Girl's Behavior 
Guy's Behavior 
Flirting 
Dating 
Relationships 
Fashion & Beauty 
Health & Fitness 
Marriage & Weddings 
Shopping & Gifts 
Technology & Internet 
Break Up & Divorce 
Education & Career 
Entertainment & Arts 
Family & Friends 
Food & Beverage 
Hobbies & Leisure 
Other 
Religion & Spirituality 
Society & Politics 
Sports 
Travel 
Trending & News 
"I cannot eat healthy because I don't have a lot of money."
Ah, this old gem. This is the excuse right up there with, "I can't afford the gym, so therefore I cannot workout." If you truly want to make your health a priority in your life, you WILL find a way to make it happen. It's that simple. You are certainly not the first, nor will you be the last person to ever go through life on a tight budget. You don't need to be dripping in riches to maintain your health. Is it fifty times easier to do practically everything in life when you are rich or are well off--of course, but that does not mean that you can't get healthy on a limited budget. You just have to try a bit harder, and of course, sacrifice for what you want.
1. Drink Water
Water is 100% free. Grab a cup, a jug, a container, go to work, school, the local park, the tap, and fill her up. Drinking water which is one of only two beverages you will ever need in life, is one of the cheapest and easiest things you can do to not only help you stay hydrated, but to significantly cut out wasted calories found in high calorie sodas, coffee and juice drinks, and alcohol. The only other beverage you'll need is milk for maintaining bone health. You don't need soda. You don't need alcohol. You don't need coffee drinks. You especially don't need these things if you are going to say to someone you are struggling on a budget and can't afford much. How much is a drink at a bar? How much is that designer coffee? How much are you wasting on soda and juices and juice drinks that contain loads of sugar an unwanted calories? That is part of the major reality that few are willing to face--that they must give up not only the expensive bad habits, but give up things that are proven to be detrimental to their health and waist lines.
2. Slow Down On Your Meat Consumption
Meat can be expensive. You can save quite a bit of money if you look for sales, especially during holiday seasons, and stick some in the freezer for later, but a more reliable way to cut down on the expense is to cut back on your overall meat consumption. Instead of 5, 6, 7 days a week, try only eating meat 4 or less times a week. Whole grains, beans, fresh veg are less expensive overall than buying packs of meat for an entire week. Also look for cheaper cuts of meat especially when it comes to beef.
3. Shop Your Dollar Store/Ethnic Stores
Dollar stores have recently gone into the business of selling not only name brand items that you would find at your local grocer, but also fruits and vegetables. Many stores have surplus items or items that are getting close to their expiration date, so they are sold to Dollar Stores to sell to you. I've seen organic items, soy milk, fruits-fresh and frozen, veg, salad dressings, slow cooker starters, wheat bread, water, you name it. There are sooo many people out there who are struggling to make ends meet, who are on budgets, and/or who just don't want to pay full price for items that shop at Dollar Stores. A second option is ethnic food stores. If you eat a lot of ethnic food or want to start, hit up these stores that often sell foreign items at a quite a bit of a discount. Google the shops to find out where they really good ones are in your neighborhood.
4. Coupon
We live in the wonderful internet age where you can simply sign up with an email to your local grocer to be notified when sales are happening and to easily download tons of coupons. This takes mere seconds to do and could save you potentially hundreds in a years time, but how many people out there claiming they are broke and struggling, take the time to do this? My friend is a hard core couponer. She gets three newspapers and clips away, and gets double coupons and discounts, and such like you wouldn't believe because she wants to save her money to spend on other things. If you want to save money and find ways to maintain your health, you will put in the effort which if you're doing the internet thing, isn't even anything to sweat about.
5. Buy Generic/Store Brand
Where I live, we have a local grocery store chain here that makes killer store brand products, but there are quite a few big box stores that make their own products too which are equal to that of the flashy box brands. A lot of people don't realize that a lot of these same flashy product brands do a lot of the manufacturing of store brand products too. You aren't always paying for better quality, but rather the advertising and commercials and the name of the brand. I'm not saying you're going to love every generic product, but experiment and save by going to the cheaper products and do some side by side comparisons of ingredients and calories.
6. Make Your Own Lunch
The cost of buying your lunch everyday, even if it's off of a dollar menu is far more expensive and much more detrimental to your health, than spending a few seconds to put together a lunch for yourself. Bread, turkey, lettuce, tomato, mustard what have you, are all cheap ingredients that can be found or pilfered from a friend (as in the case of mustard packets). Throw in a small apple, banana, water, and some baby some carrot sticks and your good to go. A dollar menu might seem convenient and cheap, but what is that costing you? If your goal is to get healthy and lose weight, how is eating a 2-3 dollars worth of 1000 calorie products going to help you. You want to be able to work smarter, not harder, and by eating crap lunches like dollar store menus is going to give you little return for the hard work you may be putting in with your exercise.
7. Stop Wasting Food
So often we are throwing precious money down the drain by letting food rot away in the fridge. Try buying in bulk which saves you money as well, and portioning out what you need for the day or week, and then freezing the rest. Fruit can definitely be frozen for use at a later date as can bread. Also if you have a bad habit of letting fruits and vegetables rot, try getting into the canned or frozen variety (can be found at your dollar store freezer section) which can be just as healthy if you look for items with low/no sodium or sauces and items in their own 100% juices. That way these items will keep on shelf until needed, and can easily be used in whatever you're cooking as they don't require any real chopping or preparing other than to pour them into what you're cooking/baking. In addition, buy smaller plates. Put smaller portions on your plate by virtue of a smaller plate to begin with and then get seconds only truly if you aren't full rather than pile it on, not be that hungry and then trash it wasting money you could be spending on more food.
8. Grow and Eat with the Season
Seasonal food is much cheaper to buy. Buy those fruits/veg on sale and stick them in your freezer until needed. Also grow your own food. An herb garden is super easy to grow. You just need a window sill with a good source of light and a little water. Things like basil and cilantro are really prolific plants that need little attention, and will keep producing even when snipped. Consider starting or joining a local co-op if you don't want to try your hand at gardening alone for some great tips and of course, fresh cheap straight from the earth food.
Where there is a will, there is definitely a way. Stop making excuses and make your health and fitness a priority. You don't need a ton of money or a gym to get healthy. Do what thousands of people with very little have done for all their lives, and find ways to save money and stretch your dollar. The internet is a rich resource on additional tips, meal plans, and budgeting strategies to make the most out of what you have. Go for a walk or go to the local jungle gym in a park to get your exercise in, take the stairs, park farther away. It's often the little things that go a very long way.
Most Helpful Opinions