May
11
It’s the end of the week, time to end our series about saving money while getting healthy. I decided to add a bit of fun to this Friday edition, by talking about some activities that you can do for little to no money. You might recognize some of these from my previous series about active pastimes. Well, they are indeed active, but they’re also cheap, so they fit in well to this week’s series about being fit while saving money.
Unhealthy Entertainment
Take a look at what you do for fun. Is it healthy? Most people choose activities that are sedentary for fun. For example, my favorite pastimes used to be: Movies, TV, Drinking With Friends, Video Games, Reading. All of these activities require virtually no physical movement. Essentially, I would get out of work and sit on my butt the rest of the day.
Some of these activities are cheap, some are not. Let’s take a look at the money I might spend on these:
Movies - $8 to $10 a ticket, plus around $5 for food and drinks at the theater. Some minor transportation costs as well, probably around $3 for the gas it took to get to the theater. Alternatively, I might spend $10 to rent movies and buy popcorn and snacks for the house.
TV - Minor charge for the electricity used. $60 a month for the cable bill. $5,000 for a TV (I bought a huge plasma screen back when they were still very expensive. Can probably get it today for around $2,000).
Drinking With Friends - Around $40 to 50$ a night in drinks and bar snacks. Possible cover charge of around $5
Video Games - $30 to $50 for the actual game. Around $10 to $20 in monthly subscriptions. $40 a month for broadband internet access. $2500 for a gaming computer. Minor charge for the electricity used.
Reading - Around $4 per book. I usually buy used books which reduces my cost.
Out of all these, reading is the only activity that gets me multiple hours of fun for less than $5.
Healthy and Cheap Options
Now let’s take a look at some healthier and cheaper options
Walking - Zero cost. Possible investment of around $60 in good shoes or you can do what I did and pay $100 for shoes that I can use while walking, hiking or running.
Hiking - Can use the same shoes. Around $5 in gas spent to get to where I’m going to hike. $2 more if I want to include a piece of fruit to eat while hiking.
Dancing - Possible up front investment of around $60 for shoes. An additional $5 will get you into most dance lessons and halls for the night.
Biking - Some up front investment. A bike can cost anywhere from $100 to $2000, but if you’re just doing this for fun, you’re probably going to spend around $500. An additional $100 in up front costs for things like a helmet.
Playing Sports - Some up front cost in equipment, usually under $50 to $100. After that, usually no investment.
Volunteering - No cost other than $2 to $3 in gas to get there. I am a part of an organization called One Brick, which allows me to pick and choose volunteer activities I’m interested in. I usually choose the more physically active ones, but I also try to help the causes I’m interested in, like education. You can find something similar in your neighborhood.
Are you seeing the trend here? My old activities had a high ongoing cost and many of them also had a large start up cost. My new more active choices have a relatively small start up cost (with the exception of a bike, which still costs less than a TV) and then almost no ongoing costs. Plus each one of them helps me remain active and fit. Compare that to the old activities where I sat on my butt eating snacks most of the time. So while I still read quite a bit, I try to pick my fun activities from the bottom list these days. That doesn’t mean I don’t watch the occasional movie, or play the occasional video games, but these are now the exception rather than the rule.
Go over your entertainment budget. Are you spending too much? Would you like to save a bit more money? Why not do that while being more active as well. No need to spend on a gym membership when you can actually save money while exercising.
If you have your own suggestion for a fun activity that can work off the calories while keeping money in your wallet, please post it in the comments.
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5 Responses to “HEALTH AND WEALTH; Friday fit and fun factor”
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I clicked on your comment at Techcrunch went to your blog and instantly got a good chuckle from the google banner on the right - here’s the image I saw.
Yep, that ad about the organic feminine pads comes up a lot. I guess Google sees organic in my posts and that’s the best thing they have to match. Gives me a good laugh too. Someday, I’ll figure out how to use Google Adsense better, but right now, I’m must trying to reach people
[...] Cheap entertainment Gal at 60 in 3 posted a five-part series on getting wealth out of health. Day five looks at healthy and cheap entertainment options. [...]
The bike can also be used for transportation. I don’t own a car at all, but even if you do have a car you can use your bike for errands (or even commuting, if you live close enough to work), thereby saving gas as well as wear and tear on your car.
@Canadian
Absolutely. That’s what I do. I have to use my car to commute but I try to use my bike or walk as much as possible for errands. You don’t have to give up your car, just try to avoid using it as much as possible.