Budget Friendly Tips For Eating Healthier
Making the commitment to eating healthier can be expensive. It seems the more you aim to clean up your diet the higher the grocery bill becomes… which is unfortunate. But I have found a few ways that can help you save money while having the ability to eat foods with cleaner ingredients (including organic produce!)
shop frozen organic fruits and vegetables
Fortunately, shopping frozen can often save money, especially on organic fruits and vegetables. I love to stay stocked on a variety of fruit for smoothies and veggies for quick stirfrys. Frozen foods are pre cut/peeled which can even help simplify the home cooking process making healthier eating more doable. So it’s a win for your wallet and body!
stick to the Dirty Dozen list and for the rest use this hack
The Dirty Dozen is a list of produce that is heavily sprayed with pesticides. These foods should be avoided completely if you can’t get them organic. Always shop these organic and anything else you need to buy non-organic can be soaked in a baking soda mixture. Just mix about a tablespoon or 2 in a bowl of water and soak your produce in the mixture to wash away most of the pesticides. All it needs is a 30 second soak and you’re good to go!
shop around
I am not going to tell you to start hitting up 5 different grocery stores but there are ways to save a lot of money by shopping for groceries using different services. Shopping at a local farmers market, utilizing online stores like Thrive Market for pantry items or making a monthly trip to Costco or Sams Club for bulk items can help you save a lot of money.
stock up when there is a sale
Anytime I see my go-to healthier pantry items on sale I make sure to stock up on a few. I will even stock up on fruit that is on sale and freeze a bunch. A container of organic strawberries can often cost $7-$9, so when they go on sale I recommend stocking up and freezing a container or two for smoothies and other desserts. It may cost a lot up front but over time it will save you more.
Want more tips for eating healthier? Check out this blog post here to learn how to eat healthier and reach your long term goals.