I was talking to a person who runs his own freelancing business which meant that he has to constantly search for new customers. Not surprisingly he mentioned that he gets maybe three hours of sleep each day as it is much more relaxing to know that he has secured a contract for a month rather than worrying about it while trying to rest.

This is one of those things where I think to a certain extent you should try to force yourself to do as if it is a meeting that you shouldn’t miss. I can only imagine that one would be operating at maybe 50% of alertness with that little rest. The only real times that I find myself in situations like that is if I was say running an event that requires an all-nighter of sort. Otherwise having to do that consistently would usually indicate that there has to be a better way to leverage your time.

While one of the thoughts could be that you are losing money every time you go to bed, another way to think about it is looking at how much money you are going to spend if you end up stressing yourself out too much.

The other day I was talking to a lady that was trying everything apparently to make sure that she minimizes a health issue that she has. Because nothing has ever worked 100% she literally tries almost everything without much thought of the financial costs associated with it. I guess it is a lot like people with acne problems where they are willing to spend thousands to try and cure themselves.

I think my general thought on that is if the problem is really that serious then at least here in Canada everything would be paid for. If you ever have to spend thousands on something in this aspect most likely you don’t truly need it that much. Therefore, you should always try to see if making simple lifestyle adjustments or adapting to the situation will benefit you more in the long run.

I just think sometimes people look for the quick fix too much and as a result their wallets end up getting drained. Example, having a headache doesn’t mean you need to spend $15 or so downing pills to try and get rid of it. Or we can use things like a fever for example where simply resting can be just as good as spending money on formulas of some kind.

Heck, even things like expensive vitamins that promise the moon can be solved by just changing your lifestyle habits. Granted for many they probably do need to spend a lot for continuous health monitoring of some sort, but for the majority I think we need to stop thinking that there is a magic cure for anything where simply spending loads of money for a product will solve it.

Over the past week there seems to be so many stores that are having sales for various health supplement items such as vitamins. I don’t usually shop for these items, but since there were so many deals to be found you can’t help but to hear all of the rumblings about it. Especially with the vitamins, it seems to open up so much dialogue on which ones are the best, how certain ones are unhealthy for you, etc.

Afterwards, people start getting skeptical why items like these are so cheap as the assumption is there is something wrong with it. Since it is something you put in your body I guess you can see why one would get so paranoid too. Interestingly enough, some people then just buy the more expensive items as the assumption is that it costs more so it must work better.

In general, for these types of products I would usually try to do as much research and due diligence ahead of time as oppose to relying on the price tag to make a purchase. The way I see it is that you shouldn’t need these items normally if you live a healthy and active life. If you must have them then I would think that you would have someone helping you like a doctor.

If I ever do spend money specifically to try and be healthier I usually invest it in items where I can do it myself, so to speak. Example, instead of buying that miracle juice that is suppose to be super healthy I would buy a juicer and fresh fruits and vegetables to make it myself.

I know for myself as soon as you get into things like capsules and tablets that it is way over my head to know the difference between all those brands and choices.

Just the other day I was going to a workshop that wasn’t too far away from where I lived as it was only about 5km away. By car you are probably looking at about a 10 minute drive. Guess what? I decided to use the free form of transportation and walked there. One way took about 30 to 40 minutes.

Aside from saving money for the transportation, usually what inclines me to do this too is for general fitness. Every time I think about it, look at how much money people spend on things like the gym membership. So in that sense I am kind of killing two birds with one stone in situations like these.

Yes, many people think I am crazy to be walking that far. On the other hand, I tend to think some are crazy to think walking that distance is like climbing Mount Everest or something. But in general, I think many times we tend to focus too much on the money aspect when it comes to situations like this as oppose to the overall benefit that it would provide us in the long term.

Example, in this case one could argue that all you really save money wise was a few cents worth of gas and the time I lost by walking makes it look like a silly decision financially. On the other hand, I think of the bigger picture where I am keeping myself physically active and won’t be one of those people who struggle to walk a flight of stairs where in the end they will have to spend even more money to adapt to the fact that they rarely get any exercise.

The same applies to other things too such as learning to make certain things yourself. I guess cooking would be a great example where you can say it is a lot faster to just buy something pre-made from the store versus the amount of time it will take you to learn how to do it yourself. Similar in that situation, thinking about it for the long term it can probably be more beneficial to learn it.

Not only can you cut the labor cost that you are essentially paying for with pre-cooked meal, but imagine what else you can do with that newly acquired skill/knowledge. Teach others….….write a book? Basically, don’t always just think of things purely from a direct dollar point of view I’d say as there is usually so much more benefit to not having to rely on things because they are so convenient.

Had to see a pretty sad situation today where two couples were in a dispute and it resulted in one of those “Divorce me now” type of scenarios. The sad thing too is relationship wise nothing is there anymore. However, they have been married for like over 30 years and have just recently retired.

This is not exactly a millionaire couple, but they have fully paid off everything in life such as a house and were going to live off the savings from then on. The thing is, both of them were so concerned about the lifestyle change since they just retired and life was pretty much planned financially to live at this house and all. Therefore, that seemed to be the only real thing that floating in the mind regardless of the health and well being factor. One even commented how the house was the “life savings” in many ways.

People often say that getting divorced is a double whammy in terms of finances as it is more then just splitting assets in half. The new lifestyle such as having to pay more for items as you won’t buy in volumes too are another factor. Especially at that age where you have pretty much mapped out your financial map, it will probably be a huge setback.

I have never seen a couple actually stick with it like this though simply for the financial reasons. Again, the only thing that is really holding them back it seems is the agony of having to sell a house that they worked so hard in paying off together that it is hard to let go. I suppose in the end both of them have to go back to work to a certain extent if it did go through and this comes down to a your health and well-being or money type of scenario.