Footnote, good suggestions and thanks for the humorous tips -- llamas, butterflies, vineyards, etc. How about beekeeping? But I digress.
I've actually been thinking about this topic more (we ENTP's love to ponder) and have come up with some more thoughts.
"Saving and investing" is not a fixed, unchanging, boring, routine exercise. There are so many facets -- containers -- within this that can keep this ever fresh and new.
For example, since I got started in taking control of my financial life back in Feb. 2012, I've done the following:
* Discovered and committed to passive investing (index funds).
* Researched and reallocated my retirement accounts to implement index funds. Great fun in researching all the possibilities and ultimately arriving at an allocation that minimized expenses. In that time, I've switched 401(k) plans twice so I got to make a new plan all over again (fortunately each move was advantageous).
* Started really tracking spending (in Mint) and finding where we are spending too much
* Where we were spending too much, category by category (insurance, groceries, etc.), tackling the problem areas within each category, researching better ways, etc., figuring out what we can drop, what we can find cheaper, etc. Trying to reduce bills and spending is HARD. It's easy to keep spending money, but to research and implement new and better spending practices is hard. Each one is a project. I find that I enjoy each one of these projects and get enjoyment by finding better ways.
* One project for saving was biking to work (13+ months of 100% bike to work!). This has been an endlessly new and fun project and it's also helping support FI, as well as my enjoyment of life and my health.
* Another project was starting a vegetable garden to have better and cheaper food. Another new and fun project. Also a good activity with my kids.
* An extension of the gardening has been learning new recipes, since I'm cooking more from scratch (which is cheaper and tastier) and brining lunch to work instead of buying it every day at a restaurant.
* By reading MMM and other blogs, you keep getting new ideas for saving. For example, line-drying clothes instead of using the dryer. Getting an electricity meter and going around the house to find energy vampires. There's ALWAYS some other idea you can incorporate into your life.
* Last year I finally figured out how to do my income taxes, after years of paying someone to do it. Not only was this an interesting new project where I could learn, but I actually discovered new ways I could lower my taxes simply by doing things smarter. This was another light bulb moment that makes me kick myself for not learning how to do this earlier.
In short, back to Peach, "saving and investing" doesn't always have to be boring and drudgery. Something like brushing your teeth, that's drudgery and you just have to do it. But saving and investing can be a never-ending way of learning and doing new things.
Look for areas where you're not just "saving money" but also learning and doing some new activity as a side benefit, so it's not just about $$$ but it's about getting more out of life. For me, that was biking to work and gardening and cooking. Also camping -- rather than take the kids to an expensive resort, we just camp which is actually more fun and cheaper (once you buy the initial gear). I've also been learning more and more about investing, index funds, etc. I haven't really changed my strategy much, but I enjoy learning more about the theory behind it, just for its own sake.
Finally, once you get things under control and your lower spending becomes the new baseline, and you have automated your "pay yourself first" strategy (with automatic payroll deductions for 401(k) and automatic transfers into IRAs and other investments), then you can just stay on auto-pilot and take a mental break from it all. Just try not to lose it during those stretches (like buying a new SUV or McMansion or order a lot of crap from Sharper Image or Skymall or eating out every night...).
