How to cut food costs and still eat a healthy diet

Eating healthy and improving your diet doesn’t need to cost as much as you might think. There are all kinds of resources available to you such as our Menu Planners that can take the fuss and stress out of planning meals and saving money in the process. The best way to cut the cost of eating healthy is to plan meals in advance and source your ingredients from affordable retailers. You can also save money by setting a realistic weekly budget and sticking to it. Read on to find out more about planning nutritious meals when funds are limited.

 

Cook from scratch

You can save a considerable sum of money by cooking from scratch rather than buying pre-made food and improve your health by avoiding processed ready meals and fast food. If you’re not as skilled in the kitchen as you would like to be, now could be the perfect time to enhance your culinary credentials. 

Eat less meat

One way to reduce the cost of feeding yourself and your family is to cut back on or avoid meat. If you don’t want to give up meat, you can always start opting for budget cuts, which can be just as flavoursome as premium cuts. It’s also wise to write a shopping list and stick to it, rather than making impulse purchases when you make your way around the supermarket. If you buy frozen fruit and vegetables, you can make them last longer and avoid throwing them away when they have started to rot. Loose vegetables tend to be much cheaper than pre-packaged veg. You can also save money by opting for cheaper brands. This doesn’t always mean making sizeable compromises on quality when it comes to food, and many people say they can’t tell the difference between products from premium and low-cost brands.

Take advantage of happy hour

Freezing leftover bread is also an incredibly sensible move that will help you save money. Fresh products such as bread are often heavily discounted during supermarket happy hours. This is because it is better for retailers to slash the price of goods that have reached or are about to reach their use by date than simply throw them away. Many supermarkets sell discounted goods at certain times of the day. This is often during the evening or in the middle of the afternoon. Find out when your local supermarket tends to reduce goods to make considerable savings.

Control your portions

Portion control can also help you make your food go further, so don’t cook more than you need unless you can freeze it and consume it later. Think carefully before you opt for certain supermarket deals such as ‘buy one get one free’ offers as they are not always what they seem. They can lead you to make unnecessary purchases and don’t always represent great value.