Five Cents Ten Cents

Financial freedom, one realistic step at a time.

Health is Wealth: Revisiting It Personally


I went through a bout of throat infection recently and it took a course of antibiotics plus lots of early nights for my body to fight off the invaders. The GP bill was $64.40 (4 medicines – antibiotics, cough mixture, tablets for throat swelling and nose block) at one of the big group GP chains which was somewhat expensive and set me thinking about what medical fees would face me when I grow older?

We know in theory that health is truly wealth but how much do we practice it day in and day out?

I for one have been telling myself that I need to exercise and to lose weight. The irony is that the lack of exercise, coupled with a few late nights saw my body succumb to a bug that made me lose weight due to lack of appetite. I realise that I need to really sleep by 11pm on most days as I get up around 6.30 am for work from Mondays to Fridays. My health has been something that I neglected a bit as I indulged in more than my usual share of soft drinks, snacks and fried foods.

It took a toll and a 5 day course of medication made me re-examine how healthy (or unhealthy) my habits had been for the last month or so.

There’s no point in me rambling on and on about getting healthy if I don’t do anything. In terms of diet, I would focus on more soup based foods as they tend to be less oily and with lesser fried stuff. In terms of exercise, I am trying to get myself back into the groove of doing some light jogging at least 2 x a week and something more strenuous 1 x week. My stress level was high last week because my staff was resigning and another staff was on long MC. Fortunately, the one on long MC was able to come back to work today and now I only have to contend with a short period it takes for the replacement staff to replace my staff who is leaving by mid September 2010.

Ultimately, financial freedom still has to exist in the context of being healthy enough to enjoy it. No health means that even if you are financially free, your quality of life would be poor.

Life is about balancing one’s needs and wants and to be healthy and happy in relationships with people who matter.

The closer I get to 40, the closer I realise that this balance is something that one has to constantly work on to make it happen.

How do you achieve your own balance in life?

Be well and prosper.

»crosslinked«

Healthy, Wealthy and Wise


I came across Bodyrock TV on youtube and through surfing the net. The personal fitness lady who demonstrates the exercise routine has such a killer bod that I always feel my fats and love handles each time I watch one of her latest workouts. I used to be slightly unfit in JC, lost quite a lot of bodyfat during full-time NS times, went through periods of fitness and relative unfitness in my 20s to 30s before the birth of my daughter 2.5 years ago let me shed my weight from 69 kg to a more manageable 63 kg now. I aim to maintain my current weight by exercising more and to do more exercises like those in Bodyrock TV.

Why am I talking about health and fitness?

No amount of money and financial freedom can be enjoyed if you don’t have good health.

I realise that I’m still not investing enough of my time to exercise (at least three times a week for 30 mins each) even though I can do so after my daughter is asleep or before she wakes up. I can also do so during lunchtime so I have absolutely no excuses other than my own laziness and inertia!

I’m posting a link to the workout video above to continue to remind myself to EXERCISE REGULARLY and GET FIT!

How do you invest in your health?

Share with Panzer in the comments section. :-)

Be well and prosper.

Now you see it, now you don’t: the transient nature of wealth


Flickr image New York Stock Exchange by Helico

Flickr image "New York Stock Exchange" by Helico

The recent surge in the stock markets arising from the US’s recent rally has helped my equity portfolio bounce up from the submarine depths it once occupied.

In a matter of two short weeks or so, my portfolio has become less negative through no action of mine.

In fact, I left some profits on the table when I exited one of my recent buys UOB at 9.40. I let it go at $11.06 only to see prices run up to $15.00 in less than 1 week! :-( [I know, I know, I should be thankful for the profits..but human beings are greedy, no? ;-) ] Continue reading