Shopping for Healthy Food on a Shoestring Budget

My husband and I wanted to go on a healthy diet and I have to say I was very concerned about being able to buy all of the food within our $50.00 a week budget. Most coupons are for items that are prepackaged and not diet friendly. I found that switching are diet to fresh, non-processed foods, I was actually spending less money than when I used my coupons. I still use coupons for all of my non-food items.

I have put together a few ideas for helping you buy healthier food and staying within your budget.

Preparing meals vs. Convenience-I have realized that to use healthy ingredients in your foods you have prepare most of your meals from scratch. This means you will have to invest more time towards cooking. Not every meal has to be difficult, but you will spend more time cutting, chopping, and cooking then you would do with convenience foods.

Buy less ingredients-I found that the reason I was able to save money was because I was buying less ingredients. (I was not buying a bunch of junk food!) You could buy a whole chicken and use it for several meals for example. As long as you have a stocked pantry with oils, spices, and condiments you can come up with some great meal options using very few ingredients.

Buy in season or sale veggies and fruit-To stay within your budget buy fruits and veggies that are on sale or in season. These are the cheapest produce. You can find many sites on the Internet that list veggies that are seasonal. Also, consider freezing. If green beans are on sale, you can buy more than you need at a good price and freeze them.

Buy Cheaper meats and seafood-My husband and I love steak, but it is not always on sale. Instead of purchasing steak, I will buy turkey tenderloin fillets. They are great and the fraction of the price of steak. Instead of buying large shrimp for 8.00 a bag, I buy the mini-shrimp for 1.50 and use them in a vegetable stir fry.

Shop the outer aisle of the grocery stores-The fresh ingredients are on the outer aisles. These are where you want to focus. I will shop in the inner aisles for condiments and bread.

It is possible to buy fresh, healthy ingredients on a budget. You need to be willing to invest some of your time. I hope this article gives you some ideas to try with your family!