How to Eat Healthy on a Budget

I've been using these rules in the grocery store for about 3 years now. I've used them for bulking diets, cutting diets, and just all around healthy diets.

1. Pick your staples

My staples are:
Eggs
Tortillas
Salsa
Spaghetti
Chicken
Milk
Apples
Brown Rice
Assorted Steamfresh Veggies

These are the things I can eat week after week without getting tired of them. If I am trying to stay on a tight budget, I will stick to just these staples, but if I can, I will usually try to spice things up.

2. Buy in bulk

When I say buy in bulk, I mean buy your staples in bulk. If something is on sale, buy more of it and stock it up in your kitchen. You will be buying those staples regularly anyways. I try to stock up on meats when they go on sale and freeze them until I need them.

3. Meal Prep

Buying meal prep containers and planning your meals for the week will help you be more intentional at the grocery store. It will also help you portion control which makes your food last longer between grocery trips. When I meal prep, I always pick a protein, a carb, and a vegetable. Then I use fruit as snacks in between meals. 

4. Follow a diet of some sort

Following a diet will direct you to certain foods that you can and keep you from buying foods that you arent supposed to eat on the diet. This will give you direction more than anything else. It doesnt matter what diet you choose, but picking one and sticking to it will give you a good start to navigating the grocery store.

5. Make a list

If you shop with a list, it will keep you from picking up the Oreos, chips, sodas, and buy one get one free ice cream gallons that you'd normally pick up without even thinking about it.

6. Stick to the perimeter of the store

The perimeter of the store usually has the produce, the dairy, the meats, and the bakery. This will keep your choices much healthier than all the processed food in the aisles of the grocery store.

7. Buy store-brand

This is a no-brainer but many people are so brand loyal to Ragu or Heinz that they don't make the economic choice of going with the store brand. I understand if there is no way you would eat the store brand for some reason, but if you're indifferent or have never tried the store brand version, try it next time and it may become a habit for you. 

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