Using Our Time and Money to Support Our Health

What we deem worthy of spending money on differs for everyone, but I’ve noticed a pattern.

The stuff we tell ourselves we can’t afford is usually the stuff that helps our overall health and well-being. When it comes to fleeting pleasures that don’t add to the quality of our lives, we typically don’t think twice about whether or not we can afford them. 

Many people struggling financially genuinely do not have extra money to spend, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m referring to how we, myself included, rationalize spending the extra money we do have on things that aren’t helpful to us.

When I used to drink and smoke, I never had “enough money” for a massage, organic groceries, a yoga membership, or quality skincare. Yet, I would easily blow $110 a week on red wine and American Spirits. That’s $440 a month I was telling myself I didn’t have! 

Money and time are similar in that way. We feel like we “don’t have the time” to meditate, cook, or do 30 minutes of stretching, but we don’t even think about time when we sit down to watch 987 episodes of Stranger Things or scroll on our phones for a good 1.7 hours. 

We “don’t have” when it’s healthy for us, and we miraculously “have plenty” when it feels good NOW. 

Humans are very clever, though. We will always find a way to make something happen if we make it a priority. 

• We have the time.
• We have the money.
• We just prioritize stuff that feels good now and requires the least amount of effort. 

This isn’t a character flaw. This is biology. 

Humans are designed to seek pleasure, avoid pain, and conserve energy. This motivational triad has helped us survive as a species.

In present-day life, this survival mechanism makes it really damn easy to buy unhealthy takeout instead of paying for healthy groceries and cooking our own food. Or buying wine and cigarettes instead of paying for a few yoga classes. This makes sense when you think about how we’re wired to seek pleasure, avoid pain, and conserve energy, but if you take a step back, it’s not logical. 

Spending our money and time on things that will ultimately help us thrive makes way more sense than blowing those precious resources on one-off things that, at best, don’t have any long-term benefit, and at worst, cause us unnecessary problems. 

How can you use your time and money today in a way that your future self will look back and say thank you?

If you need a suggestion, signing up for Clean Food Dirty Girl and cooking healthy food is one of the best investments of time and money you can make. Full Access, which includes everything, is $25 a month (less than a nice meal out), and Recipe Vault Access is $12 a month (less than a mid-shelf bottle of wine).

For perspective, an entire year of Clean Food Dirty Girl costs 50% less than two weeks of my old drinking and smoking habit! 

Here’s to making deliberate choices that will help us thrive.

Xo 
Molly