Living a Healthy Lifestyle is Good For Your Wallet
Living a healthy lifestyle is important in more ways than one. Aside from feeling mentally and physically good, a healthy lifestyle is good for your wallet.
No one likes to spend their hard-earned money on doctors visits and medications. The better you take care of yourself, the lower your medical expenses.
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A few weeks ago, I ended up in the ICU due to severe bronchitis. This illness came out of nowhere and really took a toll on my body. Even now, I am still on doctor’s orders to rest.
Because my body shut down and I had to be intubated (tmi?), the doctors performed every test under the sun to make sure I had no hidden pre-existing conditions or other illnesses.
Luckily, every test came back negative and there was nothing else wrong with me!
All the testing made me really self-conscious. Even though I was deemed a healthy individual, I started questioning if I was healthy enough.
Every negative thought I could think of popped into my head – I don’t exercise regularly. I need to lose weight. Why did I order pizza last week? Should I be taking more than just my multivitamin?
How much is my lifestyle costing my wallet
My lifestyle is not costing me very much money. I have spent very little on medical related expenses in the past.
Last year I went to the doctor once and was prescribed inexpensive antibiotics. Because I have health insurance, I paid a very small co-pay for my doctor’s visit and pharmacy expenses.
If you are overweight, there is a chance you can develop diabetes and have other medical risks.
This can lead to doctor’s visits, monthly prescriptions and more. This could be very costly to your monthly budget and negative to your wallet.
If you have poor lifestyle habits and do not take care of yourself physically, you are likely to get sick more often. This can also lead to more trips to the doctor and taking medication. You might also spend more on over the counter medication as well.
Here are my healthy lifestyle goals
Now that I am home, I have really thought a lot about my health and where I want to be health-wise this year. Here are areas I want to work on this year:
- Lose weight – I need to drop some weight. My goal is to lose 10% of my current weight. When I was in Weight Watchers years ago, my leader discussed how losing 10% of your body weight can lead to lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol and decrease your chances of Diabetes.
- Start Yoga – I have only done yoga a couple times and it makes me nervous. I am not a flexible person and am not much a group class kind of person. I am going to start watching YouTube videos in my apartment. Any recommendations on beginner videos?
- Eat Clean – I have made a conscious effort the past couple of months to stop dining out and eat more meals at home. I have really cut down on processed food and junk food. I plan to keep making fresh meals and eating better.
I was hit by bronchitis pretty hard about 5 or 6 years ago. I ended up in the emergency room getting a CT scan to make sure there wasn’t a blood clot in my lung. (There wasn’t.) It was scary, but it was also very expensive–luckily I was still in college at the time and still on my parents’ health insurance plan, or it would have cost me a few hundred dollars.
I absolutely agree that being healthy saves you money in the long run. At one point, my weight was at its highest–now it’s lower than it was when I had that bronchitis attack. Exercise improves the immune system and it helps your mental health, too.
I made it a goal this year to start doing yoga once per week again, specifically to help me deal with stress, anxiety and depression. My gym offers it as a class with no extra cost, so it’s a no-brainer. It really does help! I’d also like to lose those last 15 pounds that have been holding onto my hips for dear life.
Nicole – I feel like I wrote this! I haven’t started getting any of the hospital bills yet, but I’m nervous. I have pretty decent coverage, but I have no idea what to expect!
I have always taken my health for granted, so this really shook me up. One of my goals is to begin yoga and lose some weight! My mental health needs improvement too. My apartment complex has a free yoga studio, but I’m too intimidated to go. I am going to have to start in my living room first 🙂
Totally agree with this! Health and wealth are tied together and I hope you’re feeling better!
Thanks Shannyn! Without health, it can be hard to bring in wealth! They two definitely go together!
Bringing food from home five days a week tends to not only be a lot cheaper for me (yay!), but also tends to be a lot healthier, keeping me away from fried food, heavy carbs and sugar.
It really makes a difference when I cook at home or bring my lunch to work. I have better portion control and definitely pay more attention to the ingredients I use. Plus, it’s so much cheaper! I’m working on cutting down on my dining out with friends- it’s fun but not for my wallet 🙂
As they always say, money cannot buy health. You only have one body, keep it healthy. Sometimes that is easier said than done..
You are absolutely right! I always took my health for granted! Now I am much more self aware!
I’m so glad you’re all right! I hate hospitals. =( I’ve had acid reflux for years, and thankfully my parents had great insurance to cover surgeries and procedures, but medical expenses do worry me as I’m self-employed and I’ll be off my parents’ plan in a year and a half.
Yoga is great, and I want to get back into it. I took a class in college. I’m not flexible either, but you’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll make progress if you commit to it daily. Doyouyoga.com seems to have a lot of free resources and classes!
Thanks, it was quite the scare! I’m really fortunate to have health insurance through my day job – I can’t even imagine having to pay for it if I was self-employed. Ooh thanks I will check out that site! I’m hoping if I start off with just a little bit each day, even if it’s just 10 minutes!
Being 44, your body is a whole lot less forgiving for things that you do to it, which is why I keep trying to up my own standards of healthy living to stay out of the doctor’s office (although I go more now for preventative health screenings and whatnot). Sometimes people thing eating rice and beans is cheap, but are you really giving your body what it needs? Sometimes it’s better to spend more upfront now than later when you are paying high medical bills. As far as yoga, don’t be shy. Just go and don’t worry about not being flexible. I’m not either and I keep going. I don’t care what people think about me if I can’t do some weird pose. 🙂
I am excited to try it. The health and mental benefits just seem to be amazing. I am definitely starting in my living room so no one can see me, ha! No need to frighten other people! Do you have any mat rec’s?
Our health goals for 2015 include exercising regularly and maintaining our weight. It gets harder to keep the pounds off the older we get- that’s for sure. We’re doing okay, but it definitely takes more effort now than it did before.
It’s so great you two can work on your health goals together! I definitely need to exercise regularly. I really feel my metabolism has slowed down in my early 30’s compared to my early 20’s!