Being Healthy Costs Too Much...

[Nada.Leona]

It's rediculous. I need a dentist appointment, an eye appointment, a haircut, a dye job (not frugal, I know, but it's a personal indulgence) and a membership to the Y (I miss swimming soooooooo much!!!).

Just to get in for the examination for the eye appointment is going to cost me $73!!! That's rediculous! The haircut cost $33 (though it took a good 30 years off my hair, I'm convinced -- and I'm only 24 ) and the membership to the Y is going to cost me $75 (some sort of initial consultation fee is required, or so I am told). And that's before the $60 hair dye job and the unknown abomination of a bill that will come from the dentist.

In the end, I will have gorgeous black hair, fresh new glasses (maybe even contacts this time! ), sparkley white teeth, and a slim, sexy body. So I know that it's all worth it... but the "new, healthy me" is gonna cost rougly $500 to $750, and that's with insurance coverage!

I think that if I had taken better care of myself in the days gone by, it would've cost me less. If I hadn't been such a chocoholic, I wouldn't need the gym. If I had've just accepted my natural hair color (an ugly mousy brown -- I am the oddity of my family. The rest of them were all born with gorgeous black waves), I wouldn't need the dye job. If I had taken care of my hair better and gotten regular trims, I wouldn't have needed the big hair cut. And if I took better care of my teeth and quit straining my eyes, they wouldn't be in the state their in. So I guess the obvious result is, taking care of oneself is better in the long run.

So now, I must decide -- what is the comparison between a healthy, sexy me and a frugal, unhealthy me? :S Ahhh, the decisions a woman must face.

Bah, I ramble. Anyone else have an opinion?

[Darlene]

I guess I'd keep everything except the gym,lol. Walking is free.
I'd say all your doing is a wonderful investment, rock on.

[canadian gardener]

ROFL honey that gave me a chuckle. I love your sense of humour!

The Y is great, but you can go for walks for free.

If the Y is really important for social reasons, and maybe keeping at it in a group setting (and that is also a biggy for a lot of SAHMs like myself) you can work off your membership.

All Y's have that option, ask about it. A friend of mine volunteers there for so many hours and gets all her gymn time and classes for free.

Now onto the hair, that dye job is a great thought, what about learning to diy it for less. The savings in dye jobs can pay for a decent haircut.

Haircuts depending on the style, you can either learn to diy them (I did mine for over 10 years) or you can learn to trim the edges a bit to kind of stretch the time in between. (don't be scared off by my hair in the photo, that was taken when I badly needed a cut and I've been using a hair dresser lately, who does 12$ cuts)

OR you can go to a hair dresser school and get the dye jobs and the cuts for free or a drastically reduced cost.

Now onto whiter teeth. I've been doing it myself for a bit and am quite pleased with the results. (again, photo is after I'd been sucking back a fair bit of coffee and if you want the true colour, I'd have needed to brush them for the photo, they actually look a lot whiter in reality)

First off I used some paint on tooth whitener when my dentist told me the sticker price of him doing it. I didn't like doing it the way it was suggested so I found that painting a wee bit onto my toothbrush AFTER brushing with paste, and brushing it on, then rinsing whitened well.

That stretched that expensive little bottle (14$ here in BC at Superstore) for months longer than it should have lasted and whitened my teeth fine in spite of my coffee habit which is pretty ummmm strong shall we say.

NEXT I decided to see if the Costco 2 for 1 Vivid white Crest would do just as well and IT IS! So I'm very happy with that little effort.

[Michele Annette]

Nada, I know exactly what you're saying.

I loved my gym membership. I bought a few pieces of inexpensive exercise equipment and have a great workout. If you really love swimming, it may be worth it to you to save for the membership afterall or like Margery mentioned try to volunteer for exchage in membership benefits.

Do you have a Sally's Beauty supply store near you? I get my hair dye there for $3.99. The good ammonia free kind. I just forgot the name. But they have so many good brands all for under $5. I paid the $5 for a Sally discount card and also save and extra %10 on anything I buy. I am not a hair stylist, but I can still buy products there. I hope you have one near you.

As for the haircut do you have a complicated style or just a simple style. I wear my hair long, so I only need a trim every once in a while from hiarcuts plus.

I can't wait to renew my contacts. DR. visit is $90 and a years worth of contacts are $90. Glasses are much, much more and my pair are three years old, so I'm saving up for my contacts too. I feel your pain!

I could see how you would "need" the dentist as long as it wasn't cosmetic work. I do use whitening toothpaste and that seems to help a lot.

Good luck Nada!

[Nada.Leona]

Well, I have been thinking about it and decided that the gym will be worth it to me. AND I'm going to make myself a promise -- I have to stick to it, swimming every other day for a full month (starting in Feb.) and I will EARN the dye job. I figure it's a fair trade off.

Now, I have an appointment with the optometrist for the coming Monday, but just the sit-down appointment is going to cost me $73. Not nice, but necessary. I'll spend the next two weeks picking out glasses that I like, and checking the cost of contacts against the cost of a pair of glasses.

*sigh* Sexy me costs a lot, but damn, I'll look good!

[canadian gardener]

You GO girl!!!!

I'm on a makeover project of my own, learning BEFORE I turn 50 in July to put foundation and mascara on. But the only foundation that doesn't make me itch or get red and bumpy is the Elizabeth Arden cream and it's 40$!!!!!!!!!!

But some things are worth it, and each person knows what those certain somethings are that make her feel like a million.

Peg Bracken once said that your own personal splurges gave incentive to keep to the frugal wagon in all the other areas.

I learnt to diy my hair cutting to save money for books that I wanted to buy. Buying, not borrowing, it was a priority splurge for me.

So you go girl and ENJOY!!!!

(meet you over at the Elizabeth Arden counter, and we will go for a virtual coffee!)

[leeleeaub]

Well, I get my hair cut for 7.00 and fantastic sams is always cheap.
I dye my own hair it is really easy and have never had a problem with it.
Then the dentist, gym and glasses wouldn't seem as bad I suppose

[guest7]

Nada, I think the Y membership is one of the cheapest you'll find-other than free wonderful walks in nature. Second hand stores are always selling weights. But the pool! that's a wonderful tool!!

I feel your pain with the darn contacts. I swear the doctors make your eyes weaker and weaker each year! 2 years ago, I went to Canada to have lasik surgery done- no more glasses, contacts etc. Procedure cost $1100US, I was paying $300+ yr in contacts, Dr. visits, new eyeglass prescriptions; So the surgery will pay for itself in 2 more years.

Grow your lovely locks out and put it in a pony tail. Just kidding. You need to indulge yourself. It's ok

[AmyBoz]

Nada,
It's certainly not like you are spending $750 a month...you are doing it now as a one-time deal to help you feel better.

[Early Bird]

Some thoughts about exercise:

* If you LIKE it, you're far more likely to DO it.

(That's why I go walking very early in the morning, with my cell phone. I'm on free minutes for calls before 7 a.m., so I phone a friend in the Eastern time zone 3 mornings/wk. If I don't have someone to chat to, I find myself quitting early.)

* If you have the space, exercise equipment at home reduces overhead: packing a tote bag, driving, and changing in public locker rooms.

I think the OVERHEAD was what made DH give up racquetball, which he enjoyed. But he has set up a TV/VCR that he can watch from the treadmill. Again, enjoyable exercise is more likely to be successful.

[AmyMCGS]

These aren't monthly expenses, and they make you feel good, so I think they're justified.

The dentist and eyedoctor aren't really negotiable, are they? We all have to see them.

And definitely keep your Y membership if you can afford it-- I'm with you on the pool thing. That's how I lost weight last summer!