Health and Wealth

2012 has been a year of trying new things, exploring my life and challenging myself. I have tried new crafts, hobbies, recipes and have started to now really look into the nitty-gritty details of how I live my life.

Hubby and I have been spending the last few weeks diving into all areas of our little 'Fonk' world (Thanks to a great course we enrolled in). We have examined our health and our pockets. These two areas are the most complained about subjects in our household. I am constantly complaining about my health and weight, as well as, constantly stressing about what our finances are looking like (no one wants to open there online bank account and hear crickets...no one!) So, we have decided to take action, take responsibility and hand the rest over to God, as he has complete control.

Health:
We have realized we like to eat socially. With friends, not that it’s baaaaddd, it just isn't good. We need to be more responsible with what we are putting into our bodies. Fuel our body don't just stuff it. I read this great saying a few weeks back, "I can't control what they cook, but I can control what I put in my mouth". So true. We MUST take responsibility for what we are doing with our bodies and what we are using to fuel our bodies.

We have also noticed that weeks will go by without us having gone outside and walked, played with our little or just enjoyed some good physical activity. We need to challenge ourselves to move, use what we have before it is gone. We are young now, we need to keep our bodies "well oiled" so that it will be there, working for us, down the road. Again, taking responsibility.

All this is a LIFESTYLE CHANGE. We don't look at it as a diet. We are NOT cutting out things 100% or going to extremes, because we know we would be setting ourselves up for failure. We ARE taking action, taking responsibility, and actually paying attention to what we are doing. We are watching our portions, watching our food groups and making sure we are balancing our diet, as well as, making sure to move a little more each day.

Now, you may be thinking, "What does that have to do with finances?"Well a few weeks ago I would have asked the same thing, but I get it now.

Wealth:
Our finances, another touchy subject, only instead of living in fear of the scale or belt loops; we are hiding from our monthly statements.

I am going to be honest here; the majority of our monthly spending was my doing. I was a coffee shop addict, I won't say the name of the coffee shop, but that mythical siren was draining my account faster than I could drain the coffee cup. :) I was spending approx. $40.00 per week there, and when I do the math, that equals a heck-a-lot (in order to get your calculator to say heck-a-lot, just calculate what YOU spend on your favourite daily habit :))

So, after breaking my calculator doing the math, I quickly realized that I needed to take action; I needed to take responsibility for what I was spending. To know I can apply that savings per month onto my debt was awesome. I felt like rewarding myself with a nice big fancy coffee drink...NOT...ha! But I did feel like celebrating.

So, this week, hubby and I looked at our finances. We found tons of FAT in our budget. Now again, we aren't starting some sort of strict debt diet, but we are making it a LIFESTYLE CHANGE. We can plan out our monthly spending better now that we have chosen to take responsibility for what we are doing. (Sound like a broken record??? It is just that simple, being responsible, being aware).

We have realized that we can allocate all the FAT in our budget to our bills, to pay them down. We found 450.00 Extra dollars in our monthly income. THAT'S INSANE! That will help us pay off so much. We didn't take away our FUN budget, but we are going to make sure we are not going overboard. We can put some money each month aside for fun, essentials, debt and emergencies. We can take care of today while planning for the future by being...responsible!

Take care of ourselves today, both physically and financially, will ensure that the tomorrows that God gives us will be that much better.

I challenge you; look at where your money is going, look at what food you are using to fuel your body. Don't fear what the results of it may be, let it boost your confidence knowing you are taking action, you are taking responsibility. Ask God to guide you, and you will see great things happen!