Health incentives

My employer has a neat health incentives program that provides cash rewards for participating in "health activities." Several are web-based and easy to do, you just need to remember to log in every day or so during a certain period to track various health indicators. For example, I recently completed one called "Manage Your Stress" where every day for two weeks I rated my average stress level. If I had low levels for most of the days, I was rewarded $50 at the end of the two weeks! Easy money. Obviously you can cheat your way thru this but I went in with the attitude of might as well make the most of it, and I found that just being aware of the need to rate my stress encouraged me to do little things to help my stress levels. I guess that's the whole point, right?

Another more challenging activity involves using a FitBit or another fitness device/app to track your steps, weight, sleep, etc. If you weren't aware already the CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week, which is roughly 10,000 steps/day. With this activity you commit to certain pursuits (i.e. walking 75,000 steps/week, tracking your weight for a week) and if completed are rewarded points. You earn $100 every time you accumulate 1,000 points! My boyfriend gifted me a FitBit Alta for my birthday, and I just reached my first 1,000 point mark last week.

So far this year I've earned $250 in health incentives. There are actually more opportunities available if you have a specific diagnosis or lifestyle that can be targeted (i.e. asthma, smoking, obesity, etc.) and I fortunately have no real medical history so have less "earning potential" from this program. Still, an awesome way to encourage folks to make some small changes regarding their health, and I'm happy to be benefiting! My employer actually does not publicize this program too much (not intentional I don't think, more of an oversight), I just happened to stumble across it, so it's worth doing some research to see if your employer offers something similar.