Many people believe that it’s just too expensive to eat healthfully and healthy food cost more than unhealthy food. The truth is, armed with the right shopping and purchasing strategies you can make healthful food choices regardless of your budget or diabetes diagnosis.
There are many factors that affect the price of the food you eat – high gasoline prices, viral outbreaks, rising exports and drought affecting the area where the food is grown. However, according to the Congressional Research Service prices for healthful foods in the United States aren’t increasing as fast as those for processed food items.
Here are eight strategies you can use to purchase and prepare healthful foods without bankrupting your budget.
Plan, plan, plan. Create a calendar for what you plan to eat for a day, week or month and organize your recipes, ingredients, shopping list, and coupons to correspond with your meals. Check your freezer, cabinets, and refrigerator to see what you currently have on hand. You can save money by using these items in the upcoming week’s meals.
A detailed shopping list is essential to shopping on a budget. Your shopping list can help you make more healthful purchases, avoid impulse buying and reduce food waste.
Plan to use larger recipes with enough servings for multiple meals. You’ll save time preparing another meal and reduce the number of ingredients you need to buy.
Use coupons with caution. Buy only the items that you know you’ll use. If you don’t need an item right away, save the coupon and see if it goes on sale.
Keep your pantry well-stocked with cooking essentials such as spices, oil, vinegar, beans, lentils, and dry whole grains, as well as canned fish, tomato products, and fruits and vegetables. Also, don’t forget the freezer. Frozen fruits, vegetables, and lean meats can stay in the freezer for a long time. If you buy these pantry staples in bulk when on sale, you can decrease your cost of household food by one-half.