Eating better, moving more, taking better care of yourself: it’s easy to assume that every health resolution will cost more. Yet, the most beneficial health habits are often the cheapest and the most environmentally friendly.
What to Put on Your Plate to Eat Healthy Without Breaking the Bank?
Lentils, chickpeas, red or white beans: dried legumes are cheaper than meat and store well in the pantry. Public Health France reminds on its Manger Bouger site that it’s best to eat them at least twice a week.
Replace meat one or two times a week with a red lentil soup or a chickpea salad. Less meat also means fewer greenhouse gas emissions: livestock accounts for a large share of emissions.
For fruits and vegetables, favor seasonal produce, which is often cheaper at markets when the harvest is in full swing. The rest of the year, opt for plain frozen vegetables, without sauce or added salt: you only buy what you need and you don’t waste the rest.
Walking, Biking: The Cost-Free Physical Activity
For adults, health authorities recommend at least 30 minutes of dynamic physical activity per day, i.e., activity that’s vigorous enough to make you a little out of breath. You can do this without a gym membership by walking or biking for your everyday errands. Walk to the bakery, bike to the office, get off the bus a stop earlier to finish on foot: you’re getting your body moving while keeping the car in the garage.
Add twice-weekly some strengthening and balance exercises you can do at home with no equipment: rise up on your tiptoes, wall sits, stand on one leg while you brush your teeth. Start with ten minutes, then gradually lengthen the session over the weeks.
Glasses, Dental Care, Hearing: Getting Gear With No Out-of-Pocket Costs
With the 100% Santé program, you can obtain glasses, certain dental prostheses and hearing aids with no out-of-pocket costs, provided you have a so-called responsible health insurance plan. Ask for the 100% Santé estimate at the optician, the dentist, or the hearing professional, then compare it with other offers before you sign.
For hearing aids, national health insurance reimburses a new device only after four years, counted from the invoice date of the previous one. So take good care of your devices and have them repaired if they break: you avoid buying a device without reimbursement and creating more electronic waste.
Your supplemental health plan deserves a read-through at major life milestones. When you reach 60–65, you often spend more on glasses, dental care and hearing aids. If you’re helping a parent through these steps, or if you’re nearing that age yourself, it’s time to explore senior-friendly health coverage options and then compare them to what you actually spent on optics, dental care, and hearing in the past year.
Medications: Return Them to the Pharmacy Instead of Throwing Them Out
Half-used boxes after a cold, cough syrup opened last winter, a tube of ointment whose use you’ve forgotten: in many homes, the medicine cabinet is overflowing and no one knows what can still be useful.
Do not throw anything in the trash or down the drain. Remove the cardboard boxes and the leaflets, which go to paper recycling, then bring the medicines back to the pharmacy, syrups included, in their original bottle. All pharmacies are required to take them back, even if you bought them elsewhere. By doing this, you also avoid buying a medicine you already have at home.
My Prevention Check-Up, a Free Appointment Not to Miss
France’s national health insurance offers My Prevention Check-Up at four key ages: between 18 and 25, between 45 and 50, between 60 and 65, and between 70 and 75. The appointment takes place with a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist, a midwife or a physical therapist. It is fully covered, with no out-of-pocket costs. During the visit, you review your physical activity, sleep, mood, and your use of alcohol and tobacco, then you leave with a personalized prevention plan. Between ages 60 and 65, the check-up also covers recommended screenings. Use this opportunity to map out with the professional the care you’ll need in the coming years. On this basis you can tailor the benefits of your supplemental plan.
In the United States, preventive care is emphasized across many plans and is often covered with no out-of-pocket costs when you use in-network providers. It’s a good idea to ask your insurer about which screenings and services are included and when you should schedule them, and to discuss with your care team any long-term plans for your health maintenance as you age.
