It looks inevitable that the cost of living is set to increase exponentially. With rising energy bills, taxes and food prices pushing up the average family’s outgoings many will begin to feel the squeeze sooner or later, what effect is this likely to have on the average person’s overall wellbeing?

As expendable income decreases it’s unescapable that somethings will have to give to free up cash, more often than not we turn to what we consider luxuries which include gym memberships, healthy food items or personal care costs, but what if these instances of self-care are actually providing us with vital lifelines during hard times and what negative effects could we be opening ourselves up to by using these to “trim the fat”.

On the face of it, a gym membership may seem like the first thing to give up in the face of rising costs elsewhere, after all many people live by the motto “the world is my gym” and train anywhere. You can run on the roads, do workouts at home with minimal equipment and access lots of content via the internet for free however before you commit to cutting ties with your gym consider how all that went during the lockdowns, how the motivation waned after a few weeks and how the weather turned and made exercise outdoors unfeasible, consider how happy you were when the gyms finally reopened  and you relished in the purpose built space that gave you motivation and an outlet for the stressors of work. By giving up your gym membership you may gain a little in the way of finance but lose so much more in the way of health, motivation and wellbeing.

It’s also long been the belief that healthy food costs more than unhealthy alternatives, so during times when our disposable income is squeezed, many may turn to their weekly food shop and attempt to bring the down the cost by forgoing the more pricey fresh produce in favour of processed meals and snacks. When we consider the ways in which a healthy balanced diet can affect our health and wellbeing this is destined to be a poor decision that fortunately can be mitigated with some foresight. Planning meals ahead of time and batch cooking can help to reduce food waste and costs. Purchasing fresh produce that is reduced to clear and keeping an eye out for special buys and deals goes a long way in making healthy alternatives the cheaper option also. When we consider what a critical role good nutrition plays in our wellbeing it becomes a much less obvious choice to forgo fresh produce for processed alternatives.

The selfless solution is to cut back on personal care costs, skip haircuts or nail appointments and go without these luxuries, but these decisions are often made without the consideration of how a little self-care can boost our mood, self-esteem and outlook, this in turn can improve our resilience during tough times and help see us through, again in this scenario it’s easy to think it’s a case of losing a little to gain a lot but the truth may often be the opposite. 

Unfortunately for many, it isn’t going to just be a simple choice of what expenses can stay and what  can go and of course if it’s a case of heating the home versus paying for a gym membership then there is only ever going to be one clear answer, however as the cost of living increases so does the reality that many are going to find themselves living to work rather than working to live and allowing themselves fewer and fewer instances of self-care, this in the long term can only be a detriment to the wellbeing and health of a large amount of the population.