Yesterday, my friend asked me how many times a week I go to yoga. I responded, “Twice, because it’s $15 a class, and I can’t spend that much money.” Isn’t that sad? I can’t go to yoga more often because I can’t afford it?
I’ve been trying to work on budgeting now that I’m moving in less than a month, and I realized that a lot of my spending comes from healthyness.
First, I can only realistically afford to go to yoga twice a week for the rest of the month. That means I’ll spend $120 on yoga in 30 days. That’s not cheap. As good as yoga is for my mind and body, it’s tough to justify spending more money on it when I could do it for free in my room.
The next cost comes from my workout clothes. Normally, I can run in an old t-shirt and athletic shorts, but lately, wearing cotton has made me overheated on longer runs. That means I have to go to a sporting goods store and buy dry-fit athletic wear. ca-ching. (I don’t even want to think about when my shoes hit their limit.)
Finally, food. Granted, I live at home right now and don’t need to go food shopping, but the cost of healthy foods is going to add up. I’d much rather buy fresh fruit or healthy snacks over frozen dinners and chips. That all adds up too.
All in all, I know I’ll be able to afford these things down the road, but it’s going to mean I stick to a tight budget!
Think about it this way though. Clothes are a one shot buy. And if you’re looking to buy healthy food, you can always cut corners. Canned chicken and tuna is cheap, and if you go low sodium they are healthy. Learn to quarter whole chickens and freeze it (whole chickens/turkeys are like 89 cents a pound). And buying canned fruit, even if it has syrup, is a cheap way to get your peach on. Just wash off all of the syrup in a colander before you do anything with it. Lettuce and stuff is gross canned, but you can grow it at home on your windowsill. And a pack of seeds is 3.50 🙂