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Eating healthy can be very expensive which is why I have put together my 9 simple tips to help you follow what I do, to keep eating healthy on a budget.
I wouldn’t call these tips a secret list or anything like that. If you have been following me for a while you shouldn’t be surprised by some of the points I am raising below.
So here are my 9 Helpful Tips For Eating Healthy While On A Budget
1. Start Cooking Your Own Meals
If you are not willing to cook and stick to a meal plan, you will end up cheating on your diet by buying lunch while at work, eating out more and compromising on the quality of the foods you are eating too.
Most importantly, when you are not cooking your own food, you will also end up spending a lot more money on food in the long run, as usually each portion made at home has a much lower dollar value when compared to you eating out or buying pre-made meals, etc.
2. Bulk Buying
No...I am not suggesting you should be buying shipping container full of food haha.
However, buying your main ingredients in bulk like rice, pasta, canned goods and other products that you can store for a long period, as well as meats that can be frozen, will end up working out cheaper for you.
If you buy a larger bag of rice for example, you can save several dollars compared to constantly having to buy the smaller packets.
Likewise, if you can afford to bulk by the meat that is on offer in your local butchers or supermarket…brilliant! You can then portion up when you get home and freeze.
The more you buy items in bulk and can store these without them spoiling, the more money you will save, as it will reduce your bill each week/month.
3. Get To Know Your Supermarket/s
Shop around and be willing to go to several supermarkets and butchers to find the best offers available.
Also be willing to buy at “budget” supermarkets. The quality of their food is often the very same when compared to the other supermarkets and will allow you to not compromise on the quality of the food you are buying.
Be savvy about where you buy what and you will end up being able to save a ton of money.
4. Collect Coupons And Become A “Store Member”
When you sign up to a supermarket members list, you can be notified of their weekly/monthly offers, as well as receive coupons that will save you money on your next shopping trip.
Some supermarkets are very good at making sure to send you offers relating to your previous shopping habits, which I find a fair price to pay in exchange to them knowing what I bought previously as it saves me money!
5. Buy Products On Offer
I think this is very self-explanatory but some people still turn their noses at foods that are on offer because they are coming close to their sell-by date for example…
You can freeze foods that you find in those bargain sections as they are still perfectly fine to eat and if a banana is a bit bruised, so be it… Stop being so picky and simply peel it when you get home and put it into the freezer for a smoothie.
So don’t be a snob…get a bargain and save yourself some serious cash!
6. Buy Supermarkets “Own Brand” Products
Ok, the food might not taste the same as the branded food or drink that you are used to, but you are on a budget...so again, don’t be a snob and give their own brand products a try.
If you don’t like it, ok…fair enough…but a lot of times supermarket own brand products are very close to the branded products you are used to…all at a fraction of the price.
7. Make A Shopping List And Stick To It!
I cannot stress this enough… MAKE A LIST AND STICK TO IT!
How many times have you thrown stuff you don’t need into your supermarket trolley and ended up paying a fortune by the time you get to the checkout…
Making a shopping list will help you stick to your budget and will stop (most of us) from impulse buying products that we don’t need, or shouldn’t be eating in the first place.
I use a magnetic white board such as this one on Amazon that my wife or I can simply write down what we need to buy the next time we go shopping. That way we don’t forget anything and it makes life so much easier.
8. Eat Out Less And Prep Your Food
Get used to prepping your meals, because being on a budget means that you will have to find a way to pay significantly less per meal than when you buy a meal from a deli or restaurant.
However, I would never advise anyone not to go out for a meal...restaurant or fast-food joint...makes no difference...everyone likes a takeaway every now and again.
Just remember… you are on a budget, so reduce this to maybe once a week and make it your allocated cheat meal which you can build into your diet plan.
Check out my article on 13 Pro Tips For Preparing Meals In Advance and 5 Simple Reasons To Start Prepping Your Meals if you need to find out more about meal prepping.
9. Track Your Daily Macros
There are several apps out there that can help you keep track of your macros and make sure that you don’t sway too far from your target.
It can be difficult for some getting used to tracking your macros, but keep your goal in mind and hopefully that will give you the motivation to keep going.
Helping me along the way and making sure that I get my portions right each time, is my personal favorite food tracking app called MyFitnessPal App.
After providing it with a few simple pieces of info about yourself, it will give you a good estimate of your daily macros you need to be aiming for, as well as allow you to track your progress, by adding your meals to the tracker.
I’ve been using this app for years now and I would highly recommend it to anyone particularly starting their meal prep and fitness journey, as it helped guide me on how much of what I should have in each of my meals, allowing me to hit my target for the day, without going over and saving me money.
If you need to learn more about Macros, please have a look at my article called “7 Simple Steps To Start Eating Healthier (2023)” where I explain how you can calculate your macros if you wish to do it yourself.
Summary
Eating healthy does not need to cost a fortune and most of us know this already.
However, some of us aren’t willing to put in the work to make it happen, so we fall down at this hurdle and get back to eating junk food that is just easier to get your hands on.
So if you take away just one thing from this article, I urge you to try and follow these 9 simple steps for a month.
The best way to compare the true value of your savings when following these steps, is if you truthfully write down what you are spending on food each week/month.
Take everything into account, such as your breakfast at your local cafe, the lunch at your deli close to work, your dinners you might be cooking at home, but when you open the fridge you throw out half of the stuff there because it’s gone bad…
The cost of all the frozen food you have on “standby” but keep eating because it’s more convenient…
I was the same before I started prepping my meals.
My weekly shopping cost me a fortune and half of the stuff just went to waste, because I got lazy and didn’t use it because I opted for a takeaway instead.
I spend a whopping $500 easily on food each month...just for myself and that was me being a skinny fucker then!
Now, I spend around the same amount…but on my whole family…my wife, daughter and myself… and I eat a lot of food let me tell you.
$500 a month for a family of three is very good and all because we follow these 9 simple tips each week when we go shopping.
We eat healthy prepped food 99% of the week and have one “cheat meal” a week where we simply forget about the rules and go crazy!
If we can do it, so can you!
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