Tips for Healthy Eating on a Budget
We all strive to find ways to incorporate healthy eating into our lifestyle. While we do so, it’s important to remember that each of us have our own spectrum on a healthy eating scale and can make our own progress towards better choices for ourselves and our families. We all face our own struggles and challenges when it comes to food. For some, allergies and dietary restrictions can make meal planning difficult. While others sometimes get stuck feeling like trying to eat healthy is just too expensive. In fact, one study even found that “one-quarter of families skip healthy purchase because they feel they cannot afford them.” Everyday Health Values is a website that was created specifically to help you find savings on healthier food options. Here are some tips to start eating healthier while sticking to your budget.
My Tips for Healthy Eating on a Budget
Watch for Sales – Everything eventually goes on sale. If you have favorite products that you often buy, you can stock up and buy in bulk to save you more throughout the year. Or, this can give you the opportunity to try a healthier brand that might be more competitively priced while on sale.
Shop “In Season” – Produce is very seasonal so if you plan your meals around the in season produce you will be able to save tons of money! For example, strawberries near me go on sale for $1 per carton during their peak summer months but the rest of the year they routinely sale for $3 per carton. That’s 66% savings right there!
Freeze or Jar It – You can store properly prepared produce in jars or in the freezer to let you stock up on the sale price and then save it for a later date. This will actually save you lots of time, too. We buy a big 10 pound bag of onions and dice them all up whenever we are already chopping onions over a week period. Then, we store all the extras in “1 onion” servings in ziplock bags and all the individual bags into one large freezer safe bag. Then, when a meal calls for onions, we can pull out one bag of pre-chopped onions and they are ready to serve.
Choose Wisely – Sometimes just a simple swap from one brand to another or from one variety to another can make a big impact. For example, if you can swap out Cap’n Crunch for one of the Cheerio’s varieties, that’s one step closer to your healthy eating goals.
Even MORE Ways to Save!
Everyday Health Values has some great tips of their own to share! I love the simplicity of these tips that make it something any of us can do!
Replace meats with beans, lentils, soy, or nuts. These are often less expensive but are just as nutritious as meats, and have lower saturated fat content. You can reduce your grocery bill significantly by eating meatless meals at least two or more times per week.
Do more “scratch” cooking using whole foods instead of processed or prepared foods.
Drink plenty of water, but use filtered tap water instead of buying bottled water.
Control your meal serving size. Over the past forty years the standard American dinner plate has increased from a diameter of 9.5 inches to 12.5 inches. Using a smaller plate may be a way for you to control your portions and your calories.
Find Savings for Healthy Eating at Everyday Healthy Values
Everyday Healthy Values is a online community, powered by Coupons.com, that consolidates better-for-me product coupons in one place. The Everyday Healthy Values program provides better-for-me products, including healthier options in food categories that may not be traditionally viewed in that category.
This is a sponsored post. I will be compensated for my time and efforts on this post. Topic: Healthy eating
