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Categories: Basics, Eating, Habits, Health, Healthstyle, Random, Reflections, Shopping, Tips
Tags: budget, burritos, fast food, leafy greens, money, weekends
Collards, Carrots and Lentils (click image for recipe)
Most people consider it common knowledge that healthy food is expensive and unhealthy food is cheap–that’s why we’re all so fat, right?
But for most people it does not need to be this way. Since I upgraded my healthstyle not only have I lost weight and become healthier, I have also managed to save more money.
How?
In a nut shell, I started cooking more at home.
It is a sad reflection on our culture that so many people rely on fast food for their daily sustenance, and my heart goes out to those who truly cannot afford better. But I contend that many of the bad decisions we make about food each day are more an issue of (perceived) convenience than price.
Last I checked burritos in San Francisco averaged over $5. And if you have properly set up your kitchen you will find it actually takes less time to cook a healthy meal than it does to place and fill your order at Papalote.
Every penny counts in this brutal economy. Here are a few tricks you can use to save a buck and get a little healthier too.
10 Tips For Healthy Eating On A Budget
- Cook at home The most important change I made to save money was to turn cooking at home into my default option rather than rely on neighborhood eateries as my go-to cop out.
- Shop on weekends If you already have fresh food in the fridge you will be more motivated to cook for yourself instead of going out and spending money.
- Shop seasonally When choosing what to eat, taste trumps health 90% of the time. (That’s why you rolled your eyes when I suggested you eat fewer burritos.) If you really want to start eating healthy you must want to eat vegetables, and that will only happen if the ones you buy taste delicious. Seasonal, farm fresh produce can completely change how you feel about vegetables and fruits–it also tends to be the best deal in the produce section.
- Shop at the farmers market There is no denying that the best tasting grocery store produce is at Whole Foods. But if you have ever been shopping there you know what a dent it can put in your wallet (this does not apply to their non-fresh items, which are competitively priced and often cheaper than other stores). Rather than handing over your Whole Paycheck or settling for less than inspiring options at Safeway, do your weekly produce shopping at your local farmers market. If you shop intelligently (see below) you can get 2 meals for the cost of one burrito.
- Focus on leafy greens Leafy greens like kale, chard, collards, spinach and broccoli are some of the most nutritious, least expensive things you can buy. Frequently, half a bunch of kale with some beans, grains and herbs is my entire dinner and costs around $1.50. It also takes less than 15 minutes to prepare. Can you beat that?
- Buy in bulk Canned beans are fine, but dried beans taste better and are way cheaper. Grains from the bulk bins at your local health food store are only pennies per serving. Cook these staples in large batches and save them in your freezer for cheap, quick and nutritious food anytime. This is also true of lentils. Just add some greens and you’re good to go.
- Eat less meat This is probably the easiest way to save money. Whether at the grocery store or at restaurants meat is always the most expensive thing on the menu. I do not advocate a vegetarian diet, but limiting meat to once or twice a week is an easy way to cut back on both calories and expenses. If you are worried about protein (you needn’t be) you can eat beans, eggs and fish instead.
- Use fish from cans Fish is an important part of a healthy diet, but fresh fish can be expensive (especially the wild sustainable kinds). Canned salmon, sardines (boneless, skinless), smoked mackerel and anchovies are inexpensive alternatives for protein, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids.
- Make fruit dessert If you think the farmers market is expensive my bet is you spend most of your money on fruits. I am the first to admit that fruit can be very expensive, especially summertime berries and stone fruits. While I do recommend you invest in some high quality farmers market fruit, it will be easier on your wallet and your waistline if you consider fruit a treat to be enjoyed in moderation once or twice per day.
- Think long term I am not arguing that buying every single food item at the farmers market is the cheapest way to shop, but it is almost certainly the healthiest. Our hedonistic tendencies may incline us toward cheap, greasy foods but you should consider what you are really paying for in the long run. Poor diet can be attributed to most cases of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer and a generally difficult, painful life. And I probably don’t need to convince you that a farm fresh salad costs less than a hospital trip and a lifetime of medication. Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive, but unhealthy eating can cost you your life.
What are your favorite money saving tips for healthy eating?
This post was originally published on May 20, 2009.
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32 Comments
Great article and great tips. I’m really looking forward to hitting our local farmers market on Saturday morning!
I’m curious as to why you don’t advocate a vegetarian diet?
~Jillian
Thanks Jillian!
To answer your question, I have just read too much about the benefits of fish to advocate cutting it out. It is certainly possible to be healthy while vegetarian (most vegetarians are healthier than typical Americans), but it is easier to be healthy including some fish. There are many other good reasons to be vegetarian, but heath-wise I do not think it is necessary.
Also, the foodie in me could never cut out meat completely
This is a spectacular post! Love these little bits of advice!
Great tips, Darya, thank you! Love the fish from cans tip. I also try to “shop from my pantry” and use up grains, canned goods and beans before I buy any more. Also, I often plan meals around similar ingredients each week. If one recipe calls for only half an avocado, I find another meal to use the other half, for example.
Great tips! looooove Farmers markets
I just found your blog through your guest post on MizFit, and I have to say, I love it! You’ve given such great advice written in everyday, normal people language!
All good tips! I’d say, eat fewer animal products in general. Milk, cheese, eggs, especially organic – it’s not cheap!
Oh yeah, Darya, great post and tips. I’ll definitely link to this in one of my upcoming posts!
Eating cheaply rules out Whole Foods entirely, no? That’s actually now my closest grocery, but I try not to buy anything there. They’re like the Walmart of natural foods-predatory, spread like maggots, no thought to local produce or products. I much prefer Rainbow, or even the local Mexican produce markets. I mostly eat at home, but if you stay away from the chains, you can eat cheaply out. I can get a burrito and agua fresca for $5.20, or a huge Vietnamese tofu soup for similar price, and what I make at home never tastes quite the same.
Great tips, Amy! Thanks for contributing!!
Thanks for stopping by, Mara!
Thanks Louise!
Thanks for your comment, Juilie! I would disagree that Whole Foods is 100% expensive. One of my favorite cereals costs $4.50 at my neighborhood market, $2.50 at Trader Joe’s and $2.25 at Whole Foods. Their bulk bins have great deals on healthy foods.
Their produce is expensive, I agree. However some of it actually is local. Last summer I found amazing local Frog Hollow peaches. Sure I prefer to shop at Rainbow, but not everyone lives in San Francisco so I think Whole Foods can be a good option sometimes.
Absolutely. Great advice! Thanks Michelle
You suck… I’m Mexican and our food its the best food…
u are a poor guy who doesn’t know anything about other cultures….
Hey, I’m Mexican too!
isn’t one of the arguments (“Use fish from cans “) just plain wrong?
if the fish is sustainable you pay a lot for canned fish too (ie. 20euro for 1kg of canned sardines). i don’t see how this is cheap
$5 for a can of wild sustainable salmon is cheaper than $18/lb fresh fillet. Sardines are $2. I’ve never bought a 1 kg can of anything, and you don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to. These are just the things I do.
we don’t have 1kg cans of fish. but i normalized the prices. how can i compare a can…
but $5 for a pound of wild sustainable salmon in a can is a good price, so i guess austria/europe is different
I like to say I’m 100% vegetarian 85% of the time. I don’t eat any meat other than fish at home (my boyfriend is pescatarian), but will occasionally eat meat if we’re eating out somewhere. Usually chicken, sometimes pork, and almost always bacon. I have a weakness for bacon.
Don’t forget that you can save money and eat healthy at work by starting a Salad Club! http://bit.ly/saladclub
Sometimes I wonder if your tips are really saving me money . . . I’ve already purchased an immersion blender, salad spinner, Pollan and Ruhlman books, and now I’m looking at pressure cookers. (All kidding aside, buying cheap kitchen equipment will not save you money)
Local, seasonal produce isn’t always plentiful in my part of the country, but I’ve followed quite a few of the above tips and it’s helped my diet a lot. I’ve tried a couple variations of the simple dinner made with greens, nuts, and a few herbs and spices. Great stuff.
Now off to buy something to cook my lentils in.
Hahaha, in finance I believe those are called investments
Glad you’re liking the recipes!!
Whole Foods does have specials and they do always have a section from the local farmers. They also have meat and seafood specials. People need to just wrap their head around eating much smaller portions.
Another way to save money is to disregard all bottled beverages (get a water filter) and all packaged snack products. Make your own sweet treats and eat them once or twice a week. Eat more eggs, but buy better ones.
I looked at our dinner for three last night. I made too much. I had a pound of wild grouper, roasted red beets (from one large beet) artichokes, salad and homemade focaccia. We could not eat all this food. And, I realized I got carried away. I spent about $25 for a very gourmet Sunday meal, but could have spent $20. It was enough for four people easily. I did most of shopping at Whole Foods.
Awesome real life example, thanks Angela!!
In all my research about diet and healthy eating, most people either recommend paying more or state that it costs more to eat a healthy diet.
I found this to be erroneous. You mention cook at home and that definitely helps, but even if you eat out, the portion sizes are enormous. So, you can either split one meal or bring leftovers home. There is no doubt, when you go out to eat, even though you might order one meal, you actually are getting two.
If your readers are interested, here’s my 7 Day Menu with cost and calorie counts…the calories are low and the cost is too – http://bit.ly/aHxoCN
This is such a great list…I complete agree and adhere to these guidelines.
I’m a big proponent of buying from the bulk bins at my Co-Op and produce vendor. You don’t have to buy Costco-sized portions to save money…buying from the bulk bin saves you from spending extra money on packaging/marketing.
Another option is to simply grown some of your own food. I’ve grown my own kale, garlic, onions, broccoli, tomatoes, potatoes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and many herbs (like cilantro, rosemary, and thyme). This can be an extremely inexpensive way to feed yourself if properly setup and executed. (Apartment/studio/city folk, you can still grow herbs and tomatoes on a railing or windowsill.) It may take you a bit to figure out how to be a decent farmer, but it can be very rewarding work. My next step is setting up a chicken coop…PDX allows up to three chickens in residential areas. It’s doesn’t get any fresher than getting your eggs from your backyard.
Wow, totally jealous. Especially about the chickens!
Hey Darya,
Great post. I especially like your rercommendation of buying dried beans and grains and cooking them up and freezing them for a quick reheat for a nice dinner. This tip has been a huge timesaver for me recently.
There are a few things I would like to comment on in your post. Firstly, you seem to mention the options of where to shop for produce being wholefoods and safeway or the farmers market. While both offer organic fresh produce there are other stores, such as local health food stores and cooperatives. In San Francisco we have a number including Rainbow Grocery, Other Avenues, Haight Street Market, and Real Foods among others. These stores do offer organic foods and are often times less expensive than the farmers markets, while supporting our local food stores rather than the corporate chains.
You also mention limiting the amount of fruit we eat to dessert. I feel like fruit is probably one of the best things you can eat, filled with vitamins and minerals and is also a tasty treat. I want to say I’ve heard to eat at least five pieces of fruit a day which is a lofty goal but definitely rewarding. And if you eat things in season that are grown locally and organically like apples, kiwis, oranges, grapefruits, peaches and strawberries, eating fresh fruit in California can be a very inexpensive source of nutrients.
Also in terms of fish, you recommend eating canned fish. First of all, fish caught in the wild have significant environmental impacts including but not limited to large fishing boats that trail the bottoms of the ocean tearing up reefs and wrecking marine wildlife habitats while catching all sorts of other animals that are not meant to be fished. In addition the cosumption of fish has led to fisheries being overfished to the point where it is commonly known that global fish populations could collapse in the coming years. Lastly, eating fish has become hazardous to our own health due to the high levels of mercury found in fish(which come from our coal burning electricity generation by the way) and I have heard to eat canned fish no more than twice a month to avoid the risk of mercury poisining.
I think that there are a lot of reasons for different diets, so I thank you for your post and getting folks to think more about these issues.
Thanks for your comment Andreas. Great points about coops for sure. Regarding fish, the mercury and overfishing issues depend greatly on the kind of fish you buy. I’ve written about it here: http://summertomato.com/fishing-for-answers-how-to-choose-fish-and-seafood/
Hi Darya,
You have some good tips, but there are a couple of points I’d like to make. Thinking of fruit as a treat, goes against all the suggestions for healthy eating re:fruit which is to have 4 to 5 servings a day. EWG (Environmental Work Group) & others have warned of dangers from chemicals from the cans themselves. I think the chemical is BHT?
I think it’s best to get fresh fish on sale, I got Dover sole at Whole Foods for less than 7 dollars a pound! Trader Joe’s has Wild Alaskan Salmon for less than $10 a pound.
~Jamie
Limit fruit consumption? Seriously?
I give that approach a thumbs-down. Do stick primarily or completely to buying what’s in-season – or to long-storing fruits such as apples and pears during the leaner months – and shop at local farmer’s markets to save a buck, but don’t cut down on your fruit consumption. That’s bad news.