With food prices going up monthly, everyone could use some saving tips. To eat healthy on a budget you’ll need to think through your purchases and buy strategically. Here are a few pointers that might help to control how much you spend on food without sacrificing quality.
1. Create a Meal Plan
Plan your meals to cook at home, and, as hard as it may be, don’t stray from your grocery list if you can help it. Save your favorite grocery store’s weekly ad and plan meals around their healthy sale items. Impulse buys can throw your budget off track, so be careful at the cash register.
Having trouble getting started? Check out our blog, Meal Prep Tips for Beginners!
2. Use Coupons and Stock Up During Sales
Take the extra time to use coupons, (paper or digital), you’ll find it’s worth the extra effort. Many grocery stores offer rewards programs nowadays where you can sign up, earn points for shopping, and add coupons to your account or digital wallet. Be sure to check the fine print as well as your store’s coupon policy to see if you’re allowed to “stack” coupons. This means that you can maximize your savings by using multiple coupons on a single item.
Lastly, stock up on your favorite items during sales, but don’t buy something that you normally wouldn’t just because you think it’s a good deal. More often than not, it won’t get used and you’ll just be wasting even more of your hard-earned money in the long run.
3. Buy Frozen Produce
People often say that it’s hard to eat healthily on a budget because fresh produce is so expensive. Although there’s some truth to this, a lot of the time they either aren’t shopping what’s in season or they don’t know what flash freezing is. Many grocery store fruits and vegetables are typically flash-frozen, which means that they’re frozen almost immediately after being harvested. Flash-frozen produce doesn’t lose a significant amount of its nutritional value at all. Some flash-frozen fruits and vegetables retain nutrients better over time than their fresh counterparts.
Bonus Tip: Generic brands do the job just as well as name brands, we promise. The only major difference is the price.
4. Don’t Shop When You’re Hungry
Make sure that you’re completely satisfied before heading to the grocery store. If you don’t, you risk filling your cart with junk food and going over your budget. Where did these four packs of cookies come from? We couldn’t tell you…
