Save Money by Being Healthy

With the economic slowdown all over the news, many people are looking for ways that they can save more money. In the best of times, this is understandable. In times like this, finding ways to save money is crucial. And one of the ways you can potentially save money is to live a healthy lifestyle.

Living a health lifestyle allows you to save money on a variety of levels:

1. Medical expenses. This is no brainer. And probably the biggest saver in terms of lifetime money spending. If you live a healthy lifestyle, you are less likely to get sick, and therefore you are less likely to need to pay for treatment. Of course, nothing is certain, but your risk for expensive diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease drop dramatically when you live a healthy lifestyle. And, if you have managed to set some money aside, you can actually up the deductible on your health insurance, making your monthly premiums much less expensive.

2. Cigarettes. These can get expensive. If you quite smoking, you will decrease the chances of having large medical expenses. And you will also save money in the short term. Many states have "sin" taxes that penalize you heavily each time you buy a pack of cigarettes. It is hard work to stop smoking, but it can be worth it.

3. Food. When you start switching to healthier foods, you can actually save money overall. Think about how much you spend on junk food? Instead, buy other types of food. Shop local as well. This can introduce you to tasty produce. It costs a little more per unit, but overall, if you are not buying the other stuff, you can save money. One of the things that helped me was to stop shopping at Wal-Mart. Instead, I switched to a small local grocery. Without being able to justify spending more on junk food, and without the impulse buys and "bargains" on non-food items, I actually slashed by grocery bill by more than 35 percent.

4. Eating out. As part of a health lifestyle, you can stop eating out as much. Instead, plan meals and then buy the necessary ingredients from a list. Limit how much you eat out. This will help you cut caloric intake, but also save you money in your budget. You would be surprised by how much money you can spend when you eat out regularly.

5. Pack your own lunch. This is related to the tip above. Packing your own lunch can save you money, since you won't be buying food while at work. And, if you are packing a lunch made from the healthier, non-processed foods you are buying at the local grocery, you will see a difference as well.

6. Stop drinking your calories. You've probably heard this a lot from health experts. They talk regularly about how drinking your calories (through things like soda and coffee) is a major contributor to obesity and other health problems. Instead, consider carrying water. You can get it infused with some sort of mineral if you feel like you need something beyond to get you "alert" in the morning. And, again, you'll save money. I have a refillable water bottle that I use. I get water from the tap, so I'm not spending money (or harming the environment) on bottled water. And when you aren't paying for coffee or soda, the savings will add up.

7. Get rid of cable. *Gasp* I haven't been able to quite do this. But we do have the lowest-priced package, and we regularly negotiate special pricing. But without cable, you can focus on other activities. Activities that hopefully get you moving (you know, running, biking, playing with the kids, etc.). This saves you money in terms of utilities (TV not on and not using as much electricity) and cable costs, but it can also make you healthier, since you are moving around instead of sitting around.