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Healthy Eating on a Budget
Here are some tricks to pinching pennies at the grocery store
while still enjoying nutritious and delicious food:
1. Buy produce in season – In season produce not only
tastes the best but also is the least expensive. For example
if you buy strawberries in the summer it will cost $2.99 vs.
the winter at $4.99
2. Eat more beans - Beans are economical and versatile.
You can make bean salads, hummus, Indian dishes,
vegetable soup, chili, Mexican bean dips, stir them into
whole-grain pasta—the list goes on and on. Your family
will never catch on to the fact that they’re eating beans
most nights of the week. Beans are high in protein and
fiber.
3. Vegetarian Meals - Eat more vegetarian meals than
meat-based meals. Organic animal protein can get
expensive, so try vegetarian options like beans, legumes,
tofu and veggies.
4. Chop your veggies - Spend more time in the kitchen than
spending money on convenience. Even though those
healthy convenience foods look appealing, they can cost
you. For example, a prepackaged bag of lettuce costs
$4.49, instead buy a head of romaine lettuce and cut it
yourself for the cost of $1.99. This can end up saving lots of
money in the long run.
5. Buy in bulk – Shop the bulk section of your supermarket for
things like grains, oats, flours and nuts, etc. The bulk
section offers big discounts, as you aren’t paying for
packaging. Also buy bulk for things like fruits and organic
meats. Buying a bag of apples for example may cost $10
but it will last you several weeks. The same goes with
organic chicken. Buy the bigger size package and freeze
the chicken breasts in individual zip log bags.
6. Go local - Buy as many local foods as possible. Produce
from local farmers is cheap, incredibly tasty, and chocked
full of more vitamins since it spends far less time being
transported to your plate. Check out
www.localharvest.org to find a CSA (community
supported agriculture) or farmers market in your area.
7. Don’t shop while you’re hungry - You’ll be tempted to
stray from your weekly budget with unnecessary items
such as chips and cookies. Eat a healthy snack like a
handful of almonds or a piece of fruit right before
shopping.
8. Buy 365 Brand - People always complain that Whole
Foods is overly expensive. But if you purchase their 365
brands you will save BIG time. Whole foods is rolling out
with more and more of their own branded items so make
sure to check the shelves.
9. Cook once, eat twice - One thing I always like to tell
clients is how to make a meal last over several days. If
you can plan ahead, your ingredients will go farther.
Make a big batch of brown rice and it can last several days
and make several meals. Use it for stir-fry, in a salad,
to make brown rice pudding or a burrito.
10. Brown Bag it! - Packing your own lunch will save you big
bucks, too. A turkey sandwich at a local NYC café will cost
you $8.50. Buy your own loaf of bread ($4.49) and pound of
turkey ($9.00) and you will have sandwiches for the week. A
savings of $5.80 a sandwich!
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