althyTime and time again, we hear the age-old excuse: eating and keeping healthy can be expensive. Whether it’s the gym membership that can clear out our bank accounts each month or the healthy food choices we have to make that can seem to cost a little more than we’d hoped, it can be an understandable concern. With more of us on stricter and stricter budgets and trying to master the art of saving. Some are still turning to a payday loan when faced with a financial emergency. So, getting healthy isn’t always as simple as signing up for a gym and heading out to buy a week of healthy meals. Here’s our tips on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle without causing further strain to your finances.
Ditch The Gym Membership And Get Outside
With standard gym memberships costing anything between £10-100 a month or sometimes even more dependant on the gym, it’s safe to say that it’s a cost not many of us are willing to pay out. In fact, it’s this cost alone that can turn people away from even trying in the first place.
However, ditching the treadmill and heading out for a run around the block can mean you come face to face with more challenges and give yourself a more substantial work out. The fresh air can also be amazing for your mental health, offering an alternative that’s not only cheaper but a better experience overall.
DIY Your Own Equipment
Just because a gym can be expensive, it doesn’t mean that you need to forget all about workouts with equipment – your home can actually provide plenty of opportunities to get fit. You can choose how involved you want to get, whether that’s DIY-ing your own pull bar in an empty doorway, or just using large bottles of water or cartons of milk as weights.
Your stairs also work as an effective exercise tool, and even just doing daily chores like cleaning, hoovering or raking leaves can be turned into exercise just by working a little harder. You don’t always have to spend hundreds of pounds on purchasing your own gym equipment – you can use everyday items that are already lying around your home.
Change Up Your Diet
It’s a common story – you head to the supermarket, looking to buy your weekly shop. You wander around the aisles, trying to pick up the healthiest possible products but then you’re faced with the choice between a 99p large packet of crisps, or a £3 box of nutrition bars – you’d be forgiven for thinking that eating healthily means spending more. However, this is thankfully not the case.
By using coupons, opting for supermarket own brand foods and even just buying in bulk and cooking off larger portions of a meal to freeze, you can save money over the course of the month without compromising on your health. In addition to this, healthy food can be expensive when you shop in branded supermarkets, especially when looking at fresh produce.
Spend some time looking around for the best deals – go fruit picking with your family, or visit a farmers market to really get a glimpse of rural life and to find the best prices for food. There’s plenty of options to ensure you stick to a budget while maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Don’t Get Too Complicated
With countless reports claiming that we all make exercise far too complicated, it’s also worth noting that complicated work out routines can actually work out a lot more expensive than we initially think. Say you start with a standard gym membership – you’ll then add on a session or two with a personal trainer, splash on protein shakes and other supplements, and the cost of equipment can also add up. That’s not including purchasing meals prepped by companies rather than bulk cooking for yourself!
By cutting out these costs and replacing an over-complicated routine with regular standard exercises and even a workout video or two on YouTube, you’ll see yourself saving a considerable amount of money.
While getting healthy is something more and more of us are looking to do, the costs can often turn people away before they even get started. Hopefully, this guide will help you find the motivation to get fit, knowing that you don’t have to spend a fortune to do so.
