Is this the main reason why you aren’t eating as well as you should? If so, fear not. In fact, it can be very easy to eat healthily on a tight budget once you know how you can save money. Read on to find out more!
Create A Weekly Grocery Budget
We all know that creating a monthly budget is the best way to keep our finances in good shape. Hopefully, you’ve already got such a budget that you enter in all your income, regular outgoings, and one-off expenses. Well, it’s also a good idea to create an individual budget for your weekly groceries as well. That way, you can take a closer look at exactly how much you are spending on your food everytime you go to the supermarket. To do this, simply set yourself an amount for your weekly groceries. Make sure that you buy everything you need for the week in just one visit, as that will create less chance of you going over budget. Thanks, to this new budget, you’ll be able to control your spending more and will have more cash left over to go on healthy foods and ingredients.
Write A Shopping List And Stick To It
Next, it’s important to write a shopping list. Once you have done, you should stick to it! One of the main reasons why people struggle to afford their monthly groceries is because they get easily distracted when in the supermarket and end up buying things that catch their eye. Supermarkets are always putting on special deals, some of which aren’t really worth it, and it’s certainly pointless wasting your money on these items. So, plan in advance what you are going to eat for the week, and then you will find you have more to spend on your core shopping list.
Eat Seasonally
It’s also a good idea to try and eat as seasonally as possible. If you buy items that are out of season, especially fruit and vegetables, you will find that your weekly grocery shopping will work out very expensive indeed! That’s because it can be very expensive to produce and grow certain foods out of their natural season. And all of this cost will come down to you, the customer. So, it’s best to stick to a seasonal diet to try and keep your shopping costs down. Thankfully, each season has plenty of healthy veggies and fruits you can try, so eating this way will never end up boring!
Look For Restaurant Deals And Discounts
Whenever you eat out, you should try and look for restaurants that you know are going to have healthy options on the menu. Try not to just stick to fast-food outlets or convenience restaurants as the dishes they serve up will be really bad for your health. Unfortunately, health-food restaurants and those with a focus on healthy vegetarian cuisine can often be very expensive. There is a way around this, though. You just need to look for deals and discounts offered by these kinds of restaurants. If you look here for more information, you can see that you can even treat yourself to some gift cards for various restaurants. So, why not ask for some of these cards for your birthday?
Swap To Cheaper Brands
Next time you go shopping, it’s worth taking a bit of extra time to consider all the different food brands that are on the shelf. How do the prices of the brands you normally buy compare to some of the others? There’s a chance that changing your habit could get you some cheaper food prices. In fact, if you often go for branded food and ingredients, it’s worth switching to the supermarket own brands as they are often a lot cheaper. You don’t have to worry about a decline in the quality - generally speaking, supermarket own brands are just as good as the premium products on the shelf!
Cook From Scratch
Do you regularly cook convenience food and ready meals? If so, this is a habit that you need to nip in the bud as soon as possible! It often works out so much cheaper to cook everything from scratch. Fast food and convenience meals are often overpriced, and they simply aren’t worth it. Not only that, though, but they will be packed full of calories and sugar, and will make it incredibly easy for you to gain a lot of excess weight. If you are one of the people who struggle to find the time to cook healthy family meals from scratch, there are some solutions. One of the best, though, is to batch cook at the weekends when you do have time. Cook large portions of meals and then portion them up before freezing. Through the week, you just have to take out as many portions you need and reheat them ready for dinner.
Don’t Shop When You Are Hungry
One of the biggest mistakes many people make is going to the supermarket on an empty stomach. When you are hungry, you will be easily tempted to buy all the delicious-looking food that comes into your eye line. This will not only push up the cost of your weekly shop, but it will also mean you are more likely to buy unhealthy food too.
Once you follow all the tips above, you should find that healthy eating becomes a lot more affordable for you. Bon appetit!
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