Eating Healthy on a Budget - Tips You Need To Know

With the increasing food prices, sticking to a healthy diet seems difficult. But it doesn’t mean that you need to sacrifice the nutrition demands of your body.

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These are important for your physical and mental health, especially if you have diabetes or other medical conditions.

However, A 2020 study shows three billion people cannot afford healthy food.

According to a study, 90% of Americans want to eat healthy, but only 10% eat healthy, while 63% try to eat healthy. The reason is that calorie-rich food is more attainable than nutrient-rich food.

It is common to hear that healthy food costs more. Not true in all cases! You just need to know proper meal planning and shopping to eat healthy without stepping out of your budget.

Here are all the tips you need to know to eat nutrient-rich food under your budget.

Meal Planning Tips

Planning your meal is the best strategy for eating a balanced meal and helps you to know what healthy ingredients you need. You can make it more affordable by following these tips.

Decide Week’s Dining Schedule

Picking a day of the week for your weekly menu plan allows you to consider your food needs. Also, it helps you in making the grocery list for shopping.

Once you know what you will make in a week, check your fridge and kitchen to see what ingredients you already have and what you need to buy.

So, it saves you from buying useless items and wasting food produced. However, this plan can’t be a hard and fast rule; there must be flexibility in it to use alternatives.

Write Down Your Recipe Plans

Once you know about your food needs and weekly menu plan, it’s time to plan your recipes. Make sure to add seasonal produce to enjoy a meal rich in taste yet low in price.

You can use common ingredients for most recipes. Only use different herbs to make a delicious meal to treat your taste buds.

For example, you can plan to boil a whole chicken for different recipes, chicken fajitas, or steaks just by using different herbs and spices.

Also, choose healthy, easy-to-stretch recipes, such as soup, to save time and money. Many such budget-friendly recipes are available on Google; search out some and add them to your meal plan. Moreover, you must prefer using nutrient-dense food over calorie-dense food.

Prefer Home-Cooked Meals

Dining out can cost you a lot! So, make it a habit to cook your meals at home, which makes healthy food more affordable.

If you are a busy person, you can cook large portions of food and freeze leftovers for other meals. When you are in a hurry, you can try no-cook meals such as salads instead of deciding to eat out.

Introduce Non-Meat Protein Sources

Substitute meat with plant-based protein sources such as beans and legumes, which are quite inexpensive yet nutrient-rich food. Other alternative sources to replace meat in your meal are canned fish or eggs. Another plus point is that these have a longer shelf life and are easier to prepare.

Smart-Shopping Tips

Once you plan your meal, it is time to go to the supermarket for grocery shopping. Here are some tips that can help get nutrient-rich food under your budget.

Make a List Thoughtfully

Firstly, check out what you already have at home, and then make a list of required ingredients. While making a list, check out how much percentage of your income you have to spend on it.

According to general statistics, a diet is considered unaffordable if it costs more than 52% of your total earnings.

Once your list is ready, you must stick to it in the supermarket, as it can save you from impulse buying. Also, it makes shopping way faster and more manageable, as you know at which counter you need to go.

However, your shopping list must be flexible for adding products on sale. You can buy some fresh produce or poultry from sales at cheaper prices. Later, you can use them fresh or freeze them for your future recipes.

Have Snacks Before Shopping

When you’re hungry, you may rush toward the counter for low-nutrients, high-calorie food. This act can burden your wallet, and you can be betrayed from the actual list. So, it is best to eat some nutritious snacks before going shopping.

Prefer Frozen or Canned Products

It is common to hear that canned or frozen food has less nutritional value than fresh food. But this is not true in all cases. Quick-frozen frozen fruits, vegetables, and fish preserve their nutritional value.

However, they can be less tasty than fresh produce. Above all, buying canned or frozen products is a relief for your wallet as they are cheaper. Also, you can buy them at any time of year.

Here are bonus tips for you! Don’t buy canned food with syrup; instead, prefer one that comes with water. Always check the labels to see additional salts and sugars.

It is best to avoid canned food with added cream or butter and prefer lightly sauced options. Also, I like resealable packaging, as it allows me to seal and store it again after taking the needed portion.

Buy Store Brands and Seasonal Produce

Prioritize store brands over national brands, as it can help you save up to 20%. The reason is simple; national brands spend a lot on advertising, which adds to their price.

Also, seasonal produce is more budget-friendly than out-of-season produce, which has additional transportation and preserving charges to get to stores.

In season fruits and veggies are more flavorful, and you can freeze them for a long time use. It is best to buy these items at the farmer’s market.

Family Packs are More Profitable

Grains, dried beans, lentils, and some dry fruits are way cheaper when bought in bulk. Also, they have a long shelf life, so they are less likely to spoil before their use.

So you can buy these nonperishable staple foods in bulk and store them in an airtight container. To check the discount, you can compare the price of 1-pound and 5-pound packs of different grains.

Let’s suppose, 1 pound pack of dried grains costs around $1.6 (price per pound), and 5 pound family pack of the same beans costs $4.20.

Now, divide the price of a family pack by five to get the price per pound, which is $0.84 per unit. So, a family pack is way cheaper than a small pack.

Bottom Line

Eating healthy helps to stay healthy, both mentally and physically. So, it is best to stick to a healthy diet. To enjoy a balanced meal with all the nutrients your body needs, you have to move ahead with proper planning.

If you are low on budget, you must be mindful when cooking a meal or purchasing its ingredients. Here I have shared all the tips you need to know for eating healthy on a budget.

Eating Healthy on a Budget – Tips You Need To Know