Curious similarity between dieting and investing process.

Hello there all!

Hope everyone is safe and doing well! Few days ago, I was reading a blogpost and there was discussion about how people struggle to save and invest consistently for longer period. After thinking about this issue for some time, I assume most probable cause is non-enjoyment. Vast majorly of people who fail to stick to saving & investing (s&i), force them to continue the journey rather than enjoying it. We need to remember s&i is not a bitter pill to swallow for some time and one day we will be financially independent (f&i). For most of average income folks like me, it will easily take 12 to 20 years of consistent s&I to be f&i.

To me, this process is fairly like sticking to a healthy diet and physical exercise routine. Personally, I was not a big fan of healthy diet and exercise in my younger age. I enjoyed eating out almost every day and had to had burgers and fries almost 3-4 times a week. Although I signed up several times on gym membership but never could follow for more than few weeks continuously. But in 2011 due to some health issue, I started to seriously think about living healthy lifestyle. Initially I adopted a vegetarian diet only option however failed to stick to it after few months. Funny thing was that I promised myself to eat burgers or steak once a month only, however it ended up more than 2/3 times per week. And at certain point I forgot I was even was on a veggie diet. As my health was getting worse, I consulted with a dieting consultant. She listened to my relapse stories on diet and concluded that I won’t be able to succeed on that as I was not enjoying the process. So, she suggested to follow a more balanced diet of meat, fish and veggie so that I don’t have left over craving for meat items like burgers and steaks. Since then I indulge on a burger with grass feed beef or a nice piece of steak once a week. This really helps me to satisfy my craving while continue a healthier diet.

I also found similar type of non-enjoyment factor for my lack of exercising habit. I never really enjoyed working out at gym does not matter how fancy the equipment’s were or how many fit girls around me as motivation😊 I just can’t take a closed indoor environment for breaking a sweat. So, I started just jogging in my local trails three times a week and since then my weight is under control. I am not a big weight watcher, if it is inside normal range for my height, I am totally happy.

So, this brings to similar conclusion to my journey towards f&i. It will be hard to pinch every penny for 10 to 20 years to reach the magic account balance one day. For me its so important to enjoy today without breaking my bank. So wifey and I always make sure to go to movies once a month, buy each other nice gift on occasions and take at least two weeklong vacations per year. We also try to sneak out 1-2 day long road trip every other month to keep the fun time rolling. I found on those small trips we barely spend more than $200 but they bring great break from regular routines. Its so obvious that we all are going to be in our 20s, 30s only once in life time. Time will never come back so enjoying it fullest will count as success to me. A same piece of juicy rib eye steak will not taste same to my taste buds at my sixties. LOL!

Luckily both of us not very materialistic, so we can keep spending to a minimum for consumer goods, clothes etc. I also enjoy making spreadsheet and track all our expenses, reading blogs/articles on savings and investing ideas. This helps me to enjoy the FIRE journey and stick to it years after years.

That’s all for today, stay safe all!

Image source: RitaE from Pixabay 

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The contents in this site is solely my personal opinion and for entertainment purpose only. I am not a professional financial planner and hence no content in this site should be taken as professional financial advice.