I am enjoying these blogs on Bottom Lines and keep thinking of others. So here goes.
#1. When you are faced with a decision, you might try asking yourself if the answer lies in whether the outcome will be a plus/plus or a plus/minus or a minus/minus. For instance, you are trying to decide whether to buy XYZ or not. You might love the new shoes you are looking at but deep down you know you do not need them. The plus might be that you feel you deserve them and you really want them but the minus might be that you don’t really need them and you can’t really afford them. For any plus/minus or minus/minus you should walk away and think about it. I can remember a time I let a high pressure sales person talk me into buying an expensive piece of jewelry while on a cruise/island. I have regretted that purchase ever since. It was a minus/minus. I didn’t need it and it was way overpriced.
#2. You just ran a red light. (Oh, no!) Ask yourself, “What if everybody did that?” Think of that every time you do something that you absolutely know you shouldn’t do.
#3. Waste not, want not. That is such an old timey saying that may sound a bit “trite.” Is that the word? Anyway, think about that not only in terms of wasting food but of leaving lights on or leaving water running needlessly.
#4. Wrap your celery in foil and your lettuce in paper towels before refrigerating them and don’t store your apples with your carrots. Also, don’t store fresh bread in your refrigerator (freeze it if you need to keep it a while) and don’t store fresh tomatoes in your refrigerator either unless you absolutely have to as they will lose flavor.
#5. Brush your teeth and floss them twice a day if possible and don’t forget to brush your tongue. If you don’t have time to brush and floss your teeth at night, one dentist told me that between the two flossing once a day (and especially at night) is absolutely necessary. Be sure to read my blog on how to brush your teeth properly.
#6. People you meet, generally speaking, will not remember how you look, what job you have, or other specifics but will only remember how you made them feel.
#7. Do not and I repeat, do not, allow your CPA or financial advisor to talk you into taking your Social Security monthly benefits early even if you are eligible. If you can, wait as long as possible up to age 70. Each year that you wait, your benefits will increase approximately 8% from the year before. I told my CPA that I didn’t want to start taking it at that time but he absolutely insisted and finally talked me into it. Stupid me. What a huge mistake that was. Do your own research and make your own decisions about something that important.
#8. Store your fresh nuts in the refrigerator or even better the freezer. Nuts have a high fat content and therefore get rancid quickly.
#9. I frequently mention how you should drink more water. This is still very good advice but you need to realize that when you drink more fluids, of most any kind but especially water, you will start craving salt. Your body is perhaps slightly hyponatremic and therefore wants you to balance this out with salt (NaCl). The opposite is true when you eat a lot of salty foods your body will make you feel thirsty. The bad thing about all this is that you might eat salty snacks when you are craving salt or you might drink liquids (like colas) when you are thirsty. So, beware of these two problems and substitute healthy choices for your salt cravings and water for your being thirsty.
