Eat Well on a Budget: 15 Money-Saving Tips

You don’t have to shop at an expensive health food store or organic market to enjoy nutritious food. Here are some tips from the experts for shopping and eating healthfully on a budget.

While retail organic food markets have popped up all over the country during the last several years, they’re rarely an option for budget-conscious grocery shoppers. “But there’s a misconception that in order to be healthy, you have to be organic,” says Marisa Moore, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (ADA).

The hardest part of eating well on a budget is planning, says Moore. The keys, she points out, are to shop for produce in season when it’s cheapest, buy less expensive grocery store brands when purchasing items such as cereals and rice, and make extra portions of soups and casseroles when cooking to can or freeze for later meals. “Eating out costs a lot more than eating in,” explains Moore. “Plan ahead so you can make and eat most of your meals at home.”

But part of eating healthy at home means having healthy ingredients on hand. And a big pitfall is not having the items you need to make nutritious meals or the time to make them. Anne Sheasby, author of Kitchen Wisdom: Hundreds of Hints and Tips for Every Cook, offers lots of advice on inexpensive basics to keep in your cupboards. Nutritious and economical standbys, she says, include rice and pasta, canned vegetables (in water or brine), canned fruit (in fruit juice), dried fruit, nuts, and seeds, as well as a variety of dried herbs and spices for flavoring.

Here’s a guide from the experts for budget-conscious, healthy buying on your next grocery store or farmers’ market trip:

• Buy less expensive fruits like apples and bananas or buy fruits in season or locally grown throughout much of the year, like oranges in Florida or strawberries in California.

• Buy fruits in bulk if you are able to freeze or can them.

• Be conscious of the nutritional value of foods and read the ingredient labels. Search for products, for example, that list a whole grain as the first ingredient and look for nutritional punch items that are high in fiber but low in sugar.

• Buy generic or store brands.

• Plan shopping trips around weekly specials. Buy meats, for example, when they’re on sale and freeze for later.

• Purchase canned fish such as tuna and salmon, which still have a lot of valuable nutrition but are less expensive than cuts of fresh fish.

• Rice, pasta, beans, and soups are all low-cost items that generally have a lot of nutritional value and can be combined with more expensive items like vegetables and meat to give the higher cost products bulk.

• If you have leftover bread, use it for bread crumbs or stuffing.

• Avoid buying in bulk unless you have a large family and know you will use the food.

• Don’t let food in your fridge or cupboards go to waste. Plan your meals around items that will spoil first to avoid wasting food.

• Dilute fruit juices with water to make them go farther and cut down on the sugar content.

• Make your own fruit smoothies and milkshakes with yogurt, skim milk, fresh or canned fruit, and honey.

• Keep a lot of condiments on hand to add flavor—herbs, spices, marinades, vinegars, and tomato and soy sauces.

• To make sure you use all the food items you buy, prepare as much as possible in advance to prevent throwing out spoiled food or produce later because you haven’t had time to turn it into meals and snacks. Cut up fruits and vegetables the day you purchase them, so they’ll be ready for use when you need them.

• And most important, says Moore, “Stick to your grocery list.” Don’t engage in impulse buying of items you don’t need, especially if they’re not good for you.

— Deborah R. Huso

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