Walking 20 Minutes a Day – Personal Challenge

For our personal challenge this month we will be walking 20 minutes a day.  Now this may not seem like a typical financial goal, however, we feel that there are a lot of benefits that help to round out our life and our finances.

SPENDING TIME TOGETHER

The first benefit is the time we get to spend together without screens or distractions.  We get to talk about our day, our goals and anything else we want to discuss.  This includes being able to specifically talk about our budget or our dreams about the life we are working towards.  It is also a good time to encourage each other or vent if need be.  The critical part is that we listen to each other but this is also great venue to be able to talk and just enjoy each other’s company.

HEALTH BENEFITS

There are obvious health benefits.  I’ve heard lots of studies over the years suggesting that walking just 20 minutes every day contributes to living longer and your overall well-being.  Being healthier in general means less doctor visits which in turn means less money spent on those visits or medicine.  Obviously, this won’t be something that shows up in this month’s budget as a direct effect but as an overall strategy towards living a healthier lifestyle this is a big part of that.

A CHANGE OF PACE

The day often becomes overwhelming and busy for us.  By taking us out of our typical environment and switching things up it can do a lot of good.  We find it a calming experience and one of the most enjoyable parts of the day.

RELIEVES STRESS

On the heels of a change of pace I think taking that break can relieve stress.  There are no screens around or distractions.  It is much easier to listen to each other or just clear your head if you are on your own.  At lunch I try to take a stroll along the lake by our office just to clear my mind.  It really helps me organize my thoughts.

FLEXIBILITY

Part of choosing to do this walking challenge this month is that we will be going on vacation to the Oregon Coast for a week and this is a challenge that we can do anywhere.  Our previous challenge of not eating out would be very difficult to achieve during a vacation.  Walking though, is something that we can do at various times of the day depending on our schedule or location.  It can be incorporated with a visit to the zoo since we have a membership we received as a gift.

PODCASTS

If you are walking on your own this is a great time to be able to listen to a fun or inspiring podcast such as Stacking Benjamins, the His and Her Money Show or ChooseFi.  I listen to these shows while mowing the lawn or driving but a walk is a great time to do so as well.  It also helps to pass the time.

IT’S FREE!

This is obvious unless there are now cities with tolls along walking paths.  If you are trying to save money this is a great form of entertainment and to be really obvious, you aren’t spending money during this time.  The more you occupy yourself with activities/tasks that don’t cost money the more you’ll naturally see savings in your budget.  

TO SUMMARIZE…

Overall, there are a lot of benefits to walking every day.  If I haven’t beat this to death yet this is something I have been looking forward to for a while.  I really enjoy these walks and the time we spend together.  Sometimes it is the only quality time we get together if one of us is having a really crazy day which seems to be the norm lately.  

I also like that all of these benefits can be combined rather than be interchangeable so you can get some exercise while talking about the budget and spending quality time together.  It isn’t an either/or situation but you get the benefits of all of these at once.

Overall, doing these challenges forces us to do something we say we want to do and this month we are very excited to walk 20 minutes a day.

What are your habits when it comes to walking or exercise?  Do you see any financial benefits either directly or indirectly?