How to Prioritize Healthy Living on a Budget

Maintaining healthy habits doesn't have to be expensive or a luxury. In fact, living a healthy lifestyle and maintaining a sensible budget can easily go hand-in-hand.

My love for wellness began the summer between my junior and senior year of college. During my first corporate internship, I noticed a correlation between sitting at a desk all day and feeling tired and sluggish. I started to implement healthier habits to have more energy, exercise regularly, and improve my diet. Because I was still a college student, I was on a tight budget and learned how to implement healthier habits without having much money to spend on fancy products and gym memberships. Though I graduated from college many years ago, I have maintained many of these same habits and have been able to keep a modest budget. Here are my best tips for prioritizing healthy living while spending less.

Set a Clear Budget

Before diving in and outlining how much you want to spend on wellness activities, it is important to understand where you are financially, and how much room you realistically have in your budget. Doing a Financial Health Check with a BECU Financial Health Check Specialist is a great way to review your finances and determine how much you can spend on wellness-related activities each month. I did one at the beginning of 2019 and it completely reshaped how I look at my finances. I saw more opportunities to optimize my budget, and felt empowered to take control of my spending. BECU's better budgeting webinars are also a great resource to help you improve your money management skills.

From there, it is a good idea to establish spending categories in your budget tracker. I use the BECU Money Manager tool to help me track my spending and stay within budget.

In addition to being a healthier choice, eating at home is a more spending-friendly choice. When you break down the cost per serving, eating home-cooked meals can equate to nearly half the cost of restaurant food or takeout (though if you are going out to eat, here are 7 tips for dining out on a budget). When making budget-friendly food options, try your best to focus on meals made from whole, unprocessed ingredients that can be found in the perimeter of the grocery store. Focusing on fresh produce (frozen produce can also be a great budget-friendly option if you need your produce to stay fresh longer), simple protein sources, and fewer foods that come in excessive packaging can be a great way to trim your splurges as these foods are often less expensive.

Consuming organic produce is becoming increasingly popular due to concerns about pesticides and the quality of conventional produce. However, buying organic can often be more expensive. To stay within my budget and consume as much organic food as possible, I like to use the Dirty Dozen vs. Clean Fifteen rating system. Each year, the Environmental Working Group determines which produce items are more likely to be contaminated with pesticides, also known as the Dirty Dozen, and which are more likely to contain fewer pesticides, also known as the Clean Fifteen. I often try to buy organic if consuming an item that is listed on the Dirty Dozen list, and buy conventional if I'm eating an item that is on the Clean Fifteen list. I personally aim to grocery shop once per week, but you can find a groove that works best for your family and budget.

Additionally, options such as local farmer's markets and CSA subscriptions (CSA stands for Community-supported agriculture where you can get fresh local product on your doorstep) can be a great way to get local, healthy foods for budget-friendly prices.

With planning and intention, feeling great and prioritizing your health can truly be done on a budget using resources like Passport discounts. Plus, careful spending through the Money Manager tool can help you get there.