As I’ve gotten older, I’ve really started trying to eat a lot healthier. I used to be the epitome of eating poorly, always wanting fatty fried foods and I still do on occasion. That’s been the biggest reason why it’s been such a hard adjustment for me, but I am getting a lot better at it since my body is starting to desire healthier foods as I get older. My main challenges with eating healthy was that it always seemed to be too expensive and inconvenient to do compared to eating bad. I knew that in order to get on track I needed to find ways to make eating healthy easier and more cost efficient in order to effectively add it to my daily routine. Once it becomes part of the routine, it’s so much easier to make it work and make it successful for you.
One of the big money traps we can fall into is eating at work. If you have a job anything like mine, you may eat breakfast and lunch at work each day. Not only does it do a number on your wallet, but it can do even more damage to your health. In our age of fast food and quick eating, it’s hard to find quality food for cheap when you’re at work. So what do you do? I’m lucky enough to work somewhere that at least makes an attempt to offer some healthy alternatives, so I have been able to come up with a nice breakfast routine that gets my day off to a healthy start in my body as well as my wallet. Instead of the sausage, bacon, and eggs or even the high fat muffins, I’ve been able to make breakfast work with a 32oz cup of water, a banana, and another fruit (usually an apple or an orange). Drastic change? Definitely. But it’s really been all for the better.
Here’s a breakdown of how my daily breakfast has changed:
Previous
Bacon, eggs, and sausage (or muffin): $1.50 - $3.00
Tea or Juice: $1.25 - $1.75
Total: $2.75 - $4.75
Current
Banana and another fruit (apple or orange): $1.05 - $1.25
32oz Water: $.10
Total: $1.15 - $1.35
As you can see, the monetary gains are pretty substantial (at least half) and that’s not even considering the dramatic health improvements with the new breakfast plan. Over the course of a month the savings amount to anywhere between $32 to $68 dollars, and that’s extra money I get for improving my health. Not too bad of a deal I think. Whenever you can squeeze more money out of your budget, it’s a plus. But when you can do it and improve you health at the same time, it’s an obvious win-win.
The great part about changing your diet for the better is that it can give you an emotional boost as you start to feel more energized. That boost can propel you to continuing to eat better for every meal (which is my next step) because that initial progress makes doing more that much easier. With the cost of health care rising at alarming rates, anything preventative you can do for your health is a smart financial decision. Just take it one step at a time (like breakfast) and work your way up from there. That’s where I’m starting out and it feels great already.
What are some of the ways you’ve made smart decisions that are both good for your health and your finances?
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:11 am
Well to save some more money you could try brewing tea in the morning at home. Saves a buck a day. Simply put it on before you go to the washroom or something and then once your done poor and enjoy, the whole process only takes a few minutes and it’s cheap. Another thing to try to get a whole breakfast quickly is to try Vector cereal. These are the Nutritional facts (with milk from the cereal off my box (per 300ml of cereal)):
-285 cal
-13g of protein
-3.2g of fat
-21g of sugar
-2.7g of fiber
-470mg of sodium
-25% vitamin A
-40 vitamin D
-39 E
-33 C
-34 B1
-41 B2
-31 B6
-37 B12
-25 Calcium
-29 Iron
et cetera ….
and a bunch of other things, it’s like a vitamin supplement haha.
One down side is that it is twice as expensive as other cereals.
April 7th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
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