An easy guide on how to find the best deals on healthy food so you can eat healthy even when you are on a budget.
When you are trying to eat healthy on a budget, it can feel like an insurmountable task. I know firsthand how frustrating it can be! To help you eat healthier while you are on a budget, I created 5 simple steps for achieving it. You can read about these five steps in this blog post.
For each of the five steps, I wrote an in depth blog post on how to easily follow them. If you are looking for more tips on how to eat healthy on a budget, I recommend reading through each of these posts:
- Choosing Budget-Friendly, Nutrient-Dense Foods
- Planning a Menu on a Budget
- Finding Good Deals on Healthy Foods (this post)
- Making Food Last Longer
- Easy Ways to Use Leftovers
Easy Ways to Find Deals on Healthy Food
Remember when extreme couponing was popular? As much as I wanted to be a coupon user, it just never worked for me. It was way too much effort finding, printing and cutting out the coupons! Sometimes I would even buy things I normally didn’t buy, just because I had a coupon. Not worth it! Anyone else have this experience?
If couponing works for you, that is great! But here are some of my favorite ways to find deals on healthy food that don’t require coupons:
Buy Food in Bulk
Buying in bulk means buying a package of food that contains more of the food item than the traditional size does. When you buy things in bulk, the price per unit is typically lower than it is if you buy the smaller purchase option.
The best way to know if a bulk food item a better deal is to look at the price per unit then compare that to the price per unit for the smaller package.
Some of my favorite things to buy in bulk include: eggs, pasta, baking goods, canned goods, frozen goods, lean meats, nut butters, whole grains and nuts.
Remember, if you will not use all of the food in a bulk package before it goes bad, then buying in bulk is not the right option for you!
Choose Seasonal Produce
Seasonal produce are fruits and vegetables that are harvested during the current season of the year you are in. For example, peaches are harvested during the late summer in the United States, and are priced lower at stores during this time.
On this website, you can find a list for what season of the year each produce item is harvested during.
Buying produce that are currently in season is a great way to save money on your food budget!
Buy Frozen and Canned Produce
Did you know that frozen and canned produce are often priced lower than their fresh versions? When you are at the grocery store, be sure to check your freezer and canned aisles to see if the food items you want are lower priced then their fresh counterparts.
Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables that are typically lower in price than their fresh version include:
- edamame
- broccoli
- brussel sprouts
- green beans
- peas
- carrots
- spinach
- berries
- mangos
- pineapples
- tomatoes
Get your Grocery Store’s App
Many grocery stores offer additional deals if you use their app. They may also even offer reward points for shopping with them.
Before you go grocery shopping, download the app of the store you want to shop at and see if there are any additional deals on healthy foods available. Often times you will find digital coupons for the food items that are already on your shopping list. All you usually have to do is click on the deal to activate it. This deal is then linked to your store’s loyalty card that you scan when checking out.
Remember, it is only a good deal if you actually need the item or know you will use it in the future.
Look for Reduced Priced Food Items
Many stores will reduce the price of a food item when it is getting close to its “best by” date or hasn’t been selling quickly enough. These items are usually marked with a bright yellow or red price tag that says Reduced For Quick Sale, Clearance, or Manager’s Special. These items work great for meals you plan on making soon. A lot of these items can also be frozen and preserved until you are ready to use them in the future. I often find these deals on meats, milks, yogurts, packaged salads or eggs.
Buy Reduced Priced Produce
In the produce section of grocery stores, there is often a small shelf with bagged fruits and vegetables on them that are getting older or don’t look as pretty. While they might not look as appetizing, they still work great in recipes that require cooking. If your recipes call for a fruit or vegetable, I recommend looking in this reduced section first to see if there is something that you can use. The most common items I see in the reduced produce section of my grocery store include squashes, carrots, cucumbers, limes, lemons, avocados, apples and bananas.
Take Part in a Food Co-Op
Food Co-Ops are essentially a grocery store that is owned by the people who shop there. In many cases, food co-ops get their foods from the local farmers. They also typically buy in bulk and can offer better deals on healthy food as a result. You can go to the Local Harvest Website, to find a food co-op near your.
Use Food Rescue Programs
Food rescue programs take the surplus or ugly food items that would normally go to waste and provide them and a reduced cost (or sometimes free for those in need). They are an excellent way to eat healthier and still live within your food budget.
The best way to find a food rescue program near you is to search for “Food Rescue In (name of your town) on the internet. The Food Rescue Locator website is another a great place to search.
Food Rescue Us and Borderlands Produce Rescue are other websites you can try. These places often have you pick up your food items at a venue near you. There are also a few online food rescue programs that deliver the food straight to your door. Misfits Market and Imperfect Foods are two examples of these delivery programs. The 412Food Rescue program is another great place that offers food deliveries for free to those in need.
Buy Generic Brands
Generic brands are products with less recognizable brand names. They are almost always priced lower than their name brand counterparts at stores. And in most cases, they taste just as good!
Here are a few examples of generic brands at stores:
- Walmart: Great Value
- Albertsons/Safeway: Lucerne, Signature Select
- Kroger Stores: Kroger, Private Selection
- Costco: Kirkland
- Sams Club: Members Mark
- Target: Market Pantry
- Aldi’s: Simply Nature
Buying generic brands is a great way eat healthy on a budget!
