On A Budget #4: Miscellaneous

In previous installments, we covered how to save money on home equipment, a list of basic supplements that will not break the bank and compared the cost of health food versus junk food to find out that healthy food is also friendlier on your wallet. Healthy food may leave you lighter, but it won’t leave your wallet lighter. This last installment will cover a few miscellaneous ways to make fitness more affordable for you.

Cardio:

Are you considering purchasing a treadmill or elliptical machine? Or considering getting a gym membership simply to do some walking or running? May I encourage you to enjoy the great outdoors instead? The fresh air will do wonders for you. The terrain change will likely provide more of a challenge as well. Is it more difficult to run outside because you are dependent on certain weather conditions? Possibly, but we’ve all seen people who’s treadmill turned into a place to hang clothes.

And we are all very good at coming up with excuses not to head to the gym to hit the treadmill. By why limit yourself to a treadmill or elliptical for cardio? If you open yourself up to some other options (like those discussed further on in this post), suddenly the floor in your living room or basement is all you need to get your heart thumping and lungs burning.

Food/Supplements:

Have you ever considered buying some items in bulk? Canned goods and frozen meats will last for awhile. Eating lots of chicken? Consider a 10 pound bag from Sam’s Club which will cost you about $1.80 per pound, an excellent price. Or $10 for a 12 cans of tuna. Ever purchase whey protein? Buying it in 2 to 5 pound containers will typically run you much more than $10 per pound. If you are willing to buy in larger quantities you can get than down to mid-eights from a company like TrueNutrition or even in the $5 per pound range for a 44 pound bag of whey concentrate online.

Fitness Classes:

If you’ve paid for a group fitness class you know it can be quite pricey. And paying for a gym membership monthly just to attend a few classes is even more expensive. There are cheaper options to get sweaty. Let’s not forget the abundance of old fitness DVDs you could likely find from third party sellers on Amazon or on ebay. However, it’s 2018 and there are also new higher tech options at your fingers.

Go to YouTube and type “cardio workout” and you’ll get 4.5 million results in a microsecond. Have a Roku, Amazon Fire Stick or Chromecast? You’ll likely have access to even more streaming exercise video. And if you do not mind a small fee, you can likely get even more exclusive content by your favorite streaming personality. Have a smartphone? There are numerous apps that will generate a suggested workout. I am not saying any of these are the best option or most optimal to your personal situation, but I am saying that there is no reason to spend $50 a month to attend Zumba class when you can literally find Zumba classes directly on YouTube. Congratulations, now you can do it in your pajamas. And guess what? If you don’t like the song they are playing, you can switch to a new one. Try that at your Zumba class.

Getting in better shape does not have to break the bank as I hope this series has shown. Now, go save some money!