Being on a budget and eating healthy might not sound like they go hand-in-hand, but they still can. If you are trying to switch to a cleaner diet without spending more money on your weekly food bill, here are 4 tips to help you eat clean on a budget.
Free Report: 9 Healthy Things You Can Do To Help You Live Longer4 Ways To Eat Clean on a Budget
Eating clean is entirely possible if you’re on a budget, as long as you use the bulk of your money on whole, clean foods and not anything processed or packaged for convenience.
1. Avoid Processed and Packaged Food
As you probably know, when you eat clean, you eat mostly whole foods that aren’t processed or packaged. You’ll also do this when you are on a budget, as it not only helps you eat clean, but also can save you money.
Whole foods are simply foods in their most natural form. This includes beans, rice, and pasta in bags before being soaked, rinsed, or mixed with other ingredients. Produce is purchased whole and fresh or frozen, instead of pre-sliced in packages in the produce section.
2. Base Your Meals Around Budget-Friendly Foods
For your clean eating meals, choose budget-friendly foods in their whole or natural forms, and build your meals from those. Some clean ingredients that are also inexpensive include:
- Oats (not flavored)
- Quinoa and barley
- Rice
- Beans
- Canned tomatoes
- Frozen vegetables
- In-season produce
- Eggs
- Potatoes
- Pasta
- Canned tuna
3. Don’t Worry About Food That is Trendy
When it comes to clean eating or diets in general, companies come out with a lot of trendy products and claim they are the next best thing with a healthy diet. But most of the time, they are completely unnecessary. While nice to have occasionally as a treat, they aren’t required for a healthy diet. You don’t need to add turmeric to your smoothies, or get truffles for your meals. You can have clean, healthy meals without these types of foods.
4. Buy Bulk When You Can
Lastly, try to buy more than you need from the store, and freeze the leftovers. If you’re trying to eat clean on a budget, do this when something is on sale that you know you will use in the near future. Every time you go to the store for a specific ingredient, see if it is on sale if you buy more than one. If this fits within your food budget, buy more than one, and save the extra. If it’s cheese, meat or seafood, poultry, or produce, it can be frozen and used later.
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You probably already know that the way you choose to live your life has some effect on how long you’ll live. But, believe it or not, we do actually have some degree of control over our life expectancy! If you want to know exactly where you should be focusing your efforts to live a healthier lifestyle check out my free report Top 9 Things You Can Do For Your Health To Help You Live Longer. The choices you make about your lifestyle don’t mean that you and your loved ones have to live shorter lives.
