As we know, health is a key factor in your family’s financial well-being. When someone in your family becomes very sick, their medical bills can quickly add up and influence how much money you have available to spend.
Medical costs are one of the top reasons families struggle to pay their monthly bills. In fact, it’s the number one cause of bankruptcy among individuals who are married with children.
In addition to paying for immediate care, poor health also puts pressure on other parts of the budget that help keep homes and cars paid for.
Fortunately, there are ways to improve your overall health — and reduce healthcare expenses at the same time.
Improvement strategies include eating right, exercising, quitting smoking, and managing your weight. All of these will contribute to healthier blood glucose levels, reduced stress hormones like cortisol that may be causing inflammation, improved sleep, and more.
They all play an important role in improving your overall state of wellness, which only helps ensure better health down the road. And while some might think that spending less money on food, medications, or visits to the doctor means they won’t feel as healthy, I’d argue just the opposite – being fitter and taking good care of yourself makes you feel happier!
This article will talk about some cost-saving tips for parents. But remember, this information should be considered along with what kind of lifestyle you currently have.
What is good health?
We often think that healthy means having less junk food than the next person. Or eating more fruits and vegetables, which are both worthy goals. But what about people who enjoy fast food and sweets?
They may not have nutritional balance, but they can be enough if consumed moderately. And you should definitely eat them from time to time!
Healthy living goes beyond just nutrition though. It includes how much exercise you get, whether or not you smoke, and how well your body functions.
We spend a lot of our time at work in front of a computer, so we need to make sure we’re doing something with our time to keep ourselves fit.
Running out somewhere during the day? You could take the bus instead of relying on the car. Investing in a good pair of walking shoes is important too.
If there’s no way you can afford an expensive gym membership, then investing in some equipment is worth it. You don’t necessarily need to go to the very expensive ones either, I recommend trying out a new fitness class or swimming pool once a week.
Whatever you choose to do, just try to put away half of what you would usually pay to avoid spending money on things that won’t help you stay healthy.
What are the causes of health?
We live our lives by spending large amounts of time in front of screens, eating processed foods, and drinking alcohol or sodas more frequently than ever before.
We also tend to get into stressful situations more often than we did years ago, which can have an effect on our overall health.
All of these factors may contribute to making it easier to become sick more often than in earlier generations.
Sickness is a part of life, but you don’t have to let it control you. You can choose to be healthier than what you are now, by choosing to spend less time in front of electronic devices, limiting how much sugar you eat, and learning relaxation techniques.
Family members can help each other stay healthy by talking about important health topics and encouraging each other to do things like exercise and keep track of their nutrition.
Healthy behaviors will make it easy for you to enjoy yourself and play with your children, and they’ll help you feel better about yourself — not only physically, but also emotionally.
What are the symptoms of good health?
There are many things that can hurt or damage your health, making it either worse or completely preventable.
Some examples include smoking, poor nutrition (dietary deficiencies like vitamins and minerals), alcohol use, obesity, physical injury, infectious diseases such as HIV or hepatitis B or C, and stress.
All of these factors can have an adverse effect on your overall health, but sometimes it takes something more than just a few bad choices to see significant problems.
It often requires exposure to several of them at once to create a situation that is too much for your body to handle.
This happens when you develop a disease or condition because your body could not cope with the exposures anymore.
A lot of times there’s no clear moment where someone knows they have a problem, so it may take years before people realize their health has been negatively affected.
Eat your greens
Let’s talk about one important thing that most people don’t do enough of when they try to eat healthier. What kind of food do you want to put in your body?
You wanna know what I love to see? People use the word “healthy” as a prefix to describe something else. A lot of times, it will be followed by a list of foods or types of diets.
A healthy individual might say things like “paleo diet,” “vegan,” or “Mediterranean lifestyle.” All three of those are great descriptors, but there’s one major difference between them.
It’s how much money they make! Ha! 😉
Seriously, though, aside from having different nutritional profiles, none of these diets are necessarily the cheapest or even the healthiest choice for individuals.
That doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some fruits and vegetables while also staying within budget and attaining nutrition balance, but thinking about which ones are the most cost-effective is worth considering.
And let me tell you — we’re not talking about small differences here. Nutrition costs can add up quickly if you aren’t careful.
Hygiene is important
Setting a good example for your children can have lasting effects on them. When they are older, health issues can be even more concerning if they don’t take precautions to stay healthy.
Making sure their hygiene is up to par and understanding how to manage their diet and exercise routines will help prevent illness or symptoms of illnesses like asthma, food allergies, diabetes, and obesity.
Parents must also be aware that childhood cancer has a very early warning system. A lot of times, doctors find lumps in the body that feel pain when pressed. This is why it is so important to monitor your child for any changes in their appearance or fitness levels.
If your kid seems out of sorts, make an appointment with their doctor.
Avoid smoking
Smoking is an expensive habit! It costs over $13 billion in direct health care expenses every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
That’s not even factoring in indirect costs such as lost wages and productivity due to smokers being at work during their breaks. Or the cost to families when children need to be supervised while they are around smoking.
Smoking also isn’t the most efficient way to use your budget resources. Because it can damage or destroy cells, smoking requires lots of money to treat diseases like cancer later.
While there are things you can do to reduce the number of cigarettes you smoke, one of the best ways to keep spending down on tobacco products is to never start smoking in the first place.
Avoid drinking too much
Drinking more than what your body needs can have negative effects on you, including health issues such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Studies show that people who drink alcohol in moderation are just as likely to live longer than people who do not drink at all.
However, it is important to remember that even small amounts of alcohol can still be harmful.
Because of this, we recommend limiting yourself to two drinks per day for men or one drink per day for women. A drink is defined as 5 ml (1 teaspoon) of pure alcohol which equals about 1 glass of wine, half a bottle of beer, or 2 shots of liquor.
Maintain a healthy weight
Weight is a very important factor in determining if your heart is working properly. If you are overweight, this can contribute to higher blood pressure, which puts more stress on your heart to work correctly.
Being overweight also increases your risk of developing chronic health conditions like type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.
Making changes to diet and exercise will help you keep at a healthy weight. Even though it may be hard at first, trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle is worth it!
Many fitness facilities offer group classes or personal training sessions that are cost-effective ways to stay motivated and on track with your wellness goals.
