Eating Healthy on a Budget: Part I

By Blair Lindler

Eating Healthy on a Budget..

Let’s face it, as a general rule, most people feel that their budgets are tighter than they used to be. I am not immune to this sensation. I work two jobs and I still feel like I’m living paycheck to paycheck at times.

But this has not stopped me from finding ways to live a healthy lifestyle, including being able to eat meats and vegetables, fruits and supplements.

To be completely transparent, I’m going to share some personal statistics about my spending. I generally spend $60 a week on groceries for myself. And although this may seem high for just one person, that $60 covers 5-6 meals a day for 7 days!

This comes out to about $1.71 per meal. 

By prepping ahead of time, I don’t eat out but maybe once a week, so don’t tell me I spend too much money on groceries, because what I spend on groceries I save on restaurants. Those brown bags are your ticket to staying on a budget!

Lately, we’ve had a lot of ladies ask us for tips on how to live a fat loss lifestyle on a budget.

So I thought I’d share some of my biggest tips on staying on budget.

Eating Healthy on a Budget

6 Ways to be a Budget & Fat Loss Ninja

  1. HAVE A BUDGET – You can’t stay on a budget if you don’t have one. I highly recommend taking the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class – which gives you ALL the information you need to not only create a livable budget, but to help you get debt free (and without debt, your budget will open up quite a bit!)
  2. STICK TO THE BUDGET – Okay, maybe I’m starting off a little simple with my tips. But seriously…these two are essential to being successful.
  3. STOP IMPULSE SHOPPING – Make your grocery list ahead of time and only  purchase what’s on that list.
  4. DON’T GO GROCERY SHOPPING HUNGRY – You’ll be more likely to purchase not only excessive foods, but also junk foods. Take a large bottle of water into the grocery store with you and keep it in the cart. Sip on the water bottle as you shop to help keep hunger at bay.
  5. MAKE SHOPPING A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE – If you shop at some of the mega stores like I do, it’s so easy to get caught up in the negativity, the rush, the inconvenience. So take your headphones and listen to your favorite music (I usually listen to K-Love) as you shop – smiles are contagious – and not only will your shopping experience be better, but you’ll be surprised at how many other shoppers you’ll influence.
  6. MAKE AND STICK TO A MENU – Have your weeks meals planned out ahead of time. It takes out the guess work and makes for easier shopping lists and it makes meal prepping successful.
  7. DON’T BE AFRAID TO LEARN – Most of us didn’t take finance classes in high school or college. But, learning about budgeting and personal finance is easier than ever with the internet and a little curiosity. I recommend checking YouNeedABudget, LendEDU, and Wisebread.

Which of these tips are hard for you?  Which are easy?

Practice being budget conscious this week!

Don’t forget to check back next week for PART II: Specific tips about FOOD and more on how to eat healthy on a budget!


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