Why, if one's quality and length of life is shortened by obesity, do many people continue on the path to personal destruction? One of the top reasons people choose to forego healthy eating is due to the expense. Junk food is cheap, as are canned meals, frozen dinners, and practically any other item that is packed with preservatives, sodium, added sugar, and contains little to no nutrients. With so many people struggling to make ends meet, many of us choose what seems to be the only option: drive-through dining and pre-packaged meals.
Luckily, there are ways to eat healthy foods without breaking the bank. It may require a bit of planning and a change in mentality, but it once it becomes a habit, your family and your wallet will thank you.
1. Make a Menu
The general rule of thumb is to never go food shopping without a list. I like to take it one step further and make a menu of the healthy foods I plan to feed my family, then base my list around these meals. This keeps us from throwing additional items into the cart - things that may either be unhealthy or may never be used at all.
The produce section of the supermarket can be a scary place. Prices fluctuate wildly and if produce isn't used quickly, it goes to waste. The smart choice is to purchase produce once weekly, keeping your menu in mind and knowing what food is in season. When food is in season, it is much less expensive. This is why the asparagus that is often $3-$4 for pound has recently been just over $1. There are plenty of apps that can help you, like Locavore. You can also consult this page, by looking to the right of this post.
3. Learn About Food Storage
Whether you prefer to freeze, dry, or can, storing food for later consumption is a great way to take advantage of sale prices on healthy food. Whatever your method for preservation, make sure that you have a system for reminding yourself of which items are stored away. Nothing is more wasteful that purchasing a bag of apples when you already have several forgotten pounds peeled and quartered in the freezer.
4. Price Shop
Here's a shocker: Food is not the same price in every location. There are a number of apps that may help you track down the best price on any particular item, but I like to physically visit the stores and take note of price breaks myself. For instance, produce may be cheapest at a discount store, but the quality may be very low. In my small town, I have found that the best prices on dairy, fresh produce, brown rice, and tofu are at four different stores.
Years ago, I did as much shopping at the Farmer's Market as I could. Prices were always low and food was always delicious. In recent years, things around here have changed. After speaking with some of the vendors at the farmer's market, I learned that their prices had to go up not just because of fuel consumption and cost-of-living increases, but also because their fees for being a part of a farmer's market had increased substantially. Check with each grower and find if they sell direct. Often the prices are lower. If it makes you feel better to give more money to support the farmer's market, go for it. I, for one, would rather pay less.
6. Clip Coupons with Care
Coupon clipping has been a craze for decades, and recently "extreme couponing" has become the trend. However, clipping coupons sometimes costs more money than it saves. Have you ever found yourself purchasing a product that you wouldn't have otherwise bought simply because you have a coupon for it? Have you ever bought a more expensive brand that has a coupon, when a different brand would still have cost less? If so, you're not alone. A few weeks ago, I did a coupon clipping experiment. I clipped coupons only for the types of items I was already planning on buying. I had a stack of about a dozen coupons. After comparing brands, I was only able to use two and still save money. My rule: make your list first, then see if any coupons match.
7. Sign Up for Freebies
You won't be able to feed a family of four on a regular basis using freebies, but you can sometimes supplement a meal. Most nationwide chains have freebies offered on a regular basis, and many of these offer coupons that are delivered to your inbox each week. Try signing up for offers through Whole Foods Market. Even if you don't get free food, they send out excellent recipes and tips for healthy living.
Trendy diets get people very excited with the promise of losing weight quickly, but they seldom work in the long run and end up costing much more. If a diet is telling you to eat nothing but Cabbage Soup, you may end up spending loads on cabbage that you will, if you are human, begin detesting within a few days.
9. Healthy Foods at Wholesale Clubs
I wrote a previous post on my surprise at finding health food options at Sam's Club. Because the store is filled with mountains of chips, cookies, and candy, you might think that the entire place is brimming with the most disgusting, bad for you foods you can imagine. You're right. It is. However, Sam's also has a very respectable number of frozen fruits and vegetables, inexpensive produce (if you can use it all before it goes bad), and even some healthy options for the meat eaters of the world. The trick is avoiding the bulk case of Nutter Butters.
10. Grow Your Own
Very few of us have plots of land that can feed our families for an entire year. Still, it is very possible to supplement a diet with a small patch or even a container garden. Tomatoes, peppers, and spinach all grow well in most environments and just one planting can yield quite a lot of crops. Don't have a green thumb? I don't either, but I still manage to grow healthy, delicious herbs every year. Some, like basil and cilantro, require very little care, in fact, they thrive even when completely forgotten. Plants cost about $3 each and seeds even less than that. With just a small pot and a little bit of soil, you can have year-round, fresh food.
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