Zero Budget Ideas

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melissamarah
melissamarah Posts: 168 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi folks!

Are you as broke as me? I'm only working part-time right now, as an after school nanny. My husband also only works part-time at a coffee house, so we're barely scraping by. The upside to this is I don't have money to spend on BS products like pills or shakes. On the downside, I don't have money for a gym membership or workout DVDs. I'm sure I'm not the only one here on a tight budget. I was thinking we could share ideas on ways to lose weight on no money. Here are a few of mine:

1. I made my own kettlebells. I filled two laundry detergent bottles with water, and they're each about 10 lbs. I'm planning on checking out Fitness Blender to see if there are any good kettlebell workouts. One of my MFP friends also gave me the idea of when the 10 lbs. becomes too easy, I should fill the bottles with sand.

2. Crockpot meals! When you figure out how many meals you get with some of them, each meal turns out to be super cheap.

3. I've been using a free C25K app, called Simple C25K. It beeps every time I should start running or walking. I'm on Week 3, and so far so good.

Anyone else have cheap or free ways to get fit?

Replies

  • melissamarah
    melissamarah Posts: 168 Member
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    Bump.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    I'm very systematic with what food I buy. And absolutely 0% food waste. Like ZERO. Whether almonds are cheaper/better for you than walnuts. How much it would save me per month to switch to powdered milk? Like, buying huge family-size packages of frozen meat when they're on sale. Or buying whole chickens and making it work for 3-4 different meals. I save the ends of vegetables so I can make homemade broth and save on that. I make homemade seitan. Homemade dressing. Homemade tomato sauce. Homemade jams. All kinds of homemade things with the ingredients that are on sale at the farmer's market for dirt cheap. Cabbage on sale? Tonight we make CRAPLOADS of kimchi! Make my own bread. Make my own biscuit mix. Make my own chili powder. Make my own worcestershire sauce. But ONLY if it is indeed cheaper in the long run.

    None of my staple foods are sacred. No habit can't be re-examined. No dish can't be made cheaper. Then once I've made it as cheap as possible, then how can I increase it's nutritional value without increasing the cost?

    It's like a game. I have charts and spreadsheets and lists and diaries of what things cost when.
  • melissamarah
    melissamarah Posts: 168 Member
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    How do you make kimchi?! My husband loves the stuff.
  • lowfatveg
    lowfatveg Posts: 19 Member
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    Bump
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    How do you make kimchi?! My husband loves the stuff.

    LMGTFY. This basic recipes describes the process. It takes a few days, though, to ferment.
    http://www.chow.com/recipes/29505-basic-napa-cabbage-kimchi-kimchee

    But I don't use a lot of those ingredients when I'm poor. Just Napa cabbage, kosher salt, sriracha, garlic, sugar, ginger [the last five I always have on hand. If I'm rich when cabbage is next-to-free at the farmer's market, I'll add fish sauce]. Oh and I rinse most of the salt off after it's done the original soaking, just so the final product has less sodium.
  • melissamarah
    melissamarah Posts: 168 Member
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    Awesome, thanks!

    I've seen a lot of threads about giving yourself non-food rewards for hitting small goals. But they're all about buying yourself something. Anyone have any cheap/free ideas?
  • Seajolly
    Seajolly Posts: 1,435 Member
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    Never forget about the library! Mine is a great resource for workout DVDs and books on eating healthy for cheap.
  • Marymoe138
    Marymoe138 Posts: 68 Member
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    Youtube always has great ideas for workouts and I find that looking on Pinterest can provide additional ideas on workouts as well as recipes for limited budgets.
  • curly1980
    curly1980 Posts: 117 Member
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    Hi, I have a family of 4 to feed on a low income and I have found some fantastic recipes on Allrecipes and on the Goodfood websites. I buy a lot of food discounted like chicken, pork etc in the supermarkets at the end of the day then freeze them straight away. I have just discovered lentils too and I manage to sneak them into the kids meals and it bulks up stews and casseroles. I do have very boring meals as I eat lots of the same thing over a few days so I don't waste anything. I generally eat a different meal to everyone else in my family as I'm the only girl and my fiance and 2 boys are typical English pie and mash people! I eat a lot of eggs and I can make a small pack of chicken last 4 meals if I portion it up before I freeze it.

    Exercise wise I have Sky so I record a lot of workouts on Fitness TV and I use YouTube to search for workouts like 30 Day Shred or just simply walking.

    I used to use the excuse that I couldn't afford to diet but I'm learning how to make it work,

    I do sympathise as you have to think about everything that little bit more when watching the pennies.
  • melissamarah
    melissamarah Posts: 168 Member
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    i just finished my first little workout on Fitness Blender. I recommend that site! It's free, and you can find workouts that fit with what equipment you have (or no equipment), time, and level of fitness. I also found the voiceover explaining each movement very helpful.

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