Oatmeal: I buy my steel cut oats at the local grocery for about .99 cents a pound. 1/4 cup is ONE serving. It lasts forever. Make your own rather than buying prepackaged, strawberries and cream, apple cinnamon, or maple syrup flavors which is loaded in sugar. It's a cheaper breakfast then cereal that leaves you feeling hungry again an hour later or eggs, bacon, and toast.
Fruit: Eat fruits that are in season. Grocery stores have sales on fruits that are in abundance due to the season. Grapes and pineapples are in season during the winter months. Apples in the fall. Blueberries and strawberries in the summer. When we eat fruits out of season they have additives put in them to ripen them, which means less natural, less healthy.
Veggies: Vegetables are healthiest raw, then canned, with frozen having least value. Rather than buying your veggies in frozen packaging buy them in raw form, chop them up yourself, and freeze them. If you are into gardening and canning, then can your own vegetables. Vegetables have people that pick, wash, inject to ripen, wax, chop, package, deliver, etc. Cut out the middle man on the chopping and packaging and costs go down. My pesto sauce can cost $5 for a tiny jar, making my own and I can get 4 servings for $5. Same goes for spaghetti sauce. If you are reading this then you have the internet at your fingertips. Google is your friend. Google for recipes for the foods you don't know how to make.
Beans and nuts: At my local grocery store there is a bulk section. There was one time during the year when all of the beans were on sale. I stocked up on them. Same goes for the nuts. They can be up to $2 cheaper/pound when on sale. Load up. My favorite vegan, gluten free pasta can be upwards of $5 when bought in the local grocery store, but I wait for the fitness expos and get them for $2/package.
Snacks: Potato chips, cookies, dips, hummus, salsa, pretzels, Little Debbie snacks, yogurt, pudding packs, etc. Some of these are loaded in sugar and salt and provide no nutritional value or health benefits. All they are doing is filling your growling stomach, then shortly there after your stomach is asking for more food because your body didn't get the nutrients it needs. Our bodies typically crave foods that are quick fixes when we are hungry. Foods that will spike our sugar quickly until it drops and we need more food. Then there becomes this cycle of overeating, weight and inches added, and cholesterol, prediabetes, and on the path to cardiac disease. Some of these healthy snacks can be made homemade for a fraction of the price. Give your body something satisfying the first time then you won't find yourself oversnacking.
Milk: A gallon of milk in June 2014 on average was $3.67 gallon. A half gallon of almond or coconut milk can costs anywhere between $2.50-$4. I have bought it as low as $1.50, but most places I can find it for $3.29 or less. I know you are thinking but that's a lot more than milk. Growing up on the farm I drank anywhere from a half gallon to a gallon of milk a day. I was a milkaholic. I never thought I'd stop drinking it. However milk provides no nutritional value. Our bodies were never meant to digest it beyond infancy, let alone a cows. Infact with it being cheaper than almond milk you may find yourself drinking it out of moderation. Make the switch to almond milk and you will drink in moderation, the calories are lower, and you probably will find yourself spending less on almond milk than regular milk. It does your body good to drink more water. I spend $6.58 on average a week, but if I were to drink regular milk yet I would be spending between $11-25.69. Almond milk will also take a lot longer to spoil. Every single recipe that calls for milk can be replaced with almond or coconut milk. Make sure to have unsweetened almond milk on hand.
Eggs: Buy a box of egg replacers for $4.69. It has 66 servings, equivalent to 5.5 dozens of eggs. Once again they won't go bad like regular eggs nor have pesticides in them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics a dozen of eggs in 2014 costs $2/dozen. 5.5 dozen=$11
Breads/Cake & Cookie mixes: This is where it can become tricky. I will say if you use bread to make sandwiches consider switching to using cabbage or lettuce leaves instead. Gluten free mixes can get costly, but here's the deal..........with all of the money you are saving other places by eating clean and unprocessed is money that can be used towards the more expensive. In the end it all balances out. Actually money is still saved.
Meat: You are reading the blog of a vegan. Cutting meat out of your diet not only has multiple health benefits, but it will slice off a huge chunk off your grocery bill. Some people refuse to give up their meat, but do you know what you are putting in your mouth? Some people don't want to know what they are putting in their mouth, but seriously you should. Your health and feeling well isn't it more important than indulgences? There are several recipes for making vegan hamburgers, and other meat replacers in your well loved recipes.
So the next time you go to pick up a box, can, sack of anything ask yourself could I make this? I have been known to look at the ingredients in the package and made the item myself. One of my favorite websites to shop which many times I can find foods cheaper than in the grocery or supplement stores is Vitacost.com. I wait until I have an order of $49 or more, because then do I not only get free shipping but if ordered before 1pm I get it the next day! Why spend money saved on incurred shipping charges. Shop wisely. If you want a $10 coupon off of your first order, email me. I'll refer you and then we both get $10.
So if you are spending more money to eat healthy then I am going to ask you how? You might think it's healthier, but it may not be.
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