10 Tips to Save Money on Your Prescriptions

This is an article by Carol Parker, content manager at Drugsdb.com. Carol holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Albany College of Pharmacy.

These days, getting sick can be a costly business, especially for those who can't afford medical insurance. Not only does a person have to worry about paying the consultation bill from the doctor, but the cost of prescriptions seems to skyrocket each time you need to have them filled.

The good news is that there are many ways to save money on your prescriptions. Although they may require some effort on your part, the savings will be well worth it.

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More about...Health & Fitness

Make the Choice Not to Decay

It's that time of year — time to weed out all the stuff in the Brokamp household to get ready for the first yard sale of the season. It's a great way to de-clutter, make a few hundred bucks, and sadly realize how many of the past Christmas' presents are already collecting dust from non-use.

While culling the bookshelves, I came across Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You're 80 and Beyond, which came out in early 2005. While I was still in my 30s when it came out, it was one of the first books that got me thinking about how I need to start taking better care of myself. After all, if I'm going to spend decades saving for retirement, I want to be healthy enough to enjoy retirement once I get there.

Unfortunately, as we age, we accumulate some aches and pains, don't have the energy we used to, and eventually rely on Lipitor, Celebrex, or some other drug that sounds like the villain in a science-fiction movie. Well, that's just part of getting older. Continue reading...

More about...Health & Fitness, Retirement

Going to the (organic) mattresses

I've dropped a rather obscene amount of money on bodywork in the last few years. I've had an evolving team of chiropractors, massage therapists, and acupuncturists. I've bought books on physical therapy exercises. Some things have worked, others have not. In the end, the pain always comes back.

I have chronic shoulder pain. My arms also frequently go numb in the middle of the night. I don't mean they tingle, I mean sometimes I literally cannot move my arm. I have to use my functioning hand to reposition it and get blood flowing back into the limb. It's kinda scary.

Two (Life-Changing?) Questions

When my shoulder bothers me enough, I usually get a massage to alleviate the pain. It's a temporary fix — I know a 60-minute massage can't cure a chronic problem that's probably caused by structure and daily habits. But recently a new (to me) massage therapist asked me two questions that no one else had asked. First, she asked if I grind my teeth at night. Yes, I have in the past, and I have a TMJ (temporomandibular joint) disorder. She firmly suggested that I started wearing my night guard consistently, and in the past five days the pain has gone from a constant ache to a mild annoyance. Continue reading...

More about...Home & Garden, Health & Fitness

How to get cheap drugs

Six of the highest-selling prescription medications in the United States will be “off-patent” before the end of 2012. The costs associated with those currently pricey meds will drop faster than the Dow on a bad day.

Here's one example: The generic form of Lipitor might cost as little as $10 per month, compared to the $150 it can cost now. Yowza!

It's a very big deal even if you have health insurance. The average co-pay for a generic formula in the U.S. is $6, as opposed to $24 for non-generics with "preferred status" and $35 for non-preferred brand. That doesn't help much if you use a medication not afforded rock-star status by your insurer — or, worse, if you can't afford insurance.

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More about...Frugality, Health & Fitness

Frugal beauty: How to look good on a budget

Pinching pennies doesn't mean you can't make yourself pretty. Yes, it's true that personal-care products and services can take a big bite out of your budget. By the time you've paid for your salon visit, your skin cream, your hair product, and your lip balm, you can easily be out $100 or more in any given month. You don't want to overindulge and blow a lot of money on personal appearance. All the same, it's important to take care of yourself, and it's possible to do so frugally. Here's how.

Do Less

I'll tell you a secret: I haven't washed my hair in weeks. I rinse it with water every morning when I take my shower (in my fancy, newly-repaired shower that now features hot and cold running water!). But I only shampoo and condition it about once a month. When I do, I use a 50-percent solution of shampoo and water. This means I'm using about 1/60th of the shampoo I used to use when I washed my hair every day with full strength shampoo. Needless to say, one bottle of shampoo lasts me a whole lot longer.

There's a whole "no-poo" movement for people who don't want to shampoo their hair. A lot of them rinse with baking soda and vinegar instead, but I've found that even that is optional.

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More about...Frugality, Health & Fitness

How I Purchased Private Health Insurance

Finding affordable health insurance was one of the biggest obstacles we faced when I quit my job. My husband is a self-employed performing artist (juggler/musician). We had always relied on my job to pay for our insurance.

Health Insurance is a complicated issue. We knew we needed to have health insurance because without it we could face financial ruin; but I didn't want health insurance to stop me from quitting a job I hated to pursue my dream of working for myself.

Before I quit, I spent hours researching different health care options. This post is about what I learned.

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More about...Insurance, Health & Fitness

Investing in Your Life Pays Off in the Long Term

Simple living is great. Avoiding shopping malls in favor of clothing swaps, cooking meals at home with your spouse, holding a music jam with friends instead of shelling out big bucks for a concert — all these activities not only save you money, but they also connect you more deeply with what you love.

In a sense, they make you more alive. Which is what getting rich is ultimately about: not simply achieving material wealth, but living a rich life.

Pay now, save later
Some things just shouldn't be scrimped on, though. There are expenses that save you money down the line. Some also save you time and improve your quality of life. It might be tempting to cut corners on this stuff, but the truly frugal person knows that laying out cash up front will pay off in savings later.

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More about...Budgeting, Health & Fitness, Planning

Getting paid to lose weight with HealthyWage

I struggle with weight. In fact, it's a far more difficult issue for me than personal finance. Honestly, I'm not completely sure why, but it's true.

There are many similarities between paying off debt and creating a healthy lifestyle. For starters:

    1. Correcting both issues starts with awareness. The key to turning around my financial life was realizing exactly how bad it was. After that, I was able to connect deeply with the burden that my lazy financial habits created in my life. While I understand that I'm unhealthy, I haven't fully connected with the burden it brings into my life.
    2. Both issues have simple solutions. Notice I said simple, not easy. Personal finance can really be boiled down to "spend less than you earn". There are plenty of details, techniques, and strategies, but it all comes back around to that one basic concept. Creating a healthier lifestyle is also simple: Eat fewer unhealthy foods, exercise more. Remembering these simple foundations can help us from distracting ourselves in a search for a mythical secret solution.
    3. Both issues require more motivation than "it's good for you". The vast majority of people who struggle with money realize that consumer debt is bad for them. Most people who carry credit card balances know "they shouldn't". But this doesn't keep them from doing it or help them from being susceptible to credit card tricks which can increase their fees. I know my diet is poor and I'm not as active as I should be. Just because eating better and exercising is "good for me", doesn't mean I'm going to do it. Sadly, most of us need more motivation (and more specific motivation) to overcome either issue.

Even though intellectually I can identify these similarities, I haven't been able to bridge the strides in my financial life to my health. I need more awareness and a more specific type of motivation. I recently stumbled upon an interesting concept that may help me with the latter.

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More about...Health & Fitness, Psychology

Money, stress, and your health

A 2009 AP/AOL survey, Debt Stress in the United States, found that American adults are experiencing significantly more debt-related stress than reported four years ago when a similar survey was conducted.

The survey also found that those with high stress levels were likely to experience health problems, including headaches, back pain, muscle tension, depression, anxiety, ulcers, and heart problems.

It seems that a high level of debt-related stress can damage more than your credit score; it also poses serious threats to your health.

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More about...Psychology, Health & Fitness

The psychology of happiness: 13 steps to a better life

happy girl and father

We think we know what will make us happy, but we don't. Many of us believe that money will make us happy, but it won't. Except for the very poor, money cannot buy happiness. Instead of dreaming of vast wealth, we should dream of close friends and healthy bodies and meaningful work.

The Psychology of Happiness

Several years ago, James Montier, a "global equity strategist", took a break from investing in order to publish a brief overview of existing research into the psychology of happiness [PDF]. Montier learned that happiness comprises three components:

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More about...Psychology, Health & Fitness