A little research will reveal a lot of ways to earn a few extra dollars, but taking the opportunity to cut down on expenses can make a huge difference in your budget without having to earn another penny. In fact, there are several small changes in daily life that can reduce annual expenditures by tens of thousands of dollars a year. For most Americans, that represents a huge sum. The surprise here comes from the fact that these small changes relate to physical health. In several direct, and quite a few more subtle ways, your health impacts your wealth.
If you need a quick way to make a buck, this won’t help, but if you’re playing the smart, long game, investing those extra dollars can make all the difference in your retirement plans.
Something as simple as reducing the frequency of eating out can make a dramatic difference. There’s the obvious money saved in restaurant expenses, but beyond that, fast food ranks among the top contributors to obesity. Obesity directly ties to a number of severe medical conditions, which will generate thousands of dollars in extra healthcare costs each year. Taking this a step further, obesity also increases life insurance rates, and overall grocery expenses outside of eating out to sustain a higher body mass on a daily basis.
Let’s not forget the fact that junk food is often quite expensive, particularly in the quantities Americans tend to consume them. A bag of chips might cost less than a bag of carrots, but very few people will eat an entire bag of carrots in a single sitting. Eating that entire bag of chips in one Netflix binge-watching session not only isn’t unheard of, it’s alarmingly common in our culture.
The infographic below outlines a number of small lifestyle changes that, made today, can improve both your wellness and wallet in a big way over time.
Via: InvestmentZen.com
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