With the cost of living everywhere in the news, cutbacks in our every day life is on everyone's minds - including at The Curve Coach.
While this blog post may not to be able to solve all of your financial worries or concerns, I'd like to give you some helpful hints and tips on how to reduce your spending when it comes to your fitness and training.
This blog post will cover:
Tips on how to reduce your spending on your diet
How to get your fitness levels better for free!
Help and advice on how to reduce your stress levels around worrying times
Reduce your spending on your food
It is not uncommon to associate a healthy diet and muscle growth with a cost. For example, you can find many chocolate bars at a fraction of the price of a packet of vegetables. But I've got here a list of healthy hacks to make sure you're opting for healthy foods minus the hefty price tag.
Ditch high cost protein bars
There is the assumption that to gain muscle you need to be drinking an excessive amount of protein shakes and investing in supplements...well that's not the case.
You can still get high protein from cheaper options than your average £2-£3 protein bar. You can buy Greek yogurt for less than a pound in most supermarkets and still get a substantial serving of protein with it as well.
Another option that is quite cost-effective is eggs. Hard boil or scramble up a couple of eggs after your workout as a cheaper alternative. You could probably get a few days of snacks out of one box of eggs as opposed to one protein bar that will only last you one time.
Eat seasonally
When you eat seasonally you'll find that supermarkets often discount or sell these fruits and vegetables at a cheaper price than they would be any other time of the year.
You can also visit a local fruit and vegetable stall which may be a cheaper alternative than shopping at main supermarkets.
There's a useful website called Seasonal Food Guide which will give you all of the fruit and vegetables in season wherever you are!
Sign up for a store loyalty card
Brands love telling you how they're better than each other. Sign up for a store loyalty card like.a Tesco Clubcard or Nectar card so it's benefitting your pocket as much as theirs.
You can get personalised offers based on your shopping habits so it really does pay to take 15 minutes of your day and sign up to all of these loyalty schemes!
Avoid food waste and batch make your meals
Don't let food go to waste and try and make the most out of your foods. Looks for foods that can be quite versatile like carrots for example, they can be shredded down into salads, chopped up and roasted as a tasty side dish or blended down into a soup for the colder months ahead. This keeps your weekly menu more varied.
Look for cheaper brands
It's nice to splurge every now and again but you should familiarise yourself with cheaper options at supermarkets. Which supermarket is the cheapest changes quite often so make sure you're following up to date on articles on how much the average weekly shop at supermarkets is. I advise following articles from Which? that often has regular supermarket price comparisons.
Get your fitness in for cheaper
You don't need to worry about investing in a treadmill for the living room, I've got a never ending list on how to get your fitness levels up that won't damage your bank account.
Use the stairs & walk to the gym
If you're looking to up your step intake then you don't need to think about looking in the Argos catalogue for a high tech treadmill that has all the fancy features...unless you really need it that is. You can get your step count up by taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work, or walk to the gym or shops rather than jumping in your car.
Make walking a sociable aspect and get the family involved
Walking around your local neighbourhood or park shouldn't be putting a dent into your budget. involve friends and family and if you have young kids at school why not suggest to their school friends' parents local walks in the park? You can make it active and sociable all without spending a penny.
Create a fitness group with your neighbours or colleagues
Use the power of social media and group messaging to get a group chat or page with colleagues, neighbours or old friends to share your fitness journeys together. You might find some helpful and useful tips from your peers.
You can also pitch together to share some communal exercise equipment like resistance bands or weights which should help out with the cost rather than buying it alone.
Ask work to to subsidise your gym membership
It may seem cheeky, but you'll be surprised how many gyms will offer a corporate membership. Your employer may be willing to subsidise the costs too so perhaps share any gym packages with your HR department or line manager...the worst they can say is no!
Work with coach online instead of 1-1
Training in person tends to be more expensive than online. Even though you won't be with your coach physically on the gym floor, you can still get the support and extremely good results. You can achieve results by following an online plan and you can manage your meals and nutrition gaining independence. Follow the link HERE to sing up for The Curve Coach ONLINE services to try it out.
Managing your stress levels through worrying times
Financial problems are a stress and a worry, I've been there myself and even The Curve Coach worries about the future! I've got here some useful tips that may not make finances disappear but can hopefully help you manage through the stressful times.
Talk about your financial problems
Be open about your finances with your family and friends. Everyone will encounter some money issues at least once in their lifetime so you never know your close ones may have some really useful guidance and could point out where you might be overspending.
It is important to talk about your issues rather than keeping them to yourself, you could always talk to a professional money advisor at your bank or see if your local council has any services or workshops that could help you discuss finances and current bills.
Citizens advice also has some helpful articles on how to cope with the cost of living increases and their website is updated regularly so there is always fresh information on their site.
Remove yourself from social media
All the news headlines will trickle down onto social media and the more you scroll through something you once enjoyed, could be making you worry even more. Try and reduce your time spent scrolling on Twitter and Instagram.
Explore other jobs and opportunities
There is no harm in looking at similar jobs and careers to your current role and seeing what salary bracket they are paying. A little bit extra income from another company could help you navigate your way through financial difficulties.
Now I know this blog post won't resolve all financial problems but I do hope it has given you some useful takeaways on how to reduce some costs with fitness rather than sacrifice your training all together.
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