The Top 3 Health Investments You Should Make for Under $50!
I hope you enjoyed last week's installment of how to best treat yourself for under $100! This week, I'm going to tackle the same topic, but I'm only giving myself $50 or less to spend. It gets a little easier to treat yourself to something nice when you aren't having to spend as much money.
Some of doTerra's diffusers. From left to right: The Petal, The Aroma Lite, and the Lotus ultrasonic diffusers.
#1. Essential Oil Diffuser
An essential oil diffuser, while it doesn't sound that exciting, can really shake things up for your health. I'm actually using mine right now with a mix of some of my favorite oils. I came home from practice today and found that the apartment complex had painted or stained or done something to the unit next door. The was a heavy odor permeating through the wall, and I started to get a headache almost immediately. I quickly threw together a blend in my diffuser, and I haven't smelled the paint fumes since. Tonight I used Sandalwood, Frankincense, Lavender, Lemon, and Bergamot.
The essential oil diffusers are now my go-to for chest colds as well as allergy season. I set them up with a respiratory blend or an immune-supporting blend, and I go to town. I have one in my living room, and I have one in the bedroom. I am almost always running the diffuser, and I think that you should too. You may have seen that I have recently partnered with doTerra to bring you the best and highest quality essential oils on the market, and they sell several ultrasonic diffusers. However, they start at $65 for the petal diffuser. If you're already a Wellness Advocate, you an get yours for less than $50, but if you aren't, let me give you a few other options. Just remember, regardless of the diffuser that you buy, you *must* make sure that the diffuser is an ultrasonic diffuser and does NOT use heat to diffuse the oils. This will affect the chemical compounds in the oils and render them essentially useless in terms of their medical potency. They may still smell nice, but at that point, you're better off buying some scented candles.
SpaRoom's 115mL AromaHarmony Essential Oil Diffuser: I have one of these little bad boys, or at least the generation before this one. Now they have even incorporated bluetooth technology! This one is not as powerful as some of the others listed. It can fill a smaller room, but I wouldn't try to fill a very large room with it. It works great in my home office and in the bedroom on a night stand. This model clocks in at $43 even on Amazon.
Papake's 400mL Ultrasonic Essential Oil Diffuser: While I have not used this specific product, Amazon has it highly ranked and well-reviewed, and it appears to be on a good sale right now! I would definitely consider this model in your search. This model comes in just under the wire at $49.
Wyndmere's AromaSens Essential Oil Diffuser: This is what I bought for my mom when I gave her a starter kit of essential oils last Christmas. She loves hers so much that she went out and bought a second one of these at her local co-op healthy grocery store. I am including it, even though it's over $50 because I know it's a great product. This model clocks in at $65.
doTerra's Petal Essential Oil Diffuser: I would be remiss if I did not also include the doTerra Essential Oil Petal Diffuser. This has an optional white LED light which emits a calming glow. It can be set for one, two, or four hours. It will automatically turn off when done. It can also cover an impressive 330 square feet with its super fine mist. The doTerra Petal Diffuser clocks in around $63, but it is actually included in a lot of the doTerra starter kits.
An electric toothbrush is an excellent present that can boost your overall health and wellbeing.
#2. Electric Toothbrush
What?! An electric toothbrush as an investment in my health? Absolutely. I may be a chiropractor, but I know that dental health and hygiene is critically important to your body's overall health and wellbeing. If you are even the least bit concerned, you should definitely make the switch over. Now, I'm sure you've all seen the commercials for the expensive electric toothbrushes that cost several hundred dollars. Well, I want you to know that you don't have to spend that much to keep your pearly whites white and free from plaque and cavities. When you pay over $100 for an electric toothbrush, you're paying for extra battery life and bells and whistles. However, the actual toothbrushing technology tends not to change from model to model. All you need to do type of brush you prefer, generally round or angular, and start with the base model.
Philips Sonicare Essence: This bad boy is the basic model in Philips' electric toothbrush line. It doesn't really have any bonus features, but it does have an automatic timer to run for two minutes to make sure that you're brushing your teeth long enough. That means you should average one minute for the top and one minute for the bottom set of teeth, with 30 seconds spent on each the front and the back of each set. I'm linking you to the Bed Bath and Beyond website where this clocks in at $49.99, but you know I love those 20% off coupons!
Quip: Quip is the innovator and disruptor in the electric toothbrush market. To my knowledge, they are sold only online through Quip's store. You can get a starter kit for as little as $40, but you will need to continue to purchase their proprietary heads at a paltry cost of $20/year. You would probably be spending that much on new regular toothbrushes which need to be replaced every few months anyway. If you're part of a couple or a family, they have family sets as well. You also have an option to pay for a year's worth of subscription at a time, which tends to save you at least 25% on their subscription fee.
You can begin your search here with these two. If you decide to spend a little more money, a whole large range of options in many brands open up around the $75 mark.
Wearable fitness trackers can be just the motivation you need to reach your fitness goals!
#3. Wearable Fitness Tracker
Are you interested in getting more fit, but you're not sure if you're ready for expensive fitness classes, a personal trainer, or a gym membership? Well, why not see what you can accomplish at home with a little help from your very own wearable fitness tracker. While you may not be able to get the biggest names like Fitbit or Garmin for under $50, there are definitely wearables made for you in this price point that will function similarly and be a lot of fun to use.
Misfit Shine: The Misfit Shine is an activity and sleep tracker. It gets consistently good reviews, and the best part is that it's for sale on Amazon right now for the sale price of only $35!
Jawbone Up4: The Jawbone line is renowned for their Bluetooth connectivity and their mobile devices. This comes with what appears to be a pretty great app, and it can track your steps, your heart rate and your sleep! That's a pretty great combination from this most recent edition in the Jawbone Up series.
Both Fitbit and Garmin have $60 models, so they don't quite make the cut... but I'm going to link them here anyway. Fitbit's Zip ($60) and Garmin's Vivofit ($57).
See, you now know that you can treat yourself to better health for less than $50. Are there other products that you would purchase to invest in and improve your health? What do you think should be an honorable mention? Leave comments wherever you found the article, and I'll add them to a revision of this post soon!
Don't forget that for August's special, all new patients will receive their first exam, physical and adjustment for only $20! That's a huge saving from the regular $75 price. In fact, you could take your savings and buy one of the things on this list! Additional visits will be only $40 for the rest of the month instead of the regular $50 rate. Don't miss out on your opportunity for these great savings.
Yours in health,
Dr. William