The problem with eating healthy is that healthy foods are, quite often, more expensive than their junk food counterparts. However, it is possible to eat healthy while on a budget. But, you are going to need to put a bit more thought into what you do. Here are 9 tips for eating healthier on a budget.
Meal Planning
Right at the top of our list, we need to put meal planning. This is because it is one of the quickest ways in which you can save money while eating healthy.
Meal planning, as the name suggests, is all about planning your meals in advance. By planning your meals in advance, you will be able to see dishes which may share ingredients with other dishes. This means that you will be able to purchase ingredients in bulk, saving some cash. A good guide to meal planning can be found at TheKitchn.com, but here are some highlights from their site:
- When meal planning, look at what is on sale. This will give you a good guide as to what you can cook.
- Constantly be on the lookout for new recipes. This will allow you to experiment.
- Plan to make leftovers of food. You will get much more out of a single cooking session like this.
Grocery list
Once you have a list of the groceries you want to buy, then make sure you stick to it. No exceptions to this rule. If you are darting about the store, picking up things that you really do not need to buy, then the costs are going to rack up.
Cook at home
Take a look at this graph. Forbes go into a bit more depth on the story behind this graph but, basically, if you stop eating out, even if it is just a few times a month, you will be able to save more money to spend on healthier things in your life.
Buy foods ‘whole’
Shredded cheese is going to be more expensive than purchasing a block of cheese, for instance. Whole foods tend to come in larger packages, so make sure that what you purchase is what you are going to use before they expire. Otherwise you won’t be saving all that much money at all.
Purchase generic brands
There are some people out there who will veer away from generic brands because they feel like they are not going to taste as great. Fact is, most of those generic brands come out of the same factory as the branded goods. This means that they are the same. Of course, make sure you learn how to read the food label to ensure that they are.
Avoid junk food
There are some foods out there which claim that that they are healthy, but they really are not. There are some foods out there which you know are not healthy, but you eat them anyway because they taste delicious. If you do this, you are going to be throwing away money. This money would be better spent on healthier foods.
Take a look at this graph. You will be able to see at least a few unhealthy snacks on this list which are dressed up by companies as being healthy, but they are anything but. Can you spot them? For more information on avoiding junk food, you should really head on over to mealime.com
Source: http://mealime.com/nutrition/how-to-stop-eating-junk-food/
Buy cheaper cuts of meat
Meat can be expensive. However, there are ways in which you can save money on it. Look at this picture to see the cheapest cuts of beef:
Source: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bigger-on-a-budget-with-high-quality-meat.html
This guide goes into a bit more depth on how you can cook this meat. Generally speaking, the cheaper cuts of meat have less flavor. This means that you will need to process them in different ways. The best ways to cook cheap meats are:
- Slow cooking
- Marinating and grilling
- Braising
Ditch meat altogether
Unless you 100% need meat, and nobody does, then you may want to look into ditching it altogether. You can replace it with cheaper, healthier alternatives. This includes:
- Legumes
- Eggs
- Hemp seeds
- Canned fish
The best part is that all of this food keeps incredibly well. This means that you can buy it in bulk and store it in your cupboard!
Check what is in season
Finally, you will want to look at what is in season. Fruits and vegetables which are in season not only taste more delicious, but they are going to be a whole lot cheaper.
