Managing a healthy diet on super tight budget can get tricky, because you have to consider a lot of options when dealing with health and diet, it most often than not leads to a healthy bill for you to pay. But when you are on a tight leash for you budget, it gets hard for one to manage.
Here are 7 best tips for you, so that you can manage that perfect balance needed when on tight budget.
Buy Fresh Produce in Bulk and Preserve It
Consuming a Batch of fresh produce is good for health and can help you maintain your health easily. But the cost of buying a fresh produce every time can escalate very quickly.
One way to solve this problem is to buy fresh produce, when they are in season and cost less, in bulk and freeze it. As the produce will be in season it will cost much less than when not in season. You can buy the fruits and vegetables from a local farmers market instead of buy it from a place where you know the goods are shipped in. The shipped in products are of less quality compared to the goods of local grocer. It is a very efficient way to stock up.
Another way is, you can try canning of goods. This can help save a lot of money.
Take benefits of discounts and sales
You can shop at your local store, if they have a membership card, take it. By doing this, you will be notified of any kind of sale or discounts that are given by that store and you can use this opportunity to stock up or plan your upcoming meals accordingly, therefore making the most out of it. More often than not there are deals on goods that you require regularly, like tomatoes or onions, you can grab this opportunity and stock up. This type of shopping will guarantee that you eat healthy.
Watch out for these two things:
Items on sale go out of stock very quickly. So don't forget to grab the opportunity quickly.
Sales and discounts are mostly because there is a surplus of goods, so before you go and grab the goods don't forget to check the freshness of the goods.
Try to move away from brands
Buying food produce from a branded company not a good choice. As most of the time, the only difference between the branded foods and non-branded ones is the packaging. And there is a noticeable difference between costs of the branded ones and non-branded ones. So you can cut your losses and with the brands and save lot of money.
Implement K. I. S. S. (Keep it simple, shopper)
It is always tempting to buy the best presented fruits like the pre-cut fruit platter, but these type of goods costs way more than buying the fruits in their base form and cutting them yourself. It is actually recommended by the USDA to buy the vegetables and fruits in the basic forms (natural). The pre-cut ones have steep prices as compared to simple fruits and the only difference is the cutting part, which you can do it yourself, thus saving a lot of money from being wasted.
Try to cut down on Meat
Meat, as compared to veggies, is costly. You can save a lot of money on cutting down on meat and eating veggies. It is actually recommended, if you are trying to lose weight, to cut down on meat (as it is hard to digest) and start eating protein rich vegetables.
You can go for no cook meals like salad, beans etc. as a substitute for a meat.
Reuse your Leftovers
After big meals there are leftovers, instead of throwing them away you can use them as your next meal. If you don't like eating the same meal twice you can repurpose your leftovers and use them as add on for your next meal. Leftover vegetables can be blended in soups and can be added to casseroles.
Finding Ways to buy Inexpensive Vegetables
Given some conditions any veggie can become costly. This can depend upon the time of the year, the availability of the veggie, the source of the veggie etc. As said earlier buying veggies that currently in season can do some cost cutting. For example, during winter use the frozen produce instead of buying produce that will be shipped in.
Buy veggies that are generally pocket friendly year round. Like cabbage, potatoes etc. Instead of buying the goods from a super market, find a farmer's market or a CSA, If possible, local farmers, these are some of the great sources to buy cheap and high quality veggies.
You can search online for finding a farmer or a CSA (Community supported agriculture) or a farmers market nearby to your area. If you still are not able to find any one you can ask nearby families who have been living there for long, they are a great source for these kind of info.
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