Yes, it’s not a myth, being healthy and taking care of yourself can be expensive (groan). BUT…if you know where to go, I assure you, it is possible to save the cash and still be the picture of fitness.
Firstly, let’s address the building blocks of the healthy lifestyle, Fruit & Veg. I’m declaring an AVOID ALL CHAIN SUPERMARKET rule. If you’re struggling with money then Marks&Spencer, Tesco and Sainsbury’s are not your knights in shining armour, think more along the lines of the evil queen disguising herself in Snow White – what she’s offering you is shiny and appealing but there is a terrible cost. Now while our supermarkets don’t lace their fruit packages with poison, there is still a lethal bite involved when it comes to cost. The point is, you can go somewhere cheaper and in the process, you’ll be supporting local businesses.
On North Road there are two places I recommend:
1) North Road Foods
2) Robinson’s greengrocers
Granted, sometimes they might not have what you’re looking for (if it’s not in season) and their stock does go off a lot quicker, but the amount of money you save is ridiculous.
I was really interested to compare the difference so I did a little bit of research, and a fruit and veg shop in Tesco that came to £13.80 was a teeny £4.10 at North Road Foods…need I say more?They sell things like cereal, pasta and chocolate too, so go see for yourselves! Save some money! North Road, I kid you not, is your yellow-brick road to the Emerald City of NO OVERDRAFT.
Meat is pretty much down to you. Most supermarkets do have deals.
Marks&Spenser are quite good with their ‘mix and match’ offers, giving you the option to pick 3 packets of different frozen meats for £10.Tesco charges £4 for every 490g packet of frozen chicken breasts (also 3 for £10 or 2 for £7) and at Sainsbury’s you’re looking at 460g for £2.95But the winner today is ICELAND, which sells a whopping 1.5kg of chicken breasts for only £5.I’d never been to Iceland before I came to Durham, simply because there isn’t one in my local area, but since living out in second year, I’ve found it to be just what I needed to help budget my spends. If you’re more inclined to Tesco or Sainsbury’s, I seriously must encourage you to expand your supermarket experience – it could just save you a great lump of money.
As far as exercise is concerned you’ve got quite a few options. Yes the gym is an obvious one, but it’s quite frankly the most expensive too. To be fair, college gyms are extremely reasonable in comparison to any you’d find locally around Durham so that’s always worth a go.
If you want to save even more money, you could just join a sport team or society. Some are competitive yes, but not all. If you just want something to get you breaking a sweat a couple of times a week then a college netball or hockey team is the clear direction to go in!
Not only that but membership would on average equate to something like £10 a year, a MASSIVE SAVING!
If that’s still not good enough for you and you still think “Nah, I could save more” then look no further than…well…what’s in front of you. Take advantage of your location! We’re in Durham, so there’s no room for the excuse “I can’t exercise because I can’t afford the gym membership”. You can get outside and go jogging (there’s plenty of hills so just think of that as you increasing your incline on the treadmill).
And if you don’t like jogging, do a circuit walk and enjoy the views at the same time. What’s better, this is free of charge.
So don’t let yourself give the petty excuse that you can’t afford to have a healthy lifestyle. If that’s what you want, go for it (without being afraid of denting the student loan).