Healthy on a Budget

It's Saturday, my weekly food shopping day. I just got back a few hours ago and filled my fridge, which is always a nice feeling. I love knowing that my kitchen is fully stocked, especially when it is stocked with healthy and fresh foods that my body feels good eating. Admit it, it is never fun to realize that you have just worked a full day, you are exhausted, and now you have to figure out dinner plans on the way home...relaxing? I think not.

Inevitably, after every shopping trip I feel slightly shocked, and taken advantage of, after realizing how ridiculous the price of food is. Then again, after I settle down, get it together and realize that I spent less through groceries than if I were eating out all the time, my nerves are appeased...lately, though, I have had a nagging feeling that despite the money i'm saving through having a well stocked kitchen, I could be saving more, hence my excitement when I checked up on one of my favorite health websites today mercola.com and saw an article that proved to be highly beneficial! Here is an exert:

Here are the 14 top tips you need to know to find healthy food, even on a tight budget:

1. Choose local foods over organic foods.
2. If all that’s available or affordable is fresh, conventionally grown produce, buy it, wash it well at home, and eat it.
3. Look for local farms and food coops offering raw dairy products, eggs, produce, and grass-fed meat. This will allow you to cut out the middleman and save money. Buying in large quantities, such as a side of grass-fed beef, can also save you money in the long run as long as you have room to freeze it (and you consume it before it goes bad).
4. Skip prepared or pre-cut foods, which can cost up to double the amount as the unprepared versions.
5. Plan your meals ahead of time (including cooking large batches and freezing some for later) so you don’t splurge on expensive, unhealthy fast-food at the last minute.
6. Pass on junk foods like potato chips, soda, cookies, candy, and other snacks. These are a complete waste of money.
7. Buy lots of fresh veggies, they’re usually less expensive than canned versions (just make sure you use them before they go bad).
8. Only buy what you need. Keep track of what’s in your pantry so you don’t double-up on foods unnecessarily.
9. Clip coupons and use them when you can (but don’t buy something unhealthy just because it’s on sale).
10. Watch the register when you check out of the grocery store. They often ring up wrong prices, at your expense.
11. Shop with a calculator so you can determine if it’s really a better deal to buy something in bulk.
12. Watch weekly specials, and be aware of what’s really a good price. You can often find organic produce on sale for less than conventional produce if you know what prices to watch for.
13. If you have the space, grow your own fresh veggies such as greens, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, string beans, etc.
14. Remember this rule of thumb: Fresh food is always better than frozen, but frozen is better than canned.

I hope you all get as much insight out of this simple list of tips as I did. For more great information from Dr. Mercola just visit www.mercola.com and sign up!

Have a great weekend!

Works Cited

Mercola.com. 7 January 2008. Dr Mercola. 12 January 2008 [www.mercola.com].

Healthy on a Budget