Health is wealth – Rich Money Habits

Financial Goals 2010 Mid-Year Update

It’s now July! The first half of the year has already passed. Time does fly so fast, doesn’t it? So many things have happened and I am still amazed at how this blog has grown steadily over the past 6 months. Before we welcome the next half of the year, I’d like to take this time to reflect and give you an update on my 3 financial goals for this year 2010.

Financial Goal #1 – Buy a House!

My first goal for 2010 is to Buy a House. The short update is…NO we have NOT bought a house yet. But maybe soon. 🙂

My wife and I actually invested in a house…but only for a private lending deal. Besides, we won’t actually own the house, so that doesn’t count. That deal, however, introduced us to great friends doing business in real-estate whom I am learning a lot from. In the next months I will also be spending some time to learn investing in real-estate myself.

We’ve also been looking at buying a nice 2-bedroom unit on a pre-selling mid-rise condo. But this one will NOT be ready for occupancy until April 2012. We actually paid the reservation already so hopefully, if everything is in order, my first goal for the year could actually be within reach (at least technically). :)

Financial Goal #2 – Invest 20% of my money

The second goal I have is to invest 20% of my money. I’ve started investing in the Philippine Stock Market. I’ve tried the cost-averaging method via CitisecOnline’s EIP and even Bo Sanchez’ SUPER EIP way! The experience has been an eye opener for me.

Apart from that, I also got into a private lending deal on real-estate. While I haven’t gotten my money back yet, I’m confident this will lead into more investing opportunities in the future.

Just last week, one of my friends also asked me to invest in her Travel Agency business. Normally, I don’t lend money unless I’m very sure I will get my money back. However, since I know her and the money (including interest) will be returned in just 7 days, I thought it was worth a try. If this deal goes well, I might be encouraged to invest again in the future and probably open it up also to dear readers of this site.

I’ve also been investing heavily on my personal development these past months. I’ve just attended the Money Summit and Wealth Expo last weekend to learn more about money, business and investing. The 2-day seminar was a blast! The energy from the speakers as well as the attendees was simply amazing! Up to now, I’m still digesting everything. I’m really excited to share the lessons I’ve learned from that seminar to our dear readers. So, watch out for that in the coming weeks.

Financial Goal #3 – Be Consciously Alive

The 3rd and last goal I have is to be consciously alive. This goal has more to do about my desire to live a healthier lifestyle than anything else. This is the reason why I think your health is more important than your money.

While I’m not sick at the moment, my health has not been ideal the past few months. It is not where it is supposed to be. My lifestyle is not very good. I still drink coffee a lot. I am also having a hard time getting enough sleep. As a result, I’ve easily gotten a cold every now and then.

I’m always in a hurry. Most of the time, I go for fast food. My weight has increased so much that my pants now hardly fit. Oh well, it’s a good thing fitted pants are the “in” thing these days. I don’t have to feel so out of place. 🙂

One good news is that I finally used our condo’s gym. Finally. Just today. And I liked it. I’ll probably go to the gym more often now.

Quite honestly, this goal is a little bit vague to measure and be actually effective. So, to make this goal more specific, measurable and make me accountable :-), I’m revising it to say “my goal is to weigh 80 kilograms by December 31, 2010”. I only have less than 6 months to go so I better get started right away! Wish me luck!

P.S. Dear Readers, what financial goals do you have for the year? How have you made progress on your goals now that the first half of the year has passed?

Health Is Wealth – Why Your Health Is More Important Than Your Money

Have you ever heard the saying “Health is Wealth”? I am not sure who coined the phrase but I think there’s a degree of truth to that statement. It may even be more important than all the money you have.

If your wealth is a number, your health would be the leading “1” on a $1,000,000,000 (one trillion dollar) jackpot. All the other zeroes represent your material wealth – a house, a car, your investments, family, friends, etc. As you can see, without the “1” in front, it will just be $0,000,000,000 which is basically NOTHING. This is the same as your health. If you’re NOT healthy, if you’re getting sick all the time, all your riches do NOT matter…

I got sick with cough and cold the past couple of days…again. With the very hectic schedule during the Holidays, and my wife and I making ala “amazing race” from Manila to the northern part of the Philippines they call Ilocos & Cagayan, topping it off with the pressure of going back to work on a night shift immediately right after the race (ooppss..I mean vacation? :))…I was REALLY exhausted…as a result, I got sick (again).

Eating right

Sadly, I’ve not been eating right for the past couple of months…

I almost always eat out at delicious but not so healthy fast food restaurants, eating tasty fried chicken, fatty “sisig” or inihaw na “liempo” (grilled pork belly?). I’m just too lazy to cook food when I get home after a long day at work.

Coffee is my water. I drink coffee in the morning, in the afternoon and at night. Sometimes I feel the strongest brewed coffee I drink can no longer keep me awake. The good thing is…I easily ended up getting not one but TWO Starbucks planner even before the Holidays. 🙂

When I don’t drink coffee, I splurge on sodas. There’s even a time when I drank 2 liters of “DIET” coke (a.k.a. Coke Light) each night for a couple of days…That’s when my body started to give up and I got the nasty cold & cough.

Being physically active

When I was in Malaysia, I used to play badminton or tennis twice a week. I also have this basketball game with friends every weekend. On top of it all, our office was a good 1 kilometer “walking” distance from our condo. As you can imagine, I had several physical activities lined up for me to keep my body moving and healthy.

When I came back to the Philippines, it was a complete 180 degree turn for me. The only exercise I did is to have my fingers tap at my computer’s keyboard all day and all night long. I convinced myself that I was “too busy” tapping at the keyboard to do anything else, much less a physically challenging activity called “exercise”. Not even once was I able to go to the gym because of laziness. No wonder my belly seems to be getting bigger and bigger everyday. 🙂

Where do I go from here?

I really don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions…but I realize I must change or I’ll keep getting sick again and again. So first thing I want to do is to get well from this persistent cold & cough. Second, I’ll try to keep my self healthy for a change. Eat healthy food. Minimize coffee and sodas. Drink more water instead. Eat fruits. And lastly, I want to go finally use the gym at the condo and get my money’s worth at the hefty association dues I pay every month. Wish me luck!

How about you? How are you keeping yourself healthy in 2010?