Real Food on a Real Budget

Written by Kristen @ Smithspirations, Contributing Writer

With it being January, you may very well be trying to cut out the processed foods in your diet and take a more whole foods approach to eating. I don’t think anyone denies that eating well is a great way to boost health, but often finances get in the way of making positive changes. Does eating real, whole, healthy foods have to break the bank?

I’m convinced that it doesn’t!

Our family lives on a moderate income. My husband is a public school teacher, and while his salary is far from glamorous, it pays the bills. We have a little bit of supplemental income from a few sources, like my home business, but with our growing family of five children, we have to watch our budget in all areas.

By God’s grace, I’ve found various ways to keep our plates healthy while still keeping our budget in check.

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Buy In Bulk

Many foods are suitable for buying in bulk and then storing, drying, canning, or freezing for later.

Berries can be frozen, greens and herbs can be dehydrated, and tomatoes and other fruits can be canned. While the initial cost is a little intimidating, buying a quarter, half, or whole animal for freezer meat is much less expensive per pound, and you can also get more bones for making and freezing broth!

Now that we have a grain mill, I buy our grains for flour in large 25 or 50 pound bags and usually get them for 50 cents to a little over a dollar a pound, depending on the type.

Shop Your Backyard

Gardening can be intimidating, but as long as you approach it with some grace, it can be a wonderful way to cut back on your grocery bill! You’d also be surprised by how many backyard “weeds” are actually very nutritious foods! My children can often be found munching on purslane, sorrel, and chickweed from our yard when we are outside, and I sneak them into salads and cooking, too.

Eat What’s Local

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the latest super foods that have to be purchased from expensive specialty stores. But real food can also be really common food that is easy to find. Check local farmers’ markets during the growing seasons and focus on what is abundant and inexpensive. In the winter time, turn your attention to frugal foods like winter squash, carrots, and the humble potato.

Roll Up Your Sleeves

Packaged and convenience food is always more expensive. A bag of frozen french fries costs more than a bag of potatoes. Doing more of the prep work yourself is a fantastic way to save money even if it does require a little more effort. Enlist your children if they are old enough and share the labor while making fun memories together!

Shop Online

Sometimes one of the best ways to save money is to shop online. Foods that don’t spoil easily, like pastas, rice, and beans can be found online at great discounts! Amazon has a huge grocery selection. For example, I get my organic coffee from Amazon with Subscribe & Save. It ships for free, and I get a discount on the price. Win!

Vitacost is another site I like to check when I’m shopping for foods or household items. (If you’re a first-time customer, you can get $10 off with this link!)

Stretch Meat With Beans and Lentils

Meat is definitely one of the priciest items in our grocery budget, but I believe it is really important to our health! I often make meat stretch a little farther by adding cooked beans or lentils to ground beef and using a whole pound of dried beans with a 3 pound roast to make a bulk batch of taco filling.