Wake up call

The majority of this whole pay off the debt/ turn my life around effort I have been working on for the last 5 and a half months falls into the “bad habits that need changing” category.  Probably the biggest bad habit that needs changing is my diet which not only affects my financial health but also my physical health.  The steady stream of soda, chips, Dunkin breakfasts, Taco Bell stops, going out to eat, and whatever else I am craving at the moment has always been a huge money sink.  I know it’s bad for me and I’ve tried to cut out the junk in the past but it always sneaks back into my diet one bag of chips at a time. 

Since October I’ve been working at changing these habits for the monetary reason.  Well, a visit to the doctor for my annual check-up has yielded another major reason these changes must happen.  I’ve been feeling pretty down and generally just tired all the time but have been thinking it was due to adjusting to the new job, the huge move we made in September, finally taking an honest look at my finances, and the winter time blues.  Turns out it’s probably mostly due to my poor diet. 

I’d say that so far I’ve cut out at least half of the eating out, junk food, and soda from my finances (and diet).  This is still a long way from where I ultimately need to be but I know making major habit changes doesn’t happen overnight so I need to be patient with myself.  At least now I have another BIG motivator to make real changes to the way I live.