I’m sure you’re as familiar with the high cost of groceries as I am. Each trip to the grocery store leaves me staring at prices, waiting for the punchline. Seriously? $5 for a tub of Crisco? Shouldn’t that come with a whole chicken or a pan to fry it in?
Since I’m not the proud owner of a money tree, I’ve always had to operate within a set budget when it comes to grocery shopping. I’ll let you in on a secret – if I didn’t have a budget for grocery shopping, I’d make a perfect fool of myself. I LOVE grocery shopping, cooking, eating… the whole shebang.. and I tend to get very carried away when planning meals, snacks, and desserts.
It’s been this way since I can remember, but it has been even more of a problem since I became a food blogger. Now, I want to cook all the things, test all the things, and enjoy all the things! Sadly, all the things cost money. Some more so than others.
A set budget reigns me in, thereby ensuring that we are still able to have water, electricity, and silly things like that.
Oddly, enough, before I had to start eating gluten free, I honestly had no idea what a high grocery bill was. Everything is more expensive when you have to buy gluten free – it’s just something that we all come to expect. A part of the gluten free life, if you will.
It can also be pretty expensive to eat healthy. Grass fed beef, butter from cows who’ve been feeding on grass, organic vegetables and fruit, salmon, shrimp… the list goes on – right along with the dollar signs.
Below, I wanted to share a beautiful infographic with you – it has healthy eating on a budget on its mind, too. But before we get to the infographic, I’ll give you a few tricks I’ve picked up over the years – they’re applicable for saving money when you’re trying to eat healthy AND for when you have to eat gluten free.
- Check your grocery store’s circular and, if possible, plan your meals around what’s on sale that week. If there’s a great deal on chicken – chicken it is. Is cauliflower (finally!) on sale? Work in cauliflower rice, mashed cauliflower, or roasted cauliflower.
- Never allow leftovers to go to waste. If you have leftover chicken, use it for chicken tacos. Leftover ham? Omelets! Leftovers also come in handy when it comes to stews, salads, soups, and casseroles.
- When you get in the swing of using leftovers, you’ll find it helpful to always keeping taco shells, tomato juice, eggs, and broths on hand.
- Keep an eye on coupons in the Sunday paper. They aren’t always that great, but every now and then, you can find some real beauts.
- Check brands’ websites for coupons.
- If there’s a brand you use frequently (for me a few would be Bob’s Red Mill, Amy’s Kitchen, CedarLane, McCormick Spices….), subscribe to their website’s newsletter, if one is available. In addition to great recipes, they also include the occasional coupon.
- If Kroger has “some” things cheaper and Meijer’s has “some” things cheaper, take the extra time and hit both stores. Not only do I often divide my grocery shopping between two stores, I often throw Wal-Mart and Target into the mix as well. I will, literally, go the extra mile for a bargain.
Now, for the infographic…..
Infographic Source: Positive Health Wellness