Healthy Foods That Are Incredibly Affordable

The trope that healthy eating requires a large budget is up! While many specialized or packaged health foods have a higher price tag, there are an increasing amount of options for shoppers trying to fit healthy eating on a budget.

Eat Whole Foods

The healthier versions of boxed meals and granola bars are more expensive than their normal counterparts, but a bag of apples costs one or two bucks. Bought on season, berries are a very affordable snack. Carrots are a couple of dollars a bag, and you can save money by peeling and shredding them yourself if need be. A sweet potato cooked and topped mindfully is a full and nutritious meal, and a bag of them is very affordable.

Buy Whole Meats

You could almost buy two whole chickens for the cost of buying the packages of breasts, thighs, or drumsticks. Not only is it cheaper, but the meat will go a lot further, and you can make a nutrient-dense stock with the bones, saving you the cost of buying stock or broth for soups. Look into buying a portion of an animal from a local farmer. Although the initial cost of buying half a cow may be a bit staggering, work out how much that would be per week or per month, and compare that to what you’re spending now. Not only will it be cheaper, you’ll get higher quality meat!

Off-Cuts, Banged Boxes, and Discards

There are many stores that specifically sell pantry goods that have been banged up. Look and see if there’s one within driving distance. The food inside the packaging is just as good as if the corners were crisp and the cans undented, but the price tag will have been knocked off as much as 75%. Look into produce delivery that focuses on getting imperfect vegetables into the hands of consumers that know it truly doesn’t matter. Learn how to cook the off-cuts of meat - they are often incredibly nutrient dense, and are either carried cheaply at a grocery store or even available for free if you ask a local butcher!

Buy In Bulk

Buying in bulk always saves money, if you’ll actually use all of the item, and there are many ways to do this nowadays. Sam’s Club and Costco have shifted their product offerings in order to grab a slice of the health-conscious customer pie. There are companies like Azure Standard and Frontier Co-op that offer a wide variety of healthy and niche-diet items in bulk that you wouldn’t find in stores.

Frozen Produce

Fresh produce is always available in stores, but in the off-season, that piece of fruit may not be as nutritious as it could be and it will certainly cost more. Frozen fruits and vegetables are picked at the peak of ripeness and then frozen, rather than picking early so that they’d ripen in transit. Frozen vegetables are a dollar or two a bag. Frozen fruits help you fit berries into your budget year-round.