Keeping your family healthy is a huge money saver. It’s easy to get caught up in chasing every new health fad, there’s always a new supplement to buy and new food to avoid. The end goal is simply health.
Healthy families buy less medicine, they see the doctor less, and the bread winners miss less work. The following are budget friendly tips for saving money by keeping your family healthy.
Teach Your Family How to Wash Their Hands
Washing hands regularly with soap and water is still the best way to kill germs. Teach your kids how to wash their hands properly to get rid of them, they should wash for the same amount of time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday.” Make sure however while they’re lathering to turn off the water so extra pennies aren’t going down the drain.
Hand-sanitizer Is an Expense Well Worth It
Hand sanitizer is excellent for keeping hands clean between washes. Teach your family to use it frequently. The cost of a large bottle of hand sanitizer is well worth it if it saves the family one cold. Use it while you’re out and about as well.
Clean Store Purchases With a Wet Wipe (Especially In the Winter)
When you’re out shopping there are a lot of people who touch the things that will eventually enter your home, and in the case of groceries eventually your mouth. The person from the factory puts the item in a box, at least one stocker from the store will touch it when they open the box, a different one will probably put it on the shelf, customers debating about buying the item will handle it, you’ll pick it up and put it in your cart, the checker will touch it, then the bagger will touch it, then you’ll open the bag of potato chips that has been touched by at least 6 people take out a chip and put it in your mouth. Any other time of year, I’ll risk it, but in winter I wipe the packaging of everything I buy from a store with a wet wipe when I get it home. I also sanitize my hands frequently while shopping.
Everyone Take Their Vitamins
The cost of vitamins is small compared to the benefits of long term health. Given the choice there are a lot of things I would personally cut from my budget before I cut vitamins. If vitamins are still too expensive for you, most breakfast cereals are fortified with some vitamins, making them a decent alternative if your budget is truly too tight for supplements.
Keep Your Home Clean
Your mission is to eradicate germs! Keeping your house clean is a vital component in keeping the little buggies away. A can of disinfectant is not all that expensive, and again it’s well worth it if your family can avoid passing around a cold. Before anyone gets sick be in the habit of spraying handles, door knobs, non-food surfaces, and floors on a regular basis so germs won’t stand a chance in your home.
Am I missing anything? What else do you do to keep your family healthy year long?
