Keeping Your Waist and Your Wallet in Check
If you’re like one of the hundreds of thousands of people around on the world who resolved to lose weight during the New Year, eating healthy is probably at the top of your to-do list. But if you’ve taken a trip around the grocery store lately, you may have noticed that eating well isn’t cheap. Fortunately, there are several ways to cut back on your healthy eating expenses. Let’s look at a few that you can easily incorporate into your life:
Tip #1 – Buy in Season
If you live in a tropical climate, that’s great – you probably have access to fresh, delicious produce year round. If you live in an area where produce goes in and out of season you might have to adjust your shopping list to keep the grocery budget on track.
Out of season produce is generally is more expensive, due to extra labor and cost of getting it into stores. Strawberries, for instance, grow in northern states during summer, but come wintertime have to be shipped from southern states, for a greater cost in spoilage and in freight. A quick search on Google can tell you what fruits and veggies grow naturally in your area by season, and try to get them into your diet.
Tip #2 – Purchase Healthy Items in Bulk
Buying in bulk will get you the best price on just about anything, and this goes double for healthy foods! You won’t want to buy perishable fruits and veggies in bulk, but what about dry items like beans, pasta, or shelf stable tuberous vegetables like potatoes or squash? A bulk size package of pasta can be separated into smaller portions, and for lower costs per serving. Be aware of and stick to the “use by” dates. Items like raw whole grains and potatoes will store for a while, but not that long, and spoiled food is wasted money!
Tip #3 – Eat at Home
Preparing more meals at home is a real double whammy for both your wallet and your waist size. Cooking at home is less expensive than dining out, and preparing your own food will cut down the fat and sodium in commercially prepared meals.
To get more bang for your buck, experiment with recipes with a high yield of servings and freeze well, such as soups, stews, or pasta dishes. Not only can you take the leftovers with you to work the next day, you can store extra servings for future nights when you don’t feel like cooking but still want to avoid the extra calories and expense of going out to eat.
Tip #4 – Choose Economical Proteins
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are a staple of many healthy eating plans, but they don’t come easy on the wallet. Barring the occasional sale, packages of this poultry cut can cost as much as $ 10 per pack. Buy packages of meat instead when on sale (be mindful of expiration dates) or try less expensive cuts. For example, cooking up a whole chicken yields breasts, thighs and leftover bones and meat that can be simmered down into chicken soup. It’s like three healthy meals and paying for one!
