The Top 40

Hi I enjoyed this poscadt and certainly understand the balance of eating healthy on a budget. I work for a grocery store and we offer healthy eating tours so I thought I'd offer a few suggestions. I'm on a tight budget as well so I'm always trying to cut costs! I think one of the main things is to know that in order to prepare fresh, whole foods you'll have to set aside time to prepare the meals, or part of them ahead of time. Other ideas -Find a store that has a bulk department where you can buy bulk rice, grains, dried fruit, cereal, nuts, granola, flour etc. This is often less expensive than buying packaged items, allows you to get as much as you want, and reduces food waste. You can try a small amount of somethng without committing to a whole, large package. -See if there's a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that you can subscribe to. You pay in advance for a share of the farm and pick up the produce weekly at the farm or other selected location. The benefit is that it's fresh, local produce that's in season. The potential downside is that you don't always know what you're going to get each week. In my area it's about 18/week and I received a lot of great produce! - Buy produce in season. It tastes better and is generally less expensive. - Sometimes local farmers offer a you pick option where you can go to the farm, pick produce yourself, and save money on awesome produce and it's a lot of fun. - Back to the bulk idea- set time aside to make a large batch of beans, grains, veggies, soup, stews, sauces, etc. and freeze them in individual or family sized servings for quick prep through out the next week +. I make homemade granola bars too. Less sugar and less expensive. -You can buy bulk oats (or other grain) and section out individual baggies of oatmeal with whatever dried fruit & sweetner you like. You control the sugar and additives. -If you eat meat you can see if there's a local farmer that sells shares of meat. Generally higher quality, humanely raised, but not always less expensive but still worth looking into.Good Luck!