When I look down some of the main roads where I live, I can expect to see mostly fast food and burger joints.  I definitely wouldn’t call myself a health nut—I enjoy a good burger and fries loaded with ketchup, and I had pizza for dinner last night—but on the whole, I prefer to eat healthy.  When making healthy choices becomes a natural habit, you start to notice how good and energetic you feel when you snack on fruit, as opposed to feeling a little slower after snacking on a frosted brownie that’s just hanging out in your stomach like a rock.

And while making your own meals at home is always the cheapest and easiest way to eat healthy, it’s inevitable to want to get out of the house!  That’s okay—you’re not limited to the greasy, fried stuff if you want to keep it cheap.  Even with so many fast food places staring at you, you can make cheap, healthy choices when eating out.

Where To Go

What places come to mind for you when you think of eating healthy?  Subway might be at the top of the list.  Other places like Noodles and Company, Panera Bread, and Cosi might show up, too, and Chipotle has even been mentioned as a healthy option.  The truth is, you can eat healthy just about anywhere.  The trick lies with your personal choices.

Choose the Right Drink

Let’s start with the drink.  Just say no to that almost-expected soda, even a diet one.  It’s overpriced, caffeinated, high-fructose corn syrup.  Your best bet is always water.  It’s free, it’s clean, and it makes up 80% of you.  Coffee and tea can be healthy and cheap options; just keep any additives like cream, sugar, honey, etc., to a minimum.

Plenty of Meal Options

Now for your meal.  You’re not restricted to a boring salad.  In fact, even if you do choose a salad, watch out.  You’ll want to shy away from creamy dressings, too much cheese, and any other ingredients that are notorious for high calorie and fat content.  Also watch out for salads with too much of each healthy ingredient—they may be good for you, but you still need to watch calories.  Stick with simple dressings like a balsamic or raspberry vinaigrette, or ask what their light dressing options are.  So in other words, avoid the taco salad and go with the grilled chicken salad.

If you’re looking for a sandwich, similar rules apply.  Just because you’re in line at Subway doesn’t mean that any sub is a healthy choice.  You still want to look for lean protein like chicken, shy away from the cheese (or at least don’t ask for extra cheese), and say no to bacon and creamy dressings again.  At a place like Panera or Cosi, be sure to analyze the ingredients.  A turkey and artichoke panini might sound perfect, but take a look at additional ingredients like cheese or a cream sauce or anything that could add grease and extra fat.  If you’re at a pasta place, stick with simpler items like pasta with marinara sauce.  Beef stroganoff or mac and cheese are probably not the lightest fare available.

Read the Nutritional Information

It’s a good idea to check the nutritional information before choosing, if possible.  It can help put some of the menu items in perspective—you might see something whose name implies that it’s a healthy choice, but it’ll cost you two days’ worth of calories!  Ask how certain items are prepared, if possible.  An entrée might come with vegetables, but if they’re sautéed in loads of butter and oil, they’re just as bad as the burger you avoided.  Don’t be afraid to ask if something can be prepared differently, or placed on wheat or whole-grain bread instead of white.  Most places will accommodate without an extra fee, but if they do and it’s reasonable, go with it.  This is your health you’re talking about!

If you’re simply dying for a big, juicy burger, don’t deny yourself the pleasure.  Just don’t do it everyday!  And don’t let yourself feel guilty about the times that you indulge.  If you don’t give in occasionally, you’re more likely to go on a binge and let your diet start to slide.  You don’t have to go all or nothing.  Just be sure to watch portion sizes and enjoy your indulgences in moderation.  Happy eating!

The recession is affecting more than the average daily worker who is searching for (or struggling to keep) a job.  It’s taking a toll on students and their futures, too.  There’s always been debate over whether or not college is worth it, but the question arises more frequently today, even among students who have been dead-set on going to college since entering high school.  The inevitable debt appears more difficult to handle, knowing how tough the job market is.  So should you even bother with college?

I’ve been told plenty of stories about people who have gone straight into the job market after high school to become car salesmen or servers in restaurants and seem to make significantly more than their peers who attended college.  Not only that, but they’re perfectly content and not nearly as deep in debt.  And I agree with these people—if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  If your job provides stability, comfortable pay, and you don’t loathe going to work everyday, why on earth would you consider a change?

College Salary vs. High School Salary

The College Board also reports that it can take up to 14 years for a college graduate to match the salary of a high school graduate, taking student loan payments into consideration.  It’s also a fact that once you do obtain a higher salary, you’ll be in a higher tax bracket.  Bummer.  Next, consider that college costs continue to rise while financial aid becomes less available.  Schools and companies that provide scholarships are always more than happy to make getting an education a little easier, but the recession has hit them, too, limiting the funds that they can set aside for those scholarships.

Tough Job Market

There might be many more college graduates without jobs right now than there have ever been, but despite all this bad news, I believe college is still worth it.  First of all, in a tough job market, your degree gives you an edge.  The sharpness of that edge may have decreased due to the high number of unemployed graduates, but that’s simply a numbers game.  You still want to be part of the crowd with degrees that will at least be considered for the position you apply for.

And if you do want the higher-paying jobs that allow you more responsibility or more creative freedom and less packing and sorting, you’ll need a degree.  Occasionally, you’ll come across a listing that asks for a degree or equivalent experience, but in most cases, it’s difficult to get the experience without the degree and a portfolio to prove your skill.  It’s in your college classes that you’ll be able to take sufficient time to learn and hone the skills related to your field, and more importantly, apply them.  You’ll also get more opportunities for internships so you can use those skills in the job market itself, and an internship could always turn into a full-time job right after graduation.  (A word to the wise, don’t let those opportunities pass by!)

Is College Part of Your Dreams?

Here’s a small tip, though.  Especially because of today’s market, you’re better off knowing what you want to study before you enter college.  You may not get to attend the college you’ve been dreaming about because of financial aid obstacles, so you may have to choose either a different school or a different field.  Know what the average salary is for people in your field.  If it’s not sufficient enough, or if your field doesn’t bring you enough joy to make up for the discrepancy in pay, choose a different field or forego college altogether to avoid the unnecessary debt.  Or if manual labor or selling cars fits your personality, makes you happy, and provides a comfortable, steady income, the college experience may not be worth your time and money.

I tell people that I graduated college with a Starving Artist degree—I went after more artistic pursuits in writing, theatre, and music.  Not too unexpectedly, my pay-the-bills job is not in any of those fields, and if I were only now entering college, I might rethink my majors, but I know I’d probably still go with the same ones despite all that rethinking—I’m too much of an optimist.  And I wouldn’t trade my college experience for anything.  I learned quite a bit there about my fields and myself that I don’t think I would’ve learned, understood, or accepted as easily and quickly on my own.

But like many things, college is always going to be a personal decision.  If you know what you want and believe that a college education can help you get there, don’t let the recession hold you back.  Don’t be discouraged by the lower number of scholarships around; apply for every single one you can find, and don’t forget about grants.  They don’t have to be repaid, either.  If your field doesn’t require a degree, you might consider college for the experience, but you should consider the recession and perhaps wait for better days.

In tough financial times, after selling all of your used items and exhausting every other possibility, you may consider getting a second job for some extra income.  It sounds like a relatively easy solution to help your finances, even temporarily, but you should explore all of the angles before you start filling out applications.  Here’s why a second job just may not be right for you.

Less Free Time

First, you’ll obviously be giving up most, if not all, of your free time, usually your nights and weekends.  Is there anything you’ll have to sacrifice by getting a second job?  Will you have to give up your usual Thursday night after-work social time?  Will you have to stop working out?  Will you have less time with your children?  And for that matter, will you have to find childcare?  That could negate any extra money you’re bringing in.  No matter what you’ll have to put on hold, the most important question is, are you willing to do so?

Exhaustion

How tired are you after getting home from your full-time job?  Consider that you may not have the energy to make it through at another place, especially if your full-time job allows you to sit down but your part-time one would have you standing or in constant motion.  Even if you’re still energetic when you get home, if you begin working significantly longer hours, you may begin to wear yourself out.  This can come at the expense of both your physical and mental health, and cause your performance at both jobs to suffer.

Higher Tax Bracket

Income from a second job may toss you into a higher tax bracket.  Just like the babysitter, this could negate the extra money you’re making—someone else is taking it all from you!  This is definitely an important point to look into before taking on the second job.  You don’t want to be working for nothing.

Conflict of Interest

You’ll also have to make sure you don’t run into a “conflict of interest” with your full-time employer.  This can exist in two ways.  Not only might your hours conflict or run too closely together, but you may have to avoid working in the same field somewhere else if it’s part of your employer’s policy.  If the conflict is in scheduling, you may put either job in jeopardy by consistently arriving late or having to leave early.  Avoiding the same field may be easy, unless perhaps that’s the field where your strengths lie and you know you may have a hard time finding a job in a different one.

Of course, if the advantages outweigh any of these, then start applying.  You’ll get extra cash, possible employee discounts, and maybe even learn some new skills.  But if any of the above disadvantages struck a chord with you, you may want to reconsider—a second job might not be a good decision.