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Do Fitness and Frugality Go Together?

April 19, 2021 By MelissaB 9 Comments

Fitness and Frugality

Maybe it’s just because of the impending spring-like weather, but it seems like I’ve seen a large number of fitness-related posts on many of the personal finance sites that I read.  This made me pose the question, do fitness and frugality go together?

Ways Fitness and Frugality Go Together

The answer is complicated.  Fitness and frugality can go together.  Think about this–by its very definition, frugality is the rationing and careful spending of resources.  In being frugal, we carefully budget our money.  We carefully check over the fliers and find the best deals on groceries.  Eventually, as we continue doing these things, they become second nature.  We do them almost without consciously knowing that we are.  It becomes a way of life.

Fitness is very much the same.

Ration Resources

In being fit, we ration our resources, eating only what our body needs.  This can lead to a slimmer physique and a reduced grocery bill.  There are also other ways being fit can help us ration our resources

Not Buying Junk Food

Save on Groceries by Limiting Junk FoodJunk food is expensive, and it also can be a contributing factor for piling on the pounds.  If your fit and healthy, you’ll likely buy more natural ingredients like vegetables, fruits, healthy grains, and proteins.  These can help you stay fit and lower your grocery bill.

Not Going to Restaurants

Even if you eat what you think is a healthy salad at a restaurant, you’re likely consuming many more calories, fat, and sugar than you think.  Plus, restaurant food isn’t cheap!  If you eat at home more, you’ll not only save money, but you’ll eat healthier because you know exactly what is going into your meals.  As a result, you’ll feel better.

Track Our Progress

We frugal people keep close track of how we are spending our resources and are constantly trying to find ways to improve our outcomes.

This skill can easily translate to fitness.  We can keep track of our fitness progress while also trying to run a faster mile, bench press more, and do more sit-ups and pull-ups.  This drive can make us fitter over the years.

Lower Medical Costs

People who are frugal are patient.  They’re used to waiting for a good deal.  They’re used to waiting to see their retirement grow, knowing that each bit they invest will help secure their future.

Likewise, in fitness, each exercise you do and each healthy food you eat helps future you by reducing your long-term medical costs.  Ideally, the more fit you are, the less you need to spend on medical bills in the future.

Final Thoughts

Fitness can be expensive if you let it.  You can pay for a monthly gym pass.  You can buy the latest exercise equipment.  But you don’t have to.

If you are frugal, you can find ways to save money while getting fit and improving your lifestyle.  Simply improve your diet and find frugal ways to exercise like walking, biking, running, or lifting weights at home.

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Filed Under: Frugality, Saving Tagged With: fitness, Frugality, Personal Finance, saving money

How to Authorize Another Person to Your Costco Membership

April 5, 2021 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

How Many People Can Be on Your Costco Membership?

Costco continues to be a popular chain in the United States, and it’s growing throughout the world.  As of 2020 there were over 550 Costco stores in the United States.  While the vast majority of Costco members renew their membership every year, there are still some Americans who do not want to pay for a Costco membership.  Luckily, Costco makes allowances for that.  If you don’t currently have a Costco account, you’ll want to understand Costco’s guest policy as well as how many people can be on your Costco membership.

Costco’s Guest Policy

Any member can bring up to one guest with them to the store.  However, only Costco members are allowed to make purchases.  If your guest wants to make a purchase, you will need to buy the items, and your friend will need to pay you back.

How Many People Can Be on Your Costco Membership?

Each Costco member who has a Gold Star membership is allowed to have one additional person on their membership.  This person must be in the same household and 18 years or older.

How at Authorize Another Person to Your Costco Membership

Adding an authorized user to your Costco membership is simple.  Just sign in to your account, click “My Account,” and go to “Account Details” to add the person you would like.   Then, that person can pick up their membership card at the local Costco you choose.

You can also easily change authorized users using the same steps.

How Much Is a Costco Membership?

Is a Costco Membership Worth It When Living Alone?
Photo by Henry & Co. on Unsplash

For people who don’t own a business, Costco offers two main membership types:

Gold Star Membership

A Gold Star Membership is Costco’s most basic type of membership.  This membership costs $60 per year, allows you one free household card, and is valid at any Costco worldwide.

Executive Membership

If you shop at Costco frequently or have a large family or hungry teens, you may want to consider upgrading to an Executive Membership, which costs $120.

An Executive Membership also includes one free household card and is valid at any Costco worldwide.  However, it has additional, significant benefits.  These include annual 2% reward on qualifying Costco purchases (this check is sent to use once per year, usually in the month your renewal is due), additional benefits on Costco Travel products and increased savings on other Costco services.

We have an Executive Membership, and each year, our 2% reward check is greater than the additional $60 this membership costs over the Gold Star Membership, essentially making this upgrade free.  Plus, we reap all the other benefits of an Executive Membership.

Final Thoughts

If you are on the fence about getting a Costco membership, try to see if a friend with a membership will let you accompany them to the store so you can see what it’s like, what products are offered, and how much they cost.

If you have a Costco membership, don’t forget to add a household member on to your Costco card for free.

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Filed Under: Frugality, Married Money, Saving Tagged With: Costco

Feed a Hungry Teenager Without Breaking Your Grocery Budget

March 22, 2021 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Feed a Hungry Teen

I’ve heard how expensive it is to feed a hungry teenager because they can eat everything in the house, and now I’m experiencing it firsthand.  My son isn’t even a teen—just 12—but over the last six months, he’s grown three inches and put on 20 pounds.  I used to think my husband could eat a lot, but our son can easily eat double or triple what his dad can eat.  Then an hour or two later, he’ll tell us he’s hungry again.  If you have a tween or teen, this may sound all too familiar.

However, we don’t really have enough room to raise the grocery budget, so we’re finding creative ways to keep him full.

Satisfying Foods to Feed a Hungry Teenager

There are several foods that can keep your hungry teen satisfied.

Protein

Meat can be expensive, but growing teens need protein to help them feel satiated.  We make sure to serve an ample serving of protein at breakfast and during every meal.  Some of our favorite breakfast proteins include homemade meat patties, eggs, or bacon.

For snacks, we like to make protein based snacks such as these Cacao Balls.  Between the pecans and protein powder, this snack keeps our teen full.

Healthy Carbs

Three staples in our teen’s diet are white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rice.  He often eats rice with breakfast, homemade baked French fries for lunch, and baked sweet potatoes for dinner.  These carbs help fill him up and round out his meal.  After he eats an entire plateful of food and is still hungry, we give him vegetables and one of these carbs.

Fruits

These are a great way to fill up hungry teens, especially in between meals.  I find that grapefruit is my best bet.  It’s not that expensive, and it’s large and watery, so it fills him up.  Other options include apples, pears, bananas, oranges, or whatever other fruit you have on hand.  I always buy a lot of fruit when doing my weekly shopping.

Veggies

Vegetables are another choice that aren’t that expensive.  Organic carrots are .60 a pound at Costco.  We buy the ten pound bag and prepare them as raw carrot sticks or as roasted carrots.  We also frequently give the kids hummus to dip their veggies in.  Whenever a vegetable is on sale, I stock up and make extra knowing that our son will have multiple servings.

Healthy Fats

Feed a Hungry Teen
Photo by Heather Ford on Unsplash

Healthy fat can definitely help fill up a teen.  We’re big fans of avocado.  We often make guacamole to serve with our salads and soups.  We also serve it as a snack with organic corn chips.  Coconut oil, coconut cream, and coconut milk are also great ingredients to use in muffins, smoothies, and desserts to help satiate your child.  One of our go to favorites now is Chocolate Chia Pudding.  The chia and almond milk (or sub out for coconut milk) keep him full and satisfies his sweet tooth.

Foods to Avoid

Junk Food

I know, I know, teens love this stuff.  But the truth is, they can wolf down a bag of Cheetos or chips and then be hungry just a little later because they were eating empty calories.  We like to keep the junk food to a minimum and rely on healthy staples instead.  In the long run, when it comes to teen appetites, healthy food IS cheaper.  Plus, you’re helping your child maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Fast Food

The stereotype has teen boys living off fast food.  While it is temporarily filling, if your child relies on this type of food frequently, he may be facing health issues down the road.

Final Thoughts

While teen’s appetites do ramp up tremendously in the tween and teen years, feeding them healthy food without ruining the grocery budget is possible.  Our family has a number of food intolerances, so we can’t rely on other staples that will help fill kids up like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or cottage cheese, but those are also fairly nutritious options.

What are your favorite foods to help fill your growing teen’s bottomless pit?  Please share.

Read More

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Filed Under: budget, Children, Married Money, ShareMe Tagged With: budget, grocery, grocery budget, Home, hungry teenagers, teens

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