Maybe you have already heard of Shakeology, but if you haven’t, let me tell you about it! It is this Meal Replacement Shake, that kind of acts like a vitamin. It’s your Daily Dose of Dense Nutrition. Shakeology gives me this amazing energy to make it through my busy days, has balanced out my hormone levels, gives me an overall “GOOD” feeling on the inside, and has helped me to overcome my neck pain that I suffered with for 3 years, from our car accident in 2010.
Here are 20 ways you can save money every month and put it towards something guaranteed to improve your health and change your life:
1. Replace your expensive meal of the day with Shakeology. I was guilty of doing this and I know so many people are, but are in denial. Stop wasting your money grabbing a morning coffee at Starbucks or Tim Hortons (or Monster energy drinks) or leaving work to grab a quick lunch at a fast food place or Subway! Forget those $5.00-15.00 lunches or dinners out with coworkers and friends at restaurants or even your workplace’s cafeteria. Stopping this saves you $100-$200 a month! Are you one of those people who stop at a coffee shop in the morning or go out to lunch?
2. Make your own cleaners from household goods. Use vinegar and other household supplies to make your own detergents and cleaners. We all know how expensive these are! http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/ is an amazing website, that has all kinds of great ideas for making your own laundry detergent, cleaners, Windex, Softscrub, makeup…to name just a few. I have recently started making my own cleaning products and they work so much better and have saved me $$$.
3. Bring your lunch to work. If you want to drink your Shakeology for another meal, bring your lunch to work from home. Again, this saves you money that you won’t be spending at the workplace cafeteria, fast food place or restaurant. Plus, an entire loaf of whole grain bread ($2), cans of tuna ($.50) and a selection of fruit ($2-$4) is a VERY healthy lunch and it’s affordable. Plus, that would cost you less than $10 for an entire week!
4. Prepare meals ahead of time and freeze instead of going out to eat fast food or restaurant food. Again, this saves your wallet and your health. Google “Once a month cooking” to get a better idea of what this involves. You can also do “once a week cooking. Google or look on Pinterest for “Freezer Meals“. I did this before and it saved me time and money!
5. Stop drinking soda, and drink more water. The cost of soda adds up and is nothing, but sugar and chemicals ($1.69 here for a 20 oz soda!! — if you drink 4 a day, that’s almost $7!). Drink water! It is free if you like tap water and extremely cheap for bottled. We have a filter on our fridge for our water! Your body craves water and your health NEEDS it! If you are a heavy pop/soda drinker, you will also lose weight, just by cutting this out of your every day diet! BONUS!!!
6. Purchase foods (that you’ll use) in bulk. Items such as nuts, dried fruit, grains, snacks, cereal, spices, and baking ingredients are not expensive and they last for a long time! Sam’s Club is worth the $40 a year membership!! Costco too! Costco has a good amount of Organic Food! I especially love the BIG bags of frozen veggies! Such a GREAT DEAL!
7. Stop using your credit card and go to an all cash envelope system. Google “Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover” for more info. I have also learned so much from Dani Johnson. You can find her on Facebook and YouTube and you will learn a ton from her!
8. Have a Garage Sale or sell your stuff on Ebay! We all have tons of old stuff laying around and we just continue to get more “junk”. Don’t be afraid to say goodbye to old junk, especially when you can make some money doing so! Not to mention, it makes it so much easier to get organized! People have too much stuff in their lives. Look around your house, in your closet, in the garage, and sell the things you don’t need or want.
9. Use the groceries that you have in your pantry, freezer, and refrigerator before going out to buy more food or going out to eat. We are all guilty of buying food, throwing it in the pantry or freezer and forgetting its even there. If you have chicken in the freezer, then use it! Add it to a salad, in a stir-fry or in a lettuce wrap! This past weekend, I took inventory of everything in our cupboards, pantry, and 2 refrigerators. Dani Johnson says, “If you do not go to the grocery store for the next 30 days and eat everything in your pantry, that is CASH in your kitchen!” Say this to yourself over and over…..“I’m not buying food while I still have food to eat.” Here’s the truth, some of us are shopping for groceries every other day, while our pantries and cabinets and fridges and freezers are stocked full! And half the time, we are spending money, that we don’t even have. Stop the CRAZINESS! This month, I want you to do something. I want you to eat from your pantry and quit spending money. We’ve been trying this out and it actually works! Make a commitment that you are going to eat what you already have at your house now. I want you to also do this: grab a notebook and pen and go through your pantry, cabinets, fridge, and freezer and plan your meals according to WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE. Think about it for a minute….do you even know what’s in your freezer right this very minute? Is it jammed packed with stuff that has been in there for a really long time? Eat out of your pantry, refrigerator and freezer until all of it’s gone and then go to the store. After you clear everything out, buy the food you only need for a week and don’t go back for a week. Here are my lists that I came up with and this doesn’t include 2 cupboards full.
11. Consign your old clothing or childrens items instead of just throwing them away, giving them away, or donating them. You can easily save $100-$200/season just on old toys and clothes that your kids can’t wear anymore. There is always “junk” laying around, that you can make money on.
12. Become a Beachbody Club Member as you will save 10% on Shakeology. By becoming a Beachbody Club Member, you not only receive a discount on Shakeology, but on all Beachbody products. Also, you will have full access to thousands of recipes, a customized meal planner, additional help and support from celebrity trainers and information that seems to go on forever!
13. Invite friends over instead of going out. Almost every activity at home is less expensive than going out. Invite some friends over and have a cookout or a potluck meal.
14. Master the 10 second rule. Whenever you pick something up with the intention of buying it, stop for ten seconds and ask yourself why you’re buying it and whether you actually need it or not. If you can’t find a good answer, put the item back. This has been really making a huge difference in my spending. No more mindless spending for me! In the beginning, when I first started using Shakeology, I couldn’t figure out how I was going to keep affording it month after month. But now that I put this 10 second rule to the test every single time….I don’t spend my Shakeology money on things that I do not need. I NEED my Shakeology, because I am not going back to feeling like I used to, before I ever starting using it every day to replace one of my meals.
15. Rent out unused space in your home. Do you have an extra bedroom that’s not being used? Rent it out. In our home, we could, if times were tough, rent out our entire lower level – it has a “living room,” 2 bedrooms, a full bath and a separate kitchen. If we found the right person, this would bring in a lot of extra money.
16. Get a crock pot. You can just put in your ingredients before you go to work, put it on low, and dinner is ready and waiting for when you get home. This will save you money, because you won’t be going out to dinner.
17. Go through your cell phone bill, look for services that you don’t use, and get rid of them. Sit down and go through each item on your bill and see if there’s anything there that you don’t use, like an overabundance of text messages or Internet access. Then call your cell phone company and ask to have those services eliminated. BOOM, you’re saving money. =)
18. Check out the library. Don’t look at the library as just a place to get old books. I’ve used it to use the Internet, check out movies and CDs, grab local free newspapers, and keep up on community events. Best of all, it doesn’t cost a dime.
19. Cutting down on the amount of meat you and your family eats. Eating less meat can put cash back in your pocket. Meat is very expensive, compared to vegetables, beans, quinoa, millet, brown rice, and fruits. Simply change around your regular meal proportions to include more fruits and vegetables and less meats – eat a smaller steak and a bigger helping of green beans, for example. Not only is this a healthier way to eat (saving on health costs), it’s also less expensive. I always have tons of good recipes that I post on my Facebook page. Click here ——-> One Healthy Nut Go on over and LIKE my page for lots of meatless recipes, that the whole family will love! Not to mention there are recipes here on my blog!
20. Cancel the cable or satellite channels you don’t watch. Many people with cable services are often paying for a premium package, but they rarely watch those extra channels. Get rid of those channels and put that cash back in your pocket.
If you need additional hints or advice on how to afford Shakeology and how to save money, send me a message on my Facebook page. Go here: One Healthy Nut
There are tons of other ways to save money, even for those of you who are in denial… you know who you are. The people who are too broke, but yet you still stop at Starbucks or McDonald’s on the way to work and blow $7-$10! I don’t know….all I know is that Shakeology has really improved my health beyond my expectations. I have never felt better. Want a simple way to transform your health? All it takes is one glass of Shakeology a day. Hate eating veggies? Works like a salad! Tastes like a dessert! Transform your health in 30 days, or you don’t pay! Beachbody offers a bottom of the bag guarantee which basically lets you try it for an entire month and if you don’t find it worth it, they refund your money. Please contact me today to find out more about how Shakeology can improve your health! Love you guys!! Sherri
