Frugal Ways to Stay Healthy

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Medical costs are a big issue on everyone’s mind these days with the ongoing debate about health care. February is National Wise Health Care Consumer Month, a time to raise awareness about how you spend money on your health.

Check out these tips from the Federal Citizen Information Center for easy ways you can trim the cost of medicine, fitness and more:

Switch to generic. Because of legal restrictions, a generic drug might not look exactly the same as the brand name choice, but it contains the same active ingredients and is just as effective. Brand name drugs cost more than their generic counterparts because the makers of the original, brand name versions had to pay for the research, development and marketing of the medications. Learn more from the Generic Drugs publication from the Food and Drug Administration.

Watch out for scams. They keep coming back in different forms on TV and the internet but one thing stays the same: health scams charge you lots of money for “miracle” cures. And the diet pills and enhancement products they push could be dangerous or have harmful interactions with your other medicines. Save your money for tried-and-true methods or doctor prescribed medicines. Read about common ploys in Health Scams from the Food and Drug Administration.

Reconsider the gym. Gym memberships can be costly, and if you aren’t using your membership regularly, it could be one place where you could save some money. If you’re worried about how you’ll fit your exercise in without the gym, Be Active Your Way from the Department of Health and Human Services suggests several alternate forms of exercise that you can fit into your everyday life.

In tough economic times, we’re all looking to pinch pennies wherever we can. Try out some of these simple suggestions from the Federal Citizen Information Center to help you save money and stay healthy.

There are two ways to get copies of these publications:

1. Read or download them online:
• Generic Drugs (http://go.usa.gov/lWk)
• Health Scams (http://go.usa.gov/l5x)
• Be Active Your Way (http://go.usa.gov/lWB)