Don’t Forget to Try on Your Jeans Sometimes | brokeGIRLrich
I have a theory that my body inflates to the extent it is allowed to.
Hear me out. In the prepandemic times, I would wear my jeans almost every day. I would know pretty quickly if they were starting to feel tight and I could make life adjustments to make sure I didn’t stay on that course that were barely even noticeable to me.
In the early pandemic times, I was still teaching online and felt that whenever I was speaking to my students or in a staff meeting, I should be wearing pants. So I still wore my jeans all the time. Despite moving a lot less and pretty much living 24/7 10 steps from my fridge, shockingly no damage was done.
Other friends who did not wear their jeans all the time reported otherwise (I did mention this was a super scientific study, right?).
This summer and into the fall, I was not teaching. I was not doing much other than sulking and trying to rebuild my collapsed life. I did all of this in my pajamas with the occasional dress thrown in when I would leave the house.
In the fall, a small miracle happened and I worked a week of outdoor shows. I put on my jeans for the first time in months.
It wasn’t pretty, friends. They were way too tight. My stupid body had expanded as much as I let it and I didn’t have any early warning signs like I did at the beginning of pandemic when I would just wear a pair of jeans regularly.
And unlike the easy course corrections I could deploy when the early alarm system of “these jeans feel a little too tight,” I either had to cave and buy a larger size or put genuine effort into exercise and eating better (and I hate both of those things).
I have since tried to make sure I wear my jeans a few times a week despite the need for pants still being very optional in this endless pandemic/digital life.
It led me to think about how tracking my spending monthly is a lot like putting on my jeans. Spending like 2 hours once a month to track my net worth and categorize my spending keeps my credit card balances from ballooning
I can notice if things seem too tight and course correct easily, rather than finding myself deep in debt or unable to hit my savings goals. I can make an easy little adjustment rather than scrambling to pick up a side hustle to make ends meet.
Those two hours once a month are totally worth it in the long run to make sure my financial health is on track.
And it’s super easy to do and super easy not to do. Which sucks a little. Just like putting on a pair of jeans is super easy to do but also super easy not to do. The end result though is worth that tiny bit of effort.
It’s crazy how many long term financial habits are really that same level of super easy to do and super easy not to do (unless you’re in some nasty systemic money pit, in which case… good luck and maybe speak to a good debt counselor about your particular situation). But if the system isn’t rigged against you, just developing a few good habits and doing them regularly can make a pretty big difference.
