Eating Better on a Budget

With a few tweaks to our finances, we can afford to eat better... if we want to.

We often hear how important diet and exercise are if we are going to live a healthy life. Granted, sometimes no matter what we do, life catches up with us and we end up with health issues we never expected to experience. The key, in my opinion, is doing everything we can, with the resources we have available, to either prevent, reverse, or stabilize any issues that might rear their ugly heads.

How do we eat healthy on a limited income? Most affordable foods, unfortunately, are all junk food. Usually, it’s less expensive to buy a TV dinner than it is to buy the items to make that same meal. Fast food restaurants often have deals that are much less expensive, but are the least healthy option.

I don’t earn near the money I used to, and live an incredibly frugal lifestyle. Even though fresh vegetables are almost non-existent in my area (especially in the winter), most of the time I can eat as cleanly as possible without breaking the bank. Unfortunately, I still spend a significant amount on groceries, but that is mostly because I refuse to give up meat and dairy which, in many cases, is still healthier than many other options out there.

A few things we can do to get the nutrition we need without going over budget are, finding a good whole food multi-vitamin supplement. Try and stay away from the chemically derived ones like “Centrum.” Eggs, even though they are still expensive, are a great way to get many of the vitamins we need. If you can find someone in your area that raises chickens and sells eggs, grab a couple dozen at a time. Farm eggs will keep much longer than store bought eggs… not to mention the hens are typically treated much better by a local producer. When it comes to meat, the best choice is always locally produced, but if not available or unaffordable, grocery store meat (especially beef) is still somewhat safe. Many grocery stores (especially independently owned or *small* chain stores) even put beef that expires that day on sale at a substantial discount. This beef is usually completely safe and if you either cook it that day, or freeze it right away, it will be just fine. Growing some of our own food is absolutely the least expensive of all options. It is the safest food you can get because you know what the vegetables have been grown in. Learn to grow something from a seed and as long as that variety is heirloom, you can save seeds from that plant moving forward so you only have the initial investment for the original seeds to worry about, which is usually around $5.00 (unless you know someone who can give you some seeds).

Cutting expenses in other areas may be an option that allows us to have more money to put towards good food. Do we really need to go through a whole roll of paper towels a week, or can we use rags, towels, and cloth napkins that are reusable? How about other expenses like subscriptions to apps and programming we rarely use? Often, subscriptions are recurring and money is taken out of our account, or a charge is placed on our credit card, and we forget about it. Another tip to save money to spend on better food is either downgrading or upgrading a credit card. Most people don’t realize that if you are paying an annual fee for a credit card, in many cases you can call them and switch to a no fee card! This can save some people up to $200 a year. Most of the time the benefits you get from your credit card do not change. It’s something worth looking into. Walking instead of driving everywhere is another area we can look at to save money to spend on better food. If we walk to the grocery store (if we only need a few items) it saves on gas, and helps us with our goal of getting some physical exercise as well. Example: I used to spend an average of $150.00 a month on gas (granted I was driving to and from work as well). Since I started working from home, and started walking to do errands, I have spent right around $250.00 in FIVE YEARS on gas! What about snacks? Are you spending money on snacks like candy bars and ready-made snacks? A huge bag of “raw” popcorn costs just a few dollars, but a box of microwave popcorn that has only 3 to 5 batches can be 5 or 6 dollars. Candy isn’t good for us anyway so we shouldn’t be buying it, but if we need sweet snacks, we can often make treats at home for a fraction of what it costs to buy these junky items. How about cutting hot water usage? My water heater went out a couple months ago and I was without hot water for a week. I learned that I was using much more hot water than necessary. I found that I could wash my dishes in hot water (I boiled it on the stove) and then rinse with cold water and my dishes were just as clean as they were when I was leaving the hot water running to rinse dishes. My gas bill is down 7 percent from the same time last year! We don’t need to use nearly as much hot water as we think we do.

I guess my point to all of the verbiage above is to state the fact that if we truly want to eat better, yet say we can’t afford it, many times there are things we can do that will allow ourselves to better afford some of the higher quality food that’s available. Sometimes we may need to get a bit creative and really look at where we are spending our money to determine if the things we are spending our money on are necessary, or worth it.

A friend of mine said something a couple of decades ago before I started caring more about what I put into my body… when I was kind of poo pooing their diet and food choices they told me, “it’s cheaper to eat better than pay for cancer treatment.” In other words, it is less expensive to spend money on supplements and higher quality food than cancer treatment. I agree. And that goes with any other health issue that requires a stay in the hospital, a doctor’s visit, or a poisonous “treatment” plan. Those who have health insurance typically have a deductible that will never be met before the insurance picks up part of the cost anyway. Where do you want that money going? To insurance companies and doctors, or to farmers and ranchers? To me, the choice is clear, and simple.