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There seems to be a trend among online finance and frugality commentators to share their personal frugal meal solutions. Some have gone so far as to post step by step instructional guides on how to put together simple peanut butter sandwiches, or compiled detailed cost analyses of the ham and cheese brown bag lunch making process. I think these simple and frugal lunch plans are excellent how-to’s for people like myself who are clumsy clowns in the kitchen. Single guys such as I are notoriously bad cooks. I think my lack of any real cooking ability simply is a byproduct of my single man laziness prowess, lack of hand skills when it comes to culinary creations, and overall personal opinion that cooking for one is too inefficient to even bother with. Thus far I’ve tried supermarket salad bars, Chinese carry out, Thai food take out, prepackaged frozen meals, microwave TV dinners, and the occasional home made steak, but my options always seem to boil down to eating ready made food or dining out (a particularly expensive habit). While I do try to find ways to save money by utilizing restaurant credit cards to earn cash back and rebate discount rewards when I dine out, the reality is that eating out is almost always more expensive and usually less healthy than preparing your own food at home.

Cooking and Preparing a Meal At Home Isn’t Easy For Busy Single Guys (Or Gals) On The Go Who Lack Speedy Cooking Skills

While I’m sure most amateur Iron Chefs out there may simply suggest that I take the effort to go buy groceries regularly and learn to cook home meals for myself, I’m also fairly sure most of the individuals that would suggest that are either married, or have jobs that allow them to spend time grocery shopping and cooking actual complete meals. Much of my life is on the go and oftentimes I simply don’t have the time to buy the ingredients needed to cook proper meals on a regular basis. If I had a family, a wife, and kids, I might be more motivated to do so, but when it’s just one person, it just doesn’t seem as cost or time efficient to do so. I did try cooking for a while, but each meal took too much time and oftentimes the vegetables that I purchased for use later expired by the time I got around to using them all. I have been told by friends and family that I’m very much the stereotypical single bachelor in his late 20’s - adequately knowledgeable about financial and technological matters, but absolute butterfingers in the kitchen. While my long term food strategy is to marry a girl who knows how to cook like a pro and keep me well fed with hot meals, my short term meal solution is to continue to find shortcut ways to assemble a reasonable balance between speed, taste, and nutrition.

I’ve tried the sandwich route, eating cheap ramen, frozen pizza, Chinese dumplings, and even cooking steak in the oven, but the truth of the matter is that none of these meal choices are remotely healthy. All they do is increase my sodium and saturated fat intake, thereby increasing my blood pressure count and making me feel sluggish, as well as causing me to grow a very slight belly pooch. Most instant food products contain high fat, high sodium, lots of calories, and offer little nutritional value in return. Even the common lunch meats that many commentators seem to speak so glowingly about are actually very unhealthy as they are quite high in sodium, fat content, and artificial preservatives.

Eating Vegetarian Meatless Burgers and Food Products Is My New Quick and Healthy Food Solution

However, recently I discovered a culinary lifesaver for single guys like myself - Boca burgers, from Kraft Foods! Actually, the terminology should probably be - vegetarian prepackaged frozen foods. As a little side clarification, I’m no anti-meat PETA fanatic. I’m a hearty beef, pork, and fish eater, who enjoys a nice juicy medium well done steak or hamburger patty off the barbecue grill as much as the next guy. While I do love the taste of genuine meat, I can still appreciate the overall health benefits of vegetarian food products that are often vegetable, grain, and soy protein based. While I’m not a health nut, I do try my best to focus on healthier foods when I can by increasing protein and fiber intake while limiting saturated fat, processed sugar, and sodium consumption.

One particular ingredient that is frequently found in vegetarian imitation meat products like the Boca food line is soy protein. Soy is a very healthy ingredient most commonly found in tofu, and is usually more nutritious and high in fiber than most meat products. While I love burgers, cutting down on red meat has been said to have appreciable health benefits, as over-consumptions has been tentatively linked to higher risk levels of colon cancer. Since I’m a pretty thin guy with a high metabolism, I don’t usually pay attention to caloric nutritional content, but I do pay extra notice to sodium, fat, and nutritional fiber percentages. The last time I had my physical exam and complete blood work done, my doctor advised me to consume more fiber. While I was otherwise very healthy, she suggested that I could benefit from an increased consumption of certain grains and vegetables high in dietary fiber. My purpose of eating vegetarian inspired burgers and sandwich products is to cut down on saturated fat and unhealthy ingredients of most other forms of prepackaged food, but do so in a way that is speedy and efficient. Even so-called healthier meat products like extra lean ground beef can only cut down the saturated fat content by so much. Veggie patties tend to contain less fat and much fewer calories - perfect for those who are weight and health conscious.

Boca and Other Vegetarian Food Products Require A Taste Compromise, But I think It’s Worth The Nutritional Benefits

While I’ll probably never quite give up the decadence of meat, I’ve grown to enjoy the taste of most vegetarian dishes. I’ve dined and eaten at very good vegetarian restaurants and cafes before. Many of the best vegetarian places are uniquely skilled at creating dishes that closely mimic the distinctive flavor of meat products but with all the nutritional benefits of soy and veggie ingredients. In downtown Washington D.C. near the Farragut North metro station where I work, there is a Korean, Asian fusion vegetarian cafe called Java Green that I often frequent. They serve the best vegetarian sandwiches and even die hard meat lovers enjoy them.

However, you don’t have to dine out to get vegetarian food. Easily found in your common supermarket are extensive lines of Boca and vegetarian food products in the frozen foods section near the ice cream, tater tots and frozen pizzas. The great thing about these meatless Boca products is that they come in a wide selection of concoctions, from organic meatless burger patties, to meatless sausages, meatless lasagnas, to even meatless tacos. The company really tries to disguise the vegetarian nature by creating imitation flavor. While the meatless products will never truly fool meat connoisseurs into believing they are really biting into a hunk of meat, for some of the burger products, they actually do a pretty good job of substitution.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell you’re really eating a vegetarian burger patty. When you stick the Boca veggie pattie between two slices of whole wheat burger buns, insert a layer of iceberg lettuce, add an extra tomato slice, slab on some wasabi horseradish, and squirt on a dab of low sodium ketchup, if you’re not paying attention, you could easily get fooled - not quite, but almost. The burgers even come in a variety of purportedly different flavors - including flame grilled, and roasted onion (although they all tasted the same to me). For those who like hot dogs, Boca even offers a nice line of meatless sausages and hot dog products.

While Boca from Kraft is probably the most well known vegetarian frozen food brand, there are also several competitors as well, such as Dr. Praeger, Morning Star Farms, and Gardenburger. However, I personally like Boca brands the best since I think they do the best job of re-creating the meaty flavor of real meat in their vegetarian products. The others, particularly Gardenburger seem to be geared towards the hardcore vegetarians as they are much more “vegetably flavored”. Gardenburger products contain more grains and vegetables - hence the more veggie, and less meaty taste. Gardenburger is not the best when it comes to recreating imitation meat flavor. Their vegetarian buffalo wings are terrible - I’m convinced they simply slapped some tofu soy concentrate together and compressed it together to give it the denser consistency of buffalo chicken meat (tastes nothing like real chicken however). I’m only a soft core, part time vegetarian so I’m not as into the pure vegetarian burger experience - I prefer vegetarian products that do a better job of imitating meat dishes, like Boca. Brands like Dr. Praeger, Morning Star Farms, and Gardenburger would probably be better suited for real vegetarians or vegans who want the true vegetarian experience without the imitation meat flavoring.

Nutrition Comparison Between Boca Vegetarian Meatless Burger and The Common Meat Patty

Below I’ve provided the Nutrition Facts for both your standard Boca burger patty (on the left) and your standard McDonald’s Big Mac Burger (on the right). Keep in mind that the Big Mac is not even the fast food chain’s least healthy meal option. Compare the caloric count, total fat content, as well as the sodium and sugar numbers. Scary isn’t it?

Boca Burger (Roasted Onion)	McDonald’s Big Mac Burger

Comparing the nutritional facts of Boca vegetarian burgers to that of your ordinary McDonald burger, the healthier choice is pretty clear. While Boca’ll never be perfect substitutes for meat products, once you get accustomed to the taste, they can serve as quick and easy healthy food choices. It’s just a matter of heating them up in the microwave at home and pairing up with some bread.

I just made the most wonderful discovery a few days ago. Well it was wonderful in my eyes at least. I sleep pretty late these days so I decided to take a stroll downstairs to the condominium lobby. I currently rent a unit in a medium size condo complex. We have a small cozy lobby area with a front management room that doubles as a sales office. However, now that most of the condo units have already been sold, the small lobby is now more of a reception room for guests. Since I almost always enter the building from a side gated entrance, I rarely pass through the main lobby. But on this particular day I decided to visit the lobby for no particular reason other than to have some place to walk to. When I got there I saw something that I hadn’t noticed before. Our building apparently stocks a free complimentary automatic Flavia coffee and tea maker for guests and residents to use! I’m sure some readers are rolling their eyes going “oh brother” at my almost whimsical fascination with my “treasure find”, but it’s a big deal for me. While Flavia coffee machines don’t exactly produce gourmet, five-star cups of coffee or tea, they do a decent job of churning out fairly acceptable drinks. They are also extremely convenient. Like most of the dispenser pod-based machines out there, Flavia coffee and tea makers utilize pre-made coffee and tea packets to brew the drink. You simply select select the drink you want by picking out the packet of your choice from among a set selection. Then you pop the packet into the machine and the maker instantly brews your drink in a few seconds. Piece of cake!

Free Complimentary Coffee and Tea Machine Stations Offer Not Only Convenience, But Also Help Me Save Lots Of Money

But it’s not just the convenience of having such a handy free machine at my disposal. Most importantly it’s the potential cost savings from here on out from not having to buy my own coffee and tea products anymore. I regard coffee and tea as the type of recurring expenses that play a slow but debilitating role at chipping away one’s paycheck savings. I lump them into the same common daily expenses that should be done away with to promote better money saving habits - other similar types of useless expenses include cigarettes for some, and lottery tickets for others. Sure they help sooth the senses and serve as mental relaxers and momentary fun for some people, but they really hurt your pocketbook and wallet in the long run. These small but cumulative expenses really add up over time - into the thousands of dollars per year even. If you were to drink just one paid coffee per day at $3 a day, that’s already $1,095 a year - and in fact, many people consume more than just one cup daily.

That’s why my discovery of a free complimentary coffee and tea machine in the convenience of my own apartment complex is so wonderful. Some might point out that the machine is being paid for by the condo fees exacted from condo owners, and that the rent I currently shell out to my unit owner is indirectly subsidizing the cost of the machine and the replacement coffee and tea packets, but I still consider it a great bonus. Now that I’m aware of its existence, I plan to maximize this benefit to its full potential. So long as the service is available to me, I plan to transfer the expense of my occasional coffee and green tea drinking habits to this free machine. Instead of continuing to buy the occasional Starbucks or Caribou coffee, or continuing to purchase my own green tea bags from the local Asian grocery store, I plan to save money by consuming drinks made by this complimentary machine exclusively. In some strange way it reminds me of that old TV show, “Married With Children” and how Al Bundy and his wacky family would completely raid the free cheese sample trays whenever they visited the local supermarket. But hey, if it’s free and it’s available to residents and guests alike, why not fully take advantage of it? I saw plenty of empty cups in the trash can so people are obviously using the machine so it might as well be me as well.

Drinking Green Tea Is A Healthy Habit - Drinking Free Green Tea Is Even Better

Besides, this will help promote more green tea drinking, similar to the bottled water drinking habit I’ve picked up for health purposes. From what I’ve read and heard, green tea is a very healthy product to consume on a regular basis. It’s uniquely rich in powerful antioxidants that not only inhibit the development of cancer cells, but are also effective in lowering bad cholesterol levels and help inhibit the development of abnormal blot clots that lead to heart attacks. Since my Flavia machine discovery, I now visit the 24 hour unmanned lobby to grab a cup of free green tea after every home meal. I feel great health-wise, and so does my wallet! If you’re not convinced, maybe this will.

On a side note, this isn’t my first encounter with free Flavia coffee and tea machines. In my line of contract legal work I frequently move around and work at different office locations. Many of these law offices offer a variety of complimentary coffee and tea machine services. Sometimes the machine is Flavia and sometimes it’s a Keurig machine. They pretty much all operate the same way - requiring the deposit of a little coffee or tea pod to create your drink. They all taste about average compared to barista brewed drinks at Starbucks, but the free price tag usually makes up for any loss of taste (I guess I’m not a very picky coffee or tea drinker). Some of the bigger law firms and business offices even stock large automated Starbucks coffee machines that actually grind real coffee beans. They really make a nice consistent cup of vacuum perfected ground coffee. You can bet your money that I fully took advantage of those easy-to-use coffee machines when I was working at locations that offered those services for free. I was drinking to my health and my pocketbook.

This post is for people like me who used to live life without even the most basic of health insurance coverage. Did you know one of the major and perhaps number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States is unanticipated medical bills caused by inadequate or even complete lack of health insurance coverage? Currently, unpaid medical bills due to unforeseen and catastrophic medical related ailments compete with debt mismanagement and credit card bills as the number one contributor to personal bankruptcy.

We all make many important financial investments in our lives, but believe it or not, health insurance might be one of the most important. It’s a silent safety net that will catch you in the event the worst happens and will prevent you from completely falling into the financial abyss. Without at least basic coverage, having to fully pay all of the medical costs out of pocket can be very expensive and difficult. Just a single night’s stay at a hospital for emergency care can cost upwards of thousands of dollars. Without at least basic coverage, you are one appendix or broken leg away from a pile of insurmountable medical bills.

While today’s basic entry level premiums do not offer full financial protection from serious illnesses, having basic coverage will at least cushion the burden to a more manageable degree. It’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating your fruits and vegetables and exercising regularly, but sickness and physical accidents are inevitable in life. You might get lucky for a long time but eventually the odds will turn against you when you least expect it.

Apply For Health Insurance Coverage That Fits Your Age, Health Condition, and Family Size

The amount of health insurance coverage needed depends on many factors including the age of the person, overall health status, as well as the number of family members and other dependents relying on the person for financial support. While many people have health insurance coverage through their employers, not all of us are that fortunate, myself included. I performed contract work in the past so during those periods of time I didn’t always have employer coverage. However, I always made sure I purchased my own basic plan.

Perhaps you are self employed, a college student, a recent graduate, or maybe you are working for a company that doesn’t offer a discounted group policy. Whatever the reason, it’s imperative that everyone at least go out and obtain a basic level of coverage. Medical disasters can strike when you least expect it and financially wipe out your existing savings. Don’t gamble with your family’s health and financial livelihood. Basic coverage is easily available, particularly if you are willing to settle for a higher out-of-pocket deductible plan. We all have enough on our minds everyday to worry about - don’t let your lack of basic health insurance coverage be an issue.

Buying Basic Health Insurance Coverage On Your Own

When I did contract work (essentially temping), I was not insured by my employer, so I went out and purchased health coverage on my own. Fortunately, coverage for a healthy person in his late 20’s was reasonable, so long as I was willing to take on a high deductible plan with a higher out-of-pocket requirement. The insurance plan I purchased was through Care First Blue Cross Blue Shield with a deductible of $5,000, total out of pocket expense requirement of $6,000, co-insurance of 20%, with a monthly premium of $49.00 a month. Yes my deductible was high, but for a healthy, relatively young person like myself, it was more than adequate to protect myself from possible financial catastrophe and even bankruptcy risk.

There are many ways to buy health insurance, but the easiest way is to do it online through an insurance broker such as eHealthInsurance or InsureMe. I requested quotes from many sources, but ultimately chose to obtain my health insurance package through eHealthInsurance. Their prices were affordable and adequate to suit my basic coverage needs.

Open A Health Savings Account To Cover Unreimbursed Expenses Of Your Basic Health Insurance Policy

For those with high deductibles, I also suggest opening a tax advantaged Health Savings Account (HSA) to compliment your insurance plan. Your tax free contributions towards your HSA are either pre-tax or you can make deductions when you file your taxes. The amount you contribute can be accumulated and rolled over from year to year and be used to pay for qualified medical expenses as well as unreimbursed medical costs like deductibles, co-payments, and other services not covered by insurance.

The end of the year is here, but don’t just take it easy and forget about important end of the year financial moves you may need to make. For those who have one through their employer, make sure you’ve fully maxed out your Flexible Spending Account (FSA). For the remaining unused funds, my usual end of the year routine is to get creative and spend the rest on qualified health care items like Tylenol, Advil, and over the counter cough medication like Delsym and Robitussin. Covered FSA medical expenses also include items like contact lens solution and eye care drops. If you have no immediate health needs, it’s always a good idea to stock up on emergency, medical kit type supplies like Band-Aids, gauze, and Betadine for common scratches and scrapes, particularly if you have kids.

What Is A Flexible Spending Account And How Does It Work?

Flexible Spending Accounts are tax advantaged arrangements set up by some employers to allow employees to set aside a pretax portion of their regular paycheck to pay for qualified expenses, usually for medical care, but frequently also for child care costs. The smart use of pre-tax savings through FSA’s can help you save up to 30% of the cost of out-of-pocket medical related expenditures. Most people contribute about $1,000 towards their FSA, but it varies depending on individual need.

Benefits of the Flexible Spending Account Include:

1. Contributions towards your FSA are pre-tax.
2. When you provide receipts to get reimbursed, the FSA reimbursements are tax free.
3. Convenient FSA debit cards are now frequently being used to make it easier for employees to use the funds in their FSA.
4. Medical FSA’s are pre-funded by the employer - when you set aside an amount for the year, the entire amount is available for use immediately at the beginning of the year, even though your periodic contributions will actually be made later.
5. FSA’s are well, flexible - they can be used to pay for a wide array of health care related expenses including dental, vision, over the counter drugs like painkillers and allergy medicine, and even elective medical procedures like Lasik laser vision correction surgery. FSA’s also cover health care related costs like insurance co-pays, deductibles, and other related out-of-pocket expenses.

The FSA “Use It Or Lose It” Rule - Two Way Street Between Employer and Employee

It’s important to properly and accurately estimate how much you are likely to need in your FSA for the plan’s coverage year. The biggest drawback of the FSA is that it is a use it or lose it account. If by the start of the new year there is still money left on your previous year’s FSA not spent, the amount is forfeited back to the employer, where it is used to cover administrative costs. Don’t let this happen because you’re just giving away your own money back to the employer!

However, this use it or lose it policy also works in reverse as well. As I mentioned earlier, one benefit of the FSA is that the entire allotted amount is available immediately at the start of the year. If you leave your job before the end of the FSA coverage plan year and have already used up the entire year’s amount, you do not need to refund or return the amount back to the employer. Some employers may attempt to recoup the loss by informally asking you reimburse them for the amount since you’re leaving the employment, however officially, employers are not permitted to see seek repayment of FSA monies so long as the original distribution was properly substantiated.