Today's Green Christian
Caring for earth and its inhabitants  Gen. 2:15
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Good Health on a Budget

MORE WAYS TO SAVE
No health claims made- use advice at own discretion.
Buy in Bulk

Some shopper clubs exist, so check them out!  I prefer buying quality organic products at a deep discount though, and saving up all my really big purchases together.


Start An Organic Business from Home!  
You can save money by selling even just to yourself.  Once you understand the products, you can let others know about them.   Becoming an independent representative of ONE Group is simple since there is a chain of support for you.  Customers buy directly from the company on your website.  This video explains how to
start an organic product business
 from home with ONE group.
Assess Alternatives
: 
It is important to find your overall savings (say, as a percentage) so as to compare.  When I pay for chiropractic care (which insurance usually covers except a small fee!) I offset that with the money saved (no more muscle relaxants, pain prescriptions, aspirin,
and antacids to counter the aspirin!)  When I invested in work-out tapes and classes, I found that stretches and exercise helped reduce my need for chiropractic care to a bare minimum; so that cost soon paid for itself also.
Detoxing Cheaply
Once you avoid taking more toxins into your body, you can enjoy the benefits of
reducing toxins already there.  Try MCS and enviromental health sites / blogs for information.  My favorite info sources:  The Maker's Diet, Debra's List and Q & A Blog, and the EHC.
TASTY DIET!
I feel gratitude to several authors every time I eat a wonderful home-cooked meal, organic frozen dinner, or wild-caught canned salmon in salad!   The Maker's Diet (also Great Physician's RX) was immensely helpful, and so was the Zone Diet, Atkins, superfoods lists, and more.  The Maker's Diet also made me aware of toxins and many other aspects of health, plus I learned of Sally Fallon's
Nourishing Traditions
(which is much more than a cookbook!)  I cannot imagine health without organic food (especially steroid and hormone-free beef), superfoods,  probiotics, omega 3 (in fish or supplements), complex carbs balanced with protein, even if from eggs; enough fats - the good kinds! -and sprouted grains.  (Check where "Sprouted" grains appear on a label; they should be at the top or they are not a major ingredient!)  Stevia, real butter, olive, coconut and other oils that don't go rancid, and raw, unfiltered honey are all part of my healthy diet.  Frozen or fresh are far more nutritious than canned foods; and applesauce, protein powder and almond butter make an awesome instant breakfast.
Fresh for Potency
Food is again a good example.  Fresh-squeezed juice has nutrients which are lost within a few days when sitting on a store shelf (so why pay more for juice when fresh or frozen fruit is cheaper?)  Freshly-made
products, like fresh fruit, are at peak potency.  They smell wonderful; and I personally wouldn't wait 30 months to use them, even though that is the shelf life most of my One Group products have.

Read Labels
Once in awhile I find a product with all "good" ingredients on the shelf at a health food store, and it may be cost-effective to buy.  In all too many cases my stocked-up purchases have at least one ingredient I now know I don't want.  To keep track, it would be worth keeping a folder on my desktop, but currently if I cannot return it and if it has mostly good ingredients, I just use a marker to circle the offending ingredient(s) on the container so I remember to replace it with a better product when I finish it.
Avoid Adding Toxins to Yourself & Your Environment!
You ultimately pay a price you can't afford when electronics and other items are produced  irresponsibly and not recycled safely.  These add to your body burden.  Exposure to toxins in your products is a known risk to cancer and other conditions; "cheap" can come with a price you cannot afford!  Avoid plastics (especially 3, 6, & 7 plus styrofoam!),  petrochemicals, mineral oil, "fragrance," and items processed with chemicals.  (Check www.thegreenguide.com and other sources for more on toxins).  This goes for synthetic foam also - which is an irritant, and old foam breaks down into really nasty hazards.  *There is a new, non-chemical way to process rubber!  It seems not to trigger allergies to rubber (which may actually be reactions to the chemicals used!)  Essentia rubber is processed with water plant extracts and essential oils; and there is only the fragrance of essential oils unless you specify no-odor.  www.essentiadirect.com   More soon on all this...

Readers - send non-commercial Health Tips to
green4christ@sbcglobal.net

WAYS TO SAVE
Pursue health, reduce toxins, & stay on a budget!  financial stewardship goals! No health claims made - use advice at own discretion.
Books, Blogs, Free Info
Books cost little up front, and often less than the price of ignorance!  Many times what you learn from any of these resources can save a lot in terms of health and related purchases.  I learned from The Maker's Diet program and elsewhere about the health advantages of opening windows.  Because indoor air quality is often up to 30 times worse than outdoor air quality, It is wise to open windows for at least a few minutes in the mornings and evenings, even in hot or cold weather.  This "free" solution enhances other solutions, whether or not you also remodel to reduce toxins or buy air purifiers.
Exercise, Stretches, Holistic Care
Functional fitness, stretches, and conventional exercise are free or low-cost.  Even free workouts or stretches I found online helped regulate my body levels, increase energy, and just made me "feel good".  As Crown Ministries would cousel believers, do not spend what you don't have!  Use what is free, or affordable, or save up!  Many centuries-old therapies help your spine, circulation, fluids and energy to flow unrestricted, relieving muscle aches too.  These can cost less than conventional medicine.  Chiropractic care is the one most often covered by insurance.   I spend a lot less money and time by going to my chiropractor once in awhile (it was more often at first)  - than by getting constant refills at my local pharmacy like I used to, plus paying for office visits!   There is not even much waiting at the clinic I go to (Chiro Plus).  Compare this to medications, which are chemicals; I personally developed reactions to several of them.  If there is pain, isn't it better to address the source than to mask it?  I feel better being off all medicine, as much as I can avoid it; and my family doctor is happy for me.  No medicine can put misaligned bones in their places and allow my body to work the way it should, but a chiropractic adjustment does.  I'm sure it is preventing serious, expensive problems down the road as well.

Better Solutions  Advertiser's claims are not the gospel; since Eisenhower's administration, built-in obsolescence of consumer goods has been actually planned, as the basis of our economy!  Could some of our products be designed to make you come back for more than you should need?  I am thinking of hair and skin products with alcohol, which I find very drying; and when they dried out my skin, I used to use more of them, trying to moisturize!  For another example, I read that WD-40 is a solvent, and does not permanently lubricate something.  (My biggest concern is that it affects air quality!)  Looking for an alternative, I read that jojoba oil can lubricate more effectively; and I put it to the test in front tof my students at school by "fixing" a squeaky door with jojoba oil.  They cheered!   Then I used the same oil in our new paper shredder.  My husband, at first concerned about trying something so radically different, invited me to try it only when the oil that was sent with it would not stop the strange sound it was making.  He became a believer instantly!  The shredder has worked well ever since.  He nearly had a double take when I put some droplets on my face directly afterward; it took him a minute to reconcile that a product used to lubricate machinery could be great for skin
Ingredients to DIY
Just as with good food, a little goes a long way when you do-it-yourself.  It seems like a splurge, but just a little meets your needs better than scads of poor-quality products.  For example, shea butter is great all-purpose hand cream - or baby diaper rash ointment - but  the organic and often even the non-organic is pricier than the ONE Group organic product which has other added benefits.  You can use pure essential oils, vitamin e, (or expensive organic aloe vera gel) by themselves or in a cream.  At least you have avoided other unwanted added substances that make body care and cosmetic products toxic.  Coconut oil is another great basic for hair and skin.  Raw, organic, and cold-pressed preserves potency and bioactive benefits. Some even add baking soda to it (when warm enough to be a liquid) for a DIY nontoxic deodorant!  It works but leaves a powdery residue.  Coconut and also jojoba oils can be used in a pinch but are greasier and used alone will not measure up to  facial products like ONE Group's; pure shea butter is easier to use, but who knows what pH it is!  Again, nontoxic is always better.  Labels of the really good products show what your skin needs more clearly and are not the typical product on a store shelf.  Fresh, organic ingredients are in the best products.