercise more,” and it also holds true when it comes to money: “Spend less, make more.”

Great, that’s all right. It’s simple to say, but challenging to actually accomplish, those things. And how far in each direction do we go?

Does “spend less” imply hoarding your money and making no purchases at all? Does “eating less” indicate the goal is to only consume water throughout the day?

Consider the opposite end of the spectrum. Should we work out for six hours every day? How much cash is adequate?

We must keep in mind that we are not robots that can simply consume less fuel or run continuously and that the mind can fool us when it comes to food and money.

In essence, Ramit Sethi, author of the book “I Will Teach You to Be Rich.”, advises people to “spend extravagantly on the things they love as long as they relentlessly cut costs on the things they don’t.” There’s more to it, but you get the point.

This is really good since it recognizes that we are all human and have emotional attachments to things. Many financial gurus would advise you to quit purchasing lattes, but Sethi argues that if you LOVE lattes, you should continue to do so.

Regarding nutrition, I would concur. Even the latte example can be used. Take advantage of it if you enjoy lattes! Let’s focus on the pretzels and chips we mindlessly eat at home, though. If it doesn’t make you happy, I advise you to do a Marie Kondo and get rid of it.

At the end of the day, we must acknowledge that for the vast majority of us, total limitation is unreasonable, and if your ultimate goal is to be happy, you shouldn’t… wait for it… shortchange yourself.