Eating Healthy on a Budget

May 12, 2020

People often think that in order to eat healthy food, they have to spend a lot of money.  Especially during this time when job uncertainty is high and trips to the grocery store are few and far between, following a few key tips will help you stretch your food dollars to easily afford nutritious foods!  Plan ahead, make a list, and use these tricks:

1. Stock the Staples: Keep canned beans, brown rice, dry pasta, oatmeal, and barley in your pantry.  Barley and rice add fiber to any meal and are great additions to stretch soups, stews, and casseroles. Beans are also a good source of fiber and protein and can easily be added to soups and stews, or used in salads, wraps, or burritos.

2. Check for Sales: Browse the sale ads in the newspaper or online before you hit the stores to see what foods are on special. If you don’t have time before you go, look for the store’s circular when you first walk in or ask customer service for a copy.  There are bound to be things on sale that you can use. Also, be sure to clip coupons!

3. Shop in Season: Produce not only tastes better when it’s at the peak of freshness, but it also tends to cost less.  Try to buy in season, when possible.

4. Check out Frozen Foods: It’s not always possible to buy fruits and vegetables when they are in season, so when that’s the case, head to the frozen food aisle.  Look for produce that is frozen without added sauces or cheese, to keep the calories down. Also check the sodium count to make sure that added seasonings haven’t sabotaged your healthy efforts.