There are certain things in life that you can buy cheap without sacrificing on quality. Food is a good example. As long as the meat is clean and safe, you can create delicious meals at home with chicken or pork you find on sale at the supermarket. You just need the right combination of skills and seasonings to bring the meal to life. Some people get by with cheap spices, but it’s not even hard to find quality in bulk quantities at certain health food stores. I also save on produce by getting it at a local fruit and vegetable co-op. These are steps that don’t take any additional effort out of me other than self-control on what kind of food I purchase with my debit card every week. Likewise, there are many instances where you shouldn’t be cheap. If you need a root canal or a crown put in your mouth, you’ll be happy in the long run if you pay a reputable dentist for the work opposed to getting cheap and hiring a no-name working out of a sketchy office in a random strip mall. You should also be smart about your respiratory health inside your own home. That means keeping your air conditioner and furnace serviced, maintained, and cleaned on a seasonal basis. The air conditioner and furnace filters you buy are equally important, because the cheap ones won’t pull harmful particles out of your air as it circulates. I buy allergen rated filters because they absorb things as tiny as bacterial and viral particles. If you need odor reduction, they sell the same filter I use but coat one side with activated charcoal crystals. As air moves through your system, the activated charcoal crystals absorb odors until the filter gets old and needs to be replaced.