Fitness on a Budget

Gym memberships, organic food, fancy running shoes… let’s face it: good health can be expensive.

However, it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Follow these tips to fix yourself up without going broke…

• If you’ve got a sharp pocketknife, there’s no reason you can’t whittle yourself an elliptical.

• Peel those heavy, heavy banana skins before the cashier weighs them.

• Purchasing music is expensive and pirating music is wrong, so just compose, perform and record your own hit songs.

• Make your own Greek yogurt by Greeking up some regular yogurt.

• Eating out is really expensive so plan to eat a lot more meals at home or develop effective “dine-and-dash” strategy.

• Most personal trainers charge between $50 and $75 per session, but if you pay up front for ten or twelve, they may throw in a free session. Free personal training session! I just saved you $50 to $75! Who said I don’t know what I’m talking about? I’m serious! Who said it? Who?

• You can make your own kettlebells at home by creating a mold and pouring hot metal into it (if you have a home foundry, that is).

• Instead of buying expensive fitness books, just read them at the library. And instead of joining an expensive health club, just work out at the library. And instead of going to expensive farmer’s market, just root around in the fridge in the employee break-room at the library.

• Jumping rope is a really inexpensive way to get in an effective cardio workout; you just have to pay a couple of high-school kids to twirl the ropes for you.

• Using coupons are a good way to save money and get your heart-rate up, especially when you loudly argue with the check-out girl that you should be able to use that half-off Vlassic pickle coupon on a carton of skim milk.