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Health

Stay Cool This Summer: Air Conditioner Alternatives

by Flexo

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 ... Continue reading this article…

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What’s Your Neighborhood’s Walk Score?

by Flexo

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 ... Continue reading this article…

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Use Your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Funds Before It’s Too Late

by Flexo

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 ... Continue reading this article…

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Do You Get Vaccinated Against Influenza?

by Flexo

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 ... Continue reading this article…

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Five Couples Living on $46k, Number 4: The Wheats

by Flexo

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 ... Continue reading this article…

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Men: Do You Like Electric Razors?

by Flexo

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 ... Continue reading this article…

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Another Form of Credit Card Arbitrage

by Flexo

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 ... Continue reading this article…

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10 Things Your Gym Won’t Tell You

by Flexo

Just when I’m considering becoming a member at a gym to help myself stay in shape, SmartMoney publishes 10 Things Your Gym Won’t Tell You. If you’re looking for a demotivator to keep you from spending money for a membership that many find a waste of money, this article has what you’re looking for. Here ... Continue reading this article…

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Want to Be an Investment Banker? Read This.

by Flexo

Alcoholism. Depression. Heart disease due to stress. Delusions of failure. If you’re on the path to become an investment banker on Wall Street, this is what you have to look forward to. Yes, you’ll make tons of money and your materialistic friends will silently envy you while despising you, but what use is money if ... Continue reading this article…

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Know What Your Insurance Protects

by Flexo

Over the weekend, I received the annual benefits enrollment package from my employer. Last year, the health benefits offered by the company changed significantly to take advantage of Health Savings Accounts and to raise prices. Even after the multiple sessions with Human Resources, there were some of my coworkers who didn’t know the difference between ... Continue reading this article…

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Would You Travel Overseas for Cheap Surgery?

by Flexo

I had written a long post on this topic, but DreamHost went down before publishing it and I lost everything. Anyway, the Christian Science Monitor has an article describing how more people are traveling out of the country for healthcare, where service is less expensive. Some small companies are suggesting, requiring, or providing incentives for ... Continue reading this article…

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Buying My Way In Shape

by Flexo

In January, I wrote about one of my goals for this year: getting in shape. Now that I’ve posted a recent photograph of myself, you can see that getting in shape is a worthwhile issue. My lifestyle is sedentary, involving a large amount of sitting at computers and driving (commuting). My girlfriend already expressed interest ... Continue reading this article…

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The Finance of Sleep Loss

by Flexo

One thing that is important to remember is that parial sleep loss is cumulative. That means that if you get 30 minutes less sleeping time than your body needs each day during the week, your body will want to make up two and a half hours of sleep during the weekend, or whenever you can ... Continue reading this article…

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Ten Free Ways To Improve Sleep, Part 2

by Flexo

This is the second and last part of a short series on suggestions for improving sleep without spending a ton of cash. I published part 1 yesterday. We’re continuing with the second half of suggestions provided by Melinda Fulmer from MSN Money. Here are the remaining tips. 6. Set your thermostat between 60 to 68 ... Continue reading this article…

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Ten Free Ways To Improve Sleep, Part 1

by Flexo

I’ve never been a good sleeper. Even as far back as high school, I remember lying in bed for hours before finally drifting off and having trouble getting out of bed in the morning. This continued for a long time. College wasn’t much better, and after college it was more of the same. I’ve used ... Continue reading this article…

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Prices for Healthcare in Retirement Up

by Flexo

If you and your significant other retire right now, and if you represent the “average” couple, the two of you will need $200,000 to cover health care for 20 years. This is based on research by Fidelity, a company offering, among other things, investment products for those thinking about retirement. This amount is up more ... Continue reading this article…

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Cell Phones and Radiation

by Flexo

A while ago, I used to hear those “exposé” news stories present reports on the health hazards of cellular phones, usually with hints that extensive use of the devices leads to exposure to radiation (in the form of radiofrequency absorbed by the body) and possibly cancer. I was happy to see a CNET report on ... Continue reading this article…

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Portable Health Insurance

by Flexo

On the radio this morning listen to the report), the news anchor mentioned Bush would be proposing portable health care insurance in which workers can take your benefits with you from job to job. My gut says it sounds like a way to make insurance less costly for business and more costly for individuals.

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Getting In (Physical) Shape

by Flexo

One of my personal goals this year — the year I’ll be reaching the big Three-Oh — is to get into better physical shape. It’s been a goal of mine for a while, but working, driving, working more, sleeping, and seeing my girlfriend always seem to take precedence and leave me with precious little time. ... Continue reading this article…

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No Need To Panic About Flex Spending Accounts

by Flexo

Many people take advantage of employer’s flexible spending accounts. These accounts allow you to defer income which can be drawn upon to reimburse you for medical expenses. The benefit is the funds in these accounts are not considered income for tax purposes. In order to make the best use of these accounts, you have to ... Continue reading this article…

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