Physician In Numbers – Page 64 – A female primary care physician opines on money, travel, fitness, and other topics to be determined

Beware the Anahafta

I recently had the pleasure of a “day off.” I use the quotation marks, because I was still covering issues at the office by phone.

After a relaxing breakfast, I was attacked by the dangerous, slithering Anahafta, which tried to choke some of the happiness out of my day.

I suspect that you, too, have had to deal with this untamable beast, though perhaps you know it by a different name.

Retrospective Budgeting: the Live on Half Challenge.

One of my big financial regrets is not having had a good plan for my money when I started my first attending job. My salary increased by about 150%, and I wanted to be sure I made the most of it. Finding the right balance of saving and splurging (or taking care of things I had put off for years because of I couldn’t afford it), was pretty stressful for me.

At the time, personal finance blogs, let alone physician personal finance blogs, weren’t nearly as easy to find as they are now.

I thought it might be interesting to apply a few of the doctor blogger financial rules of thumb to my first attending year, and see how I did. Since I did not have as much student debt as seems to be typical these days, I also will see how these numbers might look a PCP just starting out with 6-figure student debt.

Fitness Log #17

One of the favorite things I have heard from a patient is: you’re a doctor, you don’t have to worry about blood pressure. Implying, of course, that doctor’s don’t struggle with their health.

I most certainly do struggle with fitness and health, like many other Americans with sedentary jobs and a proclivity to eat treats. One of my goals is to make sure that I get my 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise (or 75 minutes of high intensity exercise, which probably won’t happen). I will see for how long I am willing to document my progress Saturday to Friday.

Book Decluttering Challenge

I love to read. I love to re-read my favorite books. My goal as a kid was to read every book in my local library. I didn’t know about their practice of deaccessioning to make room for new books; that would have been a Sisyphean task had I taken it seriously.

I’ve spent a good part of my adult life accumulating quite a library: favorite books, hard-to-replace books, just-in-case-guests-need-something-to-read books.

However, I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by all my possessions. Last autumn, I started to think about getting rid of a particular bookshelf, but I knew I’d have to deal with all the books it holds.

Retrospective Budgeting: the 50/20/30 Rule

One of my big financial regrets is not having a better plan for my money when I started my first attending job and finally started making the big bucks. Which, since I went into primary care, wasn’t all that big an amount compared to what other specialties can make.

At the time, blogs weren’t quite as much a thing, and personal finance blogs weren’t nearly as easy to find as they are now.

I thought it might be interesting to apply a few of the financial rules of thumb to my starting salary, and see how I did. I will also think about running similar numbers of someone starting out in 2019.

Fitness Log #16

One of the favorite things I have heard from a patient is: you’re a doctor, you don’t have to worry about blood pressure. Implying, of course, that doctor’s don’t struggle with their health.

This week, I was feeling better, but my Fitbit went on the fritz (it needed a new battery). I have lots of guesstimates of how long I walked this week. Luckily, or unluckily, I still wasn’t back to my usual state of health, so the numbers (and errors) are small.

Other People and Your Money, or Managing Expectations

During my recent travels, I had the unusual experience of finding myself with an extra, unplanned day in Las Vegas. The weather had turned bad at our next destination, and my spouse and I chose to reroute, rather than driving on icy roads in a rented car.

Once we had new plans, the question became: what to do with ourselves? We had already done what we had planned (see the Strip on New Year’s Eve, which was a blast!), but now we had another 24 hours.

A peculiar thing happened: I started thinking about what I would tell friends and co-workers about this extra day. I could hear them saying: you didn’t go to a show? Eat at a buffet? Gamble?

Stepping onto the hedonic treadmill

My husband and I have been traveling to visit family recently, and with one thing and another, have had the opportunity to go through the TSA Precheck line, and also to use Priority Pass membership (free with our credit card) to get into airport lounges. Benefiting from these programs was very pleasant, but also thought-provoking.

Fitness Log #15

One of the favorite things I have heard from a patient is: you’re a doctor, you don’t have to worry about blood pressure. Implying, of course, that doctor’s don’t struggle with their health.

This week I certainly struggled with my health, all thanks to that viral illness that started last week. I had hoped to increase my exercise regimen for the new year, and instead had to work on rest and recuperation.

In retrospect, I wonder what exactly I picked up while traveling.

Shop Your Closet or Clear the Clutter?

It seems minimalism is all the rage these days on the Internet. Or Netflix, with Marie Kondo’s series. I see the appeal: it’s easier to find what you have, it’s easier to clean a house with less stuff, owning less saves you money and is good for the environment. I myself find that a cluttered–or just full–room makes me cranky and/or anxious. My friends keep posting links to this NY Times article, which makes me think I’m not the only one with this issue.

However, I also grew up in a house that contained many things–some useful, some clutter, some beautiful decorations and mementos. My parents have been able to provide a number of very helpful hand me downs to their children, such as lamps, tables, dishes, and towels only by saving their old items until we needed them.

Living as I do now–in an older home without a ton of storage–I find myself torn between two schools of thought. Keep things I might need, or clear out unused items. Shop my closet, or clear the clutter.