As a recent college grad living on a small income, I knew I needed a budget. In January of this year, I got tough. I listed all my monthly bills and my income. I knew that to improve credit, I’d need to start paying attention to due dates on my bills. I knew that I had to pay off my student-incurred debts. I knew that I had to increase my savings. But I knew that I also had to survive!
So I spent almost an entire work day (yes, I know that was bad but when I’m on a mission I can’t help where or when it happens) creating this perfect money document, which I called “Money, Money, Money” (and it always gets the ABBA song stuck in my head when I open it!). But I realized something as I created my budget. My workouts were sort of like a budget. I had to be just a disciplined with my work outs as I am with my money. I had to be careful not to overeat or eat junk, which was the money equivalent to cutting out my shopping sprees. Just as my budget lay out incoming and outgoing money, my diet lay out the plan for incoming and outgoing calories. I had to be watch what was incoming into my body (my food) and I had to step up my outgoing calories (my workouts).
With the times we’re living in, and the recession being the forefront of pretty much every media, I think that drawing on the parallels of my money and food diet, helps me to stay even more focused. And really, a lifestyle change for both will benefit me in the long term. And as I’m seeing success in the bank accounts, I’m also seeing success in the “body account” and I’m feeling more and more satisfied with the progress in both!
