Are you running indoors? You’re wasting money! (And other savings tips).

Mid-January is the time of slowly diminishing New Year’s Resolutions. It’s a scientific fact that changing behaviours in any significant way goes against human nature. However, even the smallest of changes can make a big impact, on both your health and your wallet. Here’s some suggestions.

Breakfast

Let me just start by stating the obvious, and saying that if you don’t eat breakfast, you should. If you do, it pays to take a good look at what you’re shoving down your throat at 6am. Case in point: I love Weetos. I always have. I’ve never grown out of them and I’ll never be ashamed to admit it.

Because I love them, I’m much more likely to eat more (I’m not the only human who behaves this way, I’m sure). As they’re not very filling, a 35g portion looks and feels tiny, so just before the New Year, I switched to porridge oats because they’re more filling. They’re much cheaper too! A box of Weetos cost me £2.68 for 500g (if I’m being honest, a box will barely last me a week). But 1 kilo of oats cost me just 75p and lasts me several times as long as the same weight in Weetos

Outdoor runs

There tends to be a rush in January. The gym is flooded with all the New Year Resolution hopefuls who will inevitably quit their new habit after just a month or two. For many people, the act of purchasing a gym membership seems sufficient. Why not save yourself the embarrassment and the glaring eyes of the gym ‘regulars’, and opt for a modest run outside? Creating a clear path for yourself – say a target of 5km runs – makes it far harder to just ‘give up’ halfway through.

People who exercise outside also report it being more enjoyable, and if you enjoy something more, it’s a no-brainer that you’re more likely to keep it up, instead of just dropping it once it becomes fashionable to do so. You save money on a gym membership too! Just how much depends on your gym of choice, but it can be anywhere from £10-£40.

Eating healthy

This is a controversial one as obesity tends to be split along class lines. However, eating healthy can actually be cheaper for you, as single mum Jack Monroe demonstrated with her career, and Cooking on a Bootstrap.

There are other free resources that you can try, such as Vegauary, and Meat Free Monday, both of which have free recipe guides on their website (as well as some wonderful cook books that you can buy).

So there we go- changing habits can be tricky, but with a bit of positive motivation, you can put the pennies back in your pocket, and the health back in your life.

Photo by Alexander Redl on Unsplash.