Frugality Tip: Take Care of Your Health

Recently a guy was telling me how he spent $14,000 on medical care in 2010 for a family of 3, and that did not include the premiums he was paying through his work. I was shocked and wondered how we had paid way less than that, even the year that Sam was in the NICU for a week, and we have a family more than double the size of his. Here are some factors that will have you paying out the wazoo ...

1. Do you smoke? Not only are you probably looking old and wrinkly and blackening your lungs (how fun for your kids to have to take care of you when you get emphysema!), but you probably feel like crap, too. How far can you run before you are out of breath? Are you sick often?
2. Do you drink alcohol often? Wine now and then is said to be good for you, but are you throwing back a 12-pack of beer nightly? That's a different story for Mr. Liver, and I hope your kids are available and still in contact with you when it's time for a ride to your AA meeting (since you got that DUI and all that).
3. Do you take too many prescription drugs? Do you need them to help you sleep, wake up, be happy, get over an illness, for pain? Do you need them to live?
4. Do you run your kid to the doctor for a paper cut?
5. Do you head to the ER for a headache?
6. Do you hit the therapist up every time you experience rejection or are having a hard time with someone?
7. Are you on birth control pills? Have you read the warnings on those puppies lately? Breast cancer doesn't sound like a fun way to spend my fifties.
8. Do you over-sterilize everything you or your precious kids touch? Stop that! The less we wash our hands in my house, the healthier we are.

I hope my non-judgmental and amazing health tips will help you to cut your medical costs in the future. You can send some of that extra money my way for my LegoLand 2012 fund. Thank ya.