I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of money on food.
A.Lot.
It can get expensive when you’re trying to do all organic, grass fed, pastured, free range blah blah blah.
To help with the cost, here are some tips to help you trim back the excess costs and keep your grocery bills smaller:
1) Buy in Bulk. Utilize the bulk sections at Winco, Fred Meyer and Whole Foods for things like whole grains (if you eat them), nuts, seeds, almond flour, coconut flour, almond butter, honey and more. Buying pre-packaged items like this can be more expensive. Some places let you bring your own containers which can help you save money. This applies to meat as well. You will save money buying half a cow or pig or going in on some with a family.
2) Avoid expensive packaged foods. Packaged foods (bars, mixes) can cost a ton. See what ingredients you can get in the bulk section and buy boxed or bagged items sparingly.
3) For meals, maximize on veggies. Produce will be the cheapest thing you buy and when cooked or served with fats like extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, lard, tallow or butter, it will be more filling. Just use meat as a side to the meal and make veggies with fat the main dealio.
4) Spread out your proteins. Use one protein per meal. IE: have eggs with kale or spinach for breakfast, deli meats or canned salmon and avocados for lunch, broccoli and stew meat stir fry for dinner.
5) Meatless meal. Each day or every other day or even once a week, have a meal that relies on veggies and fats versus animal proteins. I suggest making this meal dinner to aid in digestion, sound sleep and best use of the carbs from veggies.
6) Eat Eggs. These little guys are cheaper than cuts of meat and can be just as filling. Try them as omelets, scrambled, muffins, fried, poached, baked in avocados, stir frys, fried cauliflower rice, hardboiled or deviled.
7) Go for Ground. This is one I stick to a lot. Ground meat is usually cheaper than cuts of meats. I love to get Meat Plus from Pat N Tams which has heart and liver mixed in! I get my ground turkey from Costco and ground chicken from Whole Foods.
8) Find the Frozen Foods. Frozen veggies and meats can be a lot cheaper than fresh and also last longer. Watch out for extra additives, but
9) Dirty Dozen rule for produce. Stick to the dirty dozen for organics and buy all the others regular. According to the Environmental Working Group, these are the 12 most and least pesticide contaminated produce foods:
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12 Most Contaminated Peaches Apples Sweet Bell Peppers Celery Nectarines Strawberries Cherries Pears Grapes (Imported) Spinach Lettuce Potatoes 12 Least Contaminated Onions Avocado Sweet Corn (Frozen) Pineapples Mango Asparagus Sweet Peas (Frozen) Kiwi Fruit Bananas Cabbage Broccoli Papaya |
10) Fat helps keep you full. Egg yolks, avocados, nuts, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, lard and tallow will help keep blood sugar more stable and keep hunger and snackiness at bay.
Do you have any tips to share about saving money?? How do you afford to eat healthy??
