Healthy Eating On a Budget

Healthy Eating on a budget

I think that one of the biggest misconceptions and truths (oxymoron right) is that eating healthy is expensive.

Misconception if you are already eating healthy

Truth if you are eating pasta and rice with something on the side or meals in a box

I spend about $150 a week to feed my family and I eat very healthy and this covers my breakfasts lunches and dinners.

Here are 5 tips that I have learned along the way to help me to eat better and to maintain my budget.

1.) Meal plan – I can’t express how important it is to have a meal plan and a grocery list to shop off of. I create a meal plan only for dinners and I cook enough to make lunch for the next day. For breakfast I always eat the same thing because I am a creature of habit.

2.) Don’t go completely off of recipes. I used to do this and I would spend so much money going through my cookbooks and buying every single herb and ingredient in the recipe. If you are going to do the cookbook thing my advice is to try 1-2 recipes a week or try to keep the ingredients in the same family or use the same types of ingredients.

3.) Buy the same things all the time. I like certain vegetables so I buy them all the time and I use pretty much the same meats so anytime I have to buy something different I do but within reason. This keeps prices down for me because I am always buying the same things almost all the time. When I buy something new like salad, I will leave another vegetable behind because I am replacing it. This kind of goes hand in hand with the above tip but I thought it worth mentioning.

4.) Don’t shop in the aisles. As a real food eater I seriously do think that staying in the aisles is not the best of ideas. The only reason I go into aisles is to get broth, mustard, vinegars, and oils. Oh yeah! And the frozen food section to get my vegetables J

5.) Buy frozen vegetables when you can. I know that I don’t eat broccoli as fast as I should so I buy the freezer ones I get more and I pay less for it. I pay 1.49 for a big bag and usually get 2 for the week but for some reason if I buy it fresh I let it sit there. So if you can stand the texture of some vegetables get them frozen. I usually do green beans and broccoli. What I do is boil the green beans of course but for the broccoli I just put the frozen broccoli in a dish with no water and microwaver for 1:30 to 2 minutes and it comes out perfect! And it is an easy side for work!

I hope this helps you get on your way to healthy eating. I have added what my grocery list looks like so that you can see what it is that I buy. I promise if you use the right portions than you are going to have enough to feed yourself!