Today’s post is a reader request for how to do healthy grocery shopping on a budget! I felt like it would be a really great topic to chat about because we all like to save money, am I right?! Craig & I actually have a set budget for groceries each month (and for other things too) that we try to stick to, but I’ll be honest that groceries is our trouble spot. Some months we hit the budget, but some months we still go over. What can I say?! We like to eat, and it appears we eat a lot. So this post can be a practice for me, too, in sharing what works for us, what doesn’t, where we can improve and things you can do in general to save money on your groceries without compromising healthy choices.
Tips for Healthy Grocery Shopping on a Budget
Plan Ahead
Planning ahead is a huge part of being able to stick to a grocery budget. You should take a look at your week ahead so you have an idea of what your schedule will bring. Do you have a lunch or dinner already scheduled that you don’t need to buy food at the store for that meal? Keep things like that in mind so you aren’t buying too much food and potentially wasting it, and your money, in the process.
Next, also consider what meals you want for the week for dinners & lunches. I always try to do 2 meatless meals, which I consider to be things like our veggie/rice bowls or salads. Then we will have a lean protein of either ground turkey, chicken, or a fish 1-2x a week. Then I may make a soup or do a crockpot meal…so it’s not set in stone but we just think of what we want for the week. I find breakfast is easier because I generally have oatmeal for breakfast, so I just buy a big bag of Bob’s Red Mill Organic Rolled Oats and it lasts me for probably a month at least and I’m set on breakfasts.
It’s important to consider what you’ll have for the week because can you use the same ingredients in some of your meals so you aren’t buying a bunch of different things? For example, if you are buying a 2-pack of green peppers but only need 1 for a taco bowl, can you use that other one somewhere else? As a snack with hummus or in another meal? Buying as close to only what you think you’ll eat is key to staying on budget.
I also find that planning ahead helps me stick to a healthier meal plan, rather than not having any idea what I can have for dinner one night and just ordering take out instead, you know? If you’ve planned to have ground turkey with sweet potatoes and broccoli then you already have what you need in the house for dinner.
One website I use and LOVE for helping me plan meals on a budget is Budget Bytes. She lays out how much each ingredient costs and the total cost of each meal, so you can have an approximate idea when you go to the store. I have used many of her recipes and they are all delicious…our favorite is the Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta.
Eat Leftovers
Don’t throw those leftovers away!! Either wrap them up to eat for lunch the next day or if you can freeze any unused portions for future use, this would help save money in the long run and not waste any food! You can also intentionally plan to make an extra serving when you’re cooking for your lunches, so then come the morning all you have to do is grab what you’ve already made and go. We do this a lot for Craig’s lunches and it saves me time packing his lunch in the morning too! Just makes it easier all around.
Make a List
Do not go into the grocery store and wing it. After you’ve already done step 1 of “planning ahead”, you should have a pretty set idea of what you need to get from the store. Take that list with you and stick to it! Deviating from the list adds up extra dollars to that final bill, so just keep that in mind. Don’t peruse the aisles, just go in, grab what you need, and get out.
Shop at Less Expensive Grocery Stores
This took us way too long to figure out, but after dropping more money at Harris Teeter than I’d care to admit, we finally made the switch to shopping almost exclusively at Food Lion. Even though Harris Teeter is more convenient to us, Food Lion isn’t that much further away and we save a great deal of money buying stuff from there instead. There will be the occasional time I’ll go in and Food Lion might not have 1 thing I need, so then I’ll swing by HT to get it. But for the most part, we are able to find everything we need at Food Lion. We live in North Carolina but I’m sure wherever you are you can think of your more expensive and less expensive stores. Trust me when I say the differences in price add up!
If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, that is another great spot you can get good healthy food on a budget, but just be sure to price shop/compare things and be mindful that some of the pre-packaged meals can sometimes be on the more expensive side, so just keep that in mind!
Lastly, Costco or Sam’s Club is a great option for buying in bulk if you have a family or are feeding multiple people. Again you might want to price shop and compare how much certain things are, but I probably go to Costco about once every 1-2 months to get a few things that last us. I ALWAYS get my toilet paper and paper towels at Costco because they are way cheaper there and last a while!
Do You Need Organic?
I think if you can fit organic products into your budget, then yes, as much as possible. But I realize that might burst the budg for some people, but not to worry. Just buy the regular produce and get a good all-natural produce cleaner to wash off any of the pesticides or chemicals on them as much as possible. These are usually located in your produce section in spray bottles. We got one a couple months ago for about $5, and I use it to clean our fruits & veggies, because we don’t always buy organic if it’s not the budget that week. The $5 for the cleaner was a small investment that has saved us more than that in return. So that’s an option too!
I also have a YouTube video HERE with a Grocery Haul we did last summer if you want to check it out for ideas!
Hope this helps!
I hope this helps you with tips for healthy grocery shopping on a budget and some practices to put in place! If you have any questions about budgeting or saving money in general, let me know…I am working on a post related to that so it would be great to gauge interest and take other questions!
xo,
Bess
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