Healthy Eating On A Budget
With a little bit of planning, smart buying habits and effort, you can get more healthy foods into your diet and reduce your sticker shock at the grocery store checkout.
Tips for eating right on a budget:
- Choose seasonal vegetables and fruits. Out-of-season produce, like blueberries and corn on the cob in January, must be shipped in, adding transportation costs to the price of your produce.
- Take advantage of store specials on fresh chicken, meat and fish. Buy a little extra, repackage into portions and freeze.
- Take advantage of store specials on non-perishable items. Whole-grain cereals, rice and other staples bought on sale mean a bargain-in-waiting in your pantry.
- Buy bags of frozen vegetables. They're cheaper and cut down on waste due to spoilage of fresh produce.
- Check unit pricing when shopping. The larger package is not always cheaper per unit.
- Do your own repackaging-break down large quantities into smaller portions at home. It's cheaper to buy a package of small plastic bags than individually packaged servings of foods.
- Buy the amount you really need-don't waste money on things that spoil in your crisper before you can eat them.
- If running a surplus of a perishable item, freeze it or use to make soup or stew.
