The Financial Case for Investing in Self Care
The Financial Case for Investing in Self Care
When was the last time you checked the price for a high ticket item, such as a flat-screen TV? Many of us consider a TV or even internet to be essential for everyday life. The average cost of cable TV in Canada is $55/month, and the average TV is around $500. If you are splurging for a larger TV, you could even be looking at paying anywhere from $800 or more! Yet most of us wouldn’t bat an eye at it. A TV is essential to the home, so why wouldn’t you buy it?
How you choose to spend your money can significantly impact your overall wellbeing. When asked why we aren’t seeing a therapist or spending the money for a self-care related activity, the answer will almost always come down to money. While most of us could justify spending $500 or more on a TV, we might be a little more hesitant to spend the same amount for therapy.
Perhaps you are not the kind of person to go out and buy an expensive $500 TV, or you see these kinds of things as a rare splurge. Below, we’ve outlined a few different costs that people regularly pay that is just as much as a self-care related activity.
Netflix Family Plan Subscription: $191.88 for the year VS. Average Cost of Private Psychotherapy: $175
While you may not have Netflix, you may have another subscription service such as Hulu or Amazon Prime that is comparable to the average cost of a Netflix plan. While cutting out a single subscription for the year would give you the copay you need for a psychotherapy visit, there are other memberships you could cut out to make room in your budget for a therapy visit.
Cable Plan: $660 per year VS. Average Cost for a Personal Trainer (for 12 sessions): $600
While $55 per month might be on the low end of a cable bill, this adds to the point that for $60 less, you could enjoy 12 sessions with a personal trainer! Personal trainers can help design workout programs and even guide you through workouts to help you lose weight and get in shape.
Average Cost of Eating Out: $700 or more per year VS. Cost of a High-End Day Spa: $700
While the average family will probably spend more than $700 in a single year, this is being a little generous. For the same cost of eating out, you could visit a high-end day spa and get a massage or even a full spa day, depending on the salon! The next time you think about heading to McDonald’s, ask yourself if you’d rather be getting a massage instead!
While this may not change whether or not you are choosing to stay subscribed to your memberships or get rid of your TV, we hope that the next time you think you can’t afford self-care, you stop and think. These are just three examples of how the expenses you would pay for without even thinking, can be just as much as some of the more expensive self-care options out there.
