I was complaining about my weight to a friend at work today, and he said something that stopped me in my tracks.  He said that he started working out a hour a day, and that this enabled his body to fix itself! 

I never really thought of my body as being sick, but what he said makes incredible sense!  After all, when I’m heavy, I’m more slow, get tired more often and have a tendency to take it easy, this is similar to the behavior I exhibit when I have a cold. 

So in the financial realm, spending (coughing) to excessively on unnecessary stuff and being in debt because of it, is like being sick!  When you are in debt, you eventually can’t do as much because you have your debt acting like a parasite sucking your money away… 

So what would the prescription steps to help your financial body fix itself? 

1. Recognize that you are sick!  Do you constantly carry a high balance on your credit card (in total)?  Personally, if I carried a $2,000 balance, I would consider that as being sick, if you are higher than that… well…
2. Go on a financially healthy diet.  Review the things you are buying and your expenses, then cut out the unnecessary ones.
3. Exercise!  Find ways to make money (side jobs, etc) or play an even better defense by being even more frugal than typical!

If you do all three steps above, your financial body should be able to naturally fix itself.  I personally track my progress in a net worth spreadsheet much like I would journal my weight loss progress. 

Remember being healthy and fix is a life long endeavor, just like your financial fitness! 

-MR