A little bit of this, a little bit of that (plus, give me fashion advice)

It’s not stream of consciousness today…it’s more of a miscellany collection, because I have a bunch of small things I want to share with you!

Would you go into debt to have fun?

The How to Money podcast recently highlighted a Bankrate survey that asked people this question, their results said that 27 percent would take on debt to travel and 14 percent would take on debt to dine out.

(That last one surprised me! Debt for dining out??)

Since I’m only willing to take on debt in very specific situations (to fund things like a house or an education), my answer is an obvious, “Nope!” to this question.

But my main thought when I heard the question was…why would you need to choose between debt and fun?

Obviously, money can buy you a lot of delightful experiences. But there are also a lot of ways to have fun without going into debt.

First, you can enjoy experiences that just are free/cheap, like local hikes, cooking with friends, going to a book club, watching the sunrise at a park near you, and so on.

Second: there are almost always ways to get pricey things for less money (like I do when I go to the symphony). There are tons of travel, entertainment, and dining hacks you can employ to keep costs down without giving up the experiences you want.

And lastly: unless you are truly, truly pinching every penny you can just to survive*, there’s always the option of saving up for the experiences you want to buy.

*in which case you are probably not the type of person who will go into debt for a dinner out!

Saving up does require a delay of gratification, but I would choose that every day over credit card debt. Debt hurts more than delayed gratification.

I read the “Outlive” book

I do not even remember where I heard this book recommended, but it’s popular enough that I was not able to renew it at the library, so I had to hurry up and read it so I could return it.

It’s written by a Stanford-educated doctor, and he mainly wrote it because he thinks medicine in America puts too much emphasis on treating existing diseases in people, rather than promoting behaviors that help to prevent disease in the first place.

If you haven’t taken some human biology courses, some of his chapters might be a little dry and confusing, but I did appreciate the scientific approach.

My takeaway is that a lot of the things that I am already doing are really good for increasing my chances of having a lot of healthy years (a healthspan vs. a lifespan)

It’s not earth-shattering stuff…it’s things like:

• lifting weights
• getting aerobic activity in
• prioritizing sleep
• working on foot mobility for stability (my barefoot habits have me set up well for this!)
• eating sufficient protein (and limiting processed, simple carbs)
• getting help for mental health

Maybe the thing that stuck with me the most is how good exercise is for preventing so, so many of the diseases that plague us as we get older. If I move my body consistently, it’s much more likely to offer me better health.

Obviously, some things about our health are not under our control! He acknowledges that genetics are a big factor, but the bigger point is that while we can’t change our genetics, there are things that most of us can do to increase the odds of our bodies giving us more functional years.

So basically….I just felt encouraged to keep doing the things I’m doing!

I’m gonna try drinking 2 water bottles a day

(totally unrelated to the Outlive book)

I read mixed things about how much water human beings are really supposed to drink, but I do know nurses tend to fail at hydrating themselves.

So, I’m gonna try to establish a new habit of drinking two bottles-ful of my yellow water bottle.

(a freebie from my first FinCon)

It only holds 2 cups, so I’m just gonna be drinking 4 cups a day. But also: I do drink other fluids, and the foods I eat have fluid content, so it’s not like this is my sole source.

If I end up wanting to drink more, I will. But I like to set very manageable goals. 😉

I’m gonna track it on my little printable calendar with X’s (goal tracker apps do not work for me. I need paper!) and I’ll let you know in a month how it’s going.

Give me some fashion advice

I saw a Target dress on Instagram (I think?) and I decided to give it a try. I could only find a white one at our local Target, so I bought that, but then I second-guessed myself and also ordered a blue-striped one.

(As it turns out, they were on sale for $28 instead of the usual $40. Lucky me! This is the dress.)

So now I have two dresses, and I am trying to decide between them.

I do like the white one, but I suppose my main hesitation is: is it gonna be hard to keep clean? I remember that when I had white jeans, I had to think carefully about what surfaces I sat on!

Also: does the white make it look like a casual bridal dress?

I think adding the included belt makes it less that way.

The blue one also has a belt, of course.

What would you do if you were me?

Every time I take clothing pictures, I feel in awe of fashion bloggers; fashion selfies are a lot of work.

Ok…discuss! Give me dress opinions, but any other topics in this post are fair game too, of course.