How to Eat Healthy on a Budget

Groceries bag

Eating healthy on a budget is almost like a fun game for me. I love to challenge myself to see how cheap I can get healthy foods for my family.  Each week I utilize these tips to get the most for my money.

1. Shop the Sales – I can’t say this enough. Read your flyers for your local grocery stores. Each week they have one bait product to get you into the store. These are called loss leaders, which means the company takes a loss on the product to get you into the store.  Many times, this is a sale on fresh fruit, vegetables, or meat. Just this weekend, I was able to snag up to 5lbs. of asparagus because it was $1.50 less per pound. My son loves asparagus, so guess what we are having as a side several nights this week? That was for a fraction of the price too.
2. Shop organic at Aldi –  I have an entire article you can read my entire article on Shopping Organic and Gluten Free at Aldi. One of the main reasons I love shopping here for these items is that I don’t have to use coupons, and I know I’m always getting the best price for an item or very close.
3. Meal Plan – Meal planning saves so much money and time when done correctly. Check out our Meal Planning 101 article to learn how to meal plan effectively.  My constant goal is to meal plan menus for our family that are inexpensive, yet nutrient dense.  This means that the foods we are eating are packed with nutrients versus empty calories. My asparagus example from earlier would be an inexpensive, nutrient dense addition to a meal. Another example might be picking up sweet potatoes, which are high in Vitamin A on sale to have with grilled chicken I bought at Aldi for less.
4. Cook at home – This is crucial for saving money while eating healthy. My oldest son was amazed one time because we ordered in pizza for the first time in his life. He was so used to us cooking healthy meals at home that he had never really experienced ordering pizza to our home.  Combining meal planning with cooking at home is how you will get the most nutritional bang for your buck, hands down!
5. Eat leftovers – In our home this is easy, because many of us like to eat leftovers such as cold pizza, hamburgers reheated, etc.  However, I know this is very tough in a family where only one or no one likes to eat leftovers. This is unfortunately a budget buster, but I do have to agree that there are some people with eating preferences where this just won’t work. If you are the family that eats leftovers, then this will be a wonderful savings for your family!
6. Avoid pre-packaged foods– Pre-packaged food items are rarely nutrient dense, and while they seem like a savings, they often will bust your budget.  This includes pre-packaged snack crackers, cookies, or even cheese sticks. While cheese is a healthy fat in most diets, it’s much less expensive to slice and package your own items like cheese and yogurt than to buy them pre-packaged …. even when they are healthy items.
7. Stock up and freeze – Stocking up on sale items described earlier (like Asparagus) is going to help save money. When blueberries go on Buy One, Get One Free sale at my local grocery store, I will often free the other package if my family can’t eat them over the course of the week. The same goes for strawberries and other fruit. One week, organic peaches were on sale for $0.99, so I purchased as much as I could afford, and cut and froze the peaches that were left over.  This way I’m freezing fresh items that are nutrient dense, and I try to use them as quickly as possibly without making it boring. Who wants to eat the same thing every single day? So, even the frozen items I try to space out and incorporate when I can like in a smoothie.

These are my top seven tips for eating healthy on a budget.  I truly feel that we can never go wrong when creating nutrient dense meals for our family for less. Utilizing these strategies will help keep your family healthy physically and financially. When we look at the 9 Pillars of Wellness, emotional health includes financial health as well. Eating healthy on a budget is easier than you think.