by “Rosalie”
30 WAYS TO AFFORD COMPLEMENTARY HEALTHCARE
1. Drop your TV service
2. Color your hair at home.
3. Go to a barbershop instead of a hair salon
4. Make coffee at home instead of buying it out
5. Renegotiate your car insurance premium
6. Walk or ride your bike instead of driving a car
7. Shop second-hand stores for clothing and household goods
8. Stop smoking cigarettes, pipes, cigars or illegal substances
9. Drink less alcohol or none at all
10. Drop your gym membership and exercise in the great outdoors
11. Drop your newspaper subscription and go to the library or a cafe
12. Eat beans and rice instead of steaks or fast food
13. Do your own pedicures or manicures
14. Barter for goods or services
15. Liquidate stuff you no longer need.
16. Sell serviceable clothing you never wear and never will wear
17. Carry your own water instead of buying bottled water, juices, or sodas
18. Eliminate impulse shopping and buying
19. Grow your own flowers & vegetables
20. Pay off credit cards; then cut them up except for one
21. Ask for a raise at your job
22. Share meals with friends to cut down on grocery expenses
23. Make gifts instead of buying them.
24. Keep the assortment of laundry supplies, household cleaners, body care products & make-up to a bare minimum
25. Take stay-cations instead of vacations
26. Have just one set of tires for the car instead of two
27. Keep the old car and forget about buying new one
28. Carry a lunchbox to your workplace
29. Be realistic about the number of pets you keep
30. Skip the tattoos. (Later, you will be happy you did.)
Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD, developed Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) with a group of people with lived experience who were attending a mental health recovery workshop in 1997. She is the original author of the WRAP Red Book, as well as dozens of other WRAP books and materials. She has dedicated the last 30 years of her life to learning from people who have mental health issues; discovering the simple, safe, non-invasive ways they get well, stay well, and move forward in their lives; and then sharing what she has learned with others through keynote addresses, trainings, and the development of books, curriculums, and other resources. Now that she is retired, and that, as she intended, others are continuing to share what she has learned, she continues to learn from those who have mental health issues and those who support them. She is a frequent contributor to this site.
