Money Crashers » Health and Fitness

11 Ways To Exercise and Be Healthy While Saving Money

Erik Folgate — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:36:56 +0000

Exercising and eating healthy is a multi-billion dollar business. Think of all the weight loss formulas, food programs, membership gyms, and workout equipment, and workout apparel that we buy every day to stay healthy and look our best. Here are 11 ways to exercise and stay healthy without spending a lot of money.

Workout at home. With a couple sets of dumbbells, you can do shoulder press, curls, tricep extensions, push-ups, crunches, and lunges.
Buy a workout program. I have heard good things about the P90X workout program. It’s a legitimate program, with 15 different workouts. There are no gimmicks with this workout program. It’s the real deal.
Avoid weight-loss food programs. You don’t need Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers to eat healthy.
Eat out less. Most restaurant food has portions that are too big, and more they make more flavor by inserting fatty ingredients like cheeses, cream based sauces, and butter.
Negotiate a gym membership. They are VERY negotiable.
Get a dog. You’ll spend money taking care of a pet, but the long-term companionship and responsibility of walking them on a regular basis will get you out of the house more and make you go jogging or walking.
Don’t spend money on supplements. Supplements might help you lose weight quick or bulk up quick, but once you get off them, it’s easy to quickly gain the weight back or become softer.
Get 7 to 8 hours of sleep.
Eat a breakfast full of fiber and protein. Oatmeal and eggs have a lot of fiber and protein, plus they are cheap to make. They will also keep you full until lunch.
Shop at discount retailers for workout apparel and shoes. For shoes, I always check shoe stores like Rack Room, Famous Footwear, and Marshalls.
Buy a bike on Craigslist. Why spend $800 on a new road bike, when you can get a used on for half the price? I found a guy in my neighborhood that rebuilds bikes, and he sold me one for $60!
What things do you do to stay healthy and save money? Does anyone have any tips for swimming on the cheap?

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11 Ways To Exercise and Be Healthy While Saving Money is a post from: Money Crashers

How I Pay $85 A Month For My Health Insurance Policy

Erik Folgate — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 04:52:33 +0000

Health care is the big topic around the country right now. Politicians want to push a reform bill that many Americans don’t want. Americans want affordable health care, but they are weary about handing it over to the government. In high school and college, I never worried about health care. I was always under my mother’s health insurance policy, so I never worried about it. Then when I got married, my first “real” job paid for 80% of my health care premium, and the rest of it plus the premium for my wife to be added on was taken out of my paycheck every two weeks. I still paid around $240 a month for it, even with 80% of my premium being paid, so I know that health care policies can be very expensive.

When we moved to Orlando for my wife’s job, I was forced to quit my job, and it was very expensive for her to add me on her health insurance policy. So, I started shopping around and looking at my options. I knew about high-deductible plans with an HSA account, because I had researched them to write about on this blog, but I never had one in the past. Once I started getting quotes, I was really liking what I was hearing. In the past 9 months, I have relied on temp work, freelancing, and part-time positions to make an income. I don’t have a full-time job with benefits from an employer offering to pay for my health care plan.

The High Deductible Health Care Plan

For $85 a month, I have a full health care insurance policy with Assurant Health that pays 100% of my medical costs after I satisfy the $5,000 deductible. A $5,000 deductible for one person? That’s insane, right? Not for a young, healthy male that rarely needs medical attention. Plus, I have an endorsement attached to the policy for emergency medical care that waives the deductible if I break my leg or cut my finger off. Yes, $5,000 out-of-pocket is a lot of money, but it’s not much more when you factor in the cost of co-pay health care.

HMO/PPO health care plans

These plans are crap, and I would never have one unless my employer was paying for my premium. You’ll pay anywhere from $250 to $500 a month, plus you’ll be nickel and dimed by co-pays and many procedures only pay out 80% of the cost, and you are stuck the other 20 percent. Let’s say someone paid $400 a month for a health care premium, and they spent $250 in co-pays over the year. They would spend over $5,000 for health care that year, and that $4,800 in premium is gone no matter what. There’s a possibility that they would have spent less money paying cash if they were only paying for routine doctor’s visits and medication. I spend $1,020 a year in premium down the drain, and I run the risk of paying out an extra $5,000 if I need a large medical procedure or expensive medication, but I only incur that cost if it happens. The $5,000 from an HMO premium is down the drain no matter what.

The Health Savings Account

Additionally, I contribute $50 every two weeks to a Health Savings Account that has many advantages, and I can use this money towards any qualified medical expenses, including my deductible.

Tax Incentives: I am able to deduct up to $3,000 of HSA contributions from my 2009 taxable income. Also, money withdrawn from the account is tax-free and the interest it gains is tax-free.

The Money Never Goes Anywhere: Cafeteria Plans or Flexible Spending Accounts allow you to stash away pre-tax dollars for medical, dental, and vision expenses, but the money is taken from you if you don’t use it at the end of the year. When you contribute to an HSA, that money is always yours, and it always rolls over to the next calendar year if you don’t use it.

Debit Card: I have a debit card attached to my HSA account, so I can pay for doctor’s visits, prescriptins, over-the-counter medication, and other medical items when needed, and the debit card makes it very convenient. I would be very ticked off with it if I had to pay for something, fill out a form, fax it, and get reimbursed. That’s SO 20th century.

You Can Invest The Money: I have mine in a money market account that probably earns about .5% interest, but once you build up a good chunk of cash, you can start investing it in mutual funds with the broker that is affiliated with the bank that handles your account.

The Politics

I know the strong political debate behind health care, a single payer system, and the millions of Americans that don’t have health care. Please do not get the impression that I am saying that what works for me should work for everyone. Yes, I am a healthy, young male, so I received an ultra-premium rate, I understand that. But, I also know that many of the middle-class Americans that don’t have health care either choose not to pay for it, don’t want to take the time to do the research about affordable health care options, or they just don’t know much about high-deductible plans with HSA accounts. This is a great alternative for some people, so please check it out if you are in a similar situation as me. Related Posts:

How I Pay $85 A Month For My Health Insurance Policy is a post from: Money Crashers

Eating Healthy For Cheap At Chick-Fil-A

Erik Folgate — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:20:48 +0000

My wife and I are very similar, but we definitely have our differences. She doesn’t care for Chick-Fil-A, but I love it. I love all of their stuff, and their management is great in my area. Every Chick-Fil-A in the Jacksonville area is very clean, has great service, and the food is very fresh. She debated with me that it was so unhealthy, and it’s too greasy for her. Then, I was reading an article in Men’s Health a few months ago that rated Chick-Fil-A an “A” for fast food choices, because all of the choices on the menu are less than 500 calories. Granted, there are some choices that are worse than others on the menu, but generally Chick-Fil-A strives to make their food as healthy as fast food can be by using leaner frying oils, wheat buns on the chargrilled chicken sandwiches, and offer light dressings. They also offer side salads and fruit cups as an alternative to their fatty “but delicious” waffle fries. Not to mention, you can get a lunch or dinner for less than $8.00 on most meals.

One of the biggest fallacies about fast food right now is that the upscale fast food places are more healthy. Restaurants such as Chipotle and Panera Bread portray an image that it is healthiere for you rather than greasey burgers and french fries. But in reality, the items on their menus are gut busters. Many of the Panera Bread signature sandwiches are 700 to 900 calories each! Pair that with soup and a drink, and you’re well over 1000 calories. We all know that humongous Chipotle burritos are a portion’s worst nightmare. It’s tough to eat one of their burritos that isn’t less than 1,000 calories. Plus, they come at a premium price. You will typically pay $9.00 to $10.00 per meal at these half sit-down restaurants. Here are two suggestions for healthy, cheap meals from Chick-Fil-A that I recommend.

Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich: 270 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 33 carbs, and 28 grams of protein
Side Salad with Fat Free Honey Mustard/Sunflower Seeds/Croutons: 270 calories, 12.5 grams of fat, 24 carbs and 6.5 grams of protein.
Diet Coke or Diet Lemonade: 25 calories for the Diet Lemonade, 0 for Diet Coke

Total: 540 calories, 16 grams of fat, 52 carbs, and 34.5 grams of protein.
Price: $6.39 plus tax

Southwest Chargrilled Chicken Salad w/ light italian dressing: 255 calories, 8.5 grams of fat, 19 carbs, 25 grams of protein
Fruit Cup: 50 calories and 13 carbs
Medium Sweet Tea: 130 calories, 34 carbs

Total: 435 calories, 8.5 grams of fat, 72 carbs, and 25 grams of protein
Price: $7.19 plus tax

I’m going to start this health and money theme here at Money Crashers, because I believe that it is possible to eat for cheap without sacrificing your health. Related Posts:

Eating Healthy For Cheap At Chick-Fil-A is a post from: Money Crashers