QT: Frivolous Spending or Investing in Yourself (and Your Future)

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Stop me when this sounds familiar.

I started running because I was too cheap to join a gym.

Whether that is your story or not, if you’ve been around runners long enough you’ve heard a version of that statement before.

And for a lot of us, when we got started, running was pretty low-cost.

Maybe we grabbed a new pair of running shoes.

Maybe we bought some running clothes, though we might have already had some clothes that sufficed so new clothes weren’t required.

But for most runners, it’s only a matter of time before we start spending that cash on our running.

Frivolous Spending or an Investment?

In a recent #FridayFive Livestream, I stumbled into a point I honestly didn’t intend to.

As I kept talking, I became more convinced that what I was saying might actually be worth diving into a bit more.

And so, here we are.

When it comes to the money we spend on our running, how do you view said spending?

I think a lot of us, and myself for sure, view most of the spending as something less than necessary.

In some respects, maybe there’s some truth to that.

I’ve been hesitant in the past, and even in the present, to spend money on certain things related to the sport.

Which, to a certain extent, is ridiculous because for me buying running gear/tools/whatever is a legitimate business expense and tax write-off!

But as I yammered through my words the other day, I started to see some of these potential purchases differently.

As investments.

Investing in Yourself? Really.

What do you think of when it comes to investments?

Typically, an investment is seen as something that generates profit or income in the future, right?

Stocks. Real estate. Artwork. Etc.

And from that angle, it’s kind of hard to think of a running splurge as investing in yourself.

Unless, of course, there is some black market for used foam rollers, running shoes with their soles worn flat, watches that will no long hold much of a charge, or a whole host of other things we’ve been known to spend our money on.

But from another angle, what are really getting when you spend money on your running?

Physical health? Mental health? Spiritual health? Social connection?

If we break it down far enough, pretty much all of our reasons for running can be put into one of those buckets.

And, near as I can tell, all of those things are important to us to one degree or another.

As I now see it, spending money on running-related things really is investing in yourself.

Invest Wisely

I’m as cheap and as miserly as they come, so I’m definitely not telling you to start spending all your money willy nilly from here on out.

If you’ve been thinking of the money you spend on running as frivolous, maybe a change of perspective is in order.

• Would a semi-regular massage help you avoid some niggles associated with tight muscles?
• How about a membership to a yoga studio?
• Maybe joining a gym would help you be consistent with your strength training and cross-training.
• Working with a coach might be the key to staying on track, especially when you don’t have a race to train for on the immediate horizon.

The point is, there are no shortage of ways to make an investment in yourself as it relates to your running.

Some are relatively inexpensive. Some cost more than a few pennies.

Investing in yourself has the opportunity to keep paying you dividends for months, years, and even decades.

So the next time you find yourself struggling to pull the trigger on a purchase that seems a bit frivolous, maybe take a different view.

And if it seems like a solid investment, maybe it’s not a frivolous purchase at all…

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What are Say You: Frivolous Spending or Legitimate Investing?

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