The truth is you don’t need to spend a lot of money to maintain a healthy diet. Some of the healthiest foods on the planet are also some of the cheapest. Here are some tips and tricks that will help you stay healthy on a budget.
The first thing you should do is invest some time into planning. Schedule in 20 minutes on a Sunday and make a list of meals you are going to cook as well as the ingredients you need to buy. This is key in order to avoid spending money on what you may already have in your pantry or end up getting rid of the veg you forgot you had. Think of the food you waste as literally your money going into the rubbish bin.
A good trick is to buy locally produced and seasonal food. The cost will be lower and you will be supporting local businesses.
As for grains, beans, flour or dry pasta, you can buy these in bulk if you have enough storage. Don’t forget to check the World Food aisles at your supermarket, they will usually have large bags of rice and beans for much lower prices.
Cooking and eating at home is key to achieving a healthier and cheaper diet, but it is also essential to make the most of each purchased ingredient (the list we talked about earlier). If you have some time over the weekend, you can prep your food (wash and chop the veg for instance or cook the rice) or make sauces and stews you can freeze for later.
Another trick to make the most of and not waste when cooking is to consume stems and leaves of the vegetables. These tend to be as quite nutritious and we often waste them. Broccoli stems are delicious roasted and cauliflower leaves make a great salad or use these to make a delicious vegetable broth. Over-ripe vegetables and /or fruits can also be used in sauces, homemade jams, frozen for smoothies and other dishes so that nothing is wasted.
Zero waste and healthy? We’re in!
We talked about some ingredients being used to make broth. Dehydrated broths or commercial soups filled with sodium are never as good as the real thing and they tend to cost way more than the homemade version. The same goes for sauces. Those tomatoes you got on sale because their due by date is almost over? With just a bit of salt, olive oil and spices, they will make a fantastic pasta sauce.
Increase the consumption of legumes and whole grains. These are some of the healthiest foods around. They are an excellent source of protein and are usually quite economical.
It is advisable to drink water regularly and avoid packaged juices and soft drinks. These, in addition to having a much higher price than water, add sugars and unnecessary calories to the diet. Many countries have excellent tap water too, making bottled water completely unnecessary. You can invest in a filter if you’d like, but if your water is safe for consumption, you can drink straight from the tap.