Physician In Numbers – Page 56 – A female primary care physician opines on money, travel, fitness, and other topics to be determined

Welcome!

I had a lot of fun being interviewed by Miss Bonnie MD (now Wealthy Mom MD) for her Women in Medicine series. If any readers came to this site after reading her interview with me, Welcome!

Mondays, I write about finances. If I’m super excited about my Monday topic, I might post again on Wednesday that week.

Wednesdays are a bit of a potpourri: money topics, updates on cutting my hours, thinking about goals. Sometimes I just write on random topics, or link to blog posts that inspire me.

Fridays (I think of them as Fitness Fridays) I post about my exercise goals. I usually put in a picture too, to break up the monotony of the format. They mostly function as an inspiration to me to get moving, but possibly they will speak to others who struggle with getting enough exercise.

I’ve been trying to post three times a week, and after nearly a year have a fair number of posts to go through. I got pretty excited once I hit 100 posts, and went through most of them in a round up post.

I hope that you will feel comfortable poking around my site. Feel free to drop me a line, either in the comments section, or at physicianinnumbers at gmail dot com.

A Hierarchy of Activities

Much like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, or Maimonides’ hierarchy of charitable giving, I find there is a hierarchy of activities I do in my time off. I had the opportunity to engage in many of them during my week at home:

Fees Always Matter

For the past several years, I have been reading posts exhorting me to look at fees in my investing accounts. I have been told that investment fees will cost me millions. That I’m leaving money on the table if I don’t fix this, ASAP.

Fitness Log #47

Just because I am a doctor, and encourage patients every day to exercise, doesn’t mean that I don’t have my own issues with getting sufficient exercise. Long hours, tiring days, family obligations, illness: they are all stumbling blocks, no matter what your occupation.

I have been recording my exercise weekly, mostly to keep myself accountable for reaching my goal (sometimes this works, sometimes I miss). If anyone reads this, I hope they will take this as encouragement to keep going, acknowledgement that it isn’t always easy.

Lessons Learned During My Staycation

I recently enjoyed some time off. After my deliberations a few months ago, followed by an exhausting road trip, I decided this time to stay home for a week. Nine days at home without having to go to work represented an experience I haven’t had for years. I found it educational.

Fitness Log #46

Re-entry

There’s an old joke about a man in the golf club locker room, hitting his head against the wall. Another man asks him, “Ron, why are you hitting your head against the wall?” And Ron answers, “because it feels so good when I stop.”

I’m Back!

Today is the 1-year anniversary of my first post, here at Physician in Numbers.

I’ve been basically absent for most of August, as work caught up with me (and devoured me like a starving lion).

I’ve started writing again, and plan to go back to posting on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule. Money on Mondays, whatever strikes my fancy on Wednesdays, and fitness on Fridays.

I plan to celebrate October 1 as my blogoversary, as that’s the date I really started posting. But I couldn’t let my tentative first step into blogging go by with no post whatsoever!

Who Pays Your Bills When You Are Sick?

Sitting with my Dad in the hospital this spring, I was reminded of the importance of sharing your account information with your spouse. My Dad was very ill, then improving, but clearly not in any condition to manage his finances. (For several days he was repeating “2019” under his breath, to be ready for his orientation questions.)

This was a bit of a problem, as he pays most of the household bills out of his accounts. Thankfully, my mom has access to her own accounts and could pay the most pressing bills; and Dad got better soon.

Fitness Log #45

Each week I have been logging my exercise. Mostly this is an activity for myself; it has, on occasion, prompted me to get up and move (“for the blog”).

It is also meant for encouragement, in case a busy reader wants to know how other people get their recommended exercise; I don’t think it’s easy to get enough exercise these days, and I think it does people a disservice to imply that it is. Our lives are busy, and yet, you have to take care of your health.