How To Eat Healthy And Clean While Being On A Budget

Eating healthy can be a challenge especially finding healthy food at low prices which won’t dig too much into your weekly expenses. It is important to maintain healthy eating habits so that your body gets the nutrients and vitamins it needs to function in a healthy manner. I am going to give you tips on how to eat healthy on a budget.

1. Keep your Meals Balanced

You need to aim to ensure all three of your meals throughout the day are balanced, this includes 5 portions of varied fruit and veg, 50% starchy food including wholegrain, 15% protein, small amounts or reduced fat versions of milk or diary, a small amount of saturated fat and 6-8 cups of water per day. If you maintain balanced meals throughout the day your body will get the right amount of nutrients it needs to function and maintain healthy growth.

2. Plan your meals

Planning your meals in advance can be real helpful as it ensures that you only buy foods that you need for the meals you will be eating during the week. When you have an idea of how to eat healthy, the meals you are eating each day you can make sure that you are including the right food types to make sure your meals are balanced.

3. Create a Grocery List

Before you leave for your food shop take the time to go through your cupboards, fridge and freezer and make a list of all the essential items that you need to create the meals that you have planned for the week. This will help you to stay focused on what you need to buy so that you spend your money wisely on what you actually need rather than going off tangent and buying a lot of random food that you won’t even eat.

4. Never Food Shop Hungry

I guarantee if you go food shopping when you are hungry, you are going to end up buying the whole entire store. When you are hungry everything looks tasty and appealing in that moment of hunger so as you shop you will naturally start throwing everything in sight into your basket and spend way over your weekly budget. So don’t do it!

5. Set a Weekly Budget

This is a great way to track your budget while learning how to eat healthy .Rather than doing a big monthly shop and spending money here and there throughout the week on more food. I would advise you to do a small frequent shop on a weekly basis. Pick one day or evening in the week to dedicate to your weekly shop and set yourself a spending budget for your shop each week. Be strict with yourself and try to keep to that budget figure by following your grocery list and only buying food you need to complete your meals for that week.

6. Food Prep

Preparing your food a few days ahead is the perfect way to ensure that you are getting a balanced meal throughout the day. Cook enough food for a couple days and store them in either the freezer or fridge and you don’t have to worry about what you’re next meal is going to be for the next couple days.

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7. Yes to Bulk Food

Buying the food products you use the most in bulk can save you so much money in comparison to buying a small amounts at a time. Long life products such as rice, pasta, milk, tea, sugar and more, can be cheaper when buying in bulk which will leave you with more than enough supply to last you a lifetime. Supermarkets such as Makro and Costco are great for bulk shops they literally have everything in bulk and it is definitely worth the journey. You only need to do bulk shops every two to three months depending on how quickly you get through your long life food and it will save you a lot of money off your weekly shop.

8. Freezing your Food

Don’t be afraid to freeze your food! There are so many foods you can freeze to prolong the expiry date and make them last a lot longer than in the fridge. But beware as there is also food that is a freezing no-no, so make sure you do your research beforehand!

9. Frozen Fruit and Veg

There is no excuse to miss out on your fruit and veg. Frozen fruit and veg can be a cheaper alternative to buying fresh fruit and veg which can be extremely pricey and it lasts a lot longer.

What are your favorite tips on how to eat healthy on a budget? Let us know in the comments below!

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