Budgeting for chronic illness with Amanda Bourbonais
Is your health budget constantly competing with your financial goals? In this eye-opening conversation with Amanda Bourbonais, founder of Health First Freelancer, we dive into what happens when you make wellness a non-negotiable. Amanda shares how she built a six-figure freelance business while managing chronic Lyme disease and dedicating a big of her budget to health expenses.
We explore Amanda's approach to health spending (treating it like rent — absolutely essential), her journey from $20/hour jobs to a thriving freelance business, and even her experience ditching traditional insurance for an alternative that costs under $200/month.
Whether you're managing a chronic condition or just trying to prioritize wellness without going broke, Amanda offers practical strategies that don't require a six-figure income — from budget-friendly supplements to simple mindset shifts that make health spending feel less guilt-inducing.
📌 Time Stamps:
[00:03:00] Amanda's journey with chronic Lyme disease to creating Health First Freelancer
[00:09:00] What being a "Health First Freelancer" means in practice
[00:13:00] When health became a financial priority for Amanda
00:18:30] Breaking down Amanda's monthly health budget
[00:24:00] Budget-friendly health tips for those without six-figure incomes
[00:28:00] Overcoming limiting money beliefs as a freelancer
[00:39:00] Amanda's health budget categories and priorities
[00:42:00] CrowdHealth: Amanda's alternative to traditional health insurance
[00:49:00] Inside the Health First Freelancer community
🔗 Connect with Amanda:
YouTube: @healthfirstfreelancer
HFF newsletter: health-first-freelancer.kit.com
HFF community: health-first-freelancer.mn.co
📩 Join The Finance Girlies on Substack: https://thefinancegirlies.substack.com/
💖 Email us your money questions: hello@thefinancegirlies.com
📸 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefinancegirlies/
🎉 Join The Finance Girlies Insiders by upgrading on Substack and enjoy:
Bonus episodes, starting with anonymous wedding confessions, money drama, and a full script workbook
Juicier convos that are too real (or too spicy) for the main feed
Real listener coaching sessions + deeper stories from our lives
Early access to Q&As, exclusive polls, and discounts on future events and products
Plus, surprise extras we’re cooking up behind the scenes
Transcript
Emily Batdorf: [00:00:00] Are you drowning in money questions, but too embarrassed to ask? Tired of scrolling endlessly through conflicting financial advice that leaves you more confused than when you started? Welcome to the Finance Girlies Podcast, your cozy corner for all things finance. I'm your host Emily.
Cassidy Horton: And I'm your host Cassidy. We're both finance writers for brands like Forbes Advisor, USA Today Blueprint, and Yahoo Finance. Throughout our careers and personal lives, we have come to one realization: When we keep our money worries to ourselves we end up feeling alone. That's why each episode we tackle those burning questions you've been afraid to ask with no judgment, no jargon, just real talk about real money. Ready to finally get answers? Let's dive in.
Cassidy Horton: Hello, hello, and welcome back to the Finance Girlies podcast. Today we're talking about something that affects all of [00:01:00] us, but rarely gets discussed in financial conversations, and that is the relationship between our health and our money.
Emily Batdorf: Whether you're managing a chronic condition or just trying to take care of yourself in general, health expenses can take up a significant portion of anyone's budget. And I think most people would agree that health spending isn't optional. It's an absolute necessity, but when the cost of doctor's visits, therapy, even high quality food can feel prohibitive, how can you prioritize wellbeing without sacrificing your other financial goals?
Cassidy Horton: That’s why we're super excited about today's conversation specifically. We've brought on someone who's navigated this balance firsthand, and now she's showing others how to do it too.
Emily Batdorf: Amanda Bourbonais is the founder of Health First Freelancer, where she helps people managing chronic illnesses, build sustainable freelance businesses.
Cassidy Horton: She's grown her own business to six figures while putting her health needs first. What stands out about Amanda's approach is how she's positioned health as a non-negotiable in her budget, not an afterthought.
Emily Batdorf: We think there's something valuable here for all of [00:02:00] us, regardless of our specific health situations. So let's get started.
Cassidy Horton: Amanda, welcome to the show. Before we dive in, can you tell our listeners a bit about your journey with chronic illness and how it led to creating Health First Freelancer?
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah, a hundred percent. Thank you guys so much for having me. I'm super excited for our conversation today. Yeah, and just to kind of let everyone know a little bit about me, I have chronic Lyme disease. I was diagnosed in 2019. I've actually had previous chronic illness before that, but for our purposes today, we'll start there.
And I kind of had a whole health crisis that year, which led me down this path of figuring out how to support myself financially and how to have a career while also managing my health and prioritizing my health. Which was something that I was not super conscious of prior to this health crisis and Lyme diagnosis.
So it was very eye-opening time, [00:03:00] but what came out of it was creating my freelance business, which really started from the foundation of needing to prioritize my health, needing to manage my own time and energy, how I saw fit. I tell, I like to tell people I started my business so that I could take naps during the day whenever I wanted to.
That was like a, a foundational reason for me. And basically just do the things that I needed to do during the day to take care of myself, which weren't really possible, like going into an office, working for longer than a few hours a day. Kind of all the constrictions and we’re used to with a quote unquote regular job.
So yeah, I, I started my business in 2020 as I think many of us did during the pandemic. And I was still kind of on this journey of recovering my health and [00:04:00] learning about lots of different, like, types of holistic health practices and things to manage Lyme. And fortunately I found Write Your Way to Freedom, which is we, that's how we all met, online copywriting course.
And that kind of helped me build a freelance copywriting business that, where I could prioritize my health and do the things that I needed to do to take care of myself. So yeah, for me it was about say like from, from the end of 2019 is when I first seriously started considering freelancing to about the end of 2020 when things started to really get going for me and I started getting clients.
So it, it took me about a year to kind of figure it out, but that really helped me build slowly and sustainably and set myself up in a way that supported my health and set me up for the long term.
Cassidy Horton: Was your diagnosis what led to you seeking out a career path, like freelancing, or were you already interested in [00:05:00] it? 'Cause it seems like those timelines are kind of right next to each other.
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah. Yeah. I think it, maybe it had been in the back of my head before at some point, but no, the, the diagnosis and the health issues is definitely what pushed me towards that path. It just became super clear to me, sort of coming out of the other side of that and starting the recovery process that I really, really needed a way to make money that would not have me going into an office every day.
Just, just doing, like, just getting up at a certain time and like having a commute and even like sitting in a space for multiple hours that wasn't my own space were all extremely taxing for me at the time. And, and I think still, still would be to me today. So yeah, it was a huge motivator. My health was a huge motivator for me, if not the primary motivator for starting my business.
Emily Batdorf: Can you talk a little bit about like, [00:06:00] transitioning, I mean, I know you still are a copywriter, but starting Health First Freelancer and like at what point you decided to do that, and then also like what does being a Health First freelancer mean to you in practice?
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah, I would love to talk about that. So yeah, I started thinking about Health First Freelancer and helping other folks with chronic illness build a business that puts their health first. I feel like I started kind of thinking about that from the beginning. Like it, like as soon as I kind of started getting traction with, in my own business and doing the freelance thing, I was like, oh my God, people need to know about this.
Like, I feel, I felt like, you know, I. Obviously no one had ever really told me that this was an option. I didn't learn about this, like, as a career path in school. And yeah, so everything was totally new to me, but it became clear very quickly to me that it was ideal for, at least for [00:07:00] me as a person with chronic illness, because it was so flexible and I could really prioritize like certain tasks at certain times of the day when I knew I would have more energy and like rest at other times of the day.
It, I also very quickly realized that I did not need to work eight hours and, and that didn't have to be the norm. To this day, it's, you know, four hours or less usually. I have been able to like, increase my capacity and my energy since that time. But I still, I, you know, I say I make a full-time income on part-time hours and that was always the goal.
So yeah, so from the beginning I was like, I feel like I need to shout this from the mountaintops. More people need to know, particularly folks with chronic illness because I think a lot of people are just, just killing themselves to just get by. And it doesn't have to be that way. So, yeah. And then I kind of seriously started considering the community [00:08:00] last year, probably last year, around this time, maybe a little earlier.
I had been kind of mulling over the idea for many months before that, to be honest with you, but only kind of started putting the pieces in place about a year ago. And originally I thought I was gonna do an online course. And I went to a, a conference last year, the ConvertKit conference called Craft and Commerce which was all creators and people with online businesses.
And after that conference I was kind of convinced, okay, maybe it's not a course, maybe it's a community. And I really was taken with this idea of there is no one way to create your business. And I certainly don't feel comfortable with telling people how they should manage their health. It's all kind of about figuring out what works best for you.
And there are of course, certain tools and practices that I can share [00:09:00] with people that have helped me along the way. But I think the far more valuable tool is just having a space for people to come together and share their experience, share what they're working on, share what their goals are, and what particular type of freelance business they wanna create.
And just kind of have that space for collaboration and creativity and supporting each other on the journey. So that's kind of the the foundation and the genesis of Health First Freelancer,
Emily Batdorf: And then I know I asked you two questions at once, so.
Amanda Bourbonais: I know.
Emily Batdorf: I'm gonna ask you the second one. But thank you. That was great. Yeah. So what does it mean to be a Health First freelancer to you?
Amanda Bourbonais: So basically Health First Freelancer means that my business prioritizes my health. It doesn't prioritize making money, it doesn't prioritize serving a million clients. It prioritizes me and my wellbeing. And that, you know, as I kind of mentioned, that's very much the stance I took from the beginning of my [00:10:00] business.
So it's very kind of baked into my journey and how I've grown things. And so yeah, that's kind of the, the foundational philosophy. And I think, people who don't experience chronic illness, maybe they go into it into building a business in a way that can maybe be sometimes disruptive to their health or, or come at the cost of their health.
So it's really pushing it back against that model and putting health at the forefront of your business and kind of just incorporating it into everything you do. So that can look like what kinds of clients you take on. What kinds of projects do you do? You know, setting boundaries with your clients and like having clear deliverables, you know, clear timelines.
So it all kind of come back. It all kind of comes back to, I feel like the things that we all know we should be kind of doing as [00:11:00] freelancers, but with this philosophy of, it's for your health.
Cassidy Horton: Yeah, that is so beautiful and so needed because I feel like in general, a lot of the like build your own business or start your own freelance business kind of mentality is to like hustle, hustle, hustle, go, go, go. Like, see how big you can grow this thing. And the freelance course that we all took together challenged that mindset a little bit of being like, actually you can make your freelance business whatever you want it to be.
Like whether you have kids and need to work less but I feel like you're coming at it through this even more niche lens of being like, no, this is for people who literally can't and like need to put themselves first in every single aspect of being a business owner and that is just really, really beautiful. I, I feel like what you're doing is so needed in this space.
Amanda Bourbonais: Thank you. Thank you so much.
Emily Batdorf: Mm-hmm. Yeah. You hear so many stories of people, [00:12:00] or I have of like, kind of big time online business owners who, like, after five or 10 years of success are finally like, okay, and now I'm gonna get healthy. Like, you know, they've like, built this crazy thing, but as you said, like at the expense of their health.
And then, only then are they like, okay, and now it's time.
Amanda Bourbonais Right. Or, or worse, five or 10 years in, they burn out or something happens with their health and then they realize, oh crap, I screwed up and I, I should have been taking better care of myself this whole time. And now there's, you know a health consequence that has come about from that. So that's what we're trying to prevent.
Cassidy Horton: Yeah.
Emily Batdorf: Okay. Let's get into the connection between money and health because I don't think it's always obvious. So Amanda, when did you first realize your health needed to be a financial priority?
Amanda Bourbonais: Oh my goodness. Definitely that, [00:13:00] like around the time of my Lyme diagnosis and the whole health journey around that, so when I, when I was diagnosed, I had like one year left on my mom's insurance. I was like, approaching the cutoff very rapidly. And so I had that, but. At the same time, traditional medicine, conventional medicine was failing me.
I, I wasn't getting any answers in that arena. So I had to, I was essentially forced to look elsewhere and ended up seeing a naturopathic doctor who really started to get me on the right track with nutrition and some various other protocols and supplements and things like that. And then I ended up seeing another practitioner who's also in the alternative health kind of space and does frequency medicine treatments, which is like a whole other can of worms.
So neither of these practitioners were, or are covered by health [00:14:00] insurance. So, but, but I was seeing results from them. I was, I was feeling better. And it became clear very quickly that investing in my health was the best thing that I could do for myself. And it certainly was coming at a cost, but you know, when your health is in jeopardy, there's kind of nothing you won't pay to fix it.
Um, so I, yeah, kind of from the beginning I was like, okay, I need to make X amount of money and I know that these, you know, treatments that I was getting were a foundational part of that. Health is kind of baked into my budget the same way rent and food and utilities are for most people.
Cassidy Horton: I have a question. Once you were no longer on your mom's insurance, did you go and find health insurance on the marketplace? Or what…
Amanda Bourbonais I did.
Cassidy Horton … was that like? Okay.
Amanda Bourbonais Yeah. [00:15:00] Yeah, I did. The journey with health insurance has been interesting. I def, I mean, early on, you know, I wasn't making barely any money. By the time I was starting to feel better, I did go and get a part-time job doing proofreading and editing, which is kind of what I was doing before.
So I had that to at least cover some things, but I wasn't, I was making like $20,000 a year tops. So yeah, I just applied for insurance through the marketplace and I think I just got either a catastrophic or bronze level plan that was like, fully covered. I, like, my goal was to not pay for health insurance because I wasn't using my health insurance for my particular medical needs.
So it, that for me, it was just for emergencies only. And still is to this day, really. So, yeah, over the years I've kind of just tried to balance the coverage with, you know, the cost as [00:16:00] everyone does, but also knowing that that coverage wasn't really gonna do anything for me anyway. So I might as well sort of get the cheapest plan with the most reasonable, you know, coverage and allocate the rest of my kind of health budget to the things that actually move the needle for me.
Cassidy Horton: That sounds like a wise observation to have made before you, like went out searching for a plan. Do you know what percentage of your budget typically goes toward health expenses and how that has evolved as your business has grown?
Amanda Bourbonais: That's a good question. It depends on the month, but I would say a quarter maybe. It's pretty high. So I'm spending typically anywhere between like $1,000 and $1,500 a month on health related things. That includes these frequency medicine treatments, which I still do and are probably like the majority of the cost. That also [00:17:00] includes supplements. And I have one prescription. I do pay some for health insurance, although that, well, that used to come out of my business. Now I have CrowdHealth, which I think we're gonna talk about in a little bit. And that is a personal expense, not a business expense, unfortunately.
But yeah, that's all kind of wrapped up into, into my health budget.
Cassidy Horton: And then my follow up question was gonna be like, how do you deal with the fact that these expenses take up such a big chunk of your monthly expenses? But I think you've already hinted at that by saying like, your brain just treats it as like rent, utility bills, like it's just another part of your, like, let's keep the lights on, kind of set of expenses.
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah, I mean, it's not to say I don't have emotional turmoil over it, you know?
Cassidy Horton: Mm-hmm. For sure.
Amanda Bourbonais: I think one of the limiting beliefs I have is, you know, I will off some, not often, but sometimes find myself saying to myself, you know, if I didn't have this, think about how [00:18:00] much farther I would be in my savings goals, you know, vacation, something I've been working on for the last couple years is I, I really want better quality clothing and like, to invest in my wardrobe. Like, you know, there's a lot of things where it feels like if I could just snap my fingers and all of that would be taken care of if I didn't have these health expenses.
But at the same time, it is kind of just ingrained into my budget and my spending at this point. And I am, I'm so grateful that I can afford it as well. Not, you know, a lot of people don't have the budget for the kinds of treatments and, and things I do. So, yeah. And, and that's been a process of building that over time.
And I also try to, not, you know, overly spend on it. I feel like that I've, I've done that in the past where I'm like, ooh, shiny [00:19:00] new supplement or I, I'm, I am a health experimenter at this point. I've very much become, like, interested in just trying new things out. So sometimes I feel like I can just impulse buy something, but for the most part it is pretty consistent month to month, even if it's higher than I would, like.
Cassidy Horton: Do you feel like you get a lot of like Instagram ads and stuff shoved in your face?
Amanda Bourbonais: Oh, girl.
Cassidy Horton: Okay. I, yeah, I feel like that would be the most tempting to me. And then all of the way that the ads are set up, I mean, it, it sounds like it's gonna fix all your problems, so you're just like, you're like, should I try it?
If I do identify as an experimenter, like should I just experiment with this thing?
Emily Batdorf: The face wand, Cassidy.
Cassidy Horton: Right. right.
Yeah.
Like I have rosacea, so anytime I get something that's like, this fixes your rosacea, I'm like, ooh, yeah, let me try it.
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah, the [00:20:00] red light face masks, I definitely want one of those. Yeah, no, I should, I should also say I write in the holistic health space, so it's really coming at me from all directions. But yeah. I am an experimenter at heart, so…
Emily Batdorf: This is the perfect segue into our next question, which is how do you decide which health investments are worth it and which ones are not?
Amanda Bourbonais: That's a really good question. I mean, at this point between researching my own health, like issues and also writing in the space now for five years I have built up quite a lot of knowledge about holistic health and supplements and like what to look for in certain products, how to sell if something is good quality.
And honestly, a lot of times I will, I'll say as much as I said just earlier, that I impulse buy stuff. If it, if I impulse buy something, it's usually like a supplement. It's usually like something [00:21:00] relatively inexpensive. If there's something much more expensive I want to purchase, I'm usually sitting on it for like months.
I'm usually like, mulling it over and like reading the research and reading people's reviews and kind of just assembling as much information about it as I can. And also thinking about it from the perspective of like, okay, this might be like a really interesting new tool, health practice, whatever, but is it going to work for me?
You know? I think it's, especially with some of like, these more trendier products, it's easy to get caught up in the marketing, even for those of us who are writing it sometimes. And it's good to mull things over and think, you know, will I actually use this?
Something I bought recently, that's actually, it's more, I guess, for skincare. I got the NuFACE. It's like, do you guys know what that is? Okay. It's this, it's a [00:22:00] microcurrent device, so it sends like an electrical current into your face and you like, it's kind of like doing Gua Sha, but with like this microcurrent thing. And, after several months last year of having that, the, the Google page open on my phone, just like sitting there so I would see it every time I opened my browser, after a while, and I can't remember, I bought it on some sale. And I started using it and, you know, it was, I bought it for the intention of like I turned 30 and I wanna start taking better care of my skin. But I also realized like, oh, this is really relaxing, actually, like, I, I found additional benefit from it just from that kind of like, happy side effect.
And that really helped me, like stay more consistent in using it and actually enjoy using it. So there's, and like I had read about people saying that so that was kind, I had [00:23:00] kind of took that into consideration as far as like, this sounds really great and really cool and like very sciencey, but I'll also actually use it because it feels good.
So yeah, kind of having, I guess, more than one reason for buying things and not not putting all your eggs in one basket, I guess.
Cassidy Horton: Yeah.
Okay. For our listeners who might be dealing with chronic health issues but don't have a six figure salary or business, what are some ways that they can prioritize their health even on a tighter budget?
Amanda Bourbonais: Oh my goodness. My non-medical supplement recommendation that I tell everyone is vitamin D. Kind of like your most basic place to start. I feel like, especially if you are interested in supplements, if you're interested in kind of moving the levers of nutrition to start making a difference in your health, but you're not sure where to start.
Honestly, when I started working with my naturopathic doctor, the [00:24:00] first thing he did was put me on high dose vitamin D and it had like a night and day effect for me. Within a week of taking it, I was like a different person, so…
Emily Batdorf: Wait, question.
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah.
Emily Batdorf: Sorry to interrupt. Any chance this was this like during the winter? Because I know you also live in a cold, dark place.
Amanda Bourbonais: Good, good clarifying question. No, it was, it was the middle of summer.
Yeah. I started seeing him in July, 2019. And I was just very sick and very depressed and very nutrient depleted. And I had been, to add some backstory, I had been playing around with some supplements on my own, just, you know, to try stuff because I wasn't getting answers anywhere else.
But his dosing recommendation was much higher. I just, I simply wasn't taking enough. So so yeah, he put me on quite a high dose, and I'm not saying everyone should do that or needs to do that, but I do find that for most people, [00:25:00] vitamin D between 5,000 and 10,000 IUs, which is like most functional medicine doctors' recommendation can start to make a noticeable difference within a few weeks.
And you know, of course, like everyone's different, so you have to try things and see how they work for you. But yeah, that would be one place to start. And, and most, you know, vitamin D supplements are like, around 30 to 40 bucks for a good one. I recommend a liquid version because you can like, literally drop it under your tongue, add it to your coffee, add it to anything you want, really. It doesn't taste like anything. And you can, you know, increase or decrease your dose as needed that way much easier than like capsules. So yeah, that would be kind of like number one, like, supplement place to start.
If you're thinking about different ways to change your health that are not supplement related, I [00:26:00] mean, if you're not already kind of prioritizing healthy meals in your life, that of course is a next place to start. Spending time in nature, honestly is such an undervalued one, I think that most people don't realize, go, go, go touch grass. Go spend some time with some trees. Take a walk in the woods in, you know, on the beach. Spend some time in the sunshine.
And it does honestly come back to the basics a lot of the time. And when you're just starting out kind of experimenting with those things, which are either free or perhaps you make, like, small changes or upgrades to your diet that you know have, it's not like a huge impact in your budget you can start moving the needle in that way.
Emily Batdorf: Yeah and even sometimes I think specifically with food, like a lot of times if you really think about eating healthier, you can even save money if you're like, you know, [00:27:00] buying whole foods and preparing them yourself. It can be overwhelming, I think, maybe if you're not used to doing that, and like, takes some time. But if you have a tight budget, I think that's still accessible.
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah.
Cassidy Horton: Okay. Another thing we love talking about is the connection between money and mindset. And we know that you do too. So while your money mindset isn't the only thing that's going to improve your financial health, it is important. So we wanna talk to you about it. So my first question to you is, what were some of the limiting beliefs about money that you had to overcome?
Amanda Bourbonais Oh my goodness. Like when starting my business?
Cassidy Horton Yeah.
Amanda Bourbonais Oh gosh. I mean all of them.
Cassidy Horton Yeah. Same.
Amanda Bourbonais Yeah, I think I, for me, especially up until that point, I had never, I had never made money outside of an, an hourly job, honestly. I had never even been salaried at my [00:28:00] job, and I had never made more than 20 bucks an hour.
So it was, it was a challenge for me to, yeah, untangle my time from money. However, I was super motivated to do that by my health. So I think that kind of helped balance that out in a way. I feel like I truly was delusional at the time of like, I just, I really doubled down on like, I have to make this happen or, there, like there's no other option. So I feel like that really helped me with a lot of my limiting beliefs, not just around money. But yeah, that was, that was a big one. Time and money. I think from there it was kind of just slowly building this muscle of charging, you know, something for my work.
And then, you know, somebody accepted that price and I went, oh, okay. New baseline, I guess. And [00:29:00] then, you know, charge a little bit more the next time. And I remember also, like with one of my first clients, I was negotiating a blog retainer with them and we got to the, the pricing part of the conversation and I said $225 per blog, which was an increase for me from $150 per blog, which was my first client. And her eyebrows shot up and I was like, oh no, I lowballed her. So I don't know, like little things like that. And then, you know, within, I want to say within three months even, I think I increased that to $250 or $275, I can't remember which.
But it was like having little moments like that where it kind of just innately challenged whatever, you know, my baseline at the time. It just helped me slowly increase as I went. And yeah. And I was super motivated to make more money [00:30:00] to increase my health budget, but also to move out of my mom's house.
So that really helped me kind of push myself in terms of my money beliefs and keep kind of pushing forward when I think maybe other people would get stuck at the same level for a while.
Emily Batdorf: Definitely. I would definitely say that health is a value of mine and like, so like I am willing to spend on it, but I sometimes still really struggle spending on it because I feel like things are just way more expensive than they should be.
And then sometimes I think objectively they are in this country. But yeah. Do you like, share this guilt and frustration and like how do you get past it?
Amanda Bourbonais: Of just being reluctant to invest in certain things, or?
Emily Batdorf: Yeah, just 'cause you feel like, am I really gonna spend this much on, I don't know. For me, and, Cassidy and I [00:31:00] have both in the past year started like doing different like exercise classes and like we both get so much out of it, but they're also expensive. So it's like, I know this is really good for me, but sometimes I still feel like, a tiny bit guilty even though it's something I like, truly value.
Amanda Bourbonais: Mm. Yeah. That's interesting. I think for me, actually, I don't feel that kind of guilt, and I think, I think it truly comes from having experienced such a low point with my health that at this point, it, it really does feel like no expense is too great. Again, as long as I am making a sound choice, you know, and like making an educated choice and I've, you know, done my research on whatever the thing is.
Yeah, I, I can't say I really have that because I have this comparison point of like, when I don't invest in my health, here's what happens. [00:32:00] Um, So I, I, I totally understand when you're coming from a place of, your health is generally fine and you're kind of trying to build on like creating better healthy habits and get yourself to an even better place.
Then yeah, I can see how it, that feels like not as necessary maybe. But for me it's like there's a very stark contrast between where I was and where I am now and investing in my health is what has gotten me to this point. So yeah, I have no qualms about that.
Emily Batdorf: Yeah, that makes sense. For me, I guess in this example I gave, it's like more of an incremental difference, and so you don't like, see the payoff as much, I guess. I don't know if that's quite…
Amanda Bourbonais: Do you get like the, do you get the mental health benefits from it too though?
Emily Batdorf: Oh, yeah.
Amanda Bourbonais: I feel like that's where you see the most, the most immediate [00:33:00] benefit.
Emily Batdorf: Mm-hmm.
Amanda Bourbonais: Especially in stuff like exercise.
Emily Batdorf: Yeah. And it's, again, maybe this wasn't the best example, like for me it's yoga because I do love it and I'm like, not gonna stop anytime soon. I think it was just like initially a tough pill to swallow.
Cassidy Horton: I think there's also the conversation of like, am I really gonna pay for yoga or can I just look up like, free yoga videos on YouTube and stuff? Like, is there a less expensive way for me to do this, or am I actually gonna pay like $100 plus a month for this thing?
Amanda Bourbonais: That's actually, that's actually a good example of something I don't invest in because I do enjoy doing workouts at home on YouTube in front of my television. I have experimented with like, exercise classes here and there. But I know for me that is an area where I can probably save my money because I can get just as much value doing it from home by myself with no other eyeballs on [00:34:00] me and and get just as much value from it.
Cassidy Horton: Yeah. And it also sounds like maybe you have the freedom to like modify things if your energy is lower versus being in a class. Like I went to Pure, I do Pure Barre, and I went to a class this morning and it was like the HIIT one, like the high intensity interval training. And I mean, there were so many times I was like, I'm so tired, I can't possibly.
But the instructor is like, Cassidy, you got it. Like, go! And I'm like, no, I'm tired.
Emily Batdorf: That's funny. Okay, let's kind of move on into some of the more practical advice, I guess. So we love to balance thoughtful conversations about money with tangible tips and real life numbers. So let's talk about budgeting and insurance for those with chronic illness or just anyone who generally wants to spend more on their health.
So as we go through this next set of questions, feel free to get as detailed as you want. So yeah, can you walk us through what your monthly health budget [00:35:00] actually looks like and like what types of categories you include? I know you, you kind of did this a little bit.
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah. Yeah. So it does vary a little bit from month to month. I think, like I said, my, my overall budget is between $1,000 and $1,500 and, and that's, I don't know if that seems like a wide range or not, but that's because there's like, a certain treatment that I do every eight to 10 weeks or so, and that's like, quite expensive. So on the months when I have that, it's, it's more.
But yeah, for me, I would say the majority, well maybe half of that cost is these frequency medicine treatments that I do, which I go into an actual clinic to do. I do various things that all kind of have different price points. So it, it depends, but I have kind of over the years figured out okay, there's, there's about like three things that really make a difference for me and I kind of stick to those.
So I have [00:36:00] those. And then yeah, I do, I take quite a lot of supplements. It is something I've kind of, I'm always like, wanting to work on, but they really work for me. So at the same time I'm like, okay. And that's probably like 300-400 bucks a month maybe. And I'm, I'm usually like, I'm not restocking every single thing every month, so it, it kind of rotates.
And then, yeah, and then from there, I include insurance in that cost. Which for me this year is about a little less than 200 bucks a month which is really good, at this point. I've paid, at this point, up to 250. I've been able to keep that cost quite low for myself over the years, as I mentioned, because I don't really use traditional health insurance.
So for someone who needs a higher cost plan that, obviously that portion might be quite higher. And for [00:37:00] example, I have someone in my community that her chronic illness is type one diabetes. So basically her entire cost of, of health her health bucket is her health insurance because that's how she gets insulin.
So, her health insurance costs might be over a thousand dollars, but that's essentially the only thing she's paying for. Whereas I'm kind of dividing all my, my health costs into these different things, but I might be paying a similar amount to her, if that makes sense. So yeah, I think that's kind of the rough breakdown.
And then, I don't know, there might be sort of, sort of like ad hoc things here and there. Like if I end up having to go to MinuteClinic or something, I get like a strep test, you know, get sick here and there kind of stuff. But for most of the part, for most part, those are the kind of main categories.
Emily Batdorf: Hmm.
Cassidy Horton: Yeah. I think this is a good segue. We would love to hear more just about your experience with CrowdHealth as an alternative to traditional health insurance. [00:38:00] Specifically, like what made you choose this option and would you recommend it to other people?
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah, for sure. So I just started with CrowdHealth for this year in 2025. And yeah, prior to this, as I said, I was buying health insurance through the Marketplace. For the last couple of years I had a bronze plan with an HSA and I did really like having the HSA and being able to you know, put money aside in there for other health-related expenses.
That's basically how I covered anything dental and vision related over the last couple of years. But I knew the cost was gonna be going up again and I decided I was, you know, kind of looking into all of my options again at the end of last year and found CrowdHealth, which is a healthcare cost sharing membership if you are not familiar.
And essentially what it is, is you pay like a monthly membership fee to the [00:39:00] organization, which is I think $55 a month for individuals. And then you pay on top of that, you pay like a monthly contribution which goes towards the crowd. So basically goes towards a giant pool of money that is then used for the healthcare expenses of everyone in the membership.
And the organization is distributing these resources as needed, as people are submitting requests for their healthcare. They also help you negotiate your bills to get like the best cost possible for whatever, whatever service you receive. Similar to regular health insurance, you have kind of like a primary care visit covered at no cost to you once a year.
And the main benefit is that if you incur an emergency cost or you know you have to go to the hospital, you have to get an ambulance, you break [00:40:00] an arm, whatever it is, or you have, even if you have to have like an emergency procedure, cancer, pregnancy, they cover everything after a $500, like, quote unquote, deductible. That's not what they call it.
But, but yeah, so, so per what they say is per single healthcare event, you are responsible for the first $500 and then they will cover the rest and like, if needed, they will help negotiate the, the out-of-pocket cost to you. And then the, the cost is distributed among the members, among the membership and you, you basically get a payout and you pay your bill.
So that's kind of how it works. And I decided that really appealed to me as someone who is not particularly using their health insurance on a regular basis. And, you know, all of my, my healthcare is alternative at this point. They also they [00:41:00] also let you see like any provider you want, basically, like there's no networks.
So I have a kind of like a functional medicine nurse practitioner that I see as my, my primary care. So she, she's covered and she, it would not be in network anywhere else in like regular health insurance for me.
Emily Batdorf: Hmm.
Amanda Bourbonais: So so yeah, so, so far I've found it to be a really great option. No emergency services have been needed and knock on wood, they will not be.
But essentially I'm using, I'm using this plan as like, for the exact same things I would be for with traditional health insurance. And so far, it's been great and I'm paying less per month than I would be paying for regular health insurance. For individuals it's the, like the monthly membership fee, and then I believe it's like up to $95 is your, like, contribution to the, the, the [00:42:00] crowd.
And then they, they have different plans for if you're like a couple or a family. But for individuals it's pretty much guaranteed under $200 a month and sometimes it's less.
Emily Batdorf: How do they determine that, like contribution?
Amanda Bourbonais: Like the monthly membership contribution.
Emily Batdorf: Yeah, like I think you said up to $95 for an individual?
Amanda Bourbonais: I'm not sure the, like all the mathematics behind it, but like for, they do have like different rates based on if you're an individual, a couple or a family. So families, it's like up to $450 a month, I think, something like that. So, but for a lot of people that's still very cost effective. So yeah.
Emily Batdorf: Hmm.
Cassidy Horton But do you know if it's like based on income or maybe based on like health conditions? Like self-reported health conditions or something.
Amanda Bourbonais: I don't believe it's based on income as far as I know, it's just based on how many people. They do, yeah, they cover some [00:43:00] chronic illness related expenses after you've been a member for two years, I think, two years or three years?
So. I cannot wait to test that theory because that would change my life. Talk about changing your finances. But, but yeah, just the kind of the emergency coverage alone is worth it to me. Like knowing if for God forbid, I had to be in the hospital for some reason or broke a bone or something, it would be $500 bucks out of my pocket, which is well within my emergency savings fund.
And that would be, that would be that. So that, that alone is, is more than worth it. But yeah, it is worth noting that they, for right now, they don't really cover much chronic illness related expenses.
Emily Batdorf: Hmm. Hm.
Cassidy Horton: Okay. I have a side question, whenever you file your taxes and it asks you the question like, have you had health insurance all 12 months or whatever, do you click yes for CrowdHealth or is or are you technically reporting [00:44:00] that you don't have health insurance?
Amanda Bourbonais: I don't know. I'm gonna cross that bridge when I come to it. I, I suspect, I, I just recently, so I just recently found out last month that CrowdHealth does not count the same as health insurance in terms of it being a business expense. So, if that's any indication, I'm guessing the answer will be no. But they can't penalize you for that anymore, I don't think.
Cassidy Horton: Yeah, that was my follow up thought. I'm like, I know like what if you clicked no on your tax return, for example. I'm like, what…
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah. What do you want from me?
Cassidy Horton: Like, or right. know,
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah. Yeah, I'll let you know.
Cassidy Horton: Okay.
Emily Batdorf: Do you have any advice or like practical tips you would give to freelancers who are worried about affording health insurance, especially those with pre-existing conditions?
Amanda Bourbonais: Yes, a hundred [00:45:00] percent. First of all, I have a whole YouTube video I made about this on my YouTube. So if you search Health First Freelancer, you'll find that, and I'm sure that will be much more articulate than whatever I'm about to say. But I will give this a shot. I mean, my first thing is like, if you really wanna make this happen for you, please don't let that be the thing that stops you.
There are so many options, and I think especially when you're first starting out, depending on your, you know, how, how much money you're making, health insurance can be extremely low cost or free through the Marketplace because of, of government tax credits. So take advantage of those, especially when you're first starting out and you're not making very much money. You can get free or almost free health insurance.
If you need a certain level of health insurance to cover, you know, medications that you're on or providers that you're seeing that's in, you know, that's so individual and, and you kind of have to look into it. What [00:46:00] I, what I would say is, you know, check, like figure out what it would actually cost you. Don't just let this imaginary number kind of hang over your head. Actually go on the, on the Marketplace and I think they have some kind of calculator where you can, you know, put in your information and what kind of plan you're looking for and they can, and give you an estimate.
So I would say that's kind of step number one. It might not be as much as you think. And if it's more than you think, I would say just kind of start planning for that and start realizing that that is going to be part of your costs as a freelancer, as a business owner and kind of just start getting adjusted to that idea.
I think it, it can be just a lot of times more of a mental block than, than kind of an actual roadblock. And it, it does not feel great to pay for health insurance. We all know, but, I think you can make progress towards it, and especially if you're first starting out and you can [00:47:00] utilize those tax credits to your advantage, it really helped. That's, that's basically what I did is I just kind of started from zero and I'm, I'm also speaking from a place of like, I never had health insurance to begin with. I, since I was on my mom's plan. After that, like I've never had a job that offered health insurance in the first place, so I had no other comparison, which I think actually really helped me out.
So I kind of just took it as it came and and figured it out. So that would be kind of my initial advice.
Cassidy Horton: You were like, okay, I guess this is the price of health insurance. I have no previous experience.
Emily Batdorf: And you can, you can like build that into your pricing or like, let that be motivation to raise your rates.
Amanda Bourbonais: Absolutely. Absolutely. That is, that's a really good point actually. That's kind of one of the things I did early on was like, figure out, okay, what, how much money do I have to make to cover rent, food, and insurance? You know, those are kind of my, my main costs. I was very fortunate at the time and I still [00:48:00] do have a car that was completely paid off. I paid for it in cash when I bought it. So those were kind of, my, thank you.
Cassidy Horton: Silent snaps. That's amazing.
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah. So yeah, those were kind of my main expenses when I first started out and I was happy to realize it wasn't as much as I thought. And it, you know, actually figuring out the number made it feel more attainable to start actually taking the steps to get there.
Cassidy Horton Yeah, that's an excellent tip. Before we wrap up, we have already learned a little bit about Health First Freelancer, but we would love to hear more. Is there anything else you wanna say in terms of like, what inspired you to create it and specifically, because I know you've already touched on that, if someone is listening and they're like, this might be the perfect community for me, what kind of support could they expect to receive?
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah, a hundred percent. So yeah, the community is Health First Freelancer. It's on Mighty. If you're unfamiliar with that platform, it's, you know, [00:49:00] similar to Circle, kind of any other like hosting platform, but you get a conversation space where I have daily polls and questions to kind of help you think about certain things that will help you build your business or grow your business if you already have one. And, you know, think about incorporating kind of, the health first philosophy into that business.
And we have different themes every month. This month we just started a new month and our theme is vacation and time off. So we're actually kind of asking questions this month around, how do you plan a vacation as a freelancer, as a business owner? How do you take time off for the holidays? You know, how do you like move work around to to account for that, that time off while also not burning yourself out and kind of piling too much on your plate?
So that's just kind of one example of some of the themes. We've also had themes like client outreach, building a community, all kinds of [00:50:00] stuff. So that's kind of the conversation part of the, of the community. We do have a weekly Q&A with myself and other members that you can join and get support on any kind of questions that are coming up for you, any challenges, stuff you wanna talk through.
A lot of times we kind of just end up like updating each other on where we are, where we're at, and like how things are going. And it's really nice to kind of just connect with people that way. And I'm there of course to answer any questions, but also other members have various expertise that they can offer as well. So I'm not like the guru here. I'm trying to just kind of facilitate a space where everyone can be heard and, get some answers to their challenges. So that is another thing. And then I will bring in guest speakers periodically to teach workshops and have, you know, feedback from the community as well.
And then those live in our resource library as a replayable video anytime you wish to watch it. And we'll occasionally [00:51:00] do like a challenge. So last month our theme was time and energy management. So we did a one week challenge where everyone kind of picked a, like a time blocking method or some kind of different way to restructure their time and see how that worked for them in their workflow, in their business. And if it helped, you know, if making that change helped them manage their time and energy better.
So, we'll, we'll do things like that periodically. Am I missing anything? Resource library, also, I'm kind of working on various resources for the community, but I'm trying not to make it, I'm trying not to make it like a content thing, you know, I, I'm really trying to promote the community as kind of the main value.
I think particularly with AI now and ChatGPT, I find that, not that content is ever gonna go away, but, you know, you can ask AI a very, [00:52:00] like, detailed question related to your specific situation and get a very good answer most of the time. So I'm trying not to overwhelm anybody with the content side of things.
But yeah, those are, those are the main pieces of the community. Oh, and we do have a section of the community called the Struggle Bus, which is…
Cassidy Horton: Adorable.
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah. So that's a specific place where if you are. Going through a particularly tough health challenge you can share there and either just ask for support from the community or if you want, ask for advice.
And there's very specific protocols around around that. So you're not getting unwanted advice if you don't want it. But you can also kind of share and be supported there if you wish. So yeah, those are kind of the main parts of the community. And I would say the, the best way to find me right now is on YouTube and, just watch some of my YouTube videos, get a vibe for Health [00:53:00] First Freelancer and kind of my way of doing things.
And you'll find links to my email list and the community there as well.
Emily Batdorf: I love the Struggle Bus. I feel like that is worth it alone, to just have a place where you can be like, hey everyone, I am struggling with this thing. Can you please just…
Amanda Bourbonais: Send me all the GIFS and the emojis. Yeah, yeah. That, that was very much born out of the idea of like, there's so many just soul sucking chronic illness Facebook groups. And I knew that I did not want this to turn into anything like that. But I still wanted people to feel comfortable with sharing what they're going through if they wanted to, and if they, if they wanted, you know, members’ perspectives or just wanted to share.
So that's kind of why it's like this like little separate space and like, there's very specific rules around how to sup, how to post and how to ask for [00:54:00] support. But it is still there. So yeah, that's kind of the idea.
Emily Batdorf: I love that. Last question before we wrap up. What's a success story that you have from your community that you're proud of or want to share?
Amanda Bourbonais: Ooh, there are lots of little ones. Honestly, we've, it's just started since the beginning of January. So, you know, members are definitely still working on their businesses and, and growing. I think to me so far it's just been seeing everyone's posts and comments in the, in the conversation space and sharing their progress. And then, you know, I think something that happens a lot is someone will share something they're doing. And then another person will jump in and be like, oh, I never even thought of that. Like, I never, like it never occurred to me to do it that way, or, so it's like, it's like seeing people's brains change in real time.
It's really great. [00:55:00] And yeah, I think just some of the mindset shifts so far I've, I've seen people have around, you know, how this can look for them and how they can build a business in a way that's healthy for them has been really, really beautiful so far.
Emily Batdorf: This has been such a great conversation, so thank you for sharing your story with us. We love how you've created this whole approach that doesn't force people to choose between their health and their finances. But before we let you go, we have a few quick questions to throw your way in a rapid fire round.
So first, what is one health expense that's been absolutely worth every penny?
Amanda Bourbonais: Ooh, that's a really good question. Oh, I got a good one. A few, let's see. In 2021, I invested in my infrared sauna.
Cassidy Horton: Hmm.
Emily Batdorf: Ooh.
Amanda Bourbonais: Yes, so I have an infrared sauna. It's the Sunlighten [00:56:00] Solo Sauna. So how it works is actually you lay down in it and it's like this this sort of like, shell pod thing, you pull up over you. So your head, your head stays out, but the whole rest of your body is inside and obviously it heats up quite hot and you just lay in there and get really sweaty and it has like a red light therapy strip on it. And I originally bought it because I was, I was actually going to a spa that had sauna and I was doing that and experimenting with that as kind of part of my Lyme protocol.
And I honestly don't know that. I, I don't think I do it enough for it to really have measurable effects on the Lyme, but it is just so nice, especially in the winter. And I do find it, it's a huge mood boost as well. So yeah, I mean, whenever I, I live in Wisconsin by the way, so whenever we [00:57:00] have really, really cold winter days, I'm like, yes, it's a sauna day.
I can just jump in there. You know, and since I work from home, even like in the middle of the afternoon sometimes, like sauna break, just go in there and get nice and warm and toasty and yeah, it's really amazing.
Emily Batdorf: I love a sauna. But I’ve never tried an infrared one.
Cassidy Horton: I was gonna say, does the infrared make you feel like the sun is actually hitting your body?
Amanda Bourbonais: That's a good question.
Cassidy Horton: That might just be my lack of knowledge around infrared saunas, but I know I love when I'm outside and I feel like the sun, I'm just like a lizard and the sun is just heating me up. So I didn't know if it was that kind of sensation where you're like, I feel the heat.
Amanda Bourbonais: Yeah. I mean, you definitely feel the heat. I, I don't know. I, I can't compare. I mean, I, I also haven't done, I done a traditional sauna? I don't think I've done a traditional sauna. That's like, that's like, so that's like a steam sauna. That doesn't appeal to me at all. Infrared sauna [00:58:00] is the, the health benefits of it are, it's supposed to, like the heat and the light are supposed to penetrate your skin deeper than a regular sauna would. So it's really supposed to like, promote more detoxification and circulation. And especially for, you know, people with Lyme, chronic infection, mold illness, et cetera. Like really get to those pathogens and and kind of flush 'em out. So that's kind of the idea behind the infrared sauna specifically.
But it also doesn't get as hot as a traditional sauna. So while the heat is like going deeper into your skin and into your body, you're not feeling quite so, so hot as a traditional sauna.
Emily Batdorf: Hmm.
Cassidy Horton: Nice. Okay.
Emily Batdorf: So much for the rapid fire. We totally derailed that conversation.
Cassidy Horton: Sorry. Okay. Flip side of that question, what's a health expense you tried that turned out to be not so worthwhile?
Amanda Bourbonais: There have been a [00:59:00] few. Oh, I did hyperbaric oxygen one time which is again, another kind of holistic treatment where you go in this pod and it's like sealed from the outside and they like flood it with oxygen and and you kind of just lay in there for a while. And yeah, again, this was like a Lyme treatment I tried and I did it maybe two or three times and I just didn't, and, and it was kind of expensive and I just didn't notice any benefit from it.
So I stopped.
Emily Batdorf: Okay. What is one piece of financial advice you wish someone had given you at the beginning of your freelance career?
Amanda Bourbonais: Ooh.
Emily Batdorf: Or that someone did give you that you appreciated.
Amanda Bourbonais: I think something that Sarah talked about very early on was like, challenge yourself to raise your prices [01:00:00] before you're, you think you're ready. And I definitely took that to heart because I was like, I gotta make money now. And something that kind of related to that, something that I started doing basically from the beginning of my business that I don't think really anyone told me to do, I just kind of did it, was I like, thought of what I wanted to charge for whatever it was. And then I added 10% to like, just make it a little bit more uncomfortable and then I charged that. And so far that's worked out. So there might be a method to the madness.
Emily Batdorf: That's a good idea.
Cassidy Horton: Okay. Lastly, remind our listeners where can they connect with you? Where can they learn more about Health First Freelancer?
Amanda Bourbonais: Yes, a hundred percent. Please. Connect with me on YouTube. Health First Freelancer is my channel, and you'll find links to my email list and to the actual Health First Freelancer community there, [01:01:00] if you wish to check it out. I am technically on Facebook and Instagram but I'm actually moving away from those platforms, at least for the foreseeable future.
I just decided I really do not care to be on social media. And I would much rather focus on kind of longform platforms. So YouTube is where I'm at and yeah, you could also email me at amanda@healthfirstfreelancer.com if you wanna just reach out and say hi.
Cassidy Horton: Awesome. Well also be sure to include those links in our show notes too. So for anyone listening, you can find them there. But thanks so much for joining us, Amanda. We are so grateful for your time. I know I learned a lot. I know Emily did. Our jaws were dropped a lot of the times as you were talking. So thank you for being here and we will see you next time, girlies.
Amanda Bourbonais Thank you so much.
Emily Batdorf: That's a wrap on another episode of the Finance Girlies podcast. Nothing in this episode is meant to be taken as financial advice.
Cassidy Horton:Please do your own research and talk to a professional if you need advice. As always, if you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, rate [01:02:00] and review. Love you. Bye.
