Healthy Eating on a Budget: 4 Tips to Save Money on Better Food & Create Less Waste {Food & Less Waste Living/Minimalism}

Maintain Healthy Eating on a Budget with These Tips to Save Money on Better Food & Create Less Waste

{Food & Less Waste Living/Minimalism}

Healthy eating on a budget can seem like a challenge even with the best intentions. One of the biggest hurdles I hear from my clients and patients is that healthy choices can be too expensive.

There are many factors that can make organic, real food choices costly but that doesn’t mean living healthy has to break the bank. There are some great strategies and money-saving resources for stretching eating healthy on a budget. I hope some of these will help you live a healthy lifestyle too!

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4 Tips for Healthy Eating on a Budget to Save Money on Better Food & Create Less Waste

Whether your New Year’s goals involve sticking to a more mindful way of eating, adding more produce into your diet or supporting your local community by shopping locally, these 4 tips for healthy eating on a budget can help you save money on better food while also creating less waste! 

Stick with Real Whole Foods

Healthy eating on a budget can still be packed with delicious nourishing food with a little preparation and practice. Meal planning, batch cooking and making your own options are all healthy and wallet-friendly strategies for eating healthy on a budget.

Convenience foods and packaged options are generally more expensive as well as being filled with extra preservatives, sweeteners and other ingredients. When you enjoy simple, real food meals, you not only control what goes on your plate you can also save money.

Some of my favorite products to DIY at home include granola, energy bars and soups.

Focus on What is In Season

Produce can vary tremendously in price, depending on the time of year and the source. The farmer’s market can be a great place to stock up on in-season fruit and vegetables when you are eating healthy on a budget. Locally-grown produce is generally fresher and has a smaller carbon footprint than produce you find at the grocery store. Eating in season is also in accordance with Ayurvedic wisdom to help balance the body and mind. 

Depending on your location, in the spring and summer you may find an abundance of salad greens, zucchini, tomatoes and peppers while the fall often means lots of root veggies, apples and seasonal greens like kale.

Get to know your farmers and stock up on your favorite seasonal veggies to sync with the season. You can buy in bulk and freeze extra for the months when fresh produce is less readily available in your area. In the winter frozen vegetables may be fresher than the produce available at the grocery store that has been shipped from halfway around the world. You can often stock up on vegetables like cabbage, onions and sweet potatoes in season and store them through the winter to use as inexpensive fillers and substitutes in recipes. 

Use Grocery Rebate Apps

I love a good deal especially when it is on something healthy like organic, real food! While I prefer getting as much of my produce as possible at the farmer’s market to support local farmers, it is often necessary to pick up some fruits and veggies from the grocery store too.

I started using grocery rebate apps a few years ago to support economic healthy eating on a budget and have tried a few different ones over the years. The one I have found most useful for healthier products and produce is ibotta (referral link). 

This free app is available for ios or Android and is easy to use. Ibotta pays you cash or rewards for everyday purchases at your local grocery stores, online retailers and other shops. This can be an easy and quick way to keep eating healthy on a budget with a few simple steps.

1. For in-store grocery shopping, you can check out all of the available rebates before you go to the store, filtering them by categories you commonly buy and your favorite local grocery store. If you choose you can also filter by “natural and organic” or “produce” to find healthier rebate options. While many rebates are for brand name packaged foods, there are also often rebates which allow for purchasing any brand of a certain food such as apples, avocados or lettuce.
2. Make note of any rebates you want to use, “adding/claiming” them and completing simple tasks like answering a survey question or learning a quick fact about the product so the offers you want to use are saved to your app for easy redeeming after shopping.
3. To redeem you simply take a picture of your receipt with your phone when you get home or alternatively you can link your store loyalty cards. For online purchases such as at Amazon, iTunes, Instacart, Thrive Market or Vitacost, you can also make purchases through app to automatically claim available rebates.

Your claimed rebate money will be added to your account within 24 hours and, once you reach a $20 minimum, you can chose to be paid via Paypal or Venmo or select from several git card options (including Whole Foods). 

You can get a $10 welcome bonus when you join with the code zwzpog  (referral link) which lets you join my team!

Don’t Be a Perfectionist

Embracing imperfect produce is another great way to stick with healthy eating on a budget and also reduce waste. Many grocery stores have a rack or table with nutritious produce at a discounted price simply because it’s not in perfect condition or has cosmetic imperfections. For example, half price spotted bananas are perfect to use in banana bread or freeze for smoothies.

Similarly, produce that is nearing its expiration date is frequently marked down as a “Manager’s Special” or “50% off’ and can be a great way to save on healthy options if you know you will able to use it in time or freeze for future use. This is a great way to keep eating healthy on a budget while also limiting food waste to support the environment.

How do you stick to healthy eating on a budget?
Have you used a rebate app like Ibotta?

Here are some more tools to help you transition into the New Year or any time with greater health and mindfulness!

• Pick up a copy of The Whole Cure to build resilience and manage stress in a way that makes life flow with greater ease and joy!
• Transition into the New Year with ease using these strategies.
• Access guided relaxation exercises utilizing the power of the breath and mind here.

I would love to have you in my Insider’s Community! Join for free and receive your FREE Chapters from The Whole Cure: 52 Essential Prescriptions to Overcome Overwhelm, Reclaim Balance and Reconnect with a Life You Love! You can pick up a full paperback or Kindle copy on Amazon for a wealth of insights, exercises and complete toolkit to help you uncover your true passions, authentic purpose and calm confidence as well! 

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