Shop healthy, shop smart. Photo: Shutterstock.
Buying all organic, pre-washed, pre-packaged foods at the grocery store can run you a serious bill. It’s amazing how much a tiny package of greens or cut fruit can cost. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t shop healthy without spending a ton of money. All you have to do is make some simple swaps, and you’ll find yourself eating healthier and spending less money at the register.
Buy Frozen Produce
Sure, this doesn’t work for items like salad greens, but it’s a great buying strategy for veggie staples like broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and peas. Contrary to popular belief, frozen produce is actually really good for you, and at times, even better for you than fresh produce. These vegetables are frozen at the peak of their nutrition (right after picking), so they actually offer more nutritional benefits than fresh produce that has been transported across hundreds of miles since being picked. The best part? Frozen foods cost way less.
Weigh Your Options
Organic is a good thing. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford all organic everything. Reference the Environmental Working Group’s Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen to help you decide which foods are most worth buying organic. Generally speaking, foods with a thick, non-edible (or at least you don’t eat it) peel like bananas and oranges are decent options for skipping the organic label. You’re better off channeling that money toward buying organic fruits like peaches and nectarines whose skin is edible and comes directly into contact with any pesticides used.
Swap Your Meats
This doesn’t apply if you’re vegan or vegetarian, but for the rest of us, meat can be a serious opportunity for savings in our monthly food budget. Beef is expensive, even lower quality ground beef, and the cost of beef has been rising over the past couple of years. From an environmental standpoint this is a good thing because now the price of beef more accurately reflects the massive amount of natural resources required to produce it. From a hungry person standpoint, that means you can’t buy as much of it, or you have to spend more money. Instead of buying beef, buy turkey. Even just swapping a couple pounds per week can make a big difference in your budget. Not only will it save you money, but it’s better for you.
Eat Less Meat
Even if you’re not vegetarian or vegan, reducing the amount of meat you eat each week can be an effective way to cut costs. Meat is one of the most expensive components of a balanced diet, so reducing your consumption by even a couple meals per week can save you a lot of money. Just be mindful that if you are used to consuming a fair amount of meat, you’ll need to find plant-based forms of protein to incorporate into your diet to compensate. Lentils, chickpeas, and beans are great, affordable options.
Grate Your Own Cheese
This seems silly, but oftentimes it’s tempting to buy the pre-shredded cheese at store. It looks nice, and it’s handy to pull out of the fridge to sprinkle on top of something. The problem is, the price difference per ounce just isn’t worth that convenience. Buy cheese by the block, and you can either save cash or afford to buy a nicer cheese.
Take a Pass on the Pre-Portioned Foods
Much like the shredded cheese, you pay significantly more for the convenience of pre-portioned foods. Yes, it is great to have a healthy portion perfectly measured out for you, but when you’re paying that much more per ounce, it’s worth it to do it yourself. Read the nutritional info, measure out a standard serving once, and then make a mental note. From that point you can quickly estimate/ measure out portions yourself, and you’ll save a lot of money over time.
Do Your Homework
Especially when it comes to superfoods. Are superfoods wonderful? Absolutely. Unfortunately, they’re also expensive. Oddly enough, many superfoods have less popular but equally healthy equivalents. For example, quinoa is nutritionally similar to millet (except in protein content), but quinoa sells for about $7.50 per pound while millet sells for only $1.99 per pound. This money might be worth spending if you’re a vegetarian or vegan relying on the protein in quinoa, but if not, consider making a couple swaps. Millet doesn’t sound as exotic as quinoa, but it’s good for you and your wallet.
Don’t Fear Frozen Fish
Frozen fish can be a little freaky, and it seems intuitive that fresh fish would be much better for you. However, that simply isn’t the case. In fact, frozen fish often maintains its freshness and nutrient content better than the fresh fish you buy in the store. Like frozen produce, the fish is frozen at its peak freshness, which locks in nutrients. In comparison, “fresh” fish has been transported and stored in the glass at the store. Additionally, frozen fish filets often sell for significantly less than their fresh fish counterparts.
Buy Generic/ Store Branded Items
There may be specialty foods worth buying the brand name, but for everyday essentials and random kitchen items, buy the store’s own brand of products. This is a great strategy for items like flour, sugar, vanilla extract, and peanut butter. These products typically cost less than big brand names, and they’re more likely to be marked down for card members. As a secondary point, if your local grocery store offers some kind of discount card or membership, definitely sign up. Most are free, and they shave major money off your bill each time you shop.
Don’t Buy Everything at the Grocery Store
The grocery store is for buying food. Buy food there. Unless it’s absolutely essential, avoid buying other home products at the grocery store. Items like paper towels, tissues, toilet paper, paper plates, and cleaning supplies are priced much more competitively at stores like Target and Costco.
Buy in Bulk
Take this with a grain of salt, but buying in bulk can be a great way to save money. That doesn’t mean it’s efficient to buy 30 lbs of pork chops if you live by yourself. However, buying larger quantities of the more expensive things on your grocery list, such as boneless chicken breast, can save you money. Stores like Costco offer these foods at greatly reduced prices because they sell in such large quantities. You can freeze the extra food and defrost for use as needed.
