Keep Your Health Completely Affordable

Staying healthy can be very expensive. In fact, it’s true to say that medical costs are one of the main causes of debt in the USA. This is unsurprising as some medical procedures without insurance can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. www.Statista.com have some stats on just how high debt can be in the US. You’re going to have a hard time paying that off, even if you do have savings built up that you can rely on. This isn’t the only issue that makes health expensive of course. Living an unhealthy lifestyle can lead to higher costs but at the same time, living unhealthily is actually cheaper for a lot of families. It’s an annoying paradox that we’re going to get into a little further down. And of course, things only get more complicated if you have children. Once you have kids, you need to pay the cost of their health rather than just your own.

This would be fine if we even categorically knew what was healthy and what wasn’t, but we don’t. Every day, scientists seem to change their mind about what is good for and what may actually damage your health.

Red wine is a brilliant example of this. Read some research reports, and the evidence suggests that red wine is beneficial to you at least in small quantities. It gives you richer blood and reduces the risk of heart disease according to www.Mayoclinic.org. Other research studies suggest that, even in small quantities, red wine can be damaging to your health. But wait, why is this important? Well, as you’re about to discover how healthy or unhealthy you are will directly impact your finances.

So, let’s explore some of the ways that you can keep your bank balance and indeed yourself, healthy. We’ll start by thinking about medicine.

Getting The Right Meds

We all need medicine at some point or another. If you have kids, you’ll probably find yourself dealing with the flu at least once a year or some random variation of the common cold. Kids don’t wash their hands, and they often bring sicknesses home with them from school. How much do you think you’re paying for meds on average? Probably a lot more than you need to that’s for sure, and we guarantee this cost will be eating into your finances. But how do you fix it?

Well, first think carefully about whether meds are even necessary. In most scenarios, the answer is going to be no and doctors are keen to help parents to avoid using medicine as much as possible. If it’s not needed it actually just weakens the immune system and makes you and your family more susceptible to viruses going around.

You can find the basic symptoms of the common cold or flu online. If your child is suffering from nothing more than this, they probably don’t need medicine to fix it. The issue will pass by without any interference from medicine. If you find the basic symptoms online, you might not even need to visit the doctor for a checkup.

That said, you should be careful about frequenting online sites claiming they have the answers to what symptoms could be. Five minutes online and at least one site will have claimed that you or your child only have five months to live, based on your symptoms. If you do want advice but don’t want to head to the doctors, you should speak to an online doctor. By doing this, you get the expertise without fear mongering.

Of course, if you do need to purchase meds, you shouldn’t just head to your local pharmacy. Instead, you should research, trying to find them online. If you explore the online world, you’ll find that there are various sites that sell medicine that could be beneficial and you can typically buy it in bulk. It’s the exact same stuff that you’ll get at your local pharmacy, but it is usually a fraction of the traditional price.

Why is Your Health So Important?

Believe it or not, whether you are healthy will impact the cost or your health and your general finances in a variety of ways. Let’s start by thinking about disability. If you have a disability, you will always have more expenses to pay based around your health. You might need more medicine, equipment and your life, in general, will be significantly more difficult. Indeed, according to studies, people with disabilities are far more likely to end up in debt. If are living with a disability or one of your children has a disability you probably are already more than aware of this struggle.

If you don’t have a disability, then you should be thankful of this from a financial point of view. But here’s where things get interesting. If you are overweight, you are far more likely to develop a disability at some point in your life. So, your diet and level of fitness could literally cost you money, and that’s not the only way that this can happen. You need to think about insurance as well. The cost of your insurance will be impacted by a variety of health factors. Some of these are out of your control and others are well within it.

For instance, you can’t choose whether you have existing illnesses and medical conditions. You can, on the other hand, decide whether you choose to smoke and you can impact how much you weigh. If you are overweight, your insurance costs will again be significantly higher. So, make sure that you are staying as fit as you can and keeping your diet under control.

You should also price compare different insurance possibilities. There are a number of different options to choose form on the market with different benefits. According to www.GoMedigap.com, a Medicare supplement package can be chosen based on how you want to pay and the best possibility for you.

You can contrast and compare different plans online. Or, you might even want to speak to an expert who will point you towards the ideal package. Remember, insurance is essentially a buyers market, and it’s up to you to make sure that you’re getting the best deal.

Is It Expensive To Be Healthy?

The problem with trying to stay healthy and eat well is that this can actually be quite expensive. Organic produce costs considerably more than typical items and a lot more than ready meals which are also practical for a growing family. Then, there’s fast food. A lot of people complain that fast food companies are making Americans obese. While this may be true, the sad fact is that these meals are often more affordable than a fully home prepared family dish. It’s a problematic socio-economic factor that simply can’t be overlooked.

So, how do you stay healthy without the costs growing out of control? Well, there are a few options to consider. First, pick up a meal in ten minutes cookbook. There are plenty of healthy meals that can be cooked in no time at all and prepared for everyone to enjoy. A stir fry would be a great example of this and guess what? It’s also healthy!

You may also want to think about growing your own fruit, veg and produce. By doing this, you can get organic produce at a cost that is completely affordable and easy to manage. You will have to learn how to grow your own produce of course. But the good news is that there are plenty of guides online about how to do this effectively and build up your garden for that very purpose.

You can even get the kids involved too which is a great idea. It teaches them about living healthily and indeed living off the land in a way that makes complete sense. How else can you keep the cost of your health under control?

You might want to think about cutting the expensive junk out of your diet completely. Not all junk food is cheap, some is rather expensive and is probably adding a lot onto your weekly shop. The good news is that if you get rid of these items, then you’ll save money on your health in more ways than one.

Alcohol would be a fantastic example here. Alcohol will cost a lot of money over time and could ultimately add up to thousands onto your overall shopping bill even if you are not that much of a keen drinker. One bottle a week could amount to a fortune and one day mean that you might need an expensive medical procedure. Give it up now or at least cut back on unhealthy habits like this and your health will be in a far better situation in the long term and the cost of staying healthy will be reduced.

We hope you find this advice helpful and realize that while staying healthy can cost money, it doesn’t have to cripple your finances. You can look after the health of your family, stay fit while keeping all of the costs in check.