4 Reasons Why Your Wallet Wants You To Adopt A Healthier Lifestyle ASAP

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I've been thinking a lot about health lately and recently had the dilemma of trying to figure out if I should stick with the gym membership this summer or cancel it since I spend so much more time outside in the spring and summer months. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do about it, and I'm really dragging my feet because my husband got a gym membership recently and since I get a government discount since I work for the state he also gets that discount with our family plan. If it was just me on the plan I would no-doubt cancel it and pick up the pieces in the fall, but now, it's a different story.

Maybe they'll let me work something out... who knows. Plus, I've found that sometimes, just asking can be all it takes to get a deal!

Oh, and this post: 9 Ways To Stay Healthy and Fit WITHOUT The Gym totally reminds me that a gym membership is completely not necessary (especially with nice weather). So I've got that on the brain. 

Also! I don't know if you know about this but Corepower Yoga has free classes throughout the week! It's such a great thing to take advantage of it you live in a city with one of those studios. I'm sure other fitness centers and gyms offer free classes too. It's definitely worth looking into. 

But, gosh, I got totally off-track there. The reason I brought up Corepower Yoga is because they will let people clean their facilities in exchange for free unlimited yoga. It's so cool that they offer that and the volunteer/clean-for-trade positions fill up very fast since their memberships are on the crazy/oh-my-gosh/wildy expensive side.

With the cleaning for yoga trade it's one of those "time or money things". You either spend the time to clean or... you spend the money to not have to spend the time to clean.

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So, we all know that health is, obviously, important. We've heard it a zillion times but how do you stay motivated to keep your health on track when "healthy" food can seem so expensive and working out takes up precious time? 

This is the way I see it, you're either going to spend your hard-earned money at the grocery store today or later on at the pharmacy and hospitals.

The grocery store option is way less expensive and far more tasty. Amiright?!

Remember this super controversial post about How To Create Meals For Under 3 Bucks? The food now vs. medical bills in the future topic got brought up in the comments and created a mega stir. (A reader named Marianna send over the link to this site called Budget Bytes. It's about saving money while eating well and she said it's got solid and worthwhile recipes that have saved her money.)

Why should you adopt a healthier lifestyle? Here are 4 good reasons...

Reasons To Adopt A Healthier Lifestyle Today

1. Eating Out Is Wildly Expensive Make eating out a treat instead of an everyday thing to save significant amounts of money. Eating out also makes it more difficult to select a healthy option, so preparing meals at home is where it's at. 

"When grocery shopping, stick to the perimeter."

(quote by Lauren G.)

Quick Tip: When you hit the supermarket stick to the “outside aisles”. Supermarkets are designed in such a way that the boxed, preserved foods are on the inside of the store and the fresh foods are on the outside aisles. Check it out next time you’re at the grocery store.

2. Medication Costs Add Up Quick Sticking to a healthy diet and adding vitamins can reduce the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart diseases or other illnesses associated with poor diets or nutrition deficiencies. The medications to treat these diseases can quickly become more than the cost of healthy food purchases plus vitamins and supplements. If you’re not ready to spend the money on vitamins or supplements because you’re not sure what to take then Bulu Box (a new sample vitamin and supplement company) might be a good option to try. (Bulu Box is offering free sign-ups to And Then She Saved readers so it might be worth checking out if vitamins and supplements are something you're curious about exploring.)

3. The Less You See The Doctor The Less You Spend In Co-Pays & Time Off From Work An overweight individual may visit the doctor up to 8 times a year. With a $20 or more co-pay on each visit, the costs add up quickly. Healthy food and supplement choices could result in just having to do your one annual doctor visit. That would be a total savings of $140 a year! Plus, if you're having to go to the doctor a lot then that means you'll have to take time off from work which could result in less take-home pay.

4. Spend Less On Health Care Over The Course of Your Life Co-pays are just the beginning if you’re unhealthy. Specialized procedures can costs hundreds, even thousands of dollars. Getting healthy now is the best way to reduce your risk for these complications and expenses down the road. It can cost 42% more to insure an obese person compared to an individual at a healthy weight so we all know that those health insurance companies are passing the costs on to you, and that bites.

How do you stay healthy today to keep your health care costs low in the future? Or, is it not something you consider? 

Disclosure: I know the owners of Bulu Box

Comments

[Shawanda]

I'll be perfectly honest. A good 90% of the reason I work out is because of vanity. At one point, I was eating poorly and gaining weight. I felt really lethargic and just crappy overall. I didn't like feeling that way so I felt extra motivated to get back in the gym. But for the most part, being healthy is a nice bonus to looking good.

[Anna Newell Jones]

whatever works, right! i agree with you, if it didn't make ya look better it'd be harder to get motivated to do it;)

[kristen]

eating healthy and exercising are also natural anti-depressants. a gym membership (or working out for free in the outdoors) and healthy groceries are a whole lot cheaper than a therapist and anti-depressants! believe me! plus, isn't being happy and doing what YOU want the whole point of getting out of debt? being healthy makes you happy and gives you then energy to do what you want!!! besides, i think it is crazy when people say it is expensive to eat healthy. in season produce is the cheapest option in the entire grocery store!

[Anna Newell Jones]

Such a great point about the mental health angle Kristin. Thanks for pointing that out.