I hear it all the time: claims that you canât eat healthy on a budget. Well, Itâs just not true. You may have to plan things out a bit more, but the extra time is worth it. You can nourish your family with the best foods if you know where to look and what to buy. You donât have to buy all organic produce or feel like you can only shop at high end grocery stores to make a difference in your lifestyle. Compare a pound of quinoa at around $3.99 that makes several meals, versus one fast food meal that costs at least $5.00. Plan, and you can save and be healthy.
Here are some easy tips to keep a healthy diet, no matter what your budget is:
You can buy produce and Beauty Food staples in bulk at stores like Costco, and that can save you a surprising amount of money. You can purchase raw nuts, seeds, grains, spices, and condiments and then store them in airtight containers in your pantry so youâre always stocked up. They even have great produce items, like big bags of organic spinach or carrots.
If you can set aside one day per week to make your Glowing Green Smoothies and prepare (and in some cases, freeze) your meals, you wonât have to worry about the produce going bad, so youâll be saving time and money.
(Tip: You can freeze your Glowing Green Smoothies and move one from freezer to fridge each night so you have one ready to go first thing in the morning. Just give it a stir in the morning!)
While you wonât be buying in bulk and you may not be buying all organic produce in these stores, you can save money when you bypass the premade foods (especially at Trader Joeâs) and go straight for the fresh, natural ingredients. TJâs has great lemons, avocados, organic romaine hearts and more. At Aldi stores, you can sometimes find produce at a fraction of the cost you would in other grocery stores. Just keep the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen in mind as you shop (you may want to make a list so you donât forget whatâs on each list!) so you can put more money to buying organic for the âdirtyâ produce items, which have more pesticides.
If you canât go completely organic, do as much good as you can by purchasing as much organic food on the Dirty Dozen list as possible. EWGâs list of the Dirty Dozen includes the produce you should do your best- given your budget- to buy organic because of the amount of pesticides sprayed on them (if budget is a serious issue and you canât get these organic either, soak for at least half an hour with veggie wash and water, or diluted raw apple cider vinegar).
Thereâs also a list of the Clean Fifteen, which you donât necessarily need to purchase organic:
By just following this list, you can cut down on up to 80 percent of your pesticide consumption. If youâre buying produce that youâll be removing the outer peel from anyway, you can usually get away without buying organic. However, the nutritional content may not be as high in conventionally grown produce as it is in organic.
Planning ahead can allow you to save money on your grocery bill, too. Apps like Food on the Table and PushPins let you enter the grocery stores you typically visit and theyâll alert you to any sales. Be sure to check weekly ad circulars to get a good idea of whatâs on sale when you start planning your meals.
You may not find produce on the list very often, but you could stock up on Beauty Grains, for example, or other items that you tend to buy when youâre grocery shopping, like toothpaste and toilet paper. Every little bit of savings counts, right? Being aware of the current and upcoming sales will show you where you should shop this week for the greatest savings and may even inspire you to be creative with your Beauty Detox-friendly meal planning.
Shopping for whatâs in season will also save you money, with no need for coupons or special ads. Donât be afraid to make changes to your Beauty Detox Recipes based on whatâs in season.
If you hate buying produce only to find that itâs gone bad before youâve had a chance to enjoy it, employ a few techniques to keep your food fresh as long as possible. Thereâs a fabulous collection of tips on Buzzfeed, like how to keep onions for up to eight months when you store them in pantyhose, and how to make your bananas last longer by wrapping the top of the bunch in plastic wrap.
Some of my favorite storage tips include:
These tips wonât necessarily save you money on your grocery trip unless youâre shopping the sales and buy more than you need even if you donât know what youâll do with it yet, but they may prevent you from needing to return to the store to re-purchase ingredients that went bad in your refrigerator or on the counter.
Iâve shared several recipes here and in Beauty Detox Foods that are nutritious, affordable, and taste amazing. Here are a few of my favoritesâand they donât cost much more than $5 per person to make, if that:
In fact, most of the Beauty Detox recipes are relatively inexpensive to make once you have a well-stocked spice cabinet and pantry with all the basics.
Just by skipping over the pre-packaged foods where you pay extra for the convenience of having to do less of the cooking and prep work, youâll find that youâre saving a lot of money. If youâre 
following the Beauty Detox plan and avoiding meat, youâll spend less overall because a plant-based diet is so much cheaper than one that features an animal protein at just about every meal. Cook up some sweet potatoes or millet and make a huge salad at the beginning of the week, and pull from it for a few days so you arenât in a huge bind and tired after work and end up buying more food out.
Be disciplined on Sundays or at least one day during the week to make some things- and you will end up saving a lot of moola and eat better. And feel much better, I might add!
You may be surprised just how easy it is to grow some foodsâor in the very least, herbsâin your home. Try growing basil, cilantro, or rosemary by your kitchen window. Ha! you might say, how can I do that? While weâre all really busy, these are things that honestly wonât take up much of your time. You can buy plants in the grocery store that will pay for themselves several times over. As for more substantial foods, start a container garden on your balcony or deck if you have the space, and you can grow tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, carrots, and more. Some people line up mason jars on their walls inside and grow a variety of herbs there.
Thereâs nothing fresher than produce picked off of your own plants right before they go into your meals. It will cost a bit more upfront to purchase the container, the soil, and the seeds, but as long as you plan ahead and take good care of the plants, youâll be able to save money in the long run. You can have your own little mini-garden of Beauty Foods in no time, and thereâs something so satisfying about pulling your next meal off of plants you cared for with your own hands.
Get creative and invent new ways to use the parts of the plants you might not normally use. For example, try something with lemon zest if you bought organic lemons for your daily hot water with lemon or your Glowing Green Smoothies. Find new ways to use almond pulp after youâve made almond milk (try dehydrating it and making crackers!). When you use your produce in new ways, youâre spending less on other products, like crackers.
With community supported agriculture groups, you make monthly payments and get weekly boxes of fresh produce from farms during harvest times and growing seasons. You get to build a relationship with the farmer, save money, and the mix of fruits and vegetables you get in your box each week will inspire you to be creative in the meals you cook. Youâll get a variety of Beauty Foods in the freshest possible state, right off the farm without days of travel time between the farm and your table.
If you eat eggs, you may be able to get fresh eggsâeggs that havenât been bathed in chlorine like the ones at the grocery store haveâthrough a CSA group.
There is a slight risk involved for everyone who participates, though: if the crops do poorly for some reason, you donât get your money back. If the crops are abundant, youâll have a nice box of beautiful produce each week. Everyoneâs in it together no matter what the outcome.
Farmersâ markets are a great way to get fresh, local produce for less. To find local farmersâ markets and CSAs, visit LocalHarvest.org. Theyâre usually held once per week in the same location. Thereâs less risk involved than there is with a CSA. You simply find your nearest market, head over, and purchase what you think looks good. Youâll get to know the farmers, ask them questions about their farming practices, and have exposure to new vegetables and fruits this way, too.
Try these tips, save, and live the best life you can, which includes a clean, healthy diet. You deserve it!
