I’m over at Equifax.com’s new family money blog today talking about the link between losing weight and saving money. Believe it or not, the two have lots of similarities—and not just in how hard they are to do!
I noticed the connection when I joined Weight Watchers a while back. I didn’t make a conscious effort to use my newfound WW skills with my wallet; it just happened. I noticed that when I was mindful about the way I was spending money—just as I was mindful about how I “spent” my calories—lo and behold, I made good progress. From my post:
It Works for Weight Loss: Spontaneity is out, at least for a while. Plan ahead when you eat away from home, deciding in advance how many calories or what food you’ll eat.
It Works for Your Wallet: Same deal: Spontaneous consumption of money (a.k.a. spending) is not your friend when you’re tuning up your budget. Eating out is actually is a perfect example here. Many weight-loss programs suggest checking the menu of your favorite restaurant and deciding in advance what you’ll eat so you can estimate calories.
Our family has started doing the same thing. However, instead of just checking calories on a restaurant’s menu, we check prices. Then we estimate what our family might spend on meal, and decide if we can afford that particular dinner spot on our weekly budget.
We might also do a quick advance search for online coupons (a great place to check is Restaurant.com) for the restaurant we’re considering. We often give this Internet search task to our kids—they’re getting good at it!
Head over to Equifax to read the rest and share your thoughts about weight-loss tips that also work well for managing your money. (Photo by puuikibeach.)