Money Talks Monday (1/22/18)

Can two Mason jars help you determine if you're spending healthy? If you're enterprising and forward-think, yes they can; with the help of a little dedication and a calculator. Money, rather financial security, plays a major role in a person's overall health. Another key factor is diet. This Money Talks Monday we will merge the two together with the help of two empty Mason jars and a challenge for my readers.

Beginning February 1, 2018, follow these steps for a months.

1. Keep all your receipts for food and beverage purchases; be they from the grocery store, a convenience store, a restaurant, or one of those cute coffee shops we all adore (remember, it is always wise to keep all your receipts for a year on general financial principles).

2. When shopping for groceries, organize your cart in three sections using the child seat for unhealthy items, the main cart for healthy items, and the wheel rack for non-food items. Have your items scanned and bagged in this order so your receipt is itemized by healthy, unhealthy, and non-food.

3. Cut apart all grocery or multiple item receipts into the aforementioned sections.

4. In jar #1, place your healthy purchase receipts. In jar #2, place your unhealthy purchase receipts. File non-foods in an envelope. As the clear jars fill you'll be able to eyeball how much is healthy and unhealthy proportionally.

On the evening February 28, take the receipts of out their respective jars and total them. Take the two sums and add them together for you total monthly food purchase. If 85-90% of your total food expenditures fall in the category of healthy, you are likely spending healthy and eating a balanced diet; one that would contribute significantly to your overall well-being. If you are in the 75-84% range of healthy expenditures, you're still doing fairly well, but should work to reach at least 85% healthy purchases. If you are below 75%, chances are your diet choices are leading to an unhealthy weight, contributing factors to diabetes and heart disease (two of the nations top three causes of death), and are likely mood and rest-impacting purchases.

Healthy spending and eating aids in good rest, proper mental processing, and productivity. So, yes, two Mason jars can help you determine if you're spending healthy. Start this challenge on February 1, 2018 and see how it goes. But, just because we are waiting to start on day one of a full month, don't splurge your health and money away in the meantime. Now is a great time to start practicing healthy spending!

Come back next week for Money Talk Monday! #MissAmericaServes #NC #MoneyTalksMonday #MissMetrolina #HealthySpendingEqualsHealthyLiving