Hi Sweet Friends,
Ever since I started sharing my journey from Hot Pockets to whole foods, I’ve often heard that it’s difficult to afford a healthier lifestyle. I won’t argue with you there. Real food is pricier than processed food made in a lab or a factory. And you will certainly see a jump in the grand total on your grocery receipts. But over time you’ll get the hang of it, and I promise it will become more manageable. There’s always a silver lining, my friends—and the price “jump” can be more of a baby bunny hop.
Today I’m sharing my top tips for saving money on nourishing, plant-based foods. But before I dive in, I hope to inspire you with this one statement:
Do your best to invest in yourself today, your future depends on it.
Even on a limited income, we can each make small upgrades that have a massive impact on our health. And get this, your body will be so grateful that it will reward you tenfold. It will literally move mountains when you give it the slightest improvement. Now let’s get started!
Here are my go-to tips for nifty, thrifty plant-happy shopping:
1. Budget and meal plan.
First step, set a comfortable budget. Then, examine your fridge and pantry. I bet you’ve got a lot of goodies in there. Next, map out your menu with my easy meal plan. Don’t skip this step, hot shot. Kitchen champions succeed not because they are the best of chefs, but because they plan their arses off. With more experience, you’ll get the hang of it.
2. Buy bulk.
While navigating the grocery store head straight to the bulk bins and stock up! As your bulk food staples grow, you’ll have shorter shopping lists and an arsenal of inspiration for your home-cooked meals. Added bonus: Display your beautiful beans, grains and spices in mason jars throughout your kitchen. Home-decor, Crazy Sexy style!
3. Shop local: Farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).
Farmers markets are a great place to buy organic foods on the cheap. In-season produce is almost always going to cost less, so try to be flexible and cook with the harvest. A CSA is another thrift-tastic way to eat with the seasons. If a CSA half-share seems like more veggies than you could eat or afford, see if a friend wants to go in on it with you. You can also freeze a portion of your haul for later or make a green juice! Here are some great websites for finding a market or CSA near you: Local Harvest, Eat Well Guide, Farmer’s Market Online.
4. Learn the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen.
If you can’t afford a 100-percent organic lifestyle, don’t sweat it. Check out the Environmental Working Group’s lists to determine your priorities for organic purchases. They even created an iPhone app. Now that’s handy!
5. Stock up on the essentials during sales.
I know it may seem like I’m giving you mixed messages, but if you arrive at the supermarket and there’s a big phat sale on organic bananas, snag those babies! They may not have been on your meal plan, but you can cut them up, freeze ‘em and pop them in your smoothies or soft serve ice cream later. The same goes for dry staples like grains and beans that aren’t going to go bad in your pantry.
6. Grow your greens.
As you’ll see in the coming weeks, we’re starting our first vegetable garden (I’m so excited!). It’s exponentially more economical to grow your own food. Whether you live in a studio or a McMansion, there’s always room for a few pots of greens. A two-dollar packet of mixed lettuce seeds will support your salad habit for months. If you’re a city gardener, check out You Grow Girl, Garden Girl TV and Urban Homestead. For country folks like myself, check out The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible and Four Season Farm.
7. Cut back on restaurants.
Aye, Chihuahua, do those restaurant bills pile up! Rather than escaping to the local Denny’s, make your kitchen the new hot spot. Fabu cookbooks, romantic dinners at home, potlucks, picnics and rowdy get-togethers all make dinner a family affair. I’m not saying that you should never step foot in a restaurant again; just try to limit your visits.
8. Make your food last and get creative with leftovers.
Wash and store your produce in Debbie Meyer Green Bags (they extend life expectancy). And when your produce looks like it’s about to go south, resuscitate it in a delicious stew. How about leftovers? Don’t toss them. With a little TLC, leftovers can be transformed into fresh new meals. Batch cooking is another way to save time and money. Double or triple your favorite recipe and freeze the leftovers for a quick and healthy meal when you’re in a pinch.
9. Buy used.
Buying a new juicer or blender may not be in your budget, but what about a used one? Craigslist, eBay — even your friends and family — might have an affordable, gently used model. In the meantime, you can still juice with any old blender and strainer (cheesecloth or nut milk bags work great!).
10. Skip the bells and whistles.
If you’re like me, you definitely have budget leaks, aka knee-jerk spending at Amazon, Target, Starbucks and on all those raw food goodies. Identify where you can tighten your belt and invest in your company (you are the CEO of your health after all), not someone else’s. Don’t let transforming your plate be intimidating or cost prohibitive. As always, you don’t need to upgrade everything all at once. Make a plan and pace your bank account.
As you can see, there are tons of ways to make a plant-powered plate work for your wallet if you’re ready to use a little elbow grease.
When my food expenses start creeping up, it’s usually because I’m being a bit of a slacker, not because of my veg-inspired diet. I’m not planning my meals. My apron is dusty. The takeout menus get more play than my ukulele. Make new habits by trying one of my tips per week. You can do this!
Your turn: What are your savvy, money-saving solutions?
Peace & prosperity,
Many bargain stores start carrying natural and organic products up on customer requests. So go and ask your store to carry them.
I shop there first and then find my remaining items at the regular natural foods store. This can save you quite a bit green in the long run.
Try different grocery stores. I love Trader Joe’s, but I invariably spend at least $25 more there each week than at a smaller chain on the other side of town. They have less organic options, but for THIS TIME in my life I have to focus on saving the money before going all organic or bust…because my bank account really does bust every so often! When we’re a bit better off, caught up, whatever you want to call it, sure, I would love to go back to Trader Joe’s. But if you can find some place cheaper and at least buy what they DO have organic, you may find you can strike a happy balance.
Greetings Kris,
In one of your articles you talked about skin care. I can’t find it. What is the name brand?
Appreciate all the information you share.
I want to find a safe way to freeze food in portion sizes. I know about the Debbie Meyer Green Bags, but the company says not to freeze food in them. Does anyone use them to freeze food anyway? How about glass containers? Any advice appreciated!!
I love batch cooking! Sundays are my day to prepare meals for the week. Not only does it save money, but it also saves me tons of time! Plus, when I have taken the time to prepare meals, I’m less likely to say, “Oh, heck let’s just go out to eat!”- helping me save more money!
Thank you for the tips – is that your motorcycle Kris?
Really a useful and impressive blog shared here. Keep up.
#7 was my favorite tip, and not just because it’s so easy for us to just want to go to the restaurants. I like how you mentioned to make your kitchen your “hot spot”. Home cooked food can be just as enjoyable as something you bought at the restaurant, You just have to make things that excite you(while being health conscious, of course). And, cookbooks should help you do that.
One technique to prolong veggie life is to take them out of grocery plastic bags (yuck) and wrap them in slightly dampened hand towels. They keep a lot longer this way.
Hi Kris,
Thanks for all the tips, however I do have one big question regarding the green bags, I want to get some, but what about her brand of boxes? They apparently work the same, but do you need to throw them out after say 20 uses, or just keep washing then? Because if the boxes last, then wouldn’t it be better getting these? Thanks so much if you can reply! 🙂
Last year i stayed up until midnight to apply online for a community garden plot and managed to get one of 10 plots available. I’m so excited about growing my own and visit my plot almost every day. 🙂 Today I brought home some chives and baby spinach. 🙂 I am sure that I will save money as a number of the items i am growing are very expensive to buy organic.
I agree that planning is key! I admit I have a routine which some people argue against, but it saves me tons of time. I’ll have a certain type of meal on the same day each week although the actual ingredients (usually the vegetables) vary depending what I have that week. This works really well for me and of course nothing’s set in stone so if I want to change it around or switch in something new I can do that any time.
Planning meals for the week actually saved me money! I wasn’t sure it was going to be the case but I decided to give it a try yesterday before going food shopping. My bill was 50 euros less than usual! Thank you Kris, it’s a great tip! It saved me time & money.
xx
Wow, these are all great tips! I am going through college right now, so it’s hard to balance my budget between school and good foods. I cannot stress enough how much a meal plan helps! Also, don’t go to the grocery store hungry! It makes you crave foods you really don’t need.
I totally agree! Never go food shopping when you’re starving 🙂
Wow! Great post. I’m in the middle of learning how to get my family to eat healthier, couponing, and meal planning. On top of running a business with two kiddos at home full-time it’s a task. But, your tips were so simple and don’t seem like they’re going to require anymore “extra” effort. Thanks so much for these!
When you buy whole foods rather than boxed or processed, your dollar does go farther. When you eat whole foods, you actually will eat less food. It seems like you may spend more, but you really aren’t. Why? Because you stay satisfied longer! You will be eating wholesome goodness rather than “empty calories”.
Tara,
That was a really great tip. I’ve always been afraid of going healthier because I think it’ll cost too much. And, I’ll admit that when I’m in the grocery store trying to “find” the healthy stuff I get a little overwhelmed and just go back to what I’m used to doing.
Repack bagged lettuce, spinach, kale or any greens, as well as berries with layers of paper towel between. Soaks up the excess moisture that makes produce slimy and gross. Food lasts a LOT longer. And grab the green bags in the produce aisle instead of clear, if you really do need a bag, that is.
I am concerned about the dirty dozen/ clean fifteen mantra. Corn is always listed on the clean 15 and no warnings confer about genetically modified foods. I understand the clean fifteen is listed to help those of us with little to no money to budget for real foods to look for places to save a couple of pennies while still getting decent foods. However, pushing non organic corn as “clean” is an abomination and confuses the already frustrated low income food buyer. Trust me, I KNOW. Pesticide contamination should rank at least along side GMO contamination, no?? Though I think GMO’s should rank above pesticides.
So often vegetables don’t get eaten, so we end up throwing them away. BEFORE that happens, I recommend PLANNING to cook up that leafy spinach, or butternut squash and FREEZE it in ice cube trays. Pop them out and put them in ziplock bags in the freezer. Next time you make soup, a casserole or rice dish, pop a couple of the frozen cubes into the mix and get an extra concentrated and fantastic helping of vegetables in every bite.
Fresh HERBS can be handled in the same manner, although perhaps in smaller cube trays. Fresh cilantro, basil, parsley can be pureed with a little water and frozen. Then just pop them into those side dishes or soups for lots of fresh flavor.
The same is true of fresh FRUITS. Don’t let that banana turn black. Puree it in the blender and FREEZE it. Apples cook down into a nice soft consistency for freezing. Puree those peaches and mangos. Pop those grapes directly into ziplocks and freeze them too. All of these can be added to smoothies with a little almond or rice milk, a touch of greek yogurt and a dollop of honey, if need be. Super good and nutritious for that afternoon snack. Kids love them as much as you do.
Ideas from a frugal Nana
Great practical tips, Anna. These will be good to try. I always end up with withered vegetables and black bananas.
My husband and me have become masters of recycling leftovers. We hate throwing them…we spent money for it, yah know. I love tip no.5. So many ways we can save and eat healthy by being creative.