Elizabeth, Author at Women’s Money

02Jun 2021 by Elizabeth No Comments

Cost of a Sleep Study Plus 12 Other Must-Knows

Health

It’s 5 a.m. when they knock. The door opens, flooding your room with fluorescent light. You can’t really move because you are tangled up in cords, so you just wait for the test administrator to come over and start removing electrodes from you (25 in all) one by one. No, this isn’t the scene from a horror film, but it is the end of a sleep study. I’ll start from the beginning. Due to a variety of symptoms (you can check out a list of sleep apnea symptoms here), my doctor referred me for a sleep study. I had heard about sleep apnea before. However, I didn’t think much of it until I read the startling statistics about how much it can decrease your life expectancy, cause all sorts of…

26May 2021 by Elizabeth No Comments

11 Best Free Health and Fitness Apps

Health

Getting healthy doesn’t mean you need to spend thousands of dollars on gyms, Peloton bikes, OrangeTheory memberships, glucose monitors focused on metabolic conditioning, or expensive nutrition programs. Here is a list of free health and fitness apps to improve your well-being. Free Meditation Apps Meditation is a great way to improve your health without working up a sweat. It brings mental clarity and an increased ability to focus. 1. Headspace I have used the Headspace app for nearly two years. The difference between Headspace and some of the other meditation apps I’ve tried is that it has structured programs that vary in length and topic. I love it for myself but also for the amazing meditations for kids. There is a free 30-day trial, so you can figure out if…

19May 2021 by Elizabeth No Comments

Continuous Glucose Monitors: Review of January.ai for Non-Diabetics

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Our genes don’t define us, but they can certainly shape us. While some of our genes are phenomenal, others may hold us back, causing us to work harder than not fall into a ditch that our bodies are more coded for. For me, one of those areas in my health is diabetes. Even for the fittest of my family members, my family history related to diabetes is abysmal. In addition, I am a sugar addict. While I eat relatively healthy otherwise, I absolutely love, crave, and cope using sugar. Due to my family history, I have been increasingly curious about continuous glucose monitors (CGMs). Somehow, I started receiving ads on Facebook related to various continuous glucose monitor programs. Of course, this led me to be even more curious. Recently, I…

12May 2021 by Elizabeth No Comments

Cheap Peloton Setup: My Personal Peloton Alternative

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For those who don’t know, I’m a huge Peloton fan. Before I got hooked, I had been to exactly one spin class in my life. It was miserable, and I vowed never to try spinning again. Everything changed when I stayed at a hotel in New York for a week. It was raining a lot that week, so my ambitious plans for running in Central Park before work got thrown out the window. Fortunately, the hotel had a Peloton bike. I fell in love. When I used the hotel bike, the membership I got lasted about three months. During this time, I used the app for free at home and on spin bikes at my gym. At that point, I had my favorite instructors and signed up for the digital…

05May 2021 by Elizabeth No Comments

5 Ways Exercise Will Help You Grow Rich

Goals / Taking Action

May is fitness month at Women’s Money. Why? First, because this site is about helping you fund your freedom. If you’re sick, tired all the time, or not healthy, you aren’t going to be able to enjoy the life you worked so hard to earn. More importantly, because I believe that the more fit you are, the richer you will be. How Exercise Benefits Your Finances Here are five ways exercise will help you grow rich. 1. Studies Prove that Fitness Is Correlated to Higher Earnings A study published in 2012 found that those who exercise regularly earn 9% more on average than those who don’t. Think of what nearly 10% more earnings could do to quicken your pace (no pun intended) towards financial freedom. 2. Exercise Saves Money on Health…

28Apr 2021 by Elizabeth No Comments

6 Tips to Avoid Falling Back Into Pre-COVID Habits

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Now that I’m fully vaccinated, I’ve started doing a few “normal” activities again. I have eaten inside at a restaurant, perused the shelves at the store without worrying about who is within six feet of me, and meandered around a shopping mall. Our offices are still working remotely, but I’ve gone in a few times without fear of contracting COVID. It has been surprising how “normal” embracing some of these pre-COVID habits has been. I hadn't eaten inside a restaurant for well over a year, and yet it felt like I could have been there last week. It has shown me how easy it will be to fall back into old habits. Before we rush back into our old habits, it’s worth asking the questions What habits have we fallen into…

21Apr 2021 by Elizabeth No Comments

New FSA Dependent Care Changes for 2021

Kids and Money

At the end of last year, we wrote about COVID’s effect on Dependent Care FSAs and how you could make changes at the end of 2020 to save money. Well, if you didn’t make changes at that time, or even if you were able to make some changes but still had money left over in your FSA, there is still hope. Congress passed new legislation that allows you to better utilize your FSA this year. Due to COVID-19, Congress has provided a lot more flexibility for your dependent care FSA. It’s the most flexible FSA setup I’ve ever seen. Dependent Care FSA Updates Specifically, here are the top things to know about your FSA for this year: You can use any unspent funds from 2020 in 2021. This means that…

14Apr 2021 by Elizabeth No Comments

Naming Your Money Fears

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What are your biggest money fears? What are the top three things you worry about most when it comes to money? Is it that your spouse will find out that you secretly love to buy X? Or that your friends will find out that while you live a lavish lifestyle, you actually won’t be able to retire because you have no savings? Is it that you will have to work in a job you hate for the rest of your life just to keep up with the Jones’? Do you worry that you won’t be able to afford your house if you or your spouse loses a job? Do you fear having to sell something that you really enjoy (a boat, a car, or a prized antique)? Is it that…

07Apr 2021 by Elizabeth No Comments

How to Make Your Post-COVID Budget

Budgeting

I received my COVID-19 vaccine last week, and I’ve already started moving from dreaming about my post-COVID vaccine life to actually planning it. Beyond scheduling some practicalities like doctor’s appointments that were delayed during COVID, haircuts, and some nice to-do’s (massage and maybe even a pedicure), I’m now starting to think beyond and consider what my life will really look like in three to four months. What exactly does my life look like post-COVID vaccine? Will we be signing our kids up for full-day camps all summer? We used to have a regular babysitter who came 1-2x/week, so will that become a part of our routine again? What about the gym membership and endless activities for the kids? The reality is that, unlike many Americans who lost jobs and businesses…

24Mar 2021 by Elizabeth No Comments

What to Do With Extra Money

Saving & Investing

Have you recently received a stimulus payment? Or a tax refund? Or perhaps a company bonus? This time of year is one of the most common to get a chunk of unexpected extra money. In this article, we will discuss the best things to do with that extra money depending on whether you are in debt or not. 4 Ways to Use Extra Money So what should you do with extra money? Here are four ways to use it based on your current financial situation. 1. No Matter What: Spend Some Money on Something Fun Regardless of whether you are in debt or have hefty savings, I always recommend using some of your extra money to spend on something fun. Whether it’s a fancy meal, a mini-vacation, or a shopping…

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