5 movement hacks that can save you money

The best “life hacks” save both time and money, but they usually don’t make life less sedentary. The 5 hacks in this post are a little different: They “hack” into sedentary activities and turn them into more active ones. You’ll be moving more, plus saving some money.

My inspiration for this post was my recent interview with Dr. Abigail Morris. One of her observations struck me as particularly important. “Essentially, we don’t need to move to be productive, to be members of society, to contribute to the economy,” she said. That’s a scary thought! Many responsibilities previously requiring movement no longer do.

Unfortunately, all this inactivity has health consequences. It increases the risk of chronic conditions, such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. It even creates a higher stroke risk, according to a recent study. The study, published in Stroke from the American Heart Association, found people under 60 who spent their leisure time sitting for more than 8 hours a day were seven times more likely to suffer a stroke than their peers who spent less than 4 hours sitting each day and exercised at least 10 minutes each day.

In our hyper-convenient world, we must be intentional to stay physically active. And one way I’ve been able to add movement to my routine is by “hacking” household responsibilities to make them more active. See whether these 5 movement hacks might work for you, too.

01 Line dry your laundry

If you’re fortunate enough to have an outdoor line, use it to increase your physical activity levels while doing an important chore. Of course, you can also use an indoor clothesline. You just likely won’t have to travel as far. Either way, this task employs a variety muscles as you 1) haul a pile of wet, heavy clothes to the clothesline, 2) hang each article of clothing, and 3) collect the dried clothing later.

Meanwhile, you’ll save on your electricity or natural gas bill. An electric dryer costs about $0.40 per load (assuming a rate of $0.10 per kWh). At 20 loads a month, that’s about $8 a month in potential savings, or $96 a year. But the benefits don’t end here, as this article from the Spruce explains. I personally love the way clothes smell coming off the clothesline. In my opinion, that’s reason enough to skip the dryer.

02 Maintain vehicle tire pressure with a bike pump

I stumbled onto this idea a few years ago when I noticed a tire on one of our cars had deflated, and I didn’t know whether I could reach a gas station in time to use an air compressor. So I grabbed my bike pump and started pumping. Because the tire was so flat (and, not surprisingly, punctured), the pumping motion proved to be quite a workout. But I realized in that moment, “Hey, why not maintain all my tires this way?”

So I haven’t used an air compressor since then. In my experience, as long as each tire only requires a few pounds of pressure, it’s not much more of a hassle to use a bike pump than a gas station air compressor. And a bike pump is economical. Depending where you live, some gas stations charge to use their air compressor. Air from a bike pump is free and offers a mini-workout as your arms pump up and down.

03 Wash your own car

I’m surprised how few people I see washing their own cars in their driveways. I recall that being a common sight growing up.

During the summer months, washing your own vehicle can be a pleasure. I often involve our two kids, and this “chore” becomes a fun way to cool everyone down. We continue to wash our vehicles into the fall, until temperatures hit about 50 degrees.

The only downside of washing your vehicle yourself is that it can be difficult to wash the underside. I take our vehicles to a car wash once in a while for an underbody flush, which is especially important in the winter to remove salt.

Car washes can cost from $5 to $25, depending on all the “extras” you choose. We save about $200 a year by washing our two vehicles.

04 Keep a basement pantry

One of the first things I do after returning from the grocery store is carry bags of groceries to our basement, where our secondary pantry is located. This pantry is used exclusively for restocking our kitchen pantry. It came in handy during the pandemic when certain goods were difficult to find at grocery stores.

I’m impressed with the amount of movement required to sustain a basement pantry. There’s a lot of going up and down stairs. The trick is to constantly rotate inventory so that your basement pantry supplies stay fresh. If you forget about your basement pantry and don’t rotate your inventory, you’ll miss out on the movement benefits and possibly have to toss out food.

Not only can a basement pantry add movement to your day, it can also save you money. Take coffee, for example. We keep several bags and cans in the basement pantry, which allows us to wait for coffee to go on sale instead of having to buy it at regular price. I simply replenish our basement supplies during the next sale.

Grocery store sales and promotions tend to go in cycles. If you can coordinate your purchases with those cycles, you’ll spend less money overall.

05 Cook more meals at home

People are sometimes surprised just how physically active cooking can be. And it’s especially active compared to eating out, which I consider a “triple whammy.” When you eat at a restaurant, you’re often (1 spending more money, (2 eating less healthy, and (3 sitting for a prolonged period. All these negatives turn into positives when cooking at home. It’s typically less expensive, often healthier, and more active because you’re not sitting and waiting for somebody else to cook the food. You’re bustling about your own kitchen.

You can take this movement hack a step further by composting vegetable scraps instead of tossing them out. Along with placing the scraps in a compost bin, you’ll need to occasionally flip or stir your compost pile. Finally, you can spread the finished product around your garden. There’s a lot of movement to be gained from veggie scraps!

Keep in mind, cooking every meal at home might feel overwhelming if you’re accustomed to eating out a lot. Start by cooking at home one or two nights a week. Add a few more at-home meals to the menu each month.

Discover movement hacks that work for you

Some of these movement hacks will save you more money than others, though the basement pantry system and cooking at home save some people hundreds of dollars over the course of a year. Sure, these hacks might make life a little less convenient, but you can learn to enjoy them. After all, if the amount of time spent hanging laundry on a clothesline means less time, say, in front of a TV, I’d argue the inconvenience is worth it.

If none of these movement hacks work for you, I encourage you to analyze your daily routine to discover movements that would be a better fit. For instance, if you don’t have a laundry line, can you carry your laundry basket to the washing machine rather than throw the laundry down a chute?

Moving more and sitting less is key to creating the frugalmatic lifestyle. If you’d like to learn more, I invite you to grab a free copy of my Starter Kit. Meanwhile, please let us know which movement hacks are your favorites. I enjoy hearing about what our readers are doing to add movement to their routines.