What’s the one best tip for living a longer life?

We used to be told things like “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” by our parents and grandparents. These words were intended to be words to live by – their wise maxims for living a long and healthy life.

Save with SPP decided to freshen up the old adages by searching the Interweb for some fresher healthy living adages.

Let’s start with the Uncommon Quotes website, which offers up a few new thoughts on the subject.

“Nourish your body, and your spirit will thrive,” the site suggests. Not bad.

“Stress less, live more; find joy in the present,” reads another. Also very good advice.

“Healthy living is a marathon, not a sprint,” the site advises. And as well, “listen to your body, it knows what it needs.”

We found a few more good sayings at the Lifehack website.

For starters, the site notes, “it is health that is real wealth, and not pieces of gold and silver.” This quote is attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. A former CEO of a pension plan we once worked at used to paraphrase this one by saying “you can be the richest, wealthiest person in the world, but if you don’t have your health, you ain’t got nothing.”

The site quotes Jack LaLanne as saying “exercise is king, nutrition is queen. Together you have a kingdom.” Nice.

Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s thoughts on the subject are as follows, the site reports – “we do not stop exercising because we grow old; we grow old because we stop exercising.”

The Life Success Journal blog provides a few more pearls of wisdom.

“Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments,” Bethenny Frankel is quoted as saying. “Just as we save money for future gains, healthy foods nourish our bodies and boost our well-being. By making conscious food decisions, we invest in our health and happiness,” the blog adds.

“The mind is everything,” states none other than Buddha in the blog. “What you think, you become,” the quote adds. “This quote emphasizes the importance of cultivating a positive mindset as we strive for a healthy lifestyle. When we maintain optimism, we allow ourselves to thrive and reach our fullest potential,” the blog explains.

Let’s finish up with three more, this time from the Wisdom Quotes website.

The site tells us an old Irish proverb – “a good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.”

Next, there’s an Arab proverb – “he who has health has hope; and he who has hope has everything.”

Finally, the great chef Julia Child once said “Moderation. Small helpings. Sample a little bit of everything. These are the secrets of happiness and good health,” the blog reports.

We certainly wish everyone a long and healthy life.

One thing that’s particularly important with longevity is making sure you don’t run out of savings in retirement.

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan has you covered in that regard. Among the options available to retiring plan members is a lifetime monthly annuity payment. No matter how long you live, you’ll receive a payment on the first of every month for the rest of your days. And depending on what annuity option you select, there may be benefits available to your survivors.

Check out SPP today!

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By Sheryl Smolkin

After complaining for weeks that it is just too early for holiday window displays and Christmas music, with less than a month until the big day, it is finally the right time to start your Christmas shopping.

But unless you are careful you can blow your budget and end up with a huge credit card bill in January and no money to pay for it. According to the 2014 Post Holiday Spending Survey released by data collection company Field Agent, last year Saskatchewan residents planned to spend $698 but on average, actually spent 15.9% more, or $809.

To give you some ideas how to personalize your gifts and save some money, this week’s Best from the Blogosphere includes links to five websites that will give you some very good ideas where to start, even if like me, you are not in the least bit “crafty.”

Buy Nothing Christmas was originally started by Canadian Mennonites to help de-commercialize Christmas. For a great list of homemade gift ideas click here. I like food gifts such as made from scratch cookie kits, homemade granola and a spice sampler using spices bought in bulk and packed in pretty jars,

How to Not Go Broke Holiday Shopping includes some great tips for saving money. For example, if you get a great deal on a gift for your sister-in-law, don’t also pick one up for yourself. Remember you’ll be receiving gifts from others this season and your budget will thank you. Also, help to avoid temptation by unsubscribing from retailers’ email lists.

In Eight Simple Ways to Spend Less This Christmas the author suggests that another simple way to spend less on gifts is to buy or sell gift cards online. Find a gift card for a store that you’re interested in purchasing from and you could wind up buying a hundred dollars’ worth of gifts for seventy bucks. Take a look at GiftCardsWild for what’s currently available.

There are some interesting ideas in 48 Xmas MoneySaving Tips. For example, if you are traveling to visit friends and family, book your train tickets as soon as possible. Cut out gifts for adult family members and give gifts only to the children. Avoid the cost of long distance telephone calls by chatting for free with faraway family and friends on Skype or other apps.

And finally 39 Frugal Tips for Saving Money at Christmas suggests that instead of investing in pricey wrapping paper and gift bags that are immediately consigned to the recycle bin, wrap gifts with coloured comics from your newspaper or your children’s artwork. You can also use inexpensive tissue paper that you’ve saved from other gifts throughout the year decorated with stickers or even just the words ‘Merry Christmas.”

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?” Share the information with us on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.