List of Tips on Eating Healthy and Cheaply

I thought I'd post this up to help anyone trying to eat healthy while being on a budget. It's from a post I made long ago on my food blog. I live in a collective/co-op in Canada where we dumpster dive most of our food and have a communal garden. We also all love to cook. As it is, I spend about 30$-100$ on groceries a month and I eat WELL and PLENTY. Hope this helps!


There are a variety of ways you can eat cheaper while still eating healthy. But remember, your health is the most important thing in your life because it IS life. Your health should be at the top of your priorities list, not money or convenience. Here is a list I created of ideas that can help you save money while still eating healthy:

-Make your own food. While some convenience foods might seem cheaper, they’re less nutritious and much worse for your health than real wholesome foods, and a lot of it is actually quite expensive. There are many meals you can cook that are healthy, easy, quick and simple, delicious, and cheap. If you’re not accustomed to the kitchen, just do some research, read some books and learn the basics. Cooking your own food is the best thing you can do.-Take the time to observe your options. Most people live in big cities, and even those who live in towns can usually find more than one grocery store or place to purchase their food. Take a notepad and pen with you to these different locations and write down the prices of foods you usually purchase. If you notice quite the price margin (sometimes you can find huge differences) choose to shop at the cheaper place. If he grocery stores each have something to offer and if they’re easy and affordable to get to, go to both (or all) and get the specific items you want by planning ahead what you need to get where.

-Have a look out for special sales on fruits, veggies, whole grains and lean meats at the grocery stores. Try to purchase when the fruits and veggies are in season, that’s when they’ll usually be cheaper but also taste best and be at their peak nutrition wise. A lot of grocery stores have a “half-price” cart, with some stuff being less than half the price. This is a great place to buy cheap fruits that are *ready* to eat, and vegetables are often fine if cooked soon after too. Certain grocery stores have half-price bread all the time, bread that was baked the day before, such as baguettes and big loaves.

-Keep in mind how much weight from the fruits and veggies you can’t eat (inedible peels etc). Lets say oranges are cheaper than pears by a bit, pears end up being cheaper overall because you end up with more edible fruit. Some oranges have Very thick peels, and pears have a super thin edible peels.

-Find uses for what you normally throw out. If you make your own tomato sauce from scratch, you know that a lot of the tomato gets thrown out – the seeds, the liquid and the peel. Throw all your scraps in a blender with some spices, sea salt and olive oil, blend until smooth and you end up with a tasty treat! Or just use the whole tomatoes for a chunkier sauce. How about the seeds from a winter squash that you scoop out before baking? They are tasty and nutritious – Why not bake them with your favorite seasoning? If you’re finely grating carrots, you’ll end up with delicious fresh carrot juice when you squeeze them. Drink chilled as is, or add some fruit like an apple, with a pinch of cinnamon. What to do with lots of apple peels and cores? You can use them to make apple jelly! Potato skins from mashed potatoes can be seasoned and baked to create chips!

-Buy in bulk. Generally, the bigger the amount you purchase, the better deal you’re getting on it. But be careful not to buy *too* much and find yourself with stale ingredients that you couldn’t use up fast enough.

-Support the locals; try farmers markets and u-picks. Sometimes buying local can be more expensive than grocery stores, and sometimes not. Besides, the local produce will be much fresher and more nutritious. You can find good deals at farmers markets, and u-picks are a cheaper alternative for fruits and vegetables as you pick them yourself. It also makes a pleasant outing!

-Don’t eat out.Normal restaurants are labeled as more expensive than the “fast food” type, but even a 6$ combo of fries, a burger and a drink is much more expensive (and tough on your body) than lets say, a bag of quick oats, which would make you a healthy breakfast in a matter of 2 minutes, and it’d last a looong time, or a bean tortilla with a side salad that can be thrown together in a few minutes.-Frozen vegetables are usually very cheap, but frozen fruits on the other hand, usually aren’t that cheap. Keep your eyes open though; Frozen fruits go on sale every now and then, sometimes almost half price.

-Grains and beans are very nutritious and filling and they’re always cheap, just make sure to get whole grains and stay away from refined flours and white rice as they’ve been stripped of most of their nutrients. Whole grain flours and especially gluten-free flours are more expensive than the usual stuff, but again, keep your eyes open as they sometimes go on sale. Some local farms sell whole-grain flour for very cheap! Dry beans do definitely take a while to cook, but they are super cheap and nutritious!

-Don’t prejudge organic foods as being expensive, sometimes it can actually be cheaper! It depends where and when you shop, so always keep an eye out for them. Use your own judgement though on weather something is actually organic or not, since some companies bend the rules to appeal to the people who want to eat healthy, and make them pay more for it.

-Meats are usually rather expensive compared to other foods (and organic, humanely treated meat, although the best choice, is often very expensive) so beans are a great alternative to get your protein. Use them in soups and slow cookers, salads, and for dips (hummus). You can even make delicious brownies with some of them!

-Growing your own garden is another idea, and it doesn’t need to be big. You can start out with just a couple of pots of herbs and vegetables in your home. Find out what grows best in your region so that it won’t be too much of a hassle to do. If you have some relatives or friends that have big gardens, offer to help them pick during the peak months in exchange for some free fresh stuff.

-Don’t put it out of sight. It’s easy to stack your cupboards and fridge full of food and eat away at what’s in sight, forgetting (conciously or not!) about the foods hiding behind. Stale crackers, moldy vegetables, winey fruit dessert… It all goes to waste when it could have been saved. Try not to cram your cupboards and fridge full, and remember to prioritize what you should eat first. For example, eating that soup before it turns to fungus instead of going for the crackers that will last a long time. Making big batches of food saves you time, just remember to eat it in a certain amount of time or freeze what freezes well.

-Look up your local Food Not Bombs. They’ll feed you delicious healthy vegan meals in parks once or twice a week, and their food is usually loaded with greens. You can even volunteer for them by cooking food together and washing dishes to help them out for all the good things they do without asking anything in return. Some colleges in big cities serve healthy, vegan/vegetarian food for cheap or free for lunch too.

-Stay Connected. I know it may seem really strange to ask, but consider asking certain family members and friends if they can let you know when they have a bunch of food that`s about to go to waste that they won`t use. Some people waste a LOT of food. I`m sure a lot of you will see this as a very unappealing to do, in a sense embarrassing or unwelcomed, but why, really? You should know these people well enough and have an idea of who wastes a lot and who would be open to the idea and who`d want to help you. A suggestion to keep in mind.

-And for those willing to even ponder it and take the “risk”, consider dumpster diving. There is SO MUCH food that is being thrown out of grocery stores, so much of it still edible that is being wasted, it’s disgusting. I plan on dedicating a page to dumpster diving, but for now, a summary: The important thing to keep in mind when dumpster diving is being discrete – Try not to reveal your presence and put things back the way you found them. Try not to make a bunch of noise. Don’t openly speak about it to just anyone; Only talk about it if you must or know the other person is like-minded. It’s best to go when the stores in the area have closed for the night. If there’s a lock on the dumpster, move on. If it’s open, take a peek with a flashlight. Wear clothes you don’t care might get stained or damaged, and wear gloves for extra protection. Be careful when you go in, but look around freely. Dumpster diving is hit-and-miss. Sometimes you find nothing, sometimes you find more stuff than 4 people can carry in bags. Once in a while you’ll find a store that cares about their waste and the hungry and they’ll leave out their (ex: fresh baked pizza) on the ledge of the dumpster for people to take.

You can find all kinds of things, like ripe bananas, potatoes, onions, apples, squash, fruit juices, pop cans, yogurt, frozen goods, chocolate bars, bread and baked goods, and from health food stores, things like nutritional yeast, raisins, honey, nuts, whole wheat bread and baked goods, rice and soy milks, healthy snacks and drinks, and organic produce. I`ve even found things like sanitary pads, food color and cat food. Have fun digging! Just watch out for the fish heads… Any dumpsters with lots of open bags of meat products and bloody bags should be avoided completely.