Incredible facts
Lose weight. Save more, spend less. Work hard at the gym and love doing it.
These are the most common promises people make to themselves on New Year's Eve and commit to fulfilling them over the next 12 months.
This makes sense: studies show that if you're in good physical shape, your financial situation is good, and vice versa.
For example, a study by the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis showed that the higher a person's financial bar, which he is ready to implement, the more inclined he is such a person to take drastic measures to improve their health.
Another study by Duke University found that analyzing a person's relationship with finances can help predict their risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
These results may seem disappointing if you're not spending a lot and living a big life, but study co-author Salomon Israel says there's a possibility Take a detailed look at the study and understand it correctly.
“Lack of exercise and poor diet don't necessarily lead to poor financial decisions. Rather, a person who has the skills to effectively control their health is more likely to be good at managing their finances.”
To help you improve these skills, we're delving into how five key aspects of your health can impact your money, from sleep quality to stress levels.
Health and money
1. How sleep affects your finances
Science has an explanation for how a person feels when you are constantly deprived of sleep: if you don't sleep for 24 hours or more, you begin to behave like a person, your alcohol level is whose blood is greater than the allowable norm.
As an adult, you should not remember student sleepless nights. If you regularly sleep 4-5 hours a night, your decision-making skills are significantly reduced and become less clear than they can be. And it's taking a toll on your finances.
“Lack of sleep causes a person to make a lot of bad decisions. It's like buying an unnecessary magazine at the grocery store or overpaying a lot for a new car.”
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How can I help myself? First of all, go to bed early to get the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep. Be sure to monitor sleep hygiene: adjust the temperature in the room, keep it lower, hang dark curtains, and do not use any gadgets in bed.
If 9 hours seems like too much of a luxury for you, try a 10-minute nap during the day. A study at Harvard found that napping for a short period of time enhances cognitive function and improves memory. This will help you be more focused in your work and make smart financial decisions.
So consider taking a nap on your way to work or on the weekend, and then a financially successful year won't just be a pipe dream.
How money affects
2. How diet affects your finances
Eating too much food outside the home is an indicator of poor nutrition. Such people are more likely to be obese, have more body fat and have an unhealthy body mass index. Plus, those who keep track of their expenses can confirm that this is also causing serious damage to your wallet.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, a family of four with a moderate diet at home will spend $245 a week on food, but if they eat out, then at least will double.
It should also be added that the fat content of food also affects cognitive abilities. In a laboratory study at Oxford University, experts found that rats eating high-fat meals for several days showed signs of short-term memory loss, and their brains worked worse than those rodents who had a low-fat diet.
Also read: 10 easy ways to save money
“There are many parallels between good eating habits and good financial habits. If you don't have the self-discipline to say no to junk food or the amount you've eaten, you're more likely to make impulsive purchases and empty your supplies. Self-control is key to good financial health and healthy eating.”
How can I help myself? A good way to keep yourself and your wallet healthy is to plan all your meals in advance. Even if you plan to have lunch or dinner out several times a week, this will still help you avoid suddenly wanting to stop for a snack at a cafe.
Don't feel guilty if you buy spinach that's already washed or already sliced carrots, which understandably cost a little more. This means you eat at home and it's worth it.
Instead of filling your stomach with empty calories while snacking, recharge your batteries by eating almonds or blueberries, for example. Your mind will become clear and it will be easier for you to solve financial problems.
The influence of money
3. How exercise affects your finances
We're not going to sugarcoat anything. Regular training is a feat. This habit is worth getting, because it will give you more than just slim and fit.
First, regular exercise gives your brain a huge amount of energy, which enhances cognitive abilities and improves memory. At the same time, if you have a sedentary job and you don't exercise, you lose a lot to your more active colleagues.
You may also lose the positive aspects that will help you cope with your financial problems. Sports help increase self-confidence, so that a person makes more informed decisions and makes his actions more meaningful, which is essential to achieve anyone goals, including financial ones.
Many people say that often all good ideas come to them after sports.
How can I help myself? In order to enjoy all the benefits of sports, spend 2.5 hours a week exercising. If you need to make your sports life easier and more diversified, then, for example, go to work not by car, but by bicycle, and watch your favorite show while spinning a hula hoop.
Read also: Money relieves pain
After a while, you'll start to get used to healthy habits. Later on, you'll be able to take advantage of this experience and apply it to your financial habits. Whether you need to pay off your debt, increase your savings, or retire early, you'll definitely need self-discipline to stick to a long-term plan.
Stress and money
4. How stress affects your finances
Of course, a healthy level of stress helps a person stay motivated to solve problems and achieve goals. However, modern people suffer from unhealthy stress, which leads to reduced productivity.
Recent research by professional services firm Towers Watson found that among employees who reported high levels of stress, 57 percent reported that disconnect at work.
Moreover, stress can wreak havoc on your wallet. Just as there is eating stress, so is making rash purchases under stress. Despite the fact that many people call this shopping therapy, it is more likely that such emotional spending leads to more problems than solving existing ones.
How can I help myself?
Reducing stress may sound like a fantasy, but even the smallest steps in this direction can have an impact on your well-being. Try to track patterns that cause stress and how you react to them. Then, instead of rushing to buy something, focus on doing something.
This could be reading a good book, calling a friend, or going for a run. There's also a great way to beat your desire to spend under stress. You just need to start getting rid of unnecessary things, clear your physical space.
If possible, apply this “treatment” to your schedule as well. Refusal from unnecessary and unjustified actions will give you more free time that you can spend on what is really important to you.
Money and depression
5. How depression affects your finances
Stress isn't the only bad condition that can lead to overspending; depression has the same effect, with some pretty serious financial consequences.
Read also: Where to hide money? Useful inventions for those who have them
According to a study by experts from the University of Bristol in the UK, people over 50 years of age who are in debt are 8 times more likely to report depression compared to by those who live comfortably.
How can I help myself? Access to doctors and medications and mental health support are certainly just one part of the puzzle, and there are also ways to reduce your financial burden on your own.
You can use the snowball method to pay off debts. Write down all your debts on a sheet, starting with the one with the highest interest rate. Pay off all your loans little by little, but do your best to get rid of your biggest debt. When you're rid of it, continue the list with the others.
If you are depressed even after you have made some progress in getting rid of debt, agree with yourself to set a certain time to think before you're going to spend your money.
It often happens that after giving yourself a few days to think it over, you realize that you don't need this thing.
Money rituals
The magic of money for every day of the week
If you are faced with the task of attracting monetary luck, then you should take into account the magic rules that will help the planet, the patron saint of money Mercury, direct its power in your direction.
What to do on Monday
Before leaving home, sit down at the dining table and grab your wallet. Remove thirteen coins from it by touch, take out one at a time. You can use a piggy bank instead of a wallet. Then count them carefully thirteen times.
After that, wrap them in paper, mentally telling yourself that everything will come true as you wish. Coins should be spent within an hour on something useful and pleasant.
How to start Tuesday
On this day, you must make a money magnet for yourself — an “unchangeable ruble”. The procedure is very simple. Take an old shredded penny (ideally if you find it on the street) and put it in your wallet, telling the money to find its way into your pocket. If you can't find an old penny, take a regular one and scratch it with a knife.
Now you have your own talisman that should attract money to you.
What will make the environment happy
In the morning, before washing your face, put a few coins in a glass of water and leave them there for a few minutes. Rinse your face with this water, calling for good luck. Then take the change out of the glass, and when you go outside, give it to the first beggar you meet.
Read also: Hormones are to blame for wanting to spend money
This ritual will help you not only cope with financial problems, but also improve your well-being. You can also do another ritual on Wednesday. Exchange five rubles in small change and also give it to poor males. This, among other things, will help you cope with problems in your personal life.
What to do on Thursday
Thursday is a great day for a ceremony to open your internal energy flows, which are responsible for interacting with money. Immediately after waking up, look out the window and mentally drive away all the problems.
Then pick up the banknote, look at it carefully, close your eyes, hold it between your palms and bring it to the “third eye” (the point between the eyebrows). Try to remember the color of the bill, its watermarks, and other small details.
Ask money for protection and help. This way you will be able to attract money and an incentive to prosper.
Friday rite
Friday in money magic is considered to be as productive as Thursday. On this day, you need to make a special talisman that will not allow poverty to enter the house. To do this, you need to hide three coins at the doorstep (under linoleum, carpet or ordinary rug). This simple action will also protect you from thieves.
How to raise funds on Saturday
Psychics believe that on Saturday you should definitely share money with your home in order to interest him in attracting finance to your home. This is done very simply. Make a small bag out of paper, put some small things in there and hide it in the kitchen in a secluded place.
After the brownie finds the bag, he will want to repay the owner in kind.
What to do on Sunday
This ritual should be done late at night. Put ordinary salt on a plate or saucer, and say that as long as the salt is salty, poverty will not come to this house. Then put your wallet on top of the salt and leave it there overnight. In the morning after that, pour the salt into the bag, go outside and scatter it at the intersection, and put your wallet in the bag.