The inspriation I needed to start eating healthier came from an unlikely source. I wasn’t expecting it at all, maybe that’s why it worked. I was surprised.
I started my healthy eating habits while watching The Colbert Report. Told you it was an unlikely source!! I’ve tried to find the exact episode but no luck. Stephen Colbert had a guest on his show that was talking about eating healthy. Colbert, of course, was doing his thing, kinda making fun of eating healthy, you know how he does. Anyways, he basically said how healthy foods don’t taste good. The guest responds “People who eat healthy enjoy their food just as much as people who don’t.”
“People who eat healthy enjoy their food just as much as people who don’t.”
Duh!! I felt like he reached out and slapped me upside the head. Of course they do!! How crazy to think that hamburgers, french fries, and ice cream were the only foods that are enjoyable! So with that little roadblock out of my way I was free to experiment with some healthier foods. They can be enjoyable! I’ve eaten healthier since then, but I’m still no angel believe me. However, I’m here to tell you that people who eat healthy actually enjoy their food more than people who don’t.
Why? Because there is so much more variety! An apple tastes very different than an orange, or a cucumber. There are different textures and flavors and colors. Healthy food is so pretty! But unhealthy foods are pretty much all the same. They have sweet, salty, and greasy. That’s about it. If you want to add variety to that you have to throw something healthy to the mix.
The same goes for money.
“People who spend responsibly enjoy their money just as much as people who don’t.”
I’m going to take it a step further too and say that “People who spend their money responsibly enjoy their money more than people who don’t”. Why? For the same reason that healthy food is more exciting. There is just so much more you can do with it. If you like spending money you want to get the most out of it, right? How can you get the most out of your money if you aren’t using a budget? If you aren’t tracking your spending?
People who budget and track their spending make sure they spend their money where it matters most to them. Where they get the most joy. So who enjoys their money more? Someone who makes sure they spend their money in the places that bring them the most joy or someone who throws money around willy nilly and hopes it makes them happy? I think you know.
So much of frugality is fine tuning the joy vs. cost debate. Name brand vs. Generic. Used vs. New. Eat out vs. Stay in. Cable vs. Hulu. The longer you question your spending habits the more you will understand which purchases make you happy and which do not. If you can save $5 and not decrease your happiness that’s a free $5!
What do you think? Do you think that healthy people enjoy their food and frugal people enjoy their money?
Great post!
I really believe we enjoy our money more since we started taking care of it.
Interesting perspective. I think I enjoy my food more when I eat healthier. I feel much better about our finances when we make a better effort to manage it correctly for our lifestyle.
Absolutely! My wife and I started eating more healthy and exercising at the start of 2011. I haven’t craved anything in years like I crave a grapefruit when I get home from work. Knowing that it’s good for me, AND it tastes awesome makes it all the better.
From a finance perspective, thinking back to my “racking up our debt” days, just throwing money around, and having “stuff” and then having to worry about the bills wasn’t very enjoyable. But budgeting, saving, and then buying something when you can afford it….well, it makes you feel like you’ve actually earned the right to have that item. You want to take care of it, and take pride in it. The enjoyment of that item lasts much longer than the initial high of the purchase.
Thanks for a great article!