Have you ever eaten something that you really love but for some reason it doesn’t seem to like you back? I have. For instance, ice cream used to be my favorite desert. But sometime in my 30’s, ice cream started making me feel ill. And because of that, no matter how much I wanted it, I began to lose interest. I also started feeling better. The older I became, the more I realized that most foods containing sugar were making me feel sluggish along with some other no so pleasant symptoms. Additionally, bread became my enemy. Now I have to admit this was particularly hard. I absolutely love some hot crusty bread with pure Irish butter. Yum!!

Now I have more energy, sleep better, and have better focus as a result changing my eating habits. Another real surprise, I no longer had the body aches and joint pain I once suffered. Upon research, I found that sugar and carbs can cause inflammation. So, I also started reading labels. There is sugar in almost everything, including seasonings, ketchup, milk, breads, and so much more. And did you know that a lot of the foods you buy from restaurants are loaded with sugars and salts? To offset too much salt in a dish, sugar is added. And vice versa. So, I’ve begun to eat a lot more vegetables, and whole grains such as whole wheat, and quinoa, as well as nuts and fruit. Doing so also allowed me to explore other herbs and seasonings to add flavor. Also, being more mindful about what I ate made me think about the amount of red meat I was eating and how much I was eating out. Suffice it to say, way too much! I kept a journal of what I was spending eating out and found it added up to over $400.00/ month.

I surmised that a lot of people were in the same boat. And that this was as a country are making us obese, diabetic, have heart attacks and strokes, perhaps making us more prone to cancers, and migraines and neurological problems and learning problems and the list goes on and on. So, how does this relate to saving money? Well. Now that I’m more conscious of what I’m eating, I cook more often with better choices of food. I lean toward organic now and am limiting the amount of red meat. I am learning to shop more from the periphery of the store. In the summer, farmer’s markets are the way to go. I even have a small potted garden, which is so easy to maintain with fresh herbs, and some vegetables. These illnesses are making us less productive and we are taking more sick days from work than we probably used to take. And we are going to the doctors more often than we used to. Spending more on co-pays, deductibles and other out of pocket costs. Now that extra money saved on eating out can be directed to other needs such as medical treatment costs or other expenses or savings programs.

Now I’m teaching my 5-year-old granddaughter how to cook, raise a garden and especially understand nutrition and how to read labels. With the cost of healthcare going up more than inflation every year, I can’t imagine what the cost burden will be for her when she is an adult. In fact, in 2019, according to the OECD Health Statistics database and the CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts data, the US spends more per capita than any other comparable country on health care and related expenses. In 2019 that was $10,966 with comparable countries averaging $6,697.

That was an astounding 17% of the US GDP! And unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that we as a country are healthier. So hopefully, educating my granddaughter now, when she is young, will lead to a heathier lifestyle for her and reduce her costs of healthcare. So, if I can get heathier now, perhaps it can help keep me out of the doctor’s office and also save me money.

I shudder to think of all of the money I’ve wasted over the years buying meals that perhaps satisfied my immediate taste but all along was contributing to poorer health. In hindsight, that money could have been put to better use elsewhere. I could have felt better for most of my life if I had paid more attention to what I was eating, and my savings account could be bigger as well. I still occasionally eat out and enjoy the rare ice cream as well as the bread with butter. I’m not a nutritionist, I am a financial advisor, and financial coach. I just know that as a result of my personal experiences, and after 20+years working with my financial clients, many of those who have become more mindful of even just their eating out habits, have drastically improved their health and their financial lives.

Diahanna Vallentine

Diahanna Vallentine, BCPA, Financial Empowerment Lead

In 2002 Diahanna and her husband received the news that her husband had MGUS, a precursor to Multiple Myeloma. Upon her husband death in 2013, Diahanna immediately decided to make it her mission to help patients and caregivers empower themselves to speak up and to position themselves as partners in their treatment. Diahanna became a Board-Certified Patient Advocate. She is currently the Financial Myeloma Coach for The Myeloma Crowd Foundation.