Work Out or Pay For Dinner

I think it’s about time that I introduce you to my girlfriend. You may recognize her as the lead actress in this music video. She’s the thousand-aire girlfriend, so we’ll call her Tag.

Tag and I have different interests. I love football; especially the NFL. Right now she is completely dedicated to working out and getting in great shape.

During football season, I basically spend all weekend watching every game I can find. Tag is a casual football fan, but has no interest in watching games all weekend like I do. She would rather go to the gym, get some chores done around her house, sit down and relax, or probably look for a new boyfriend with less of a football obsession.

I don’t want to inundate her with too much football, but I would like to be able to share my passion with her. I also want to watch Monday Night Football and I don’t have cable because I’m thrifty. However, I’m a gentleman (ha) and I understand that we need to come to a compromise. We need to find a common interest that could bring the two of us together.

Eating! Everyone loves to eat. I do it at least three times a day, every day. Tag likes it too.

We’ve decided that Monday night is date night. We will go out to eat every Monday night, and we have agreed to always pick a restaurant where there are TVs that will be showing Monday Night Football.

I hear what you’re saying. “That doesn’t sound like much of a compromise Kevin. You get to sit there and watch football all night while she eats for a few minutes and is bored the rest of the night.” I agree, and that’s why we are also incorporating her passion into this deal. We will each keep track of how many days we work out from Monday through Sunday. The person who works out the fewest number of days in the prior week has to pay for dinner.

I have to be honest; I’m not the toned collegiate swimmer that I used to be. I could definitely use a little more time at the gym. By that same token, Tag LOVES  beating me at stuff. We made a similar bet a few months ago, and her workouts increased by about 73.52% (estimated), and she completely destroyed me in the little competition.

Here are the official rules:

1. Each person keeps track of his or her own workouts. You either get one point for working out, or zero for not working out (no cheating)
2. The workout has to be at least 30 minutes of intense exercise
3. Winner picks the restaurant. Loser pays for the entire Monday Night Football dinner (including tip). In the case of a tie, the bill is split 50/50.

We are combining two of my passions (football and personal finance) with two of hers (working out and beating me at things). We got a late start on the season because I’ve been out of town, so today is the first official day of working out and next Monday is the first dinner.

Have you ever made a deal with a significant other that you’d pay for something if he or she accomplished a goal? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Kevin McKee

Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.