The economy has everyone saving pennies, and in some cases, that doubles for baby boomers planning to retire. A 2008 survey by the American Association of Retired Persons, an advocacy group for older Americans, reported that one in five middle-aged workers stopped contributing to their retirement plans in the past year, and one in three considered delay retirement. With your savings on the line and an uncertain retirement ahead, your first inclination might be to cut back on the extras, including canceling or foregoing your gym membership renewal. While there is no doubt that now is a difficult financial time for many people, it is important to stay healthy and exercise helps relieve stress and anxiety, depression and keeps joints healthy.

Staying fit and healthy doesn’t mean you have to have an expensive gym membership, just enough willpower and inclination to use what you have in your house. To stay healthy without depleting your savings, here are some inexpensive alternatives you can turn to at home:

Keep moving during “must have” TV

Sure, you could tivo through the commercials to get to your favorite shows, or you could make the most of those minutes with some exercises to jump-start your metabolism. Do some crunches in the minutes behind your favorite show. March in place to keep things moving. With roughly a third of TV time devoted to commercials, you could burn quite a few calories in an hour-long show.

Create your own support team – online or offline

Even if your best friend or spouse has a completely different schedule than you, there’s no reason you can’t have a workout buddy. Over the years, I’ve heard some fun insights from the women who post on Boomer Women Speak. Consider your favorite health-focused websites and find forums where you can network with people just like you who are working to stay in shape. While it’s nice to have someone to meet in person to keep you more accountable for your daily walks or exercises, having an online support group to exchange health tips can still help keep you on track.

Take the stairs

It’s advice you hear all the time in health-related articles, but how often do you consider doing it at home? In fact, you might even extend laundry night because you just don’t feel like going up and down the stairs. It may seem silly at first, but if you start with 10 flights of stairs on your own home version of the “StairMaster” and continue with 5 more each day, you’ll start to feel less silly and start to feel a difference. As a bonus, there’s no need to dress up for the gym, and you may even make it to laundry night more often.

Get fit instead of channel surfing

If you still keep the cable, you can also make the most of it. Many cable companies offer exercise channels, and networks like FitTV offer various exercise programs tailored to suit you and your fitness needs. Even better, you get a chance to try yoga and other new exercises without ever leaving your home.

Rediscover the benefits of walking

Although running is an exercise that people can do for free, it also puts more wear and tear on the joints as we age. For less wear and tear and continued benefit, consider walking more often. If you’re starting from scratch and haven’t gotten any exercise, start with short, easy walks and work your way up to three to four miles per hour.

Help your garden grow

Exercising doesn’t usually conjure up immediate images of working outside in your yard, but all those hours spent planting, raking, digging, and mowing help your body keep moving and have the added benefit of a beautiful yard or garden. While you’re outdoors, you’re also absorbing vitamin D from sunlight, which supports your joint and bone health by helping your body absorb calcium. Lack of calcium can lead to osteoporosis and joint pain, so get in the great outdoors and see how it can work for you.