Author: Justin Weinger

A Little-Known Way to Break Free of the Blues

You’re beautiful, but you just don’t feel it. Your life is going well, but you imagine things are falling apart at the seams like a cheap dress.

Although things appear increasingly better this year, you feel worn out, jaded by all the stressors of 2020, a difficult year. You’ve tried to figure things out—reading self-help books, talking to a therapist, and sharing with your loved ones—but you can’t seem to shake off this sense of futility, this inexplicable funk.

While there are plenty of good things to say about changing from the inside-out, if that’s not working for you, try something else: try changing from the outside-in. Here are some suggestions on how to use this approach to break free of the blues.

Look and Feel Beautiful

You’ll be amazed at how a facial can transform your appearance. Once you relax the tension in the fine muscles of your face with a massage and use steam, extraction, creams, and lotions to improve your skin, you will positively glow. In fact, you won’t be able to look in a mirror without smiling back at yourself, and you’ll also notice furtive admiring glances from the corner of your eye when you’re in public. Use an online directory in your city to get the best facials; so, for instance, if you live in Atlanta, don’t use Google, but a specialized service directory to do a search for facials in Atlanta.

After your facial, invest in a few beauty products that make a significant difference. Vitamin C serum, for example, will protect against skin damage. It also repairs a variety of skin issues, such as an uneven tone, dry spots, sagging skin, sunburn, hyperpigmentation, and photoaging.

Get Fit and Fabulous

Do you need to gain or lose weight? Do you need to lose flab and tone up your muscle? Do you look great but still need more energy, strength, and endurance?

The solution to all these common health and fitness issues is diet and exercise.

Rather than following a popular diet, it might be more beneficial to create a healthy eating plan. Talk to a nutritionist to find out the best foods or spend some time researching nutrition.

After you’ve figured out the best eating plan, then turn your attention to how to exercise. You can join a gym or a yoga class to get your mojo back and start exercising regularly.

Make and Manage Your Money

Now that you’ve spent some time on self-care, and mastered the forgotten arts of dieting and exercising, it’s time to review good financial habits that will gradually improve your net worth.

Some ways to revamp your finances include restructuring your debt to stop worrying about your financial security, creating a budget to control your spending, contributing more to your retirement account, tucking away your savings in a high-interest account, and creating a side hustle to earn extra money.

The Outside-In Approach

Once you make these simple changes, you will feel more confident and do more of the things that the confident version of you would do. You’ll not only look fantastic, but you’ll also be healthier and more energetic than before. And, since you’re taking better care of your finances, you’ll be feeling more secure.

Changing how you look and feel and behave will change how you think about everything. It’s difficult to feel miserable when you look fabulous all the time. When you spend some focused time on self-care, then you’ll feel good enough about yourself and where you are in life to notice the beauty of the world around you.

When you’re feeling blue, introspection isn’t the only way to get out of it. Sometimes changing things within your control, like your appearance, health and fitness, and financial well-being can flip on your optimism.

5 Ways for American Families to Save Money on Healthcare

If you and your family members see the doctor on a routine basis, you’re probably looking for some easy ways to cut down on your mounting medical bills. The good news is, you don’t have to look too far. There are plenty of easy ways to start saving money on your healthcare costs right away.

  1. Go Generic

In most cases, generic medications work precisely the same or nearly the same as name-brand medications. The most significant difference is the price – which can sometimes be hundreds of dollars cheaper. Especially if you have something like the free RX discount card, which places like Walmart usually run automatically if you ask for a generic of whatever you’re picking up.

Another great way to save on medication is to ask your doctor for free samples. Big Pharmaceutical companies are always sending out free samples to doctor’s offices, oftentimes enough to do a partial or full-on treatment with them. It never hurts to ask, and it’s rare to be denied.

  1. All-in-One Care

One of the best things you can do is find a family physician that offers various ancillary services to their patients. When you can get everything done “in-house,” you’ll end up saving a lot – not only on the services themselves but on gas, time, etc. If you aren’t having to take multiple days off work, drive to several locations, and pay hidden costs like transport fees, you end up saving quite a bit overall. This also just makes a trip to the doctor so much easier.

  1. Discount Club

There are plenty of discount clubs out there for healthcare. These will often be well under $30 a month (some even under $10) and can help you save up to 60% on doctor’s visits and follow-up care (even major surgery)! It’s a huge help, especially to those who go to the hospital frequently.

  1. Check Your Bill

Did you know that up to 50% of the time, your medical bill has errors? How about that these errors can cost you hundreds of dollars? It’s critical to always pour over your medical bills to ensure you aren’t being charged incorrectly due to a mistake. This is a super-easy way to save money and can end up saving you hundreds or thousands of dollars, depending on the type of medical care you’ve received. (This is especially important if you’ve been to the ER or if you’ve been hospitalized.)

  1. Eat Well

Health starts at home. If you eat well, exercise, and create an environment that helps you boost your mental health, you’ll quickly see health problems minimize or even melt away. As a rule, you should eat a rainbow a day (if not each meal) because different colored plants contain high amounts of different vitamins. Cutting out sugars and opting for healthier sweeteners like honey, dates, and agave can also be fantastic for your health. Making food from scratch is another way to ensure that you’re eating well since store-bought food has questionable ingredients.

So don’t stress – you got this handled! It’s as simple as eating well, doing a little reading, and switching your medications to something more affordable. You don’t have to feel burdened by healthcare – it’s supposed to help you feel better.

5 Things You Should Have by the Time You’re 35

Adjusting to adulthood is challenging. Sure, there’s a youthfulness that never fades. However, once you turn a certain age, some aspects of your life are already in order. As we age, our life experiences make it difficult for us to make the same mistakes we made in our adolescence.

Of course, there isn’t a manual for adulthood, but adults should achieve some general things by a certain age. Here’s a list of things to accomplish by 35.

Retirement Savings Plan

Unfortunately, many seniors find themselves having to return to work shortly after retirement. One of the primary reasons is their savings aren’t enough to cover their living expenses. One way to ensure a long retirement is to set up a retirement savings plan in your 30s. Experts recommend 15% of your income every year. That way, you’ll have enough money saved to relax and enjoy your retirement years.

Life Insurance

Even if you don’t have health problems, it’s a good idea to get a life insurance policy by the time you’re 35. The life insurance cost for the average adult is roughly $25 a month. By starting to save at this age, you also cover funeral and living costs for your loved ones if you pass away.

Career Goals

While having your own business in your 30s may seem unattainable, It’s still beneficial to set goals. Goals keep us on the path to achieve what would otherwise be difficult to accomplish.

Say you want to be an entrepreneur. Creating a business has a lot of moving parts, especially in the beginning. When you set goals for yourself, you have a meaningful way to hold yourself accountable. You also build positive momentum every time you accomplish one of the goals you’ve set for yourself.

Good Health

As we get older, our bodies don’t work as efficiently as they used to. Therefore, we must work harder to keep ourselves in decent shape. Taking control of your health in your 30s helps us keep your insurance premiums at an affordable rate. Being healthy also allows you to thrive in other aspects of your life, including business, family, and other everyday goals.

Being healthy can be done gradually. For example, you can take small steps like creating healthier versions of your favorite meals. Also, doing small workouts both by yourself and with your family will impact your health in a significant way.

Find a Hobby

Although some believe hobbies are only for the young, that’s not true. As we get older and more involved in the everyday hustle and bustle, we’re burdened with stress and pressure to perform. By having a hobby, you have an activity you look forward to doing.

Your desire to get to your hobby is usually enough motivation to get through your daily tasks. Some people manifest businesses based on hobbies, so finding one is worth considering be it arranging flowers, working on cars, or maybe taking scenic pictures.

Of course, there are many ways to measure success. However, there are certain milestones you should hit by the time you reach 35. By the time we turn 35, we must get our lives in order for the sake of ourselves and our loved ones. With this blueprint, you can practice physical, financial, and emotional wellness, leading to a long, prosperous life. You’re also giving the future generations how to take control of their lives.