Eating Healthy While Saving Money
When it comes to healthy food it’s important to know how to get your money’s worth out of what you’re buying. Anyone can buy noodles or rice and make a 21 cent dinner but if you have a special diet or other health concerns or perhaps you just want to eat well while still saving money then you need to get creative.
A great way to save is simply to shop around. Lots of people will simply go to one grocery store for all their food needs but just by simply heading to a few different stores instead of one you can find better deals and save a good amount of money. It also helps to know when stores place certain items on discount so that you can know when the best prices are going to be available.
It’s also a good idea to buy in bulk on the things that you use the most often or that wont go bad any time soon and while this can be pretty difficult with produce if you pay attention and learn to buy at the right times you’ll eventually get the hang of buying produce in certain quantities and at the best times so that none of it gets wasted or thrown out.
If you’re worried about wastefulness when buying in bulk then get a couple friends to go in on the purchases with you and divide up the goods when you’re done. That way you share the cost and nothing goes to waste. This can also end up being a lot of fun and you can have big parties with friends sharing favorite healthy dishes and recipes.
One of the most expensive costs when cooking on a budget is always going to be produce. Produce is by far the biggest part of my budget and it makes a big difference where you buy it too so this isn’t an area you want to skimp out on.
Having a good variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet can have a huge impact on your health (in a good way of course) and the quality of where you buy your produce will be really easy to tell if you decide to go cheap somewhere. So it’s worth the extra spending you might have to do to have tasty produce around - and it will improve your cooking enough to compensate for less than top notch products you may have bought in other areas.
There are however ways to save on your produce and still have good quality foods. The most inexpensive way is to grow your own. If you have space in your backyard that isn’t being used take advantage of it and grow your own vegetables, it can cut quite a bit off your monthly bill and you’ll appreciate your food a lot more - plus home grown vegetables are very tasty! Remember that even homes without gardens can still grow food. Try planters and pots and windowsills for growing herbs and all kinds of container-friendly vegetables, every little bit helps. If for some reason you aren’t the gardening type then look out into your area for local farms and use them instead of buying from the grocery stores.
Many farmers will do local sales at farmers markets or will have stands out in busy areas where you can purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. These are often less expensive than if you were to go to a grocery store, better quality (as they haven’t been shipped from who knows where) and you don’t have to grow it yourself. Many farmers also participate in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) which allows members of surrounding communities to purchase a “share” of a farm (usually on a yearly basis) and then in turn the get a share of the food that is grown. Often these are crates of food that are delivered weekly or bi-weekly and you typically choose the size of your share based on how many people are in your household. Some of these require that you come help out a certain number of hours but most don’t. Since you’re paying a flat rate for the growing season you don’t have to worry about price fluctuations and you’re getting fresh local food - can’t go wrong there.
Another way to save money when cooking is to eat what’s in season. The more out of a season an item is the farther it has to travel to get to your grocery store - which means it’s more expensive for you. In summer you can take the time to can a few different kinds of fruit which will then keep throughout the winter while you’re purchasing in season foods at the store and then you’ll still be able to have lots of variety.
It’s also wise when making an effort to eat healthy and not break the bank that you load up on foods in not only the times of season when they’re available but also at the times when grocery stores are looking to move produce out to make room for new items coming in. Make sure that you watch for sales and specials for these kinds of events because you can often get some really healthy fruit and vegetables by just paying attention in your local grocery store.
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ou can also save money by sticking to natural whole foods that have less packaging. Lots of places sell food that has been sliced and diced for you into cute little plastic packages but do your wallet and the earth a favor and skip all the plastic, so to speak. Cut up the apples and wash the grapes yourself and you’ll not only save some money - you’ll be saving the earth from some unneeded damage.
There are plenty of ways you can save money while cooking just be smart and get creative with your shopping and you’ll be able to get more value for your money without sacrificing your diet or having to eat poorly.