Written by Selima Iwilla Harleston Lust
Clinical Herbalist & Co-Founder, Iwilla Remedy

Published January 7, 2025

Want to keep your 2025 health promise? Start by looking at your 2024 spending.

I know most people won’t do this because it is tedious and uncomfortable.

It’s far easier to live in the excuse that being healthy is too expensive than it is to face the reality of how our spending contributes to preventable health challenges.

This isn’t to dismiss the real financial impacts of the economy, inflation, and the fact that food with fewer ingredients costs more than the ultra-processed food that harms our health. With that said, many of us are guilty of not aligning our spending with our health goals.

Several years ago, Tami and I had a wake-up call. We spent $2,000 on dining out in one month on top of our grocery bill. The numbers didn’t lie, and neither did our bloodwork 😬.

If you don’t budget or track your spending, here are two easy ways to get started:

1. Use a budget app like Mint (free) or Monarch (paid). Sync your 2024 bank and credit card statements, and the app will auto-categorize your spending. You can tag the rest manually to get a clear picture of your habits.
2. Leverage AI. Upload your statements to an AI tool and ask it to categorize your spending. It’ll show you where your money goes—and where it adds up the most.

Now, for the fun part: add up those $65 boozy brunches, Uber Eats orders, $8 lattes, weekly wine nights, and more. You might be shocked by the total!

The numbers don’t lie. And neither does your body.

We rarely eat out now. We cut out alcohol, seed oils, and lattes, shop at Costco and cook all meals at home. Our food budget is 1/3 of what it was several years ago. Our bodies and bank account are healthier, and our bloodwork has never looked better.

The numbers aren’t just about dollars—they’re about decisions.

This content is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Selima Iwilla Harleston Lust is a clinical herbalist, author, and co-founder of Iwilla Remedy. Her work centers health sovereignty, cultural lineage, and evidence-informed plant medicine.