One of the myths about healthy eating is that it’s really expensive. The supermarkets with their bargaintastic prices down the junk food aisles don’t help – apples tend to be more expensive than chocolate bars. Crazy!
What makes buying healthy food seem expensive is when you incorporate superfood powders, supplements and protein powders and all of those other wonderful additions to your healthy lifestyle. But that’s just it, they are simply additions and not essential. Eating fruit, veg, protein, wholegrain carbs, healthy fats and being active is all you really need.
There are many ways to beat the system when it comes to buying healthier options in the supermarkets and lots of ways that eating well doesn’t have to make your bank account recoil into a state of depression. Below I’ve listed some of my top tips on how to eat healthy on a budget, which I also filmed for my Youtube channel:
Stockpile promotional items
As and when your budget allows when the supermarkets host promotional offers on items which you use often, take advantage and buy in bulk. In the long run, you will save money. I tend to do this with items such as almond milk, tuna, meat, and pulses.
Buy dried beans and lentils
Although buying dried beans and lentils seems nothing more than hard work when you can buy them in a tin, they are actually better value for money. You definitely get more bang for your buck and they are really easy to cook – just soak overnight and boil them.
Check out the reduced meat section
This perhaps is my most favourite part of the grocery shop. I love having a gander at the reduced meat. I’ve picked up venison steaks, duck breasts, poussins and whole chickens before at reduced prices. The best thing is, even if you don’t need the meat at the time you can fill up your freezer with meat to use at a later date. As long as it’s used within 3 months you should be fine.
Batch cook
Many of my weekends are spent in the kitchen batch cooking soups and stews to fill up my freezer. Not only does it mean that I always have something healthy and tasty on hand, it makes one week’s grocery shop stretch over a couple of weeks as use up my frozen delicious batch cooked treasures.
Meal plan
In the past, I’ve never been one to plan out my meals, but in recent weeks it’s really helped me stay organised during busy weeks at work. Also, by creating a meal plan it simultaneously creates a shopping list. Therefore, you only need to buy food that is needed for your meal plan to work and no unnecessary items should end up in your trolley.
Take advantage of the discount supermarkets
Places like Aldi and Lidl are often frowned upon in terms of the quality of their food. However, when I made my first visit a few years ago I was really impressed, especially with the quality and low prices of the fresh fruit and vegetables. I’ve done my weekly shops at Aldi, over the past few months and always surprised by the healthy things that you can pick up, which I shared in a video.
I think with a bit of savvy shopping, healthy eating can be achieved on a tight budget or if you are looking to save some money.
I try to eat lots of healthy whole foods and avoid processed foods. I think following your tips will help save money especially stockpiling when items are on sale and meal planning. Buying reduced meats is also a great idea x
Thanks Sarah! I love stockpiling reduced items for a rainy day to help save money.
I’m really trying to cut back on the amount I spend on food at the moment and find making a list, sticking to it and batch cooking really helps x
Sounds like you’ve got a great plan in place to help you save money.
This is great advice! I tried a healthy plan once or twice and was always horrified at the cost! You are right though, there’s no need for it. Thx!
I think if you start to get a little savvy it can really bring the cost down.
Great tips!
I always buy meat from the reduced section and then freeze it or eat it immediately. So much cheaper. Especially for free range chicken. I also buy lots of veggies and fish frozen as it’s a lot cheaper and you can take your time eating them.
The freezer is such an underrated item in the kitchen. I love buying reduced meat etc. to save money and help create some healthier meals.
Grwat tips eating healthy and on a budget is something i need to try harder at.
Thank you! I hope it helps.
I agree. I buy tinned veg like tomatoes and buy dried beans/ lentils to be healthy on a budget and it does not break the bank either !
Absolutely. They’re really cheap to buy.
I think the issue is more that people like convenience foods rather than cooking from scratch these days. I certainly have to tear myself away from some of the ready meals but when you are time poor, sometimes you just have to succuub
I think people are under the illusion that cooking a nourishing meal has to take hours, when it can take as little as 10 minutes.
I love the idea of the beans as I always do buy them in tins. Aldi is a great place and when I was a nutribullet fanatic got lots of my fruit from there. I shop there a lot and have realised that people used to frown upon a place like that but now you see lots of friends shopping in there too.
My whole view of Aldi has changed and I love it. I’ve been doing my weekly shop there over the past few months and always impressed with what I pick up.
i love meal planning I feel so more more prepared plus you save so much money!
So true! I love being organised.
Some really greats tips. We always try to eat fresh stuff so anything that makes that easier is always good with me.
That’s great John, eating fresh is always good.
I think when you don’t eat meat that really helps to cut down your costs as meat is pretty expensive. My tip would be to try and replace your meat dishes with healthy alternatives – you could make bolognese with lentils, for example or use beans in your stews instead of meat.
Definitely! Buying a lot of meat can get expensive.
I literally just worked on a meal plan last night and went to the farmer’s market today to get everything I need for it! Meal plans are so effective.
I love them! I hope you’ve planned something tasty for this week.
Some great tips here. I thought healthy food was expensive x
Not all all! Healthy eating can be as expansive or as cheap as you make it.
I find meal plan very important to have a healthy life with limited budget. However it takes me a lot of time to prepare a plan. Thank you for your tips
Great tips dear! I am trying of having a week meal plan so as to budget my money along the foods i’ll eat.
Thank you! Yes, a meal plan can help wonders with that.
I do think with plenty of planning you can eating healthily at a good cost, it’s when you end up buying fresh everyday that it can mount up. I tend to buy frozen vegetables sometimes as I live on my own so they last longer for me x
Such great ideas. It can be so easy to spend a lot when you start healthy eating because you try to replace so much of the flavour but I find it gets easier and cheaper over time.
We make all our meals from scratch, we shop at the local farm shop for our meat and sainsburys for our organic vegetables and a few grocery items, we get things like coconut flour, sugar, cacao etc from Costco. We do have supplements because we need them but we fit them into our budget by not buying other things, we also save money by making our own, cleaning supplies and handwash. Bulk cooking and freezing also saves money and time for us.
The reduced section is always a great place to look for sure, so much can be frozen x
Amazing tips. I need to start meal planning and sticking to it!
Great post! My go-tos for eating healthy on a budget are eggs and oatmeal!
Love this post! If you don’t plan your meals when trying to eat healthy, it can be expensive, but your ideas are great to follow!
Kayleigh x
Very helpful advice, I usually buy in bulk items on offer and also I try to meal plan as much as possible
I do love to batch cook foods that freeze well it can be a welcome meal at times when I am too busy to cook for myself.
I tend to head straight for the reduced meat section of the supermarket and freeze anything I buy with the intention of then working it into my meal plans for the following week. I tend to meal plan for the week each Sunday evening, and I always ended up eating rubbish and spending more if I don’t make the time to plan!
That’s a really good strategy. Sometimes the reduced section has so many great things that you can just stash in the freezer. Great way to get ahead on next week’s meal plan too.
I definitely agree to take advantage of the discount supermarkets. We have an Aldi here and I love it because it makes shopping for healthy food so much easier and it is budget friendly.
I’m so impressed with Aldi at the moment, it’s incredible what you can pick up in there.
It’s not at all expensive. I honestly find it cheaper as I plan my food better! xo
I love stockpiling in general so this is a great idea!!
I absolutely agree! Stocks piling and batch cooking has definitely helped me save a lot on healthy cooking!
This is absolutely a good advice! This is exactly what I need for my family and since we’re planning for a healthy lifestyle.