A former high-powered, strongly motivated boss of mine did not believe in sleep. In order to be the best in the world at what we do—and this was the goal, no doubt—sleep is an obstacle to be overcome. I disagreed, as it seemed to me at some point, bodies and minds will find what they need whether or not you try to control them.

While he was in his office until four in the morning many nights, trying to work, I was getting the sleep I needed to be effective during waking hours. Our disagreements about this as well as some other philosophies of life eventually led to my departure from the organization.

Scientific studies have long proven the importance of a good night’s sleep, but there’s some new research that links sleep deprivation and serious illness.

A 2008 research project at the University of Chicago’s medical school kept young, healthy volunteers awake for all but four hours a night for six nights running. The result: The levels of subjects’ hormones shifted – in particular a hormone called leptin that affects appetite. They became ravenously hungry, scarfing down pizza and ice cream long after they would have felt full normally, and their blood sugar shot up to pre-diabetic levels – an ominous result after less than one week of inadequate sleep.

...[T]he World Health Organization (WHO) has gathered data from around the globe showing that sleep deprivation depresses the immune system, to the point where WHO is considering labeling chronic sleep deprivation a carcinogen, comparable to tobacco and asbestos.

Sleep deprivation also results in an overestimation of health; people deprived think they have more control than they do.

One experiment at U. Penn’s medical school kept subjects up until 4 A.M., woke them at 8 A.M., and then gave them a series of tests designed to measure memory, alertness, and the ability to react quickly to new information. The researchers were startled to find that subjects’ mental acuity declined markedly after just one night and kept dropping with each successive night of four hours’ sleep. Even more worrying: The study’s volunteers were unaware of their impairment. One woman, so fatigued that she could barely say her name, was nonetheless certain she was able to drive home.

In addition to these studies, entrepreneurs surveyed about their sleep habits have claimed to come up with many of their ideas while asleep. So it seems that sleeping is good for business.

Here are five free ways to improve sleep and five more free ways to improve sleep. Get Rich Slowly also has a brief guide to better sleep.

Make Sleep Work For You, Anne Fisher, Fortune Small Business, August 25, 2008.

Rather than firing up the central air conditioning, you can keep it off or lower its power in the heat of the summer by exploring some of these low-cost alternatives.

1. Use fans. While fans don’t change the temperature of the air, they increase air movement, which will make you feel cooler by a few degrees. Look for fans with large blades. In general, the large blades will move more air with less power and less noise.

2. Cool the air naturally. If you hang damp sheets in front of your window, air coming into your house or apartment will lower the temperature of the air as it enters.

3. Wear light colors. Black fabric absorbs heat while light-colored fabric reflects. Light-weight fabric allows your skin to breathe. Fashion aside, proper summer clothing can help keep you cool.

4. Install shades and blinds. By keeping your rooms shielded from the sun, you can avoid direct light and heat. Keep the blinds closed during the day and open the windows during the night. There are window coatings available that let in light while keeping out heat. Try searching Home Depot for heat and glare control window films.

5. Wear a cooling bandana. Here’s a stylish way to keep yourself cool. Cooling bandanas can be soaked in water and are worn around the neck. As the water evaporates your body remains cool. You can find cooling bandanas on Amazon.com.

6. Avoid chores. Forget about using the clothes dryer or the oven; these appliances emit heat, so your cooling system must work harder whenever you’re cooking or drying. While the weather is hot, eliminating strenuous chores will help protect your body from dehydration. Alcohol and caffeine should be avoided as well for the same reason.

7. Spray yourself with water. Never was a wet tee-shirt contest a better idea. Keep yourself wet with sprinklers outdoors or spritzers (water bottles with a spraying handle) indoors.

8. Leave the house. Take advantage of large businesses that must keep their air conditioners running to keep customers comfortable; take a trip to the mall. If you do stay in and run the air conditioner, however, keep the thermostat high and supplement the house cooling with fans.

Where I live, the temperature has been above 90 degrees lately, with the heat index over 100 this past weekend. I don’t have it quite as bad as those in Texas, for example, but heat makes everyone uncomfortable. As someone I knew used to say, you can only remove so many layers of clothing.

Beat the Heat Without Busting the Budget, Rodika Tollefson, LifeWire

If you’re moving into a new neighborhood, it’s usually easy to drive around (or walk around if the new neighborhood is a city) to find amenities and stores within walking distance. If you agree that walking is a necessary exercise, the ability to walk to destinations should be a large factor when deciding where to live.

Now you can find similar information with a handy web site called Walk Score. Type an address when prompted and Walk Score will provide a map containing local grocery stores, restaurants, schools, fitness centers, and more, including walking distance from the address. The web site uses an algorithm to develop a score, the “Walk Score,” for the neighborhood.

For example, here are the results for Princeton, NJ, not my neighborhood, but nearby.

The left column shows the closest location in each category, but is expandable to show all locations within walking distance. You can compare Walk Scores between neighborhoods to help determine an optimal place to live for your exercise needs.

As you can see above, Princeton, New Jersey has a Walk Score of 85. But what does that mean? The web site provides this guide to help you interpret the numbers:

90 – 100: Walkers’ Paradise. Most errands can be accomplished on foot and many people get by without owning a car.
70 – 90: Very Walkable. It’s possible to get by without owning a car.
50 – 70: Some Walkable Locations. Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a bike, public transportation, or car.
25 – 50: Not Walkable. Only a few destinations are within easy walking range. For most errands, driving or public transportation is a must.
0 – 25: Driving Only. Virtually no neighborhood destinations within walking range. You can walk from your house to your car!

My neighborhood’s Walk Score is 60, an accurate evaluation of my opportunities for ambulatory errand completion.

Walking should be a strong factor in your decision. According to the Walk Score website, walking increases your health, reduces greenhouse gas, increases your social capital, strengthens local businesses, and allows for more public transportation options.

I certainly don’t walk enough as I should. I have a grocery store practically across the street from where I live. Rather than making smaller shopping trips more often in order to walk, I usually wait and make large trips less often, requiring the use of my car to transport the bags of groceries required.

This is one habit I should change for my own benefit.

What is your neighborhood’s Walk Score?

Thanks to Julia_JJ for the tip.

In two short weeks, 2007 will come to a close. If you have money in your Flexible Spending Account when the new year comes around, and your company doesn’t offer a grace period, you will lose those funds.

A Flexible Spending Account is a savings plan offered by many employers that lets you put aside some money from your paycheck each week. The money is saved in an account held by your employer. With a Health or Medical FSA, the most common type of FSA, you can use the account for medical expenses. Either you can receive a debit card linked directly to the account for use when paying medical expenses or you can apply for reimbursement of expenses paid otherwise.

The primary benefit of these accounts is the money used for reimbursement will not be subject to income tax. However, you have to use the funds put aside by either the end of the year or by a date such as March 31, depending on your employer’s rules. Since you enroll in the FSA in the prior year, you have to predict your future medical expenses. If you have a pretty good idea of what your expenses will be, you can determine how much you’ll save through the use of an FSA account. It’s just a question of subtracting your used medical expenses from your gross income (upon which tax will be deducted) rather than your net income. This is a particularly good option if you don’t itemize your tax deductions or if your health expenses won’t reach the threshold of 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income to qualify.

A poor prediction means you’ll be leaving money on the table at the end of the year. If your prediction was not far off, there are still some options that will prevent you from losing the money you put away. Here is what I would suggest. Go to the pharmacist and pick up over-the-counter medication. I probably spend about $25-$35 a year on regular strength pain relief medication (naproxen). If I had a Flex account, I would stock up at the end of the year. Cold and allergy medicine qualifies as well, and the weather makes the end of the year a good time to stock up. First aid supplies qualify as well.

In many cases, the FSA can be used to cover expenses for your family members, as well. Make sure you have been reimbursed for every medical expense throughout the year by going through your receipts if you’ve kept them. Speaking of receipts, it’s important to keep documentation for all medical expenses you’ve paid, whether directly from your Flex account via a debit card or for reimbursement later. In many cases, you will be required to substantiate the qualification of your expenses.

By the way, if you end up leaving unused money in your FSA at the end of the year, that money goes back to your employer, not to you. Also, you will owe income tax on the remainder even though you won’t “receive” that income.

Note: This article is a contribution to the Money Blog Network Monthly Group Writing Project. This month, the focus is on year-end financial strategies. Here are the other articles included in the project, all with great ideas for things to think about as 2007 comes to an end.

• Time to Rebalance Your Portfolio
• Dumb Year End Money Moves
• Clearing Out Your House For Fun and Profit
• Jump Start Your Debt Reduction Using Christmas Gifts and Year End Bonuses
• Make Your Charitable Deductions Before Year End
• Grab Some Year End Bargains

• Paycheck and Witholding Calculators for Year End Money Moves

My company was offering vaccinations today for any employees wanting to gain protection from the flu this season. By the early afternoon, they ran out of vaccine and added another date a week from now to the schedule for those who did not get a chance.

I’ve never opted for the flu vaccine. It has always been my method of operation to take my chances and deal with the flu (without prescription medication) if the virus finds its way into my system. Last year, however, I had a tough time, and was out of commission more often than I would have liked. I suppose this comes with the territory of having a girlfriend whose job is to spend 8 hours a day with twenty-five ten-year-old germ balls.

I’ve always held the opinion that I shouldn’t need to introduce any more medication into my body than absolutely necessary. Not only that, but the vaccine works only against specific strains of influenza but is not very effective overall. As a relatively healthy individual, I do not have a high risk of complications from the flu, so other than missing a few days of work feeling sick, I don’t think it will hurt to skip the vaccine. Doing so might even mean that there is one more shot available for a young child or elderly individual with high risk for complications.

How about you? Will you be receiving the vaccination?

For some interesting reading, take a look and compare the information presented in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Seasonal Flu information page (strongly pro-vaccination), Wikipedia’s entry on the flu vaccine (somewhat neutral and scientific), and the British Medical Journal’s Influenza Vaccination: Policy Versus Evidence (strongly conclusive against vaccination).

I’m following the CNN Money series focusing on five couples earning about the U.S. median income, $46,000 a year (couple one, two, and three). The fourth couple in the series lives in Ruidoso, New Mexico, a noisy town.

Brent Wheat is a self-employed contractor and Shawna Wheat is an office coordinator. Together, they earn the “median household income range.” With three kids and a three-bedroom house, they are doing okay according to Shawna. They have three cars, including a truck used for Brent’s business. Like the other couples, health insurance is a problem. Medical costs were high last year due to a son’s car accident, and will be high this year thanks to the same son’s braces.

Do the Wheats want to do better? While Shawna says they’re okay, she does wish they could take a trip. Looking at their expenses pie chart, they seem to be in control of most of their expenses. The pie chart in their case is based on a total of $50,000 in expenses. It’s not clear if that is the same amount as ther annual income.

It’s also not clear if the 3% ($1,500) they pay to credit cards will eventually pay down their debt, or if they build up more debt at the same time. The 9% ($4,500) of their total expenses earmarked for retirement is better than a good portion of this country. I’m sure they’d like to do better in that respect, but they could be doing a lot worse.

I think that once they get their health care expenses in check—they might have to wait until the kids are on their own—they can take that trip they’d like.

I enjoyed Matthew’s guest post last week, Cutting Down on the Cost of Razor Blades. Several commenters, including MillionDollarJourney and Dimes, pointed out the cost advantage of opting to use a decent quality electric razor. Here’s what (a different?) Matthew had to say:

I’d agree with the above comments about electric razors. I’ve had two now, each cost about $80 and lasted about 8-10 years each. I’ve never had to replace the blades and I’ve learned that when the battery dies, I can just plug it in to use it. $10 a year for shaving? Not bad at all…

Back in high school and college, I was a die hard electric razor user. At some point in my life, someone—perhaps my father—mentioned that a standard razor would be better for my face. Most notably, no more random pimples.

I wouldn’t say that my face was breaking out often back then, but one was sure to rear its ugly head right before dates and job interviews. I made the switch to Gillette Mach 3, and I’ve been paying (for the blades) ever since.

I don’t particularly think the face is any smoother now; in fact, I believe the electric razor (Norelco) provided a closer shave. I’m also not sure that there’s been any difference in the pimple department, either. I don’t go on dates or job interviews anymore. At least, not recently.

I’m thinking of going back to electric. Do you have any tips for the best razor? Or do you think I’m crazy for going back? Please let us know.

After writing about the effect CitiBank’s new balance transfer fee has on balance transfer arbitrage, I received an email from a reader, Andy, who has an idea to take advantage of healthcare savings account (HSA) reimbursements. This is a summary of his idea.

A good way to make some extra money is to take advantage of expected reimbursements. Medical expenses are good examples. If your HSA is efficient and sends your reimbursement quickly after your claim is received, you can deposit the funds, pay the bill by credit card as late as possible, and earn interest until the bill is due later. Here’s how the time line works out:

• 1st of month. I receive a medical bill for $1,000 and immediately submit the claim to HSA.
• Likely before the 15th of month. Receive reimbursement from HSA and deposit into savings account.
• 15th of month (or first day of the next credit card statement period). Charge bill to credit card.
• 15th of following month (or several days after the end of the statement period). Receive credit card bill with $1,000 charge.

• 15th of third month (or credit card statement’s due date). Pay credit card bill using $1,000 from savings.

  If you assume that you’re receiving a 1% rebate on your credit card, and your savings account earns 5% annual interest, here are Andy’s calculations, outlining two months of interest plus a rebate on the bill. None of your payments will be late.

  

  Obviously, this is a best-case scenario and the actual return would be lower. Missing the credit card payment will negate any benefit. It’s interesting to note that if your card offers a 2% rebate, the annualized return increases to 18.25%.

  What you can earn from this technique is limited by the maximum reimbursement you can receive from your HSA, but if you qualify for other employer reimbursements, you can use them to your advantage as well.