10 Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget

A lot of us think that eating healthy has to be expensive. We think we can’t possibly feed a family of 4 on a budget if we eat healthy. Feeding a family a meat, veggie, and s

ide dish isn't as cheap as feeding them a box or two of Macaroni and Cheese. That’s true, but shopping for healthy food doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive. There are ways to eat healthy and save money.  Most stores have sales every week, and they usually start on

Sunday. Check all the sales papers. Most stores have their sales ads online now. When you see something that is on sale that you need, write it down with the price and what store it was on sale at. From this list of sale items, make out your healthy menu for the w

eek. For example: Maybe this week at one store, a three-pound bag of apples is on sale. So that will be the family’s fruit serving for a few days. Maybe another store has chicken breasts on sale. So now you know that you will fix three meals using chicken this week. Do the same for each food group, and you will have a whole week’s worth of food that you got on sale. Most fruits and veggies will last a week, so just make your menu match the sales.  Specialty markets are usually a good place to start. They usually have great prices already and then they still have sales and “shop in bulk” prices. You can find meat markets that sell meats for a lot cheaper than even on sale somewhere else. The market will sometimes give you more off per pound if you buy in bulk. Take it home, re-bag, and freeze. There are also fruit/veggie markets available all year long. These places also usually have the best prices. Then there are stores like Sam’s Club (which you have to join) or Aldi’s and Sav-a-Lot stores that are cheaper for everything. Many people think that these places only sell odd brand things, but most have now gone to main brand items, and most of their non-brand items are just as good.

Shop more than one store

When you look through the sales papers and write down what store has what items on sale, you will find that you might have to stop at several different stores. Write down what you need and map our your route through the store to get these items. This makes the trip a lot faster. For some people it’s easier to take a day and stop at all the different stores. For others, it’s easier to stop at one store a day and get the few things on sale. Many stores will price match items from other stores. Wal-Mart is one of them. If you find an item on sale at another store, you can get that item at Wal-Mart for the other store’s sales price. Cooking food homemade is the best way to get the healthiest, cheapest food you can. When you cook food at home, you know what goes in it. You can control everything, including the price. Once you pick up staples like tomatoes, chicken, seasoning, you can make nearly anything from what you have.

Stock up

When you find a good sale, or a marked down price on something, stock up. If you use a coupon with a sale’s price, you get one of the lowest prices you can get. Stock up on those items. You don’t have to be an extreme shopper, but if you can, why not? Non- perishables like beans and brown rice, and items you can freeze, buy in bulk.

Dollar store

There are some dollar stores that sell everything from shampoo to food items. Canned veggies like tomatoes, rice, pasta, cereal, all kinds of things that you need, they have for a dollar. These items are also good to stock up on. I usually make a monthly trip to mine and stock up on the things I’m low on. Remember, if you can save on things like shampoo, shower gels, medicines, cleaning products, and such, you will have more money for healthy shopping.

Marked down stuff

When I go into some stores, they have items marked down that are not bad yet, but they need to be bought soon. These items can most often go into the freezer. My grocery stores will mark down meats that are still good. They need to either be eaten or frozen soon. Also, the produce department usually marks items down. You don’t have to use them all right away. Most can be diced up and frozen.

Coupons

There are coupons for healthy foods, too. They aren't as easy to find but they are out there. Many stores have their own coupons for these items. When you find them, try to match them with a sale for that item, and get the best bargain you can. If you can get coupons on things like rice, beans, canned goods, then that helps save so you can buy your other food.

Don’t Waste

Wasting food is just a waste of money. We all do it. The commercial where the lady says, “Don’t bother to wrap it. I will just throw it out anyway,” came from a real place. We have all been there. Try not to waste food. Make sure to take a quick inventory of all your items every day or every other day. Figure out what foods like veggies need to be eaten first and do that. Make something good out of them. For instance, I usually go through my refrigerator every other day and find out what I need to use up. I can take all of the available items and make soups, stews, casseroles, or things like that out of them. Then I can either have that for dinner that night, or put these items in containers and freeze them for another night

Make your own breads

It might seem like a daunting task to bake your own bread but it really doesn't take up much of your time at all. When you bake your own breads, you have the chance to put in things like whole grains and brand flours to make them healthy and tasty. Most of the time spent on baking breads is in waiting for the rising. During this time you can be doing other things. You will only spend a few actual minutes on kneading. It is a great way to get the best bread for the cheapest price. The items you need are usually very inexpensive, and most people have them in their cupboard all the time anyway

Conclusion

Even though eating healthy can sometimes be very expensive, there are ways of getting around that. Make sure to take any deal you can. Use coupons. Make out your menu and shopping list based on what stores have on sale. Don’t waste food. These are all ways that you can save money and still eat healthy.