Money Misfit

The older that I have gotten, the more that I have noticed how important that it is to stay fit and healthy. And since I work from home, I end up spending far too much time sitting on my rear in front of a computer. To make matters worse, it seems like every time that I start browsing the interwebs there is another article telling me how too much sitting will put me in an early grave – like this article that I recently saw.

When I lived in an apartment complex, finding cheap ways to stay fit was super easy. Most apartment buildings have a free fitness center for residents to use. And some even have a swimming pool that you can use. While I do not always take advantage of the pool, I am a fan of using the fitness center.

But what happens when you buy your own home or move into a rental that doesn’t offer any free fitness related amenities? Well, if you’re like me, then you start to see you waistline slowly expanding. Okay, so I may be exaggerating a wee bit, but I am certainly not as healthy as I was when I had free access to a gym.

Since I am still working on paying down some debt, I am not too keen on adding a monthly gym membership fee to my bill calendar. My checking account isn’t too thrilled about the idea either. So, I have been doing on brainstorming on ways that I keep fit without breaking the budget. And though freebie ways to stay fit are preferable, I am not opposed to cheap or low cost one-time fees.

Cheap Ways To Exercise And Stay Fit

After some brainstorming, I have come up with a few ideas on how I can get in some daily exercise without spending a fortune on a monthly gym membership. I wanted to share them here in case any other finance-conscious people find themselves in a similar waist-expanding predicament.

Option 1 – start biking

Pros: gets me outside enjoying nature, will not be boring, good leg workout

Cons: not appealing in bad weather, can’t do in the snow, high cost initially

Costs: bikes have a wide price range so I used this site to find cheap options that are quality. Looks like around $300 is the cheapest that i can go. The same site has some helmet recommendations that price them at around $50 for a good quality option. That gets me to $350 up front if I just wear some regular workout clothes and shoes. And, it’s not considering any repairs or upkeep.

Conclusion: $350 is a lot of up front money for something that I can’t do all year long

Option 2 – fitness videos at home

Pros: can do any time of year, don’t have to leave home, no equipment required, plenty of free options available

Cons: might get bored because I’ll always be stuck inside

Costs: no extra costs unless I want to pay for a Netflix subscription or buy some videos up front. Plenty of free ones on YouTube though.

Conclusion: free is the ultimate in budget friendly and I can do it all year long. This is probably best as a combo with something else to reduce boredom and target different muscle groups.

Option 3 – get a job at a gym

Pros: don’t have to pay to use the gym, earn extra money

Cons: taking on another job leaves little time for fitness

Costs: gas money and time

Conclusion: good option if I had more time and definitely something to keep in mind for the future. I actually worked part-time at a YMCA in college and got use of their gym and pool in my off hours.

Option 4 – buy some home gym equipment

Pro: can do in any weather since I don’t have to leave home, good way to get in a serious workout

Cons: still keeps me stuck inside, need space for the equipment, upfront cost could be substantial, might not target enough areas of body

Costs: can be anything from cheap to expensive – a simple kettlebell is under $30 but things like rowing machines can range from less than $300 to well over $1000 (looks like around $500 gets you a decent machine)

Conclusion: upfront cost could be high, or I could buy a few different cheaper things to mix up my workouts

So, those are really the options that I have come up with for now. I really like the idea of taking up biking in the afternoons, but I am just not sure that I can justify the cost when I do not live in a city where I can use the bike all year long. I might look into used bikes though and see if that would lower the cost enough for it to be a good idea.

Other than that, I think that I will use a combo approach with the free videos on YouTube and some cheap fitness equipment (kettlebells, yoga mat, resistance bands, etc.). How do you stay fit on a budget?

About a month and a half ago, I ended up in the E.R. with some excruciating pain in my lower right abdomen and back. I’d had the pain for a day and a half before going to the local hospital. You see, I had convinced myself that it was just food poisoning, especially since the pain was radiating to my back. I thought there was no way that it really was an appendix issue.

I only went to the hospital because the pain was so severe that I could not sleep the night before. It didn’t take long for them to give me the bad news that I needed to have emergency surgery and a required overnight stay in the hospital.

Fortunately, I do have health insurance. And as the bills keep rolling in, I am feeling extra fortunate because there is no way that I would be able to afford to pay them without insurance.

Just How Much Is A Laparoscopic Appendectomy In The US?

While I was waiting to get prepped for surgery, I was looking up the cost of the procedure on my phone. What I discovered is that the price varies greatly from one area of the U.S. to another. In fact, it can even vary by hospital in the same city!

My hospital visit took place in Raleigh, NC and you might be shocked at the total cost of this procedure.

Yeah, that’s a LOT for being in the hospital for such a brief period.

I’ve been fortunate in that this is really the first time that I’ve ever had to be in the hospital, so I was clueless about how my insurance deductible would work and if my Obamacare health insurance plan would leave me owning more than my deductible. You see, I’ve read stories about people who went into the hospital that was approved by their insurance, but that one of the doctors was not and they ended up owing thousands for the doctor while the hospital was covered by insurance.

So far, everything seems to be covered by my health insurance plan. The bill in the image above is just a statement. Each provider is sending individual bills to me, with the amount due after my insurance. I have to pay until my deductible is satisfied. My health insurance is also sending me an EOB statement each time they process a claim so that I will know what they paid and what I am left owing. It also shows me how much of my deductible has been met and how much is still outstanding.

If I did not have health insurance, then I suspect these bills would’ve given me lots of stress and worry. Now, I only have to worry about meeting my deductible, which is still not a great scenario in terms of trying to pay down debt and having to deal with new debt. But still, it could be a lot worse without insurance, and for that I am thankful.

Normally, I’d have read a bunch of really awesome blog posts and compiled my favorites in a Friday Finds post for today yesterday. But sometimes things don’t quite go as you plan, do they? You see, I had an unexpected visit to the emergency room this week that resulted in surgery for appendicitis and a stay in the hospital for monitoring.

The funny thing about this story (not really funny), is that I had the pain for a full day and a half before going to the ER. But my insurance deductible is $5500 and I know that ER visits are crazy expensive and I didn’t wanna go and up with it  being nothing wrong with me in the end. The waiting caused the appendicitis to get worse, which required a hospital stay instead of the normal going home a few hours after surgery. So, trying to save money is going to cost me substantially more.

But the real lesson here is that when it comes to your health, trying to save money is always a stupid move. I learned that if I’d waited too long that it could’ve resulted in a week long stay in the hospital, or worse – death!

You would think that getting this diagnosis would have stopped my momentary run of frugal stupidity. Instead, all I could think about were the three credit cards that I planned to pay off this month and that spending money at the hospital would derail that.

After my surgery, they offered me pain meds and I turned them down saying that the pain was bearable. It was…kind of…especially when I thought about how much those pain meds would cost me in the long run. But, it only takes so many times of waking up in pain to put some sense in your head and I called the nurse for some pain relief. After all, sleeping helps you heal and I couldn’t sleep if I was in pain.

Looking back now, I know that I was stupid. And the worst part is that I can afford my insurance deductible. I am very fortunate for that to be the case. So what if I can’t pay off those three credit cards this month. At least I’m not still in the hospital. And, at least I could afford to go there in the first place.

With that in mind, posting here will likely be a little off for the next few days. I’m quite weak from the surgery and I’m not certain that my writing is making any sense.

**I hope that this post is readable as I am still a bit loopy from pain meds!**