Eating Healthy Without Breaking the Bank

Are you into eating healthy? You should be. Your health affects your whole life. Your happiness, your energy level, and even your success spawns, at least partially, from eating healthy. Unfortunately, there is a downside to eating healthy. Whenever you shop for groceries, whether you are shopping for healthy foods or not, you probably notice that the healthier options are almost always more expensive than the other options. Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil of healthy eating, but not as much as you might think. Let’s look at some ways you can eat healthy without breaking the bank.

Buy food, not ideas

This concept alone will save you a great deal of money. There are several health crazes going around currently, that some people have taken to, refusing to believe that there is any other way. The most popular example is eating organic. Many people refuse to touch food that isn’t organic, and pay two or three times what anyone else would pay for their food. On one hand, organic food definitely has benefits, and if you are able to eat organic, it certainly doesn’t hurt anything. On the other hand, people have been eating inorganic food for decades, and they seem to be fine. So instead of focusing on the fads, just eat healthy foods. Buy fruit instead of candy, and fresh vegetables instead of chips. Make your own sandwich using ground turkey or a chicken breast, rather than going out to a fast food restaurant. Of course, if you have the opportunity to eat food that is organic, or that fits into any of the other health-craze categories, it doesn’t hurt, but there’s really no need to double or triple your food budget.

Shop the right stores

This one is a little more obvious, and you might be doing it already, but it’s still worth considering. There are a huge number of grocery stores available, and it’s up to you to decide which one is best. In reality, while each store seems unique, the food that they sell is all very similar. One store may focus more on one type of food, but the actual product is generally the same. However, the prices seem to differ greatly between stores. For example, a can of carrots at Walmart is pretty much the same as a can of carrots at Whole Foods, but you’ll likely pay twice as much if you shop at the high-end option. Of course, if you’re looking for a specialty food, you may have to pay more at a specific store, but otherwise, why not pay the lowest price?

Cook it yourself

This is another concept that you may be familiar with. Anything that you cook at home will be much less expensive than the same meal at a restaurant. If you make it yourself, you’ll also have much more influence on the meal. This allows you more control over the health aspects of the meal. Whether you don’t need the extra butter, or you’d rather use raw spinach than cooked, it’s up to you when you do it yourself.

Try the store brands

If you don’t eat store brand foods, you’re missing out. There are exceptions, of course, but many store brands are just as good as name brand products. Some are even better. The same is true for the health value of the products you buy. The products are pretty much the same, except that many of them have fewer added ingredients. Store brands tend to be simpler, which is often healthier. Next time you shop, compare the ingredients of the store brand products to the products you normally use. You might be surprised. Plus, you can save a lot of money by buying store brands.

Eating healthy can be expensive, but it really doesn’t have to be. Try out a few of these tips on your next shopping trip, and you’ll find that you can be healthy and save money at the same time.