On average, I spend about $50/week on food. I eat most of my meals at home and usually cook from scratch. (Please don't report me to the healthy eating police, I’m only human! If I ate out more or bought a lot more pre-made meals, I reckon I'd spend at least $80/week. These tips help me eat healthy, balanced meals without emptying out my wallet.
- Meal plan: Come up with a game plan for meals that’ll save you time and money. Once a week, make a list of all the meals and snacks you’re going eat then go shop for the ingredients. If it’s not on our list, it stays in the store. Buy only what you need so nothing goes to waste. Check out my post on meal planning for some guidance.
- Learn how to cook: Eating at home is cheaper than eating out. To maximize the benefit of meal planning, learn how to cook.
- Go meatless often: Meat and poultry can be expensive. Incorporate more meatless meals into your diet. Eggs, legumes and beans are your friends. They’re cheaper than meat and will get you all the protein you need to stay healthy.
- Buy in bulk: Small quantities of items like grains, beans, and nuts usually cost more than bulk quantities. Buying in bulk saves you money and frequent trips to the grocery store.
- Stick to generic brands: Branded items are usually marked up. Generic items are often of equal quality and can be found for cheaper
- Batch cook: Cook grains, beans and inexpensive cuts of meats in bulk and reuse them during the week. For example, brown rice cooked on Sunday can be served with a bean stew one day, used in a salad the next, and made into delicious fried rice with frozen veggies.
- Go frozen: The frozen food aisle of your grocery store has some budget-friendly gems (that are not ice cream). I get most of my vegetables and fruit frozen because they cost less and keep longer that.
- Buy in season: If you must buy produce, make sure it's in season. Extra savings also await at your local farmers market
- Be flexible: healthy eating can be as simple or as complex as you’d like. If you decide to commit to eating healthy, be open to change and to exploring different cooking techniques and recipes.
- Hold yourself accountable: Declare your intention to eat healthy and keep a record. I have history of not feeding myself, so to help me stay on track, I used to send pictures of everything I ate to my mom. This assured her that I was eating and kept me motivated.
Pro tips:
- Set a budget and stick to it.
- Find some simple recipes that you can make often with a few modifications. I've shared a few of my favorite recipes here. These folks also publish simple, healthy budget-friendly recipes that Budget Bytes, The Iron You, Minimalist Baker, Epicurious and Gimme Some Oven.
Eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive. All it takes is a little planning, some basic cooking skills and flexibility in your diet. Got any tips to add or some burning questions? Head to the comments section and chatter away. I can’t wait to hear your tips and tricks for eating healthy.