One of the biggest stigmas about healthy eating is that expensive. But is that truth, or merely a vicious myth?
I don’t know about you, but when I take a stroll through the freezer aisle and look seriously at all the frozen dinner entrées, I have to say, I think it’s a myth.
For a $10 Mrs. Stouffer’s lasagna, you could buy:
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless, chicken breast
- 1 large bag of spinach or mixed greens (that could last you all week!)
- 5 pounds sweet potatoes
- 1 small bag of frozen broccoli or cauliflower.
That’s two meals worth of chicken, three meals worth a sweet potatoes, a week’s worth of greens, and 1-2 meals worth of broccoli. (btw, these are prices I just scoped out at my local Walmart)
And that’s not even the cheapest way to shop!
As you’ve probably figured out by now, everyone has their own definition of healthy, so your healthy food costs may vary greatly compared to another person’s, but here are a few tips that will keep your costs low on whole foods.
How You Can Make Eating Healthy Cost Less
Create a monthly grocery cycle
This means that you know roughly what your family will be eating throughout the month so that you can prepare ahead, and take advantage of sales. This is an especially effective strategy with meat and other frozen or freezable food!
Buy in bulk
Most people think of beans and rice when they envision buying in bulk, but my personal favorite item to bulk buy is coconut oil! I keep an eye on Tropical Traditions deals, and when I see $40-50% off advertised with free shipping, I snatch it up, five gallons at a time! Sounds like a crazy amount of oil, but guess what? It never goes bad, and saves me a ton of money over the long haul. Other items that are great to buy in bulk are frozen veggies and meat, rice (of course), peanut butter, and coconut flour.
Eat seasonally
It goes without saying that food is cheaper when it’s in season. For instance, try buying a watermelon in December. No way! On the other hand, some root crops, and winter squashes are super cheap right before a new harvest comes in and farmers or warehouses are clearing out the old crop to make room for the new. You can read more about seasonal eating here.
Buy groceries online
Often, amazon.com will have great sales on grocery items, as well as other household item that you can save money on to put more money towards your groceries. I like to follow sites like junglestealsanddeals.com who keep track of awesome sales. Another way to save money is by shopping through eBates, where you can get 7% cash back from Amazon, as well as many other sites. Whether you shop online or in store, you have to use eBates! (btw, if you sign up through the link above, you’ll get $10 right off the bat. Sweet deal!).
Become a Thrive life Consultant
Hosting parties where your friends get to come over and taste awesome food is hands down the best way to earn free and half off groceries ever! Your friends will also get to host their own parties with you as their consultant and earn their own groceries. So you’re not just saving (and making) money yourself, your friends are too! Learn more about Thrive Life Here
Do you want to learn more about how to save money on groceries? How about if you could cut your grocery budget in half?
The Grocery Budget Makeover can help you do just that! I took the course last year, and was blown away by some of Erin’s ideas, but it’s not just me, this course has been life changing for many of my friends – some have even cut their grocery bill by 75%!
Enrollment for the course is open until January 9th – don’t miss it!
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Candace says
I think meal planning and creating a large grocery list is really important to keeping costs down. Thanks for sharing!