How to Eat Healthy on a Budget

How to Eat Healthy on a Budget

By Madison LaVoy

May 9, 2021

There is a common misconception that eating healthy is expensive. While it can be on the pricey side, here are some tips to help you eat healthy while staying within your budget.

1. Planning your Meals

When trying to save money at the grocery store it can be tough, but planning your meals ahead of time can be a great way to keep you from making unnecessary and expensive purchases. Planning ahead of time by checking your cabinets and fridge can also help prevent unnecessary purchases of items you may already have. Once you finish planning your meals, make a grocery list and stick to it.

2. Cooking at Home

Cooking at home is a great way to save money even when you aren’t trying to eat healthy. It is almost the same price to feed an entire family of 4 at home as it is to go out to eat and buy food for one or two people, so making it a habit to cook at home could really aid in the money saving process. Cooking at home also allows you to know everything that is going into making the food.

3. Buy Frozen Fruits or Veggies

Buying frozen fruits and veggies is a great way to stay on budget while still eating healthy. Produce can be pretty expensive, especially if the fruit or veggie is not in season, but when buying them frozen they are available all year round. These frozen produce options are usually just as nutritious as regular produce and are usually sold in large bags for long term use. Frozen produce allows consumers to take out what they need while the rest is kept safe from spoiling in the freezer which greatly decreases produce waste.

3. Limit Junk Food

Limiting the amount of junk food in your diet is not only a great way to stay healthy, but it is also a great way to cut down on your grocery store costs. Despite being filled with unhealthy ingredients that offer very little nutrition, these junk foods are often very expensive. Skipping processed and unhealthy foods such as soda, cookies, prepackaged meals and crackers will allow you to spend more of your budget on the higher quality healthier foods in the store. The best way to keep yourself from buying these junk food while in the store is to try and shop the perimeter of the store. The perimeter of the store is filled with more whole foods while the middle of the store contains the more unhealthy and processed foods. If you find yourself going down the middle aisles try to keep your eyes down at the bottom shelf or up at the top shelf as the most expensive items are usually placed at eye level.

5. Don’t Shop when Hungry

Lastly, the best tip that I can give you about staying on a healthy budget is to not go to the store hungry. Going to the store hungry can be a dangerous game, the hungrier you are the more likely you are to stray away from the grocery list you've created. Going to the store hungry can often make you crave foods that are either unhealthy or aren’t in your budget. The best time to go to the store is either after a nice healthy meal or after a nutritional snack.