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30 Day Challenge Series, Day 26: Make One “Future You” Money Move

In today’s episode, Cheryl revisits one of the most important stress-related topics in the challenge: money. Since financial strain is a major source of anxiety for many people, today’s habit focuses on taking one small action that supports your future financial wellbeing.

Cheryl explains why progress on financial goals is linked to better overall health and stability, and she shares simple, realistic examples you can complete in 10 minutes or less. The goal is not to build a full budget or overhaul your finances. It is to make a quick “future you” move that reduces stress, creates more control, and supports your ability to stay consistent with other healthy habits.

Takeaways

  • Money is a common source of stress, and reducing financial strain can improve overall wellbeing
  • Small progress toward financial goals can help you feel calmer, more stable, and more in control
  • The habit is about long-term support, not daily spending perfection
  • Financial stability can make other healthy habits easier to maintain because stress is lower
  • Automation is one of the easiest ways to reduce mental load and improve consistency
  • Even small savings can matter, especially over time with compounding interest
  • If money habits feel overwhelming, the best approach is a tiny step and then pause

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Episode Transcript

Cheryl McColgan (00:00)
Hey everyone, I'm Cheryl McColgan founder of Heal Nourish Grow, and welcome to day 26 of the 30 Days Healthy Habits Challenge. Today we're back to money. We did this one habit earlier in the challenge and we're coming back to it again because as we learned from the previous one, if you read any of the research or just listened to the podcast from before, that money is ⁓ quite a source of stress for a lot of people and this is no surprise, right?

But it does show in the literature that making progress, making financial goals and taking some of your financial stress away actually creates greater wellbeing. It just helps you feel more settled, less anxious, less stressed. So addressing money things now and again is a good idea.

Cheryl McColgan (00:45)
obviously I think we should be considering what we're consuming, what we're spending money on, that sort of thing every single day. But when you're doing these future plans or kind of more extended timeframe things for savings, that's maybe not something that you're thinking every single day. So I didn't mean to say that, obviously you shouldn't be focusing on spending on a daily basis, but these kind of larger goals might be something that's more a once a week, once a month sort of thing.

So back to today's habit is to make one future you money move today. And so this is going to be something that lowers financial strain and just gives you stronger financial capability in the future. And that's all associated with better health and wellbeing. It reduces stress, as I said before, creates stability and having stability and having control of your finances supports other healthy habits as well. It gives you the finances and the ability to invest.

in other areas of your health if you need to. And it also having less stress in your life makes all the behaviors easier to repeat when you don't have stress cropping up. So to give you some examples to make this easier, do something like set up an auto-save program at your bank or on an app. So taking $10, $20, $1,000, whatever works in your particular financial situation to automatically save each month. Automated bill.

have a bill or two or all of them that are scheduled to pay every single month so that it takes the stress off of you remembering to send a check or to submit your payment online. Maybe increase your retirement contribution by 1%. This is an area that I'm really interested in because I have always been involved in some degree and both my partners have been in finance and I actually ended up doing a speech about it in college. But the compounding

Interest is such a huge thing the earlier you start saving even if it's a small amount and then I say earlier I'm like the younger that you start saying your that money just has more time to double and double and double again over time With the you know compounding interest and if you start saving much later in life It doesn't have as much time to grow now That's not to say you still can't start because like every all of this you can start any time But the younger that you start saving the better it'll just set you up much more in the future for having some

again, gains without having to do anything else. The once in the money is in there and it's growing with interest, it just keeps building on itself. If the automation seems too much, maybe it's something like setting yourself a calendar reminder or writing a small financial plan, maybe for the next week or the next month. So we're doing it in 10 minutes or less. We're not making a spreadsheet here or creating an empire of things. Of course, if you want to do that at some point, I think that's awesome.

But this is just meant to be, again, a small, doable habit that doesn't turn you off from it. So setting up an automation, something quick like that, or setting aside more money to save is a good choice here. So if it's triggering too much stress, just do a small step, something in relation to it, and then stop. And you can always come back to this at a later date or give it some further thought when it comes for the weekly reset and reflect. As always, the studies are linked.

in the email that you received and in your tracker. And if you haven't joined yet, that link to join is heelnourishgrow.com slash habits, you can join anytime. It's never too late. That's probably the theme of this series so far. But hope you enjoyed this and I will see you again tomorrow.

Author

  • Cheryl McColgan

    Cheryl McColgan is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Heal Nourish Grow, where she has published evidence-based health and nutrition content since 2018.

    With over 30 years of experience in fitness, nutrition, and healthy living, and nearly 20 years of professional editorial and journalism experience, she brings both subject-matter depth and trained editorial judgment to everything on the site.

    Cheryl holds a degree in Psychology with a minor in Addictions Studies, completed graduate training in Clinical Psychology, and is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and E-RYT Certified Yoga Instructor and trained in Yoga Therapy.

    She is the author of 21 Day Fat Loss Kickstart, Make Keto Easy, Take Diet Breaks and Still Lose Weight, The Grain Free Cookbook for Beginners, and Easy Weeknight Keto.

    Read more about Cheryl and the journey that created Heal Nourish Grow on the about page.

    Cheryl McColgan is the founder of Heal Nourish Grow, where she writes about protein, body composition, healthy aging, and evidence-based nutrition and wellness along with the everyday habits that actually make those things work in real life.

    With a background in psychology and graduate training in clinical psychology, plus nearly 20 years of experience in editorial and publishing, Cheryl approaches health from both a research and real-world perspective. She’s also been immersed in fitness and nutrition for more than 25 years, which gives her a practical lens most purely academic content tends to miss.

    Her work today focuses heavily on protein intake (especially for women), muscle retention, metabolic health, and sustainable fat loss, along with topics like sleep, wellness, recovery, and wearable health tech. You’ll also find a mix of high-protein, low-carb recipes designed to make hitting those goals easier without overcomplicating things.

    Cheryl’s interest in health and nutrition became more personal after navigating her own health challenges, which pushed her to dig deeper into how lifestyle, diet and daily habits impact long-term health. That experience continues to shape how she approaches everything on this site: practical, realistic, and focused on what actually works over time.
    What Cheryl Covers
    Most of the content here falls into a few core areas:

    Protein & Muscle Health: how much you actually need, especially for women and how to use protein to support strength, body composition, and aging
    Fat Loss & Metabolic Health: sustainable approaches that prioritize muscle retention and long-term results
    Healthy Habits & Lifestyle: sleep, movement, strength training, consistency, and the small things that compound over time
    Wearables & Recovery: real-world testing and comparisons of tools like Oura, Whoop and others
    High-Protein & Low-Carb Recipes: simple, realistic meals that support your goals without feeling restrictive
    Travel & Lifestyle: wellness-focused travel, outdoor experiences, and a slightly more elevated take on healthy living

    If you're new, here are a few good places to begin:

    30 Day Healthy Habits Challenge

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