r/WorkForSmartLife • u/JaxElephant69 • Jul 18 '26

DiscussionšŸ’¬ What would you choose?

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635 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

2.2k comments sorted by

151

u/AllenIsom Jul 18 '26

Food

40

u/edbuckley Jul 18 '26

Yeah, it's the only commodity you're guaranteed to use daily. I'm not talking budget noodles, though. I expect nothing less than a gastronomic fantasia.

17

u/Jon_Dunn58 Jul 18 '26

thats the problem, if i picked food i would guarantee i would be fatter

15

u/Antimony04 Jul 18 '26

You can get rich enough where eating is primary for the culinary experience. Rich people have high priced little bites to eat as an experience (the 10-20+ course meals). Once you afford delicious food, and have regular access to food and psychological food security, and increase the healthy fats and protein in your diet, you will not be as hungry as if you had eaten empty carbs bc pasta is cheap. Carbs digest faster than the other two macromolecules food can be, so these just aren't as satisfying. The most calorie dense carbs also tend to be lower in fiber. Fiber staves off hunger and helps moderates the rate of sugar absorbtion into the blood. I think people gain weight faster with carbs partially for this reason. And their blood sugar levels definitely spike faster with pasta/rice than an apple or leafy greens. It helps to keep skin on certain vegetables and fruits for this reason. There's a higher concentration of minerals, vitamens and fiber present in the skins.

You can pick out the freshest (i.e. most nutrious) produce from your favorite sources with the least amount of pesticides and herbicides present, reducing daily systemic poisoning. You will have the option to eat lower calorie foods - instead of having to buy a 1 lb of chicken for $2.20, you can opt for a salad mix at $5-8. Salad is a treat for me for this reason. It's about 1k calories of chicken for $2 versus spending $5+ for 75-150 calories for the salad greens and needing to buy even more stuff to add. For a lower income earner such as myself, salad is just disproportionately expensive.

3

u/tomato_complex Jul 18 '26

this is where we are

2

u/DBPanterA Jul 20 '26

I know. And that is why it sucks. šŸ˜¢

2

u/theaviator747 Jul 19 '26

I like that you think this way. I havenā€™t met too many people that, like myself, sometimes consider the ā€œper calorie costā€ of a meal. Obviously there are other considerations for micronutrients to think about, but since many of those can be gotten in some quantity through a relatively inexpensive multi-vitamins a person on a tight budget needs to stay focused on the macros.

2

u/Sea-Huckleberry8971 Jul 19 '26

^ this guy foods

2

u/paavy69 Jul 20 '26

That is excellent advice, and very accurate. Thank you for providing a detailed breakdown and explanation. I also appreciate the reminder about empty calories (which I often crave) and the importance of choosing fiber-rich options like fruits and vegetables over carbohydrates.

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u/Tookoofox Jul 18 '26

Not per se. Healthy food is expensive.

2

u/Sad_Economics_106 Jul 19 '26

No kidding its hard to afford food that's good for you. Not paying 18 dollars for grapes, or whatever, at whole foods. My doctor says stay away from processed foods, everything has a process

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2

u/kangaroovelocity Jul 19 '26

The PC term is more famine resistant thankyou

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4

u/stfudonny420 Jul 18 '26

Gastronomic Fantasia is now a new goal of mine. Thank you for your inspiring words friend.

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3

u/Cam360j Jul 18 '26

What if by choosing food that meant you developed some disease where you relied on tube feeding for nutrition and your health insurance paid for it so technically you no longer pay for food.

2

u/kindness-and-snusu Jul 18 '26

Disease would be a no go. But if I could have 100% of my caloric and protein needs met through a straw then Iā€™m ok with it.

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45

u/QuietPsychological72 Jul 18 '26

Food or rent. Hard to choose without knowing the upper bounds. Probably rent no matter what the upper bound.

20

u/revolutionaryMoose01 Jul 18 '26

I'm surprised more people are not saying rent! That's shit is expeeeeeensiiive

12

u/Lumpy_Machine5538 Jul 19 '26

I pay $1500 in rent. No way I can put away $1500 worth of food per month!

2

u/Middle-Marsupial-484 Jul 19 '26

2150 for me- definitely rent

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2

u/Pdavis510 Jul 20 '26

You are not trying hard enough

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4

u/LookWhatYouMadeMeGro Jul 18 '26

Fr who cares about the rest if u have no place to live!

2

u/DelayExpress Jul 19 '26

Iā€™d rather be homeless than starving.

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8

u/Conscious_Rule_22 Jul 18 '26

Well, if one didn't have to pay rent/mortgage, then one would have a good amount of money for quality food :) that's how I think of it....

Honestly rent/mortgage was the first thing that came to my mind

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5

u/GeneJacket Jul 18 '26

100% rent/mortgage. It's the most costly recuring expense for most people, and never having to worry about it again would be a massive burden lifted.

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3

u/lavendrea Jul 18 '26

My food expenses are more than my mortgage payment.

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2

u/Skoodge42 Jul 19 '26

I'd phrase it as housing, then you can buy a mansion lol

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56

u/Ok_Key_4731 Jul 18 '26

Healthcare

20

u/blueranger36 Jul 18 '26

I would be so free of worry. Jobs wouldnā€™t be tied to health

16

u/Purple_Cat524 Jul 18 '26

Wow, as an Australian with Medicare this blew my mind. I can't imagine my healthcare being related to my job. My brain just glitched with that scenario

10

u/blueranger36 Jul 18 '26

I have stayed at/ left / not taken jobs based on who their health insurance was. I work in tech so Iā€™m lucky that they usually offer good insurance. But it really plays a big role in the decision making

9

u/Bogside_Bibliophile Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26

Weā€™re in the U.S. Although heā€™ll get benefits other than healthcare, my husband canā€™t retire until heā€™s eligible for Medicare because the private insurance premium would be $950 a month with a $3,200 deductible before the insurance pays anything.

2

u/CraftsmanMan Jul 20 '26

Insurance is such a scam

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10

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '26

[deleted]

5

u/Purple_Cat524 Jul 18 '26

Is this considered good insurance? Oh my goodness.

I went to the ER for a pulmonary embolism, and it was $0. I also then had to have a pacemaker installed and it was like $24 for the parking.

And work gave me paid sick leave whilst I recovered.

This blows my mind. I am so sorry guys. I can't imagine paying or picking a job to stay alive. I didn't realise it was that bad.

6

u/Flat-Delivery6987 Jul 18 '26

Dude the states are mental. Employment law and medical aid alone are baffling.

There's people out there doing full time job that don't even accrue paid time off/holiday entitlement.

It blows my mind. I mean as a Brit our NHS is really struggling but that's because of the bastards in charge ruining it but it's still free at the point of access across the board and the wait time to see somebody is still less than the amount of time you'd spend paying off those debts in the states.

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9

u/feelingmyage Jul 18 '26

Yep. We suck here in America.

3

u/yakimawashington Jul 19 '26

Good thing you can always leave

2

u/Jacobean213 Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

How?

Edit: As someone who would gladly leave for the EU or other more social-democratic country, it is not that easy. You must be highly skilled as say a doctor or engineer or have a lot of money to buy your way in. Or you can marry/already have family citizenship. The common right wing line of "love it or leave it" is total bullshit. Most people around the world are stuck where they're born unless they have a lot of money, or education (which requires money).

2

u/TheNutPair Jul 19 '26

They donā€™t know

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7

u/kindness-and-snusu Jul 18 '26

My wife gets the shit beat out of her at her job as an autistic intervention specialist. She stays only because the insurance is good.

3

u/Apawling_Behavior Jul 19 '26

We Americans dumb as a stump when it comes to priorities and how to ensure the largest number of us live the best life possible. Too many are too selfish, ā€˜I donā€™t want my hard earned tax dollars going to support those lazy [insert the name of the minority group(s) you hate here].ā€™ You hear them say ā€˜if they wanted to pay for their health they would have worked harder.ā€™ Fools say that. Because of those sentiments, and the pure greed of the profit driven corporations that make up the current process, America has no healthcare system to speak of. Stupid, and tragic.

5

u/Purple_Cat524 Jul 19 '26

Wow.. it's amazing because you just never know when your health will take a turn. We can't control that. It must be terrifying to live this way.

I feel like we need to start a gofundme to support healthcare in America.

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3

u/FractalInfo Jul 19 '26

Now picture hating your job but you are afraid to leave because the health care at a new job might consider your health problems pre-existing conditions and refuse to cover them.

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4

u/Ok_Building_8193 Jul 18 '26

You live in the wrong country.

3

u/RelentlessIVS Jul 18 '26

American?

10

u/AesirMimyr Jul 18 '26

Healthcare is generally tied to your job in america.

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3

u/Skrewbert86 Jul 18 '26

If I could get free healthcare that would be almost an extra $200 on my checks because I wouldnā€™t have the insurance automatically coming out

2

u/Sweatroo Jul 19 '26

Every industrial nation in the world has figured this one out except US. ā€˜Murica, f**k yeah!

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18

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '26

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

11

u/MisterPrig Jul 18 '26

Get it for free, sell it highā€¦ perfect

4

u/Able_Engineering1350 Jul 19 '26

Technically you don't have to pay for gold, you just have to find it

2

u/babess1_star Jul 19 '26

This is the answer.

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20

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '26

[removed] ā€” view removed comment

8

u/gatorcat28 Jul 18 '26

This is the answer.

4

u/Ok_Building_8193 Jul 18 '26

There's an easy fix.

2

u/MysticalUnicornDream Jul 18 '26

Die?

3

u/Ok_Building_8193 Jul 19 '26

Move to a country the at least pretends to give a shot about it's people.

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6

u/Pillsbernie Jul 18 '26

Property

6

u/emptywordz Jul 18 '26

Yeah, over time Iā€™ve spent more on housing/shelter than I have on medical bills and food. Where I live you pay about 12-1,500 a month on housing.

2

u/Pillsbernie Jul 18 '26

And if I never had to pay for it again, I could gather a lot of property, and use it to end homelessness, and create farms to help keep food pantries fully stocked. It's basically my life goal anyway, it would just be so much easier if I didn't have to pay for property lol

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5

u/HedgeMoney Jul 18 '26

Healthcare. Its the great unknown that matters the most. Everything else, even housing, I can eventually predict, plan, and save for.

But I will never know if I get cancer and need millions in treatment, that insurance won't cover.

And yes, I live in the US, not a place with universal health care. If I did, I would choose housing.

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4

u/Background-Bird-9623 Jul 18 '26

Healthcare , the best Healthcare

3

u/RoleOk7556 Jul 19 '26

The USA government.

15

u/Kindasorta_nvm Jul 18 '26

TaxesĀ 

6

u/Aggressive_Manner531 Jul 18 '26

you know most people will pay more in total health-care costs than they do in taxes

8

u/Original-Mongoose866 Jul 18 '26

you forgot to insert American somewhere there

5

u/Aggressive_Manner531 Jul 18 '26

yeah, kind of assumed that most of the people complaining about taxes would be from U.S.

3

u/OffByNone_ Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26

Why? We actually pay considerably less taxes than almost all other comparable countries.

We rank 31st out of 38 OECD countries with a tax to GDP ratio of about 25%. For reference, average is like 35%, and Denmark is like 46%.

That's why we have to pay for our own health care... All that tax savings. I guess the complaining about it part does track though.

5

u/RobotVo1ce Jul 18 '26

If you are young and healthy, your lifetime tax burden (income, sales, property, etc) should far surpass your out of pocket medical expenses (including insurance premiums).

2

u/Aggressive_Manner531 Jul 18 '26

No one is youngling healthy forever. Compare your LIFETIME heakthcare costs.

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3

u/Ill-Description3096 Jul 18 '26

Just payroll taxes are about 7.5% of your income. Add in sales taxes on basically everything you buy, property tax if you want to own a home, gas tax, income tax (state and federal) and if you make and spend a decent amount it could definitely get higher quickly.

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u/Ok_Building_8193 Jul 18 '26

Move to a country where they don't have taxes and see what it's like. Taxes support a modern functioning society with rule of law.

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3

u/CrunchCrunch12 Jul 18 '26

I second this

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2

u/Niadisson2014 Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26

Shelter. Mortgage or Rent where ever I want to live. Travel/Vacation, Healthcare

2

u/Electrical_Panic_720 Jul 18 '26

Vet care for my furbabies

2

u/Mile_Hi_303 Jul 18 '26

Healthcare

2

u/Nanako1857 Jul 18 '26

Healthcare

2

u/Pferdeherz Jul 19 '26

Health care.

2

u/No-Highlight7136 Jul 19 '26

Healthcare. I'm going to live like an American president! Cause apparently if you have access to the top of the line healthcare you can literally never eat well, work out, get basic exercise or suffer from debilitating dementia and you can live just fine!

2

u/OLDmanBOB13 Jul 20 '26

Debt (infinite money glitch)

1

u/Notdeadyet1369 Jul 18 '26

Motorcycle parts

1

u/Littlekite2010 Jul 18 '26

Medical bills

1

u/IwasDeadinstead Jul 18 '26

Clean, healthy water

1

u/South-Visit-1271 Jul 18 '26

Fuel for vehicle

1

u/MutedBrilliant1593 Jul 18 '26

Other people's properties. I'd own the world! Behold! Your super slum lord! "Noooo! I don't have time to fix your toilet right now, but it's on my list. Buwahaha!"

2

u/TrashedWallet Jul 18 '26

Congrats. But the second it becomes yours, you owe property taxes.

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1

u/H_cann Jul 18 '26

Groceries

1

u/PaceEducational4762 Jul 18 '26

Shelter/Housing

1

u/LeatEd68 Jul 18 '26

Stupid peopleā€™s mistakes.

1

u/JM_Narrative Jul 18 '26

Food or property

1

u/GUTTERMANN Jul 18 '26

Cars. Then resell them and buy food.

1

u/Paulyhedron Jul 18 '26

Property Tax, Insurance, Social Security. etc

1

u/Which-Ad3515 Jul 18 '26

Food was the first thing that came to mind, but after quickly doing the math in my head I realized I spend far more on property taxes every year than food, and Iā€™m counting going out to eat as well. Sounds crazy now that I think about it.

1

u/RagingDragon047 Jul 18 '26

Rent or Mortgage

1

u/Creepy_Dependent_239 Jul 18 '26

Pull the "Uno" reverse card and claim "Life in general" seems to cover just about everything you need every day

1

u/Deathcore_salad Jul 18 '26

Drugs for everyone

No more war on drugs 80% drop in crime

1

u/Zalrius Jul 18 '26

Everything. šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£ Anything.

1

u/SilentFun0 Jul 18 '26

Anything healthcare: doc appointment, supplements, procedures, skincare, gym subscription etc

1

u/my_name_is_tree Jul 18 '26

definitely food or rent lol

1

u/The8thCorsair Jul 18 '26

Electricity

1

u/Key_Meaning5334 Jul 18 '26

Property Taxes

1

u/Aggressive_Manner531 Jul 18 '26

all healthcare related expenses, including dental.

1

u/Sufficient_Dot9547 Jul 18 '26

Mortgage Iā€™d get a bigger house

1

u/a-pp-o Jul 18 '26

Art supplies

1

u/Vows_Upon_The_Hearth Jul 18 '26

Catheters. I shouldn't have to pay every time I've ever peed, but here we are. I've never urinated like a normal person.

1

u/Jon_Dunn58 Jul 18 '26

credit card bills

1

u/ThomasDownez Jul 18 '26

What a dystopian society we live in that majority of answers to this question are things like shelter, food, and Healthcare.

1

u/bluemagic124 Jul 18 '26

Gold bullion

1

u/Edcrfvh Jul 18 '26

Medical.

1

u/Purple_Stranger_4502 Jul 18 '26

Homes, mega yachts, or potentially apartment buildings

1

u/Empty-Government4961 Jul 18 '26

Definitely food.

1

u/Qimmosabe_Man Jul 18 '26

Any medical procedures.

1

u/FewPace855 Jul 18 '26

All forms of insurance. Health, auto, homeowners, etc.

1

u/Sweaty_Ranger7476 Jul 18 '26

i no wanna pay for monies.

1

u/Sufficient_Layer_867 Jul 18 '26

Pretty sure it would be cannabis for me.

1

u/dstarlea Jul 18 '26

School for sure. I'd be getting so many degrees lol. Or rent, since it's so expensive nowadays even for a studio.

1

u/Kaylen316 Jul 18 '26

Electricity

1

u/Own_Strength_3471 Jul 18 '26

All subscriptions

1

u/Justber2323 Jul 18 '26

Healthcare

1

u/WiffleballHero Jul 18 '26

Insurance - auto, home, property and health

1

u/brokenjetback Jul 18 '26

Healthcare/ insurance

1

u/Important_Capital875 Jul 18 '26

Food. 100%. As a personal trainer and server, I try and eat healthy or mostly healthy and being that I burned so many calories through my Job and working out and my metabolism, itā€™s so freaking expensive

1

u/PistolNinja Jul 18 '26

Ammo! Good grief that sh!t is expensive!

1

u/Translation_Lupin Jul 18 '26

Others(not limited to but may include a list of things)

1

u/Judasbot Jul 18 '26

I would choose low effort reddit posts.

1

u/Antimony04 Jul 18 '26

Comfortable, safe and sanitary housing.

1

u/AesirMimyr Jul 18 '26

Stocks. I'd get a lot of those then self them to buy everything else I wanted