HEALTHY BITES
Eat Well.
$pend Less
Healthy Eating on
a Budget
By RASHIDA A. MARSHALL
Many of us have dealt with the issue of
having to choose between paying more to
eat healthy or saving money by choosing the
less nutritious route. Unfortunately, this battle
between our pockets and our health tends to
happens more often than it should. Making
the effort to eat a healthy, well-rounded diet
can sometimes be more than we bargained
for. However, it is still very possible to do so
without having to spend a ton of cash. If you
would like to figure out ways to maintain a
healthy diet while staying within your budget,
take a look at these few tips that may be
useful for you.
1) Make a List and Stick to It
Before heading out to do your grocery shopping,
take a few moments to figure out what exactly it is
that you will need. Include all details such as
quantities, sizes, flavors, etc. You can even make a
list of the meals you plan to prepare during the week
and what you’ll need for those. This way when you
get to the store, you leave only with what you need.
2) Eat Before You Shop
This one ties in well with the previous tip. When we
go grocery shopping on an empty stomach, our
hunger and taste buds tend to do more of the
selecting rather than our list. To ensure that you don’t
make any impulse purchases, be sure to eat
something before heading out to the store or
consider bring along a snack.
3) Create an “Eat Out” Budget
Let’s face it—it is sometimes so much easier to go to
a restaurant or to a quick eatery to get a meal than it
is prepare our own. However, over time those small
purchases add up and we begin to realize that the
extra effort to prepare our meals may have been
worth it. To prevent yourself from overspending on
meals that are not really needed, set aside some
cash just for eating out and treating yourself.
4) Buy In-Season Fruits and Veggies
Produce that is in season tends to be much cheaper
than the ones that are not. One option could be for
you to select recipes that requires those specific
fruits and vegetables and so that you can take
advantage of the lower prices.
5) Go Generic
Media and advertising has led us to believe that the
more popular name brand foods are of a better
quality and taste than others. In all actuality, you
probably wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference
between name brand and generic foods if you didn’t
know which was which. Consider choosing off-brand
products occasionally as opposed to name brand in
an effort to save a few dollars.
17 | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014 AFIYA MAGAZINE