Eat Well on a Budget
Here are 3 simple ways to eat well without breaking the bank:
Grow your own food.
Yeah, OK. I know that you’re already rolling your eyes at me. But this is simple because instead of buying that 5.00+ fresh basil package in the produce section, if you picked up the whole plant for 6.99 then you would have fresh basil for years. You don’t need to have a full garden or know anything about gardening to get started this way.
Have a Set budget for fresh vegetables
Instead of going to the store and saying that I’m going to spend X amount on “food” try to break it down into categories first. That will help you to better understand where you’re spending maybe too much or too little. If you’re prioritizing a certain style of diet, then you may want to make sure that you’re spending a higher percentage of your overall budget accomplishing that goal.
For example, I strive to eat more completely raw meals each week. So that means my budget for fresh vegetables should be larger than my budget for processed foods. I may need to trade a few things around to make that work better, such as switching the brand of expensive yogurt that I like. But if I do that, I know I’ll be happier because those extra raw meals are giving me a high nutritional value.
Embrace the Fruit plate
Having an entire dinner made up of just fruit is how I get a large quantity of fruit into my body every week. Instead of thinking of fruit as a dessert or as a snack (where it can easily blow your calorie budget for the day) consider it a main course for one night per week. A bunch of grapes, 2 sliced black plums, a handful of fresh cherries and a few slices of watermelon just as an idea. Fruit isn’t an “extra” it’s a must. Eating fresh fruits nourishes our organs and helps to build us stronger.
When you start to think of fresh fruits and vegetables as a main course and not as your sides dishes, it’s a lot easier to prioritize them in the budget an on the grocery list. A dinner of fresh fruits does not cost as much as take-out pizza but has the ability to rebuild and repair your body.