Take a stroll down the aisle of a health food store and you’ll be longing for the dollar menu at the fast food joint down the street. It seems that the exotic fruits and organic foods cost too much to let you take advantage of the healthy choice when it comes to your diet. But don’t fear you can still eat healthily while on a budget. Ditch the soda and bag of chips and follow these steps to eating healthy while keeping your wallet fat:
1. Find out what’s cheap in your area. Visit a bunch of local grocery stores, bakeries and specialty stores to find out what items are typically the cheapest. Unprocessed vegetables are often cheap and will be cheaper if they grow well in your area. For instance, if squash in season and it’s grown in your region it’s going to be cheaper than the avocado imported from across the country.
2. Store up. When you’re buying food in bulk to save money down the road, make sure you have proper storage for it. A large freezer will be great for fruits and vegetables or a cool, dark cellar for potatoes. If the farmer’s market has a ton of corn, buy enough for the year and store it for meals around the calendar.
3. Don’t dine out. Avoid going to restaurants as much as possible because they jack up the prices. If you do go out then order the cheapest thing on the menu because that’s usually the healthiest as well. When the meal comes, eat only about half of it because usually restaurants will serve huge helpings.
4. Cook a meal from scratch. Never throw anything out – use it as leftovers. Old lettuce can be thrown in a soup. Meatloaf last night? Meatloaf sandwiches today. This will also help you manage your refrigerator as you won’t have anything going bad in there. It’s all going in tomorrow’s meals!
5. As the seasons come and go so do your meals. Learn to eat what is seasonally available. By buying groceries and eating this you’re going to save money and also be eating the freshest food available. Go to a farm stand or a farmer’s market and see what they have an abundance of and strike a deal to buy in bulk. Local sellers love to unload their products and are often eager to strike a deal to do so.
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Heather Johnson is an industry critic, as well as a regular contributor on the subject of airline mile cards. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.
