26 Healthy Foods You Can Buy On A Budget
I don’t know about you, but we spend a lot of money on food each month.
Picture the payment of a modest home and then add some to it.
We eat out at restaurants only about 2 times per month, so the majority of that money is spent at the grocery store.
As it stands, after housing, most Americans spend more money on food than anything else in their budget. If you have a couple of new cars in the garage you might be the exception.
According to the Bureau of Labor, the average household spends about $8,000 on food in 2018. (about $3,500 of that was spent at restaurants and the rest was spent at the grocery store).
Any way you slice it, it’s a lot of money.
The cost of food increases slightly year after year and as a culture we are eating out at restaurants more and more.
It’s no secret that making your own food at home is substantially cheaper than buying it already prepared from a restaurant. But even within the walls of the supermarket there are a lot of choices that an affect your grocery budget bottom line.
By the way… We created a free resource to help you build a healthy grocery list, and turn those foods into well-balanced, delicious meals!
No more stress, or wondering what to buy! Download it below.
To keep from over-spending, we try to do most of our shopping in terms of meals vs just picking up things that are new or look cool. That usually results in buying a big portion of protein (meats, yogurt, eggs etc), carbs (oats, veggies, grains, fruit, rice) and fats (cheese, avocado, nuts). and not a whole lotof random things that go to waste.
If you’re on a budget, making smart choices in the store can go a long way to keep you on track. Luckily, whole unprocessed foods are almost ALWAYS less expensive per serving than processed foods.
A serving of rolled oats costs less than a serving of granola cereal.
An apple cost less than a serving of applesauce.
Not only are unprocessed foods generally cheaper than processed foods, they’re almost always more nutritious too.
It’s a win-win.
We put together this cheat sheet to give you an idea of some of the foods that pack a healthy dose of nutrition per serving, without breaking the bank. These are just estimates of course since prices vary by state and store.
Again, these are estimated costs PER SERVING.
If you find yourself spending more on food than you want to each month try these two simple things.
Swap out a few of your restaurant meals for home cooked options. Analyze your spending a little. Do you really need to stop at Chipotle or could you make that at home for less than 1/2 the price?
Look at your grocery store choices. Are there some pricey processed foods or snacks that you could swap? An RX Bar cost about $2.25. A couple hard boiled eggs and a serving of almonds is about a dollar. It sounds silly, but the savings add up over time.
If you don’t cook much of your own food at home right now, check out this post we wrote about the basics you’ll need to get started.
Kitchen Essentials
From zero to hero
We know you our loyal readers have some great ideas for how to save money and still eat healthy so comment below and let us know!