As I was preparing this article, the fourth installment in our series of money tips, I was listening to a new TED Talk in the background on why it’s so hard to make healthy decisions. Sometimes, the problem lies in a lack of nutritional education. More commonly, however, we know what we are supposed to do – eat fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly, sleep 7-8 hours per day, stop smoking and drinking, etc. – yet we fall short in nearly all of these areas.
Similarly, some people prescribe poor financial behavior to “not knowing better” and believe education alone can solve our money problems. However, far too often, we do know the right financial behaviors but cannot translate that knowledge into action.
We’ll talk about habits from a variety of perspectives throughout this blog, but it’s valuable to acknowledge that your brain is biologically programmed to act the way you have in the past. That’s why habits can feel like they are so hard to change.
Fear not. It is entirely possible to build new habits that override these predispositions. What once were your bad habits can be transformed to good habits, one step at a time.
The connection between a healthy body and a healthy wallet is indisputable. Just a few simple adjustments could begin to improve your life for the better in just 5 minutes.
Make today a day where you do make a change.
Part 4: Health and Wellness
1) Take the first step towards breaking a bad habit. A bad can take months to break, but you can take the first step today. Always wanted to quit smoking? Throw out every cigarette currently in your house and car. Start exercising? Go for a quick walk, even if it’s just 5 minutes. Stop impulse shopping? Remove a trigger (app, bookmark, e-mail list, auto-login, physical mailing) that results in your shopping. Repeat these every day and watch the bad habit start to disappear.
2) Reinforce a good habit. Research suggests that while we may never truly “break” a habit, we can replace a bad habit with a good one. Positive reinforcement like this is scientifically proven to improve not only your children’s behavior, but also your own, much better than punishment. Psychologists call these “feedback loops,” and you can use them to your advantage. Create your own positive feedback loops, and measure, compare, adjust, and reward them to keep the good habits strong. For example, are you normally good about drinking enough water but worried that the tempting new Starbucks next door could hurt your motivation? Measure. Compare. Adjust. Reward. Get an appropriate sized bottle for the day marked with 8 lines for each hour (measure). Check the clock every hour and compare where you are at on your bottle (compare). If you’re a little behind, take a minute to get to the marker (adjust). When you’ve finished your bottle, treat yourself to a quick break (reward).
3) Schedule a doctor’s appointment. If you’ve been putting off a medical issue – whether it’s as routine as a physical or a significant as a growth or pain – schedule that appointment today. According to the CDC, chronic diseases that are avoidable through preventive care services account for 75 percent of the nation’s healthcare spending and lower economic output in the US by $260 billion dollars a year. In other words, the nominal cost of the appointment will more than pay for itself financially, not even including the intangible benefits of improving your health or avoiding a disaster. On a personal note, a relative of mine put off a colonoscopy for a few years longer than recommended, and they found cancer when he finally had the exam. Please, please do not put this off.
4) Design a realistic exercise schedule for the month. The financial benefits of exercise, not to mention the health ones, are profound. The easiest way to get into exercising regularly is to build it into your routine and stick with it until it becomes a habit. It takes very little time to design a schedule for the entire month. Two years ago, I started walking for 30 minutes every day during lunch. It was hard at first, but now I genuinely look forward to it every day. After that became routine, I started going to the gym with Lady Centsei once or twice per week, which helped keep me accountable. And I hate exercising! If you don’t know where to start, start with even a few minutes per week and build from there. You do have the time if you prioritize, and it’s best to start small. “Plan your routine… until it becomes routine!”
5) Pack your lunch. Packing your own lunch is healthier, faster, and cheaper than going out every day. This one may not even take 5 minutes if you just plan to double or triple a weekly dinner recipe and store the leftovers in lunch-size containers. You’ll save at least $5 per day, which could be $150,000 in retirement and take years off your working life.
6) Talk to your partner or spouse about finances. Financial issues and lack of communication are two of the leading causes of problems for spouses and partners. You can address both at once by having a quick weekly or monthly sit down to check on your finances. Plan your budget, discuss your goals, track your spending, listen to concerns, and talk through mistakes. Avoid the temptation to make it competition and realize that your relationship is a partnership, the most important one in your life. Think about things as “we” and “ours” and you will be successful. You might think this will be stressful or awkward, but not nearly as stressful as fighting about money! Make it fun with a glass of wine, some fancy charts (well, *I* think that’s fun), some positive partner reinforcement… and maybe another glass of wine if things are rough!
7) Remove a physical temptation. We all have things that tempt us towards bad or unhealthy behavior. That candy jar at your desk; that sweet cable TV package; that rewards credit card; that pack of cigarettes; that secret junk food shelf; that expansive alcohol shelf; that phone number of a toxic “friend” or ex. Free yourself and get rid of it today.
8) Delete a time-wasting app or distraction… permanently. Similar to the above. Quick story: A few years back, I downloaded 2048, a simple but highly-addictive puzzle game about numbers. It was love at first swipe. I logged almost 50 hours in the three months that it was on my phone before I fully realized its impact on my time. After less than a week of very mild separation anxiety, I was completely over it and never even regretted not getting that 16384 square (so close!). How much time to you spend on “that” app on your phone or tablet? Too much. Replace it with a better habit.
9) Take a walk. Taking a 5-minute walk a few times per day is an excellent way to reduce stress, regain focus, and get exercise. I try to walk 5 minutes every hour during the work day and find it great for my productivity (and step goal).
10) Brush and floss your teeth. Only 70% of people brush twice a day. Less than 30% of people floss every day, and 8% never floss. The financial impact is real. Don’t put it off. Those who don’t brush twice per day? 33% increased risk of tooth decay (read: thousands of dollars in dentist bills). Those who don’t floss? 40% increase risk of gum disease (linked to heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and premature births). The reason your “gums hurt” when you floss is because you don’t floss, and bacteria has taken over your mouth. Mouthwash is not a substitute. It might hurt the first time, but it will improve in less than a week.
11) Close one (or all) of your social media accounts. Unless you use social media exclusively to follow your favorite bloggers (or for work), permanently deleting your social media accounts is the way to go. According to Statista, people spend 153 minutes (over 2.5 hours) per day on social media. And that number is increasing over time. You could accomplish everything on this list in a week (and likely be able to retire 10+ years earlier) if you replace social media time with time spent doing things on these lists to improve your financial and physical health. Social media’s effect on your wallet is compounded not only by the wasted time but also the constant advertisements and poor social cues. Other than TheCentsei Twitter account (which I limit to a few minutes per week), I recently uninstalled all social media apps, deleted the bookmarks in my browsers, turned off the auto-sign in, and disabled all e-mail notifications. I truly haven’t missed it for a second. Free yourself.
12) Drink more water. The health benefits are truly countless, but those who drink enough water snack less, burn more calories, and have significantly lower medical costs. The best option in most parts of the U.S. is tap water, which is 2,000x cheaper than bottled water and 5,000-10,000x cheaper than juice, soda, or alcohol – not to mention the health benefits. Bottoms up!
13) Do a 5-minute exercise. The benefits between “a little exercise” vs “no exercise” are many times greater than “tons of exercise” vs “a little exercise.” It doesn’t really matter what either, if you’re doing your best. You do have 5 minutes per day. With time, maybe that 5 minutes becomes 30, and your life can be transformed. One study showed that older people who exercise 30 minutes per day 5 days per week save an average of $2,500 in heart disease related expenses alone. That’s like getting paid over $20 per hour to exercise! Whether you’re on your own, with a friend, or in a class, the best exercise is the kind you do.
14) Meditate. One of the greatest life-changing habits I developed in the last few years was that of doing a few minutes of guided meditation before bed. I fall asleep faster, wake up more rested, and keep my stress tangibly lower. Better still, the apps and YouTube videos to get you started are free.
15) Go to the library. The day I rediscovered libraries was a happy one indeed. Physical books, audio books, music, movies, and museum/event passes are available for free. Don’t miss out. I feel so much better about going to the library than buying junk that I’ll maybe use once, so the impact on wellness is very real too.
16) Contact or join a volunteer program. There are few downsides to filling your time with meaningful work. Nonetheless, there’s also truth in the Avenue Q lyrics that “when you help others, you can’t help helping yourself!” Tongue-and-cheek aside, building your social network and your skill sets through volunteerism, while at the same time improving your community, is a genuine win-win.
17) Call, text, e-mail, or write a note to someone you care about. While this may not seem like a money-saver, the fact remains that friendships are essential for your long-term happiness, and maintaining adult friendships takes serious work. Real friends, not social media friends or followers. A study of 300,000 people showed that people with strong social ties outlive those with the weakest by 22%, regardless of age or health status. Stay in touch with your past professional contacts as well; most people find a job with assistance from someone in their network.
18) Make a low-cost gift for a loved one. Give your labor or craftsmanship, all while improving your connection to people you care about. If you like to draw, sew, write, craft, repair, babysit, tinker, or brew, consider including a homemade gift or the gift of your time in place of something costly. It will mean more to the other person too.
19) Declutter. Just a few minutes of decluttering per week is priceless for your mental health but also produces tangible savings. You avoid replacements costs when know what you have, where it is, and what condition it’s in. You also avoid paying for storage space, additions to your house, and cleaning expenses.
20) Practice a new language. 5 minutes a few times per day can be enough to master a new language. Download a free app or find a language buddy to help – both can help great a positive feedback loop! In addition to just being a great skill and improving your overall emotional health, a Columbia University study showed that being multilingual had a positive effect on earnings (specifically for Spanish/English bilingualism in the United States).
