Has anyone seen the price of fruit lately? A few months ago I was walking through my local grocer. I was looking at my list of items to buy but not paying attention to the price of the actual item. I placed the item in my cart and continued shopping. I get to the register and he places the item on the scanner to weigh it. I look up and the price screen read $6.00. I looked at him and said with amazement, “Is that for the grapes?” He said, “Yep.” I took one more look at the screen, looked down at my wallet and said, “I’m sorry. I’ll have to send those back.”

That was a humbling day for me. Though six dollars may not be much by itself, when you are on a budget and need to stay within that budget, six dollars becomes very significant. I desire to maintain a healthy diet for my family, but if you haven’t noticed, healthy nutritious foods are generally more expensive. I have had to think creatively and cut out a few desired but not necessary items to stay within our food budget. I want to give you some tips on how you may also eat healthy on a limited budget.

A Few Suggestions:

1. Stick to your list

Try to resist the temptation to purchase items that you don’t need or that are not on your shopping list. This would be my biggest struggle when grocery shopping. There have been many times I’ve asked myself, “Now Trill. Do you really need that?” and the answer is usually, “NO!”
2. Limit snacks and soda

Have I lost my readers yet? Really, if you are trying to maintain a healthy diet and you are trying to stay within a budget, buying snacks and sodas may hinder your goals. Try snacking on fruit and drink water. Remember these are just suggestions!
3. Organic: pick and choose

Organic foods are very popular these days. Even Wal-Mart has gotten in the game and is selling organic foods and products! Organic is good but not necessary. Actually, I would be one who would desire to purchase every organic product in a store! But, as I have read and studied and as my pocket book has called out to me, “No no,” I have learned I can buy certain organic items and still maintain my budget. My favorite organic buys are fruits that have eatable thin skin, eggs, milk, and meats.

4. Pack a lunch

I love to eat out! When I worked outside of the home I ate out almost everyday. The problem with eating out though is that for a small budget it gets expensive too! If you pack your lunch you not only save money but you also control what goes in your lunch.

More Tips on Budgeting

My dear friend, Amy Maples, has had to do plenty of research on maintaining a healthy diet on a limited budget. Her beautiful daughter has allergies and therefore has needed a special diet. I asked her if she had some tips to share as well. She suggests going to Coupon Mom, which is where she has found many of these suggestions.

1. Buy the Sunday paper so you can get coupons. If you save money on things like sandwich bags and laundry detergent (since most coupons are for non-perishable items), you’ll have more money left over for fresh fruits and veggies.

2. Try to only use a coupon when the item is on sale to get an even bigger discount.

3. Look at your store’s sales (esp. on meat and produce) either from the Sunday paper or online to plan your menu for the week (i.e. if there’s a big sale on chicken and tilapia, plan all your meals alternating those 2 meats for the week). This means you have to PLAN YOUR WEEK’S MENU.

4. It is sometimes cheaper to buy veggies frozen instead of fresh (not to mention time-saving since you don’t need to chop them up).

5. Check out Coupon Mom, which is where I (Amy) got most of these ideas and many more. You may even be able to start buying some organic foods with the money you save.

I hope these suggestions helps you eat healthy on a limited budget. Monday is the beginning of our walking series. Strap on those shoes and get ready to walk!

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 5:02 pm and is filed under budget, planning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.