Friday, October 02, 2009

By 

James W. Stone

Sometimes, I hear people who fail to control their money say "I know what I'm supposed to spend. I just can't do what I'm supposed to do."  Instantly, I ask myself if that person could stay on a food diet. I think you could easily expect the same person to say, "I know what I'm supposed to eat. I just can't do what I'm supposed to do."

How different is it when you ask this person to drive on the right side of the road or stop at a red light? I'll bet you don't hear that casual response … "I know I'm supposed to, but I can't always do what I'm supposed to do."  Nope! If you drive on the wrong side of the road or run a red light, you can be killed, quickly and easily. There is an obvious danger with immediate consequences if you drive on the wrong side of the road or disobey the traffic light.

I think the person who can't control their money, or their food intake, has a problem realizing the danger they face unless it is an immediate threat. Let's realize that those people are well equipped to make good decisions about driving on the right side of the road, not drinking something known to be poisonous, not arguing with a man carrying a gun (even if he is a policeman), or anything else that is absurdly not productive. The problem comes when the potential for harm is not imminent.

Question: Why would you risk any potential for harm? Answer: Because you have done it in the past and gotten away with it.

Sure, when I was a kid, I stole candy from the kitchen cabinet and my mother never found out about it. As a result, I did it again. Actually, I only "borrowed" it the first time. I knew I could use my allowance to buy a replacement before mom wised up. But, later I figured she probably wouldn't notice anyway. And that's how I slipped into the life of the ne'er-do-well thief!  Fortunately, my parents were pretty strict about other things and I cleaned up my act on all fronts as I grew older.

So, back to money and diets … Do you think you can spend money and make up the difference before you get yourself in a bad situation? Hmmm, isn't that exactly why you charge things on a credit card when you know you can't pay off the balance at the end of the month? You say you were forced to spend the money because you had to have new clothes for school, or you had to pay for medicine the doctor prescribed for you. I don't accept that argument because you should have had an Emergency Fund. Why weren't you saving for that unexpected important need? But this is the way the argument over money and spending goes. The truth of the matter is that you just can't spend money you don't have. And spending with the hope you can find more money to replace it before you are in trouble doesn't always work. Somewhere along the line, you are going to get caught.

With food it's the same way. If we are trying to lose weight, we assume we will cut back on eating something later to make up for eating what we want "NOW!"  Do we cut back? Well some people do, but most of us can't. Eventually, we step on the scale and find out we're in trouble. Food is another one of those situations that provides a potential for harm that is not imminent. Eating ice cream is very satisfying to many people and doesn't provide an immediate threat, but the weight builds up. It's just like going to the mall with a credit card. The debt keeps building up.

If you know you will get very sick soon after eating a certain food (for me that would be asparagus), you won't eat that food at all. The danger is real. It is easy to remember the last time you got sick from eating the wrong food. You will avoid every chance you can to relive that event.

That is the key to managing dangers that aren't obvious. You have to find a way to make the dangers obvious.

For dangerous foods it takes only one experience. Then you have been educated. You know the danger. It is now real.  Can you use some form of education to teach yourself the danger of gaining weight? Yes. Learn how gaining weight causes type-2 diabetes, arterial disease, and heart disease. Teach yourself how each pound you gain is a step closer to the edge of a cliff that can crumble and let you fall into the abyss of costly health problems. Learn how difficult it is to reverse the problems after you have started them with a poor diet. Learn how to either eat less or increase your physical activity to keep your weight under control.

In short, you need to scare yourself into knowing you might not have the chance to fix things before you get caught.

You can also find a way to make the dangers of poor money management obvious. Look at your spending patterns and find out if you are always spending more money than you earn. If so, you already have a money-illness. You need to get financially healthy. You need a money-diet. Either you need to earn more money, or spend less money. If you don't always spend more money than you earn, maybe you don't have a money-illness—yet. But you can certainly be healthier if you have an Emergency Fund. If you're not financially healthy, you risk being turned down for an apartment application, having a car repossessed, or even the need to file for bankruptcy.

Whether you are breaking your budget or your diet … just because nobody is watching you doesn't mean you won't get caught.

James W. Stone
Copyright 2009, James W. Stone, all rights reserved worldwide