By Dave Kavanagh

Another start of a year and despite Covid 19 still present, many people will still be intent on embarking on making some positive changes or improvements in their lives. The most recognisable of these is the ‘losing weight” one. It’s worth noting that if done properly, losing weight can have the added bonus of leaving you with more money at the end of each month. So how does that work? Well, by “doing it properly” I refer to NOT going on a diet, or buying products with magic properties that will make the weight just fall off. Instead, making small, sustainable lifestyle changes. It can be adding some exercise in week 1, drinking more water (and less alcohol/sugar laden drinks) in week 2, reducing portion sizes in week 3, substituting things like chips for wholegrain rice or pasta in week 4, breaking the association of biscuits/cakes whenever you have a coffee or tea in week 5, etc., etc. Doing it this way, makes it sustainable and when weight is dropped slower over a longer period of time, it is far more likely to be kept off. So how does that improve your wealth? When I analyse people’s spending budgets, it’s clear that takeaways, alcohol, sweets, cakes biscuits etc., pop up quite frequently. If you keep track of the savings when you cut down on many of these things, it’s easy to see how much you can save. Keeping a detailed spending budget where you log every day what you spend (not just the name of the shop, but the actual items) Lets you look back and accurately see what you have spent on the things you actually want to cut down on (one person told me “I can’t believe I ate 38 packets of crisps last month!!”) As for the xmas leftover junk, it can either go in the waste or on your waist. Make the right choices, one day at a time, and you bank account will thank you.

Dave Kavanagh QFA has been advising people financially for over 25 years. For quotes or information (with no cost or obligation) he can be contacted by emailing info@financialcompanion.ie or use the contact form on www.financialcompanion.ie or phone 087-6414570, or @Davekav_advice on Twitter and Instagram. Combined with his previous role of gym/nutrition adviser, he regularly gives talks and workshops at seminars and events for groups, companies and government departments on financial wellbeing, positivity and motivation. As heard on RTE 2FM and TV3.