Tips for Healthy Eating on a Tight Budget

Healthy eating on a tight budget is not just a myth; it is possible to make healthy food choices and selections even when your budget is extremely tight. If you use a few simple steps when it comes to making healthier food selections, you will find your food shopping experience less cumbersome, and you will never have to sacrifice your nutritional intake due to a lack of money. In fact, by changing the way you shop, you can actually save money on your food bill while continuing to eat a super healthy diet.

Shopping for Low Cost, Healthy Foods

Healthy eating on a tight budget involves a bit of strategy, and there is some planning involved in the art of buying healthy foods on a budget. You will want to plan out all of your meals for a few weeks or for the month. Once you have crafted your menu, you will need to make a complete list of the foods you intend to buy before you go to the store based on your menu; this will minimize the impulse buys that might otherwise be unhealthy for you.

Once your food list has been completed, you will need to do some research. Get a hold of local fliers, which provide you will sales information in your area. Find out where the best buys are by comparing prices. Check out online sources for coupons, and see how much you can save. There is a trick to coupon usage however; do not buy an item simply because you found a coupon for it, you might wind up paying more for the item even though you have a coupon, because there are less expensive versions of the same product. Be savvy when you shop and don’t be afraid to stray from branded products when you are seeking healthy food selections; generic food options are often the least expensive selections offered.

Before you head to the store, make sure you have had a bite to eat; there is nothing worse than going into a grocery store when you are hungry, since your hunger will lead your buying actions. Once in the store, be sure to pull out your calculator so that you can assess costs per unit, the actual savings that coupons will give you, and to carefully track how much you are spending. You will also want to start your shopping task by checking out the outermost aisle first where fresh and wholesome foods are generally offered. Finally, when looking to buy healthy foods on a budget, go for “in season” food selections. Food that is not in season costs a lot more because the foods have to be imported from great distances.

Buying Bulk on a Budget

While the act of buying groceries in bulk might seem to give you a bigger grocery bill initially, bulk items are often less expensive than their single counterparts. Be sure to buy bulk items that are useful to you, and not because you are getting a great deal on something you do not need or want. Healthy eating on a budget can be accomplished by buying in bulk, and breaking down the bulk foods and storing them for later consumption. Be sure to get plenty of freezer bags and wrap so that bulk meats and other products can be frozen for later use. Ground meats can last as long as four months when frozen, hot dogs are good for sixty days in the freezer, eggs can remain fresh for 3 to 5 weeks when refrigerated, and dried beans and peas can be stored for as long as a year and still remain fresh.

Resources

UMPC for information on eating healthy on a tight budget at:

https://nutritionservices.upmc.com/NutritionArticles/Habits/Budget.htm.

The Center for Health Promotion & Wellness at MIT Medical for information on seasonal selections:

https://medweb.mit.edu/wellness/topics/pdfs/nutrition/Eating_Healthfully_on_a_Tight_Budget.pdf.

Netwellness® for information on buying generic at:

https://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/diet/healthyeating.cfm.