Health

Eat healthy, exercise, get enough rest, and don’t poison your body. You’ve heard it before and you’re hearing it again here. Why? Because it’s the best health advice there is. Since expenses from medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United Sates, it’s also some of the best financial advice there is. If you do all these things, you significantly lower your risk of heart disease, cancer, liver disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and going broke treating them!! Don’t waste money looking for the fake quick fixes of fad diets, gym memberships, fancy sleep equipment, or detoxes. Keep it simple and take it slow. Where improvement needs to be made, keep a daily journal of it. Don’t try to change anything, just keep track for a couple weeks. Then, take a look at the big picture, take note of the spots that need fixing, and act accordingly. Continue with the journal and enjoy tracking your progress!

Another important preventative measure is having at least some form of health insurance. If you’re poor, one of the best types you can have is a catastrophic plan with an attached health savings account. That way, you’re protected against unseen accidents and diagnoses, and you also can save some funds for routine care and tests. Plenty of people get away with having no insurance, but do you really want to take the chance of suddenly having a condition that costs thousands or even millions to treat? Health insurance is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

This puppy has peace of mind. Doesn’t he? Doesn’t he? Awwww, yes he does!!

Willpower

Once you have a budget made, the next step is making yourself stay within budget. For many, many, many people, this is what trips them up! The line, “I really can’t afford this, but to hell with it—I’m getting it anyway.” Sound familiar? Well it’s time to put that to a stop. It is no good setting a budget for yourself if you can’t stick to it.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. If you are great at deciding to spend less, but terrible at following through, your problem isn’t planning, it’s self-control—and self-control has to come first. Self-control is like any other aspect of your personality. If you practice at it, you can get better. Shy people can improve their people skills, rude people can become polite, and YOU CAN improve your self-control. There are two basic strategies: playing fair, and playing dirty.

Playing fair means actually making your willpower stronger. You do this by starting small and going bigger. At first, you go to the grocery store and commit not to buy any candy or magazines from the checkout lane. Success! Then, you advance to sticking to a grocery list and making fewer than 7 impulse buys. Success! Finally, you set a dollar limit and don’t go over that. Congratulations! You’ve tamed your grocery bill. Playing fair also means having a strategy. One of the best is to keep track of yourself. Whatever is your area of weakness, get a little notebook and write down your goal. Make it realistic. “By the end of the month, I want to achieve X. By next season, I want to achieve Y. By this time next year, I want to achieve the final big goal.” Then, at the end of each day, write down your progress. Just a sentence or two—five minutes per day, max, will make a huge difference in strengthening your willpower. One final strategy is just knowing how willpower works. You probably already know this, but your willpower is weak when you’re hungry or stressed. So, when you’re trying to stick to a plan, make sure you’re calm and fed when you’re making purchasing decisions.

Playing dirty involves making yourself behave without using much of your own willpower. Afraid you’ll overspend at the mall? Bring only the amount of cash you want to spend, and no plastic. Ha! Is there a bar where you always spend WAY more than you should? Guarantee the bartender or one of your friends $50 bucks if they snap your photo under its roof in the next month. Is the call of the chip section/ shoe store/ coffee shop too strong for you to resist as you go by it? Then take a different route! If a friend was costing you as much money as you’re costing yourself, you’d play dirty to avoid them. You can play dirty with yourself, too (teehee).

Citing sources: Much of this information came from an excellent book, “Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength,” by Roy Baumeister and John Tierney. Highly recommended if the topic interests you.