Busting the myth that eating healthy is expensive

A frequent concern that many of my clients express is the fear that eating healthy is expensive. In honor of National Nutrition Month, I am going to set the record straight and share with you five ways that you can cut your healthy eating budget down big-time!

1. Plan what you are going to shop for. When you go out grocery shopping, how often do you impulse shop? You see something prepared and think, “Wow, this is an easy dinner option!” Let me tell you something, those prepared foods are often easy to make in less than 15 minutes and they tend to cost at least 50 percent more than the cost of the ingredients! This goes for prepared meals, as well as pre-chopped fruits and veggies.
2. Double or triple portions so that you have leftovers for the next day! Often our food budget is crushed because we eat out when we have nothing on hand at home.
3. Look at the unit price when purchasing food. Say you see a 16 oz. jar of salsa for $3.39 and a 12 oz. jar for $2.99, you might be apt to buy the $2.99 jar because it is cheaper. However, the unit price for the 16 oz. jar is about 21 cents per ounce, whereas the unit price for the 12 oz. jar is about 25 cents per jar so the larger jar is actually cheaper, especially if you tend to eat a lot of salsa.
4. It’s totally okay to eat frozen fruit and veggies. Produce prices soar when the food is out of season, so choose frozen (which is just as nutritious and fresh) when your favorite fruit and veggies in the produce department are expensive.
5. Experiment with recipes that call for low-cost foods. You can make the most of your food dollars by preparing recipes that call for the following low-cost healthy foods: eggs, lentils, beans, peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, canned salmon, canned tuna, and brown rice.

See, eating healthy doesn’t have to cost a fortune! Feel free to comment below if you have additional tips for my readers!