I know this may sound different than some of the other stuff posted, but i graduated high school last year and am now in my first year of college.
For the first half of the year, i kept time to stay in shape. i was working a 20 hr a week job and was paying my parents my share of car insurance. i was also an advanced student, taking AP classes and also taking my math and english classes (college freshman level classes jr. year, sophmore level, including a 3rd semester of calculus my sr. year) at the local community college instead of my public school through a special program offered to me.
I managed to lift 2x a week and go to 1 or 2 karate classes a week. my college classes required me to spend almost as much time sitting in classrooms as some full-time master’s students. I hadn’t really gotten into nutrition yet, but that was more of an ignorance thing, i had the time if i had understood the value more.
Anyway, near the end of my senior year, i was in a similiar situation. i was working 35hrs./week, my classes were nearing finals, especially the AP exams and i had to prepare for graduation. Only when it got that intense did i have to drop my time for physical activity, and had i been willing to give up some more sleep (prob better that i chose the sleep though in light of the studying), i still could have worked out some.
Your situation doesn’t sound as intense as mine though, so you should be able to pull it off. I understand the car insurance thing, at most agencies, the rates for teenagers is completely unfair and ridiculous. Like said though, you don’t need the supplements, and at our age, if we can’t quite get 1g of protein per lb. of bodyweight, we have the testosterone to still progress.
If you want to save money on the grocery bill, don’t completely seclude yourself from the meals cooked in your household for the whole family. See how you can fit them into your eating (take the dinner that mom cooks, eat half one serving, eat the other half later).
Seems my situation was harder, and i didn’t take time off until that last month and a half. I did have to take that time off though, because everything else almost ran me into the ground as it was, trying to make time to drain myself of even more energy would have been bad.
Admittedly, there’s a decent chance you’re more advanced than i was when i finally had to take some time off, but from what you tell us, you still have the freedom and resources to concentrate more on school and at least maintain. If its any consolation though, I will say this, this lifestyle is actually easier for the average college student than it is the average high school student.
you have a lot more control as a college student. you can control your class schedule some at most colleges, and if you have a scholarship or loan to cover all tuition, room, and board, then all you have to pay for is books possibly. part time job money is alot looser that way.
I am starting at a community college to save myself from big loans though, so i may not have as much financial freedom, but i do have the time freedom to train as much as 5 days a week if i want, and i am still a full-time student and still work 30 hours a week on average.
One last point, after my time off, my job started giving me really screwed up schedules that made it awkward to get back into exercising. Because i had gotten out of the habit, i had a hard time getting back into the habit and my overall time management this summer was crappy, partially because i was burnt out, but mostly because i didn’t know how to reorganize my life.
I say this so that you understand, if you truly NEED to take time off, it can’t be helped, but you should AVOID taking time off at best possible. its easiest to get back into a good habit if you never get out of it. If you are wondering, I started training properly again, even better than before actually, when college started, and i have gained at least 5 lbs. of muscle, and am currently on the v-diet ditching the extra fat i had gained from using a less-than clean bulk along the way.
now that i have gotten back into it, and am sticking to it, i find it is easier to stick to.
With all that said, i understand the basic premise from where you are coming from, but you don’t seem to be anywhere the near the point of having to give this up. i was a lot closer than you, and admittedly in retrospect, with more diligence, i probably could have done more to at least stay in shape than i did in that last month and a half of senior year.
BTW, if it helps, there are a couple articles on this site that pertain to people with time restraints, you may want to look into them. I know for sure of time-efficient hypertrophy by joel marion and part-time beast by CT. (i think CT did that, someone please correct me if i am wrong.)
With all that said, don’t give up like i did, get your shit together, and best of luck to you.