Friday, October 25, 2013

Paying for the Dopey Challenge

A couple years ago I started training for my first marathon. I was running anywhere from 10-30 miles a week, not to mention the additional miles I was walking.

At that time I was also doing Weight Watcher's and was finding myself drifting off plan. I needed something to bring me back on track to reach my goal weight and become a lifetime member. 

One day I was on the Weight Watcher's message boards and saw someone suggest that you pay yourself $1 for every pound lost or 25 cents for every activity point earned or every 100 calories burned. This way it was even more of an incentive to stay on plan or to go for a workout.

For me I decided to use this idea to pay myself $1 for every mile that I ran and/or walked with the intentions of going on a shopping spree with the money I had earned. I felt this plan to be manageable financially and it gave me the push I needed to literally go the extra mile.

I reached my goal weight and allowed myself to use the $1000 I had earned on myself with a shopping spree for new clothes to fit my new, smaller body. I had a blast treating myself and I felt like I had earned everything that I bought.

I tried this same tactic when I decided that I wanted to do the Goofy Challenge. It was a way to pay for the trip without feeling guilty and instead feeling like I earned it. But that quickly ended when I realized that there were a lot of other things I needed the money for at the time.

But I'm back to this same money saving tactic for the Dopey Challenge. I feel like it's such a positive way to save money. It puts focus on how I'm saving and spending the money. I'm not just spending money on a race, a flight and a hotel. I'm earning that trip and I'm earning the entry into the race. It makes me want to stick with my planned run and walks and it makes me want to go just a little bit further.

I know that I will not be near where I need to be to pay for the race, flight, hotel and extra money for food and miscellaneous items, but I know that if I try my hardest and can earn at least half of what I plan on spending for this trip then it will be worth it.

I highly recommend this way of saving for people who are in need of that little push to get themselves moving, or for those who feel guilty spending money on themselves like I do. It's such a great way to earn what you want by benefiting in other healthy ways.

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