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Staying healthy has never been more important than during a pandemic. While lockdown measures may be easing in the country, it doesn’t mean that COVID-19 has disappeared. If we want to keep risks at bay, we need to prioritise our immune system. Personal protection gear, such as wearing a mask when you’re leaving the house, is a no-brainer. While a mask can reduce the risk of contagion and spread, it doesn’t do anything to boost your immune system. Your immune system reacts to a variety of factors, including environmental, emotional, and nutritional factors. In other words, how you feel and what you put inside and outside your body can boost or damage your health. It gives you a better fighting chance against viruses, but it also saves money in the long term.
What does health have to do with cash hacks? Health care expenditure equates almost £3,000 per person per year. How about doing something good for your health that benefits your wallet too?
#1. Shopping is your coping mechanism
What is the first thing you do when you’re stressed out? Have a cup of tea? Wrong! Go for a run? Wrong again! Under high stress, the vast majority of people turn to shopping. As the shops have reopened, it’s the opportunity to spend a day outside the home. You don’t even need to leave your home to start browsing new outfits and items online. Shopping is a highly popular coping mechanism.
Unfortunately, it has a downside: The more stressed out you are, the more you spend. And, let’s be honest; spending money is not exactly a stress-free experience. In short, shopping as a stress response creates a vicious cycle that invariably triggers stress. Finding a healthy approach to relieve stress can make a difference in your finances and your health. Sport can offer an escape. But meditation can prove extremely helpful to manage stress as it appears. Learning how to meditate without breaking the bank with an app such as Headspace, for instance, can put you in charge of your mental health.
#2. Avoiding unnecessary recurring health costs
What are recurring health costs? These are expenses that you have to do frequently to look after your health. An excellent example, for instance, is the cost of period tampons. According to Labour MP, Danielle Rowley, the average cost of a period in the UK is £500 per year. Mrs. Rowley was referring to a 2015 survey by VoucherCodesPro.co.uk. While careful fact-checking may highlight a different cost – a realistic approach is £128 per year –, it doesn’t change the fact that you may find yourself buying sanitary tampons every month. Tampons can lead to serious health risks. Switching to sanitary pads isn’t an option. You could, however, consider reusable period panties, instead.
Another example affects those of us who need eyesight correction. If you choose to wear contact lenses, you could be spending around £200 and £400 a year, including liquid solution, eye drops, and containers. On the other hand, buying a pair of quality glasses from a merchant site such as eyeglasses.com could cost around £235 per frame – or more if you opt for a designer’s model. In the long term, wearing glasses becomes more economical and stylish than contact lenses. Glasses can also protect your eyes from external risk by stopping droplets and other harmful particles in the air.
#3. Growing your own vegs
There’s something deeply satisfying about eating the food you grow in the garden. It’s like a wakeup call for many households when they realise that home-grown food can taste so yummy. Why does it taste so good? It’s a mixture of emotional perception and science. For a start, pride and excitement play a significant role in your perception. The homemade label always brings a bonus taste to anything! But that’s not all! Vegetables that are grown locally are more likely to contain plenty of nutrients and vitamins than those that are picked and frozen abroad for transportation.
So, in short, your fresh lettuce tastes sweeter because it actually is better for you. You may not be saving a lot of money on grocery shopping at first, but growing your food encourages you to build a healthy diet. Gradually, you can eliminate cravings for sugar and chocolate. Did you know, for instance, that according to UK.finance.yahoo.com, people spend over £300 on chocolate every year? And that doesn’t even include the cost of biscuits, sweets, and cakes. Starting a veg garden at home can help you curb your sweet cravings.
Boosting your health and saving money is a match made in heaven! However, when it comes to putting your finances first, you need to think of all those expenses that do nothing to protect your immune system: Stress-inducing costs, cravings-generating shopping, and recurring healthcare costs that put your health at risk. Simple changes can transform your health and your wallet in the long term.