A Look Back At Resolutions 2008

Before I post my 2009 new year's resolutions in a couple of days, here's a look back at the performance of what I resolved to do at the beginning of 2008.

You can look back at my early Jan post here for a quick recap.

1) Drink less alcohol
This, for starters, has vastly improved. From three times a week at the peak, to the current once a week. So its not yet at the twice a month level and I'm beginning to like drinking beers on my own (yes, I am turning into a kopitiam uncle) in the comforts of my home, BUT it is significantly better than at the beginning of 2008.

2) Exercise more
This was achieved with relative ease since I almost definitely put in an hour's worth of futsal once a weekday for the corporate league, and another few hours on Saturdays playing soccer with the basketball gang (yes, we have evolved). If you're remotely interested to come support me on the weekdays at East Coast, the schedule of our games is here. Maybe also factor in stress from work, but I've managed to trim myself back down to a "thin" 73kg as of this morning's weigh-in.

3) Eat healthier
I'm not sure how to quantify this, but I don't think I succeeded in eating any healthier. I'm still the Mcdonald's kid i've always been. Maybe less potato chips at home might help. One things for certain though: I'm definitely laying off Coke a whole lot more than before.

4) Earn more money #1
Given the current economic climate and my promotion at work (which did not increase earnings :( ), I can safely say that I probably will earn 30% less than 2007 instead. Boooooo...

5) Earn more money #2
Feng Shui for 2009 seems to be as bad as 2008. But that's not gonna stop me from investing. Stock trades went to an almost virtual standstill since July when the crunch started hitting hard. I'm glad I cut my losses really early and considering 20/20 hindsight, alot of things could've been much worse. FX trading improved quite tremendously, so that may be my focus for 2009. Long term fundamental trading will probably be the way to go. Along with keeping as much cash as possible. Savings have improved a little in spite of the tremendous costs of our wedding, so thats a good thing. Aim to hold 75% cash if economic crunch continues in 2009.

All in all, its been a pretty good year from a personal perspective. Job's still intact. Got promoted. Got married (proper). Lets hope that 2009 will be even better!