If you’re looking for ways to save money, creating a healthier lifestyle could be a way to do this. Adopting a healthy fitness routine and diet could help you save money in many different ways, which goes beyond simply saving on how you exercise and what you buy to eat
To many people, saving money through healthy living may seem like a contradiction. Eating a diet filled with junk food and takeaway meals is often cheaper than a varied and healthy one that incorporates fruits, vegetables, top quality fats, proteins, and fiber. How then, can a healthy lifestyle possibly cost less?
In order to find the answer to this question, you need to think about a healthy lifestyle as more than just eating a balanced diet. Consuming good, nutritious food is a big part of this, but it is often other aspects of a healthy lifestyle that can help generate the large cost savings that are so often talked about with healthy living.
Some of the ways in which you can save money through a healthy lifestyle include:
- Saving on gym memberships— By incorporating more exercise into your daily routine, you may not need to pay for the gym at all! Think about making small changes, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to the shops or getting off the bus a stop early. You could also take advantage of free or low-cost workout facilities, like public pools and running tracks or outdoor exercise equipment placed in parks. These savings could help cover the cost of nutritious, fresh food, while also helping you feel healthier and happier.
- Saving on petrol – If you’re walking more to improve your fitness, you may get the added bonus of spending less on petrol. The more you walk, the less often you’ll need to fill up the car. That might also mean putting less mileage on the odometer, which could mean lower maintenance costs, too!
- Saving on healthcare costs — A good diet and lifestyle could help you live a longer, healthier life. This could save you money in a number of different ways. You’ll likely need fewer prescription medications, as well as over-the-counter drugs for common illnesses. You might also pay less for private health insurance and life insurance, as healthier individuals generally pay lower premiums on these types of products.
- Saving on smoking— Smoking can be a huge expense every month, and it certainly does not have a place in a healthy lifestyle. Depending on how much you smoke, the cost savings that may result thanks to this one change could be surprisingly large. For example, an average smoker in New Zealand might save around $10,800 a year! Beyond the cost of the cigarettes themselves, quitting smoking could also factor into lowering your healthcare and some insurance costs.
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to save money by living a healthier lifestyle that go beyond diet and nutrition. However, if you’re still concerned about food costs, there are some simple steps you could take to help lower your grocery bill, too.
- Eat less— While this might sound obvious, eating less could make a difference to your health and your wallet. Managing your portion sizes is key, and it may take some time to retrain your brain (and your stomach!). Eating more slowly could help, giving your stomach time to signal the brain that it’s full. You might find that you actually need less food to feel full and satisfied than previously thought.
- Don’t drink your kilojoules – Sugary drinks, including fruit juices, may be relatively cheap, but they can still cost more than water. They’re also high in kilojoules, which can sneakily add to your waistline. Bringing a reusable bottle with you and filling it from the tap or water fountains is cheaper and healthier.
- Reduce you meat consumption— Meat is generally the most expensive item on most people’s grocery lists. It can also be one of the unhealthiest. Red meat especially has been tied to some serious health risks in people who eat it regularly. Reducing your meat consumption could be an easy way to improve your overall health and help lower your food expenses as well.
- Try cheaper proteins – Cutting meat from your diet (even if it’s just one or two meals each week) might be worrisome. Your body needs protein, and you may wonder if you’ll be getting enough without incorporating meat into every meal. In this case, cooking with other types of proteins could be a good swap. Foods like chickpeas and other legumes, nuts, eggs, Greek yogurt and even cottage cheese can give your body the protein it needs, but at a lower cost.
Improving your diet and overall health doesn’t have to be expensive. Making positive changes to your diet, fitness and overall wellbeing can also be an effective way to help you save money