The current economy and the standard New Year's resolution to loss weight, eat healthier and get in shape have people looking for ways to eat healthy for less money. Here are 5 ways to get you started to eating healthier and save money at the grocery store while doing so.
Take advantage of the sales at your local grocery store. Whenever possible, stock up on the healthier food items when they go on sale. Read the product label and compare brands, just because a product label says it's 'healthy' or 'lite' does not mean the competing brand, which may be cheaper, isn't just as 'healthy' or 'lite'.
Learn the seasons of fruit and vegetables, both of which are pivotal for a healthy diet. When certain fruits and vegetables are in season, they will cost less money at the grocery store. Plan healthy meal menus around the fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season.
Limit your food portion size. A healthy portion of meat is about the size of a deck of cards. When you limit the portion size of the meat in a meal, fill in the gap with healthier, less expensive vegetables and pasta.
Pack your own healthy lunch to take to work or school. Packing your lunch costs less money and provides you with a pre-planned healthy meal that helps you avoid the snack machines.
Avoid fast food. Fast foods are budget busters and most are not conducive to eating healthy. A good way to help you avoid the fast food drive-thru when you're in a hurry is to cook healthy meals in large quantities and freeze the leftovers in individual portion sizes. That will give you a variety of healthy individual meals that are quick to fix.