Finding the desire to get healthy is easy. Finding affordable resources to help you reach your goals can be a bit more challenging. And while you might want a thin body, you certainly don’t want a thin wallet. So what is a budget conscious, health aspiring person to do? Make the most of the many economical resources out there!
There are a plethora of tools and resources that can help guide your healthy transformation. You just need to know where to look. But you can live healthy without triggering the collapse of your weekly or monthly budget.
Where should you start? Of course with these 5 Ways to Get Healthy on a Budget!
Find Budget Friendly Ways to Shop-
It isn’t an accident that economically disadvantaged areas have tons of fast food restaurants. Eating unhealthy is cheap. But now there are more ways than ever before to get affordable, healthy food. You can buy food online through Amazon Fresh or Thrive Market. You can get economical produce through Costco or Trader Joes.
Shopping for just 1 or 2 people? Don’t worry about spending money on large amounts of produce that you’ll just throw away. Choose delivery services like Blue Apron and and Sun Basket that enable you to plan meals from weekly menus. You get the exact amount of ingredients you need in a box with recipes. There is no waste and these services can be surprisingly economical.
Buy in Bulk –
Healthy Food can become amazingly affordable when you buy in bulk. For instance, baby carrots have a relatively long shelf life, so purchasing a bulk bag can be a smart choice. And having a healthy snack always available helps create good eating habits. Or what about purchasing free range meat in bulk? Meat is much better for your body (and more humane for the animal) when the animal eats healthy and has the ability to roam. But free range meat doesn’t usually come with a budget friendly price tag. Purchasing in bulk drives down the price significantly.
Many bulk stores or ordering services will try to tempt you with bulk cookies or potato chips. Skip those unhealthy options and leave room in the fridge for foods that nourish.
Use Free Online Resources –
There are tons of tricks and tools available online to keep your health lifestyle on track. You can find healthy recipe websites based on preferred way of eating or food allergies. You can use simple apps like Evernote to keep track of your food intake and activity level. I prefer this app to create diet awareness to calorie counting apps which give you a narrow view of how you’ve been eating. Or if you’re determined to have a calorie counter, try My Food Diary which goes beyond just calories to analyze how your diet stacks up in other ways such as trans-fat intake, fiber intake, and sodium.
And look for a Facebook Group to help keep you on track with your healthy lifestyle. I always include a Facebook Group with all my programs and I think community support is one of the best ways to stay accountable to your goals.
Get inspired
You have an advantage when you start a new health program. You’re so motivated that any sacrifice seems almost inconsequential. But what happens a week or two later when your motivation wanes? Protect yourself from the start by finding ways to remain inspired. Look beyond the diet book to keep you going. Try an inspirational book like one of my favorites, The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks.
Or start with a 10 day free subscription to FMTV. FMTV is an amazing resource that contains all sorts of inspiration and guidance to keep you on track with your goals. They have exclusive interviews with leaders in the health and wellness industry, detoxes, yoga, easy food preparation, hard to find documentaries and more. And all this inspiration and guidance is very budget-friendly with the first 10 days free and then $9.99 a month or $99 a year to keep your membership thereafter. Claim Your FREE 10-Day Trial With FMTV!
Look for Sales –
Many people shop with their emotions. Feeling out of shape? Time to buy a fitness tracker. Feeling bloated? Time to stock the fridge with vegetables. But a change in attitude will save you a lot of money. Even if you aren’t ready to make a change, realize that you probably will be someday. So why not look for a sale and be prepared?
Purchase frozen vegetables on sale and be ready for your New Year’s Resolution in January. See a great sale on a fitness tracker? Get it now so that you’re not paying top dollar when you’re feeling most vulnerable. Not using your gym? See if you can freeze your membership instead of canceling. That way you won’t have to pay a new initiation fee when you’re ready to get started again. And you might be able to lock-in your current monthly rate. Make the most of your health budget by thinking ahead.
You can’t afford not to be healthy.
The bottom line is that ill health has a huge financial toll as we age. And so taking care of your health now is one of the best things you can do for your health budget.
To live healthy you need two things. First, you need economical healthy food and exercise. And there are great resources for getting a good price on healthier foods. Nutritious eating doesn’t have to mean giving up an arm and a leg.
Second, you need some type of community or support system to keep you on track. And as I mentioned, support can be as easy as inspirational book or video or a Facebook group. But you need a plan for when your initial motivation starts to wear thin.
So how can you make the most of your budget for healthy living? Save a few dollars and start living the best life possible today!
Sounds like good and affordable ways for people to get in shape. What I find most amazing is that an abundance of people feel they have to pay for an expensive gym or something similar in order to exercise. What’s wrong with walking, jogging, rollerblading, cycling or any other exercise that’s easy and cheap to do?
There are definitely an abundance of free ways to stay in shape. It is just a matter of what will work for you and if you’re good at staying self-motivated.
Your post reminds of a comment a friend of mine made recently that the U.S. is the only country in the world where poor people are overweight. Guess its the abundance of fast food restaurants. The local formers’ market where I live just started a program where you can use food stamps. Not sure how widespread this is, but it’s a good step.
Ken, they’ve actually done studies on obese people from Westernized countries and compared them to starving people in third world countries. The crazy thing is obese people from Westernized countries are as malnourished as those who are starving in third world countries because things like fast food are so depleted of nutrients. Obese people are very often malnourished which helps explain the constant hunger.
I have recently noticed that the wholesale store near us carries more healthy organic veggies and fruits. It helps us be able to eat healthily and not spend too much money on veggies.
It is great that you found that Sabrina. Hopefully that will be helpful to your family.
Erica, one really good way to be able to afford to eat healthy is to buy seasonal. this is a perfect time for people to stock up on fresh vegies at Farmers’ Markets and freeze enough to last until next season. And it’s so easy – most vegies can now be frozen without blanching so basically all you do is wash, chop and freeze (in meal size bags).
Great tip, Lenie! I’ve talked about that one myself in older posts about getting the most bang for your buck on grocery shopping.
It is not difficult to stay healthy but an individual must want it with all their heart. There are cheaper options of fruit and vegetables. I agree that unhealthy food is cheaper hence why those on budgets or a lower income will opt for these.
In the UK, many people eat take aways regularly which is terrible for your health and weight. More often they are laden with fat and sugar.
It is perfectly fine to eat “bad food” from time to time. But no, you don’t want to eat fast food every single night.
This is a very great useful post. Anyone who has tried to shop healthy, knows these founds are much more expensive. I myself, always have to wait for them to be on sale.
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Ah, this is when I so wish that I could have a big garden and be able to can/freeze produce. Tough in the suburbs.
Great ideas to watch for the sales on the fitness-related equipment. Help you plan ahead and maybe encourage you to dive in to being healthier.
Buying in bulk can be a huge money saver, though I opted out of my Costco membership now that I am buying for one again. I do buy certain staple items in bulk, and that certainly helps.
Hi Erica. I completely agree with your line on how you can’t afford not to be healthy. Everyone should have access to fresh quality produce, but that isn’t quite our reality. Sales are big for me, so I tend to shop mid week. Thanks for sharing these helpful tips!
Buying in bulk at stores like Costco can help you to get a lot of the foods you should be eating like veggies and fruit. I find that I am eating more of these staples because I have them in such large quantities and they have fewer calories than fatty foods and carbs. I always cut out the food coupons in the flyers that come in the Sunday papers, too. You can often get 2 for the price of 1 deals.
Good tips Erica! Many tempt to go with the easier options available than for healthier. I agree with you when you say one cannot afford to be unhealthy. Buying in bulk seems to be a good option and cooking healthy food is something that I love.