People always claim that it’s so expensive to eat healthy and they never have any time to cook at home. But I’m going to share my tips and tricks for how we eat healthy on a budget.
(Side Note: we eat mainly plant-based but I tried to include tips that everyone can use. And even if you are a meat-eater, including some meat-free meals a few times a week can help your health and your wallet.)
Shop the Perimeter of the Store
The healthiest and most nutrient-dense foods are usually on the perimeter of the store because they need to be kept refrigerated to stay fresh, and are often replaced because they contain no preservatives.
Perimeter foods include items like:
- Produce
- Meats (if you eat animal products)
- Dairy/Eggs
These are the foods you want to fill your kitchen and body with, so always shop the perimeter first.
Foods on the inner shelves are usually more shelf-stable, due to processing, and tend to have lower nutrient values, items like cookies, crackers, or boxed meals.
These are ok, of course, if you have the room in your budget (and waistline) for some convenient treats, but don’t let them take up the majority of your cart. They are usually more expensive overall. (A $1 box of mac and cheese might only contain ½ lb or less of pasta, where a $1 bag of regular pasta is usually a pound or more)
But don’t feel you need to avoid the center shelves altogether, low-cost shelf-stable pantry staples are also hiding among the center aisles.
- Rice
- Pasta
- Flour
- Spices
- Beans
- Canned Veggies
So make sure to stock up when you can.
Shop Sales
Of course, shopping sales can be one of the biggest money savers when trying to eat healthily.
- Shop in-season produce (there’s usually too much for farmers, so they put great sales out and it’s super fresh)
- Don’t worry about always buying organic, splurge where it counts
- “Clean 15” items or produce you won’t eat the skin, like oranges, usually don’t require you to buy organic
- “Dirty Dozen” items, like grapes, maybe splurge, but only if you feel the need
- Check clearance items (items that are going to reach their sell-by dates are often discounted, so you can stock up and freeze until you are ready to use them)
- Make your shopping list based on sales, then meal prep around what you get rather than the other way around
If it’s in your budget, get as many of the product as you can actually use before it goes bad when you find a good sale.
I know a family that goes through a block of cheese every week, spending about $6 a week on cheese.
If you were this family and found a sale for $3 blocks of cheese, don’t just buy one and be happy you saved $3 that week. Look at the expiration date. If the cheese is good for 2 months, buy 8 blocks of cheese, if it’s in your budget and you have space in your refrigerator. That sale alone will save you $24 in cheese!
Use Your Freezer
Your freezer can be your best friend when it comes to saving money on food.
- If you find a good sale, you can buy extras and freeze them for later use
- Contrary to popular belief, frozen produce can actually be more nutrient-dense than fresh produce because it is picked at peak freshness before being frozen, stock up on frozen veggies
- If you meal prep, you can prepare meals beforehand and have them ready to warm up when the time comes
Some freezer use tips:
- Try to use frozen foods within 3 months, to have the best results
- Double cover items to prevent frost burn
- Package foods in the amount you’re going to use them.
- If you find Brussel sprouts on sale, don’t just dump them in a gallon size bag to freeze, it will be a hassle to use later and you’ll end up wasting them. Break up them into usable portions so you can just dump the correct amount on a roasting pan, easy peasy. Same with ground beef or other bulk items.
- Keep your freezer organized so you can find things
- Proteins, veggies, pre-made meals, ice cream, all in their own area
- Label and date items so you know what they are and when to use them by
- First In-First Out Rule- rotate items as you buy new so that the older items are always used first and don’t go to waste
Meal Prep
Meal prepping can be as extreme as taking an entire Sunday to cook and prepackage your entire week of meals to just grab and go, or as simple as writing out an idea of meals for each weekday with whatever foods you have on hand. I tend to go with the second option, but you do what works for you and your life.
Every week or so, I shop the sales at my local grocery stores to stock my fridge, freezer, and pantry.
Every 2 weeks or so, I take 15 minutes to look around the kitchen and come up with dinner ideas and write them on the dry-erase calendar on our freezer.
I try to use items we already have on hand, but if there’s a meal we all want and I’m missing a few ingredients, I put it later on the menu and plan to grab those few items (often things we go through regularly) when I go to the store next. I always have a shopping list running on my phone.
Meal planning is all about doing what is most convenient for your family and avoiding food boredom and waste.
Meal Prep Tricks
- Plan meals using the ingredients you already have on hand (hopefully, bought on sale)
- Double up recipes for meals that will freeze well. Usually, things like soups, stews, or casseroles that all melt together into one flavor anyways make good freezing options.
- Make it once, freeze half, then warm up the 2nd half a few weeks later
- Reheat frozen meals the way you originally cooked them to have the best texture:
- Soups in a pot
- Casseroles in the oven
- Roasted veggies on a roasting pan
- Plan meals that can be reworked into something else to prevent food boredom and waste, no-one wants to eat the same meal all week
- Make a roasted chicken one night then use it for enchiladas, soup, or pasta another night
- Roast a bunch of veggies one night then use it in salads, soups, or casseroles later on
- I once made a casserole using leftovers from 3 different nights and everyone loved it, triple score!
- Pre-chop onions, garlic, or other often used veggies
- If a recipe only needs half an onion, it might make more sense to just chop the whole thing and store the other half in a glass jar in the fridge. You’ll probably need it for an upcoming meal anyways and it can cut down on dishes and prep work that night. It’s like a little gift to your future self.
Find Balance
No one is perfect. Sometimes, you just really want some Chipotle and don’t want to even try to make it yourself.
Does cooking at home usually cost way less than ordering from a restaurant? Yes.
So try to meal plan and keep a few pre-cooked meals in the freezer for those nights when you know you’ll get home late, but also have mercy on yourself for those nights when the stress of the day will only be fixed with a pile of Olive Garden Bread Sticks.
Just know yourself and put eating out in your budget. We make meals at home pretty much every night but make room in our budget for the things we really want.
Our Friday Night Thai Trick
Our whole family loves Thai food, but when we were buying it every Friday and the kids were growing, eating more and more, our restaurant budget was getting out of hand so we figured out how to eat our favorite meal on the regular while keeping our budget in check.
I now buy 20lb bags of sticky rice in China town every few months and make our own crispy tofu and sticky rice at home. (My kids’ 2 favorite foods in the world)
I have yet to master our favorite restaurant’s curry, so Mr. Bean just buys the curry after work and we make everything else at home. We get a ton more food for next-day leftovers and save over $50 a week, all while still enjoying our Friday Thai tradition.
Wrap-Up
Figure out what works for you and your family, then use these tips and tricks to eat healthy on a budget.
Let us know in the comments what your best tips are for saving money and eating healthy.
2021 Dirty Dozen:
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale/Collard/Mustard greens
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Cherries
- Peaches
- Pears
- Bell and hot peppers
- Celery
- Tomatoes
Clean 15:
- Avocados
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapples
- Onions
- Papayas
- Frozen sweet peas
- Eggplant
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Kiwifruit
- Cauliflower
- Mushrooms
- Honeydew
- Cantaloupe
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