Five Tips for Eating Healthy on a budget!

Eating healthy on a budget has become more challenging as Americans see higher food prices than they have seen in decades. According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, the average food price will rise by about 5.5-6.5% this year.

Sadly, some of the biggest increases will be associated with staples like beef, pork, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy. Beef prices are projected to increase by between 14 and 16 percent. Vegetables and fruits are also expected to increase.

Keeping your diet healthy does not have to break the bank. Here are a few tips for eating healthy on a budget:

1. Don’t eat or drink anything processed

Avoid all chips, cookies, crackers, and sweetened drinks, as they have no place in your home or budget. Choose nutritious whole foods instead. When you buy processed food, you waste your money since they contain empty calories, sugar, food dyes, and rancid oils.

Boxes, wrappers, and bags of processed food are considered packaged foods. Chemicals, preservatives, and flavor enhancers in processed foods make you hungry, and eating them is wasteful due to their packaging.

Take potato chips, for example. They cost anywhere between $2 and $5. However, some fancier, organic, or gourmet chip varieties can cost upwards of $6-$8. That’s big savings to cut those out. Snack on fresh cut-up veggies instead and save your money.

I realize that buying meat and vegetables may seem expensive. Still, there is no contest when you compare the nutrient density of meat and vegetables to the nutrient density of chips, crackers, or cookies!

2. Stop with the grains: Even gluten-free!

Regardless of whether they are gluten-free, bread is completely unnecessary and generally a waste of time. Therefore, it is not necessary to consume bread. Low-carb diets exclude bread from the menu.

Is cereal allowed? This is an incredibly expensive grain product full of air, sugar, and refined grains. In addition, it offers no nutritional benefits. Besides increasing your blood sugar, cereals make you hungrier by causing a crash and making you crash fast.

Would you ever eat one bowl of cereal and then eat two more? The bottom line is that processed breakfast cereal is neither healthy nor good for you, even if the box claims it is “healthy” or “natural.” Cross breakfast cereal off your list.

Even gluten-free people enjoy eating toast from time to time, but these grains are just as processed as regularly processed grains. And they are way more expensive! Products that claim to be gluten-free are usually made from super-refined tapioca starch, rice flour, or other expensive flours.

A ‘real food’ would be a far better alternative to gluten-free products. Instead of tortillas or wraps, use lettuce. Instead of toast or additional carbs, opt for a side of veggies.

3. Frozen fruits and veggies for the win

You can get just as much nutrition from frozen vegetables as fresh ones. In many grocery stores, fresh vegetables arrive a week or two after they leave the farm, on a truck or by train.

Instead of buying fresh fruit and vegetables, pick up some frozen ones. Among the best choices are blueberries, strawberries, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, and string beans. Also great for smoothies, are organic blueberries or mixed berries.

4. Buy less expensive cuts of meat.

Try getting ground beef in place of steaks or roasts. In addition to being one of the most versatile foods, ground beef can also be used in a variety of recipes. Instead of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (which have lower nutritional value), choose chicken thighs. If available, combine turkey and chicken to make ground meat. Alternatively, cook a whole chicken, use the leftovers to make chicken salad, chicken soup, chicken over salad greens, etc.

Grass-fed or organic naturally raised meat does indeed have a little bit of nutritional edge over conventionally grown meat. You can still get high-quality protein with conventional cuts instead of avoiding meat if you can’t afford grass-fed or organic beef.

Find a grass-fed beef farmer who sells in halves or quarters you can freeze or split with a friend. It is not uncommon for cattle farmers to sell their meat in this way; you’ll get the best meats here without the overhead of a grocery store.

5. Just drink water.

Another great way to save on your grocery budget is to cut out sugary or fruity drinks. These drinks are not healthy for you or your wallet. Even the supposedly healthy drinks, like kombucha and probiotic-flavored waters, are expensive, loaded with calories and hidden sugars, and don’t do as much for gut health as you might think. It is not uncommon for probiotic drinks to sell for upwards of $5/bottle! A glass of water may also quench your thirst, so why spend all that money on a beverage?

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