Eating Healthy With Your Budget In Mind

As an advocate of good health, I have spoken with many people searching for ways to eat healthy on a budget. It makes my heart jump with joy when someone tells me that they want to take serious steps towards improving their health, although their main complaint is thinking that it is too expensive to do so. However, one of the most important things to remember when wanting to eat healthy and save money is to ALWAYS plan ahead. I can’t stress that statement enough. If you start your week with a healthy plan and the right foods in your refrigerator and pantry, chances are that you are more likely to do the right thing.

One thing that will really help you save money while grocery shopping is to purchase items that are on sale or by shopping at discount health food stores like
Trader Joes. You can save loads of money by purchasing your groceries based on
weekly store sales. There are a few things that are staples in your home that you
will usually have to purchase regardless of the cost, although, it’s best to
stock up on these items when they are on sale as well.

You will find that most major grocery stores have a weekly circular that you
can get in your newspaper, online or at the store. If you take time to go
through the circular and make your grocery list based on what’s on sale, you
can save a lot of money. Doing so does require some basic meal planning in
advance, but after you get used to shopping this way it becomes like second
nature.

As far as the produce is concerned, which should make up about 40-60% of your
grocery cart, there are several ways to get creative when purchasing these
items. The first is to shop in season. This simply means purchasing produce
that is in season in your area. Also, as mentioned before, look for produce
that is on sale. This may mean that you aren’t getting the produce that you
prefer to eat, but you are adding variety to your fruit and vegetable
consumption, something for which your body will thank you later. You can also
link up with local farmers through a food sharing co-op of some sort. One of my
favorite spin offs of this concept is Natures Garden Delivered (www.naturesgardendelivered.com). This company actually delivers the produce to your doorstep weekly or bi-weekly and they have great produce and prices to boot!

There are many other ways to save money while eating healthy that I will
share with you later. The most important thing to remember is to plan ahead and
keep as much in season produce on hand as possible. Just make sure you are actually eating the produce and not letting it go to waste.

Some of you may feel that planning in advance like this is too time consuming.
It does consume some time, but it’s worth every penny of savings. We should all
take a little time to plan ahead when it comes to living healthier and spending
our money. Keep me posted on how much money you save on your next shopping
trip. See you around with my grocery list in tow!

Shonte’ Press is founder of S. Press Enterprise and Saved M.O.M. If you would like more information on health and wellness, check out www.spressonline.com.
If you would like more information on parenting, check out www.savedmom.com. You can also stay connected at www.twitter.com/spressonline, www.facebook.com/spressonline, www.twitter.com/savedmom.

Living Purposefully,

S. Press