Comments on: Should You Put a Price on Your Health?

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:44:20 +0000

Yikes Aimee, I’m sorry to hear that. I think this is one of the reasons that why I don’t go crazy buying unproven things like super juices. I want to save my money so that I can afford a few thousand dollars a year if I need to.

If you can run 4 days a week, you are going to be healthier than most. I think many doctors would agree that that plan along with eating right will help you stave off health-care bankruptcy unless your genes are much worse than they sound. If that’s really the case, maybe you can hold out long enough until scientists can fix your genes :-).

By: Aimee

Aimee — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:19:41 +0000

I’ve found a decent balance between health and money as far as food and exercise. What I struggle with is how much my health is worth in terms of medical care. I’ve had a spat of bad luck + bad genes this summer. The net result is that I’ve already spent $1,000 this year in prescription co-pays ($25) and doctors co-pays ($15). I’m stuck in a prescription drugs arms race being advised to take 2 more prescriptions (a grand total of 5) and a chiropractor who insists on seeing me once a week. The prescriptions and doctors visits will make me feel better but I already feel pretty good. (Well, good now that I stopped taking the pill that necessitated the 2 new prescriptions – no it wasn’t a critical medicine but it’s side effects were.)

So I struggle with how much my health worth. I don’t make a huge salary. I can’t afford 5 prescriptions when 2 work well, if not perfect. And really after 4 months of chiropractic care, is it really necessary to be in there every week when I feel just fine most days, especially since my insurance won’t cover more visits. I am just not willing to send myself into bankruptcy chasing an ideal of perfect health. As long as I’ve got the energy to lead my life and my asthma is controlled enough that I can run 4 days a week, that is healthy enough for me.

By: kin

kin — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:22:35 +0000

I’m pretty big into health fitness and training, so maybe I am a bit bias, but… I’d just like to say that if a person works on health and athleticism mostly for a price tag… he or she probably won’t get that healthy or athletic.

By: Korprit Zombie

Korprit Zombie — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:22:06 +0000

it has taken me years and knowing several ‘health nuts’ to learn how to eat healthy for a decent price. there really are MANY ways to cut down on the prices of organic foods.

one that i am currently subscribing too is basically a ’share’ system that delivers a box of organic foods to your door every week. for the price of 150$ we (two of us) often have more food than we can eat. thats a REALLY cheap food bill and its all organic.

there are ways to eat healthy and make it cheap. you just have to look.

By: jim

jim — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:46:04 +0000

Health is just like money, if you stick with the tried and true basics you’ll be OK. Buying that crap like Mona Vie (I know nothing about it other than it’s expensive as crap) or a water ionizer or all that other stuff isn’t going to make a significant difference for the guy who is eating Big Macs and getting zero exercise each day. :)

By: Steward

Steward — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:39:17 +0000

It seems to me that health is directly related to time (which is equal to money, is it not?). So there are two ways to achieve health: (1) pay lots of money for medications and food or (2) take the time to be healthy by cooking beneficial meals and exercising.

I think I am going for the second option because healthy eating is relatively cheap, commuting in a healthy was is very cheap (bike commuting), and cooking healthy and tasty meals is fun. If I made a million dollars a year you might get a different answer from me, but for now this seems to work for me.

By: ToughMoneyLove

ToughMoneyLove — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:17:26 +0000

There are three circumstances when you should associate value with your health: (1) When purchasing life insurance to protect your family; (2) When purchasing disability insurance to protect yourself and your family; and (3) when considering how long you expect to live for retirement planning purposes. Everything else is philosophical or spiritual in nature – for a different blog altogether.

By: Double

Double — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:25:12 +0000

Whether you are accumulating wealth or not accumulating wealth it is very important to live a healthy life. It would be a shame that a person accumulates wealth but cannot enjoy the wealth because they are in poor health.