It is observed that many people think twice while eating healthy food, the reason is money. If you are thinking that eating healthy is expensive, then it’s time to think again. As per the experts, eating healthy can be affordable, if you make the right choices. Yes, you need to think smart.Don’t restrict yourself from eating healthy. You can eat healthy food without making a big hole in your pocket.
Follow these simple tips to eat within your budget and stay healthy.
- Proper planning-People think that healthy food is costly. But if you plan properly, then preparing a healthy menu within budget is easily possible. Eating healthy is not expensive, if you decide in advance, how much you can spend on grocery per week or per month. Consider your needs and then plan accordingly. Make a list of all needed items.
- Buy food items at the grocery store with planned list-If you have not decided what to buy, when you go to grocery shop, then you will end up buying things which would not required by you. So prepare a list according to your menu and stick to it while shopping. Buy seasonal food items, as seasonal produces are less costly. Sometimes brand foods offer the coupons. Before you buy, compare the rates of branded foods with local foods which may be less expensive, but have good quality.
- Buy food that lasts for a long time-You should buy the food such as vegetables and fruits, which remain fresh for a long time, for example, apples, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes. You can prepare food from these vegetables in a number of ways. Wasting food is a major expense. So, next time when you go out, choose the food items which would not spoil quickly, so that you can use it after long time also. If something is going waste, then you can use it for other purpose.
- Cook at home instead of eating Prepacked foods-You can save money, if you cook yourself. Because with low budget, you cannot afford prepared or pre-packed food. Also, cooking at home has a benefit of leftover food, which you can eat the next day for breakfast or lunch. If you do not like the leftovers, then make sure you should cook the amount which is actually you and your family can finish. Throwing food is also an expense. Plan vegetarian meal, as animal foods are expensive.
- Plan the meal according to ingredients available at home-When you plan a meal, then check out if you have any leftover ingredients from previous meals. For example, you can prepare a salad from leftover vegetables.
- Finish the groceries before you buy it again-Use all the groceries available at home and then only go to grocery shop to buy. Sometimes it happens that we have some stock of any particular food item, but we just forget and buy it again. This is a chance of wastage of that food, which in turn is the wastage of money. Remember, small changes in your style can make you save money.
