Financial Freedom: You are Your Greatest Asset!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and PanzerGrenadier would like to wish all my readers a Happy Valentine's Day filled with joy, peace and love for significant other, family and friends.

In line with the Valentine's Day theme, today's topic is about that someone you see every morning when you wake up in the morning and before you go to sleep. No, I am not talking about your spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend or pet dog... I am talking about the man or woman in the mirror you see in the morning when you brush your teeth or before you sleep at night.

Yes... I am talking about YOU.

You are your best asset

In our journey towards financial freedom, we talk about living within your means, saving and investing and growing your net worth day by day, month by month, year by year.

Who is going to achieve it? It is yourself. You are the one who will make your vision of financial freedom come true. You are the one who will reap the benefits of being financially free and you are the one who sacrifices present wants for future needs.

It is about you!

So what about you?

Valentine's Day is associated with love and sometimes we love money, our spouse, our pets more than we love ourselves. But we must be careful not to neglect  ourselves because it is within us that lies the power to do the things necessary for us to achieve our goal of financial freedom.

How to invest in yourself

Build up your ability to increase your means

Formal and informal education that is relevant to your career or your business is important because you are the money-spinner, the rain-maker and the provider. If you do not provide the means, how will you then achieve financial freedom. Safe-guarding your means i.e. through required insurance for medical and other needs should be considered. Developing alternate or multiple sources of income is another way to increase your means. Investments in dividend or interest yielding assets such as stocks and shares, treasury bills and fixed deposits or even rental income from investment property are ways to increase your means.

Get used to living within your means

The key to living within our means is to differentiate between needs and wants. Our wants are unlimited but our needs can be moderated with discipline, focus and willpower. If you start living within your means now, you will find it much easier to adapt whatever your income level.

Save and invest prudently

You need to continually have cash flows from your career or business to generate positive cash flows to save and invest. You are your own gold mine. The gold ore that is mined for your gold (i.e income) is limited by the number of years of your working career or business. Careers nowadays tend to have a finite lifespan and hence we need to protect our gold mine i.e. our health as well as our jobs if this gold mine is to continue to yield bountiful returns for us to build up our private gold stockpile for our retirement!

Spend on what matters to us

What you spend on is a personal choice that reflects your approach and attitude to life. I realise that as my daughter will be born soon, she is going to represent the future of Panzer. My spouse and I have someone who can continue to build upon the foundations we have laid for financial freedom for our family. Spending on ourselves is still important because while my daughter is our dependent, we need to maintain our ability to generate cash flows for the future. Thus, an occasional luxury to pamper ourselves and keep us motivated for the continued journey towards financial freedom is important. But important too is the ability for us to provide for our own retirements that we can later choose to retire earlier and to spend more time with our daughter.

As Valentine's Day approaches, fret not no matter what your relationship status as personal fulfilment in life cannot be contingent purely on your marital or relationship status. It is more important for you to invest in yourself as you are your greatest asset in your journey towards financial freedom.

Be well and prosper.

Investing in your health by cooking

Cooking is one of the most under-rated ways in which you can save money in the long-term for your family!

How does cooking save you money?
If you have a family and are cooking for 3-4 persons, it makes both economic cents (sense! - pun intended!) as well provides a way to practice healthy living habits. While you can have a plate of economical rice for the low cost of $2.50 at some hawker centres or coffee shops, if you are cooking for a family of 3-4, using a budget of $10.00 per meal for 4 persons, you can buy wholesome ingredients that can be whipped out quickly for a healthy and nutritious meal.

A basic meal should comprise of the basic food groups:

1) Carbohydrates
Rice or noodles are relatively cheap when you buy in bulk. You can also use potatoes that if cooked via baking, steaming or boiling is both healthy and energy giving. Bee hoon is also relatively low cost at $1.00 for a pack that serves 4-6.

2) Protein
Protein can come from eggs ($0.20 ea), lean pork ($3.00 serving for 4), tofu based protein is relatively cheap and nutritious. For those who have bigger budgets, fish also comes in a variety of prices and provide good sources of omega 3 (e.g. salmon).

3) Vegetables and fruits
Vegetables and fruits provide you with much needed dietary fibre as well as minerals and vitamins. Vegetables are generally cheap with one bunch costing $0.45 to $1.20 depending on the type of leafy vegetables you choose. More high-class vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower costs more as well as green/yellow/red peppers. Tomatoes also provide a good source of antioxidants to help combat free radicals. ;-)

Piped gas is a reasonably cost-effective way of cooking if your main approach is to stir-fry as well as boil. Deep frying requires more gas to heat and is very unhealthy!

Water is also a relatively low cost item
While utilities costs are going up, you will realise that the major culprit is actually electricity. Water, a fundamental component required for washing, preparing, cooking and cleaning is relatively cheap. Cooking for 3-4 can provide for more economical use of water as the preparation, cooking and washing up is divided among 3-4 persons.

Health is wealth
Arguably the most powerful case for cooking at home is health. When you cook your own meals for your family, you control the amount of salt, oil, sugar, spices that goes into your food. Also, you can add fresh ingredients and condiments such as fresh garlic, ginger, onions to flavour your food as well as to provide the healthy goodness from such items. Fresh garlic and onions have been known for their anti-bacterial properties and are great additions to your arsenal in combating germs and bacteria!

I have been cooking meals over the weekends for the past 2 years and have started to reap the benefits of it. I have lost weight, partly through eating rolled oats for breakfast on weekdays and avoiding oily fried noodles/beehoon combos while controlling what I eat during weekends through cooking at least 1 if not 2 meals to make sure I consume nutritious foods. I have also upped my intake of fresh fruits and vegetables to 2 portions daily as far as possible and cut down on animal protein.

The results have been positive as I have lost 2 kg over 1 year and feel much leaner than I ever have in the last 5 years of my life.

If I can cook, you can too!

What you need is sufficient motivation, willpower and an interest in the well-being of yourself and your family!

Be well and prosper.