How to overcome the cost of wellness for students

As students, we all remember when parents dropped us off to halls at the start of term, reminding us to eat well and get some exercise. Student lifestyles are typically associated with copious amount of alcohol and an abundance of Pot Noodle. However, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is not only important to many students, but also a rising trend.

Wellness now can often come with a premium price tag, that for many is inaccessible. From the price of gym memberships, wholesome organic food and sustainable living, companies have cashed in on ever-evolving trends surrounding fitness and eating clean. Over the last few years, claims that a healthy lifestyle is inaccessible to the average student has been a reoccurring headline. In some respects, this can be true. Yet many students do not realise that with some basic adjustments, wellbeing can be achieved on a budget.

Often, people pay more for convenience, so change pre-prepared meals for fresh ingredients that you can cook at home

Switching up your diet can be an excellent start to tackling wellbeing at a reduced cost. To save money, opt for loose fruit and vegetables at the supermarket, and switch your coco-pops for ordinary muesli or porridge, which is often cheaper. Often, people pay more for convenience, so change pre-prepared meals for fresh ingredients that you can cook at home. Freezing meals will save you time while ensuring that you eat fresh ingredients instead of being unaware of hidden sugar and salt contents. While eating out may be easier than cooking for yourself, save it to a treat rather than a regular occurrence. You’ll be able to monitor what is going into your food while saving money on the way.

Sustainable living is an essential aspect of wellness. Cruelty-free and vegan cosmetics and skincare have hit the beauty industry by a storm. Websites such as Cult Beautyand Beauty Bay offer fast delivery for your favourite cosmetics, and house big names such as Hourglass and Anastasia Beverly Hills that promise to make your skin look flawless and your eyebrows ‘on fleek’, but despite fast delivery, the makeup still comes at a cost.

Switching out your cosmetics may be an initial investment, but long term will save you money

It can be easy to splurge on foundations that cost more than your weekly grocery shop, or skincare that costs as much as a month’s rent, but sometimes skipping the well-known brands can save you some cash. Brands such as The Ordinary strip back your skincare and only formulate with the bare minimum, leaving out expensive and, often harmful, ingredients such as perfumes and alcohol and avoids the cost of extravagant branding. Cosmetics brands such as ELF and NYX provide high-pigment formulas that are just as good as those with a premium price-tag, for a fraction of the cost, and don’t skimp on ethics. Switching out your cosmetics may be an initial investment, but long term will save you money.

In the UK, the average gym-goer spends £32 per month on gym membership, yet many do not make the most of this investment. Many students are enticed by saunas and spas when they first start university or when they return after Christmas, vowing to become healthier and shed extra pounds. However, long term contracts that cost hundreds could be an investment worth cutting out.

It is possible to be healthy on a student budget by going for the back-to-basics options

One way to overcome this cost is to purchase a monthly pass that allows you to cancel your membership whenever you choose. At Warwick, a monthly gym pass for costs £25, meaning that you aren’t paying for months that you go home and can choose not to renew your membership during busy periods.

For even cheaper options, gyms such as PureGym and The Gymsell day passes at around £5 so that you can pay a day at a time, and membership averages around £15 per month. While these gyms may not have all the frills presented at the Warwick gym, seeking out no-frill options will enable you to save money whilst still improving your lifestyle.

Many students often feel that the price of wellness is too high for students on budgets. Companies try to push ideals of wellnesses alongside premium price-tags, yet it is possible to be healthy on a student budget by going for the back-to-basics options. Keep your diet simple, attend a no-frills gym and embrace a healthy lifestyle, all on a budget.