How to Eat Healthy on a Budget

Do you know how to eat healthy without emptying your wallet?

So you have committed to the “real food” eating lifestyle, and you are on the verge or already have gotten away from all of the highly processed, high-sugar foods and are much better off for doing so. But do you find yourself spending more than you normally do at the grocery store?

It may come as a surprise to many, but just because you are eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to spend more—you simply just have to be more of a savvy shopper.

Here at MOMables, we are huge on being efficient with our shopping lists and preparing our meals around each other so as to waste less and reconstitute more. Those who have subscribed to our wonderful meal plan can attest to this fact!

So what are some things to keep in mind when shopping for healthy foods?

1) Keep multiple meals in mind. With MOMables, we give you a shopping list so you can get everything you need for the week at one time. Also, this means you can plan your dinners around what you are going to be packing in your kid’s lunch boxes. For example, say for tomorrow’s lunch, you are going to be making MOMables Cheeseburger Cupcakes (quite delicious). So tonight for dinner, you can have a Mexican night and make some tacos or burritos, and cook just a bit more of the ground beef and use it for the cheeseburger cupcakes! See what I did there, I used leftovers or extras in tomorrow’s or the next day’s lunch!

2) Breakfast in itself can be expensive. We spend quite a bit of money just buying packaged foods such as cereals and breakfast bars, etc. Even the organic cereals can sometimes be processed and contain high amounts of sugars, so why not just make your own breakfast foods that you know are actually healthy? These Muesli Breakfast Cookies are a perfect example! They are made from ingredients most families have lying around the pantry! Plus, they are cookies; cookies for breakfast? Yes, please! They only contain natural sugars that your kids need while providing the energy they need to make it through the morning. Plus, did I mention that they are cost effective?

3) Snack time = a lot of money spent, usually. If you pay attention to how much money alone you spend on the pre-packaged snack foods, you would probably be shocked at how much it is! Plus, the majority of time, they aren’t all that healthy either. So what do you do? Take these Homemade Doritos, for example. They are way healthier than the store-bought kind but aren’t any less delicious! Plus, they are way cheaper to make.

Here are a few more examples of homemade snacks:

• Homemade S’mores Poptarts
• Homemade Wheat Thins
• Homemade Marshmallow Fluff
• Homemade Oreos
• Brown Rice Krispy Treats
• Sunflower Nutella
• Homemade Cheese Crackers
• Homemade Thin Mint Cookies

See!? These are incredibly popular snacks among the kids. Just because you are eating healthier and setting an example for your kids doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice their favorite treats; you just need to go about making them differently!

4) Buying in bulk can also be helpful. Ingredients such as almond butter or nut butter can cost a little bit up front, but it goes a long way! Think about it this way: If you usually spend $7 on a prepackaged snack and it lasts 3 days, then spending $7 on one ingredient that can be used in multiple recipes for weeks is much much more cost effective. Look for sales, too. I know you may not have time to surf the web or browse the local paper for local deals, but keep an eye out when you are shopping. This is also where having an idea of what you want to cook for the week comes in handy so you can locate ingredients that you might use at a later date and save money.

There seems to be a central theme tying all of these tips together, right? Preparation. In the scheme of things, if you spend a bit more time prepping lunch and dinner and breakfast ideas, then you will actually save TIME and MONEY. 2 for 1! What’s even better is that MOMables does most of the prep work for you! I know, incredible, right? Sign up here to get weekly shopping lists and lunch menus. $6 a month is nothing compared with the time and money you save!