Top 5 Tips for Cheap Healthy Living

Posted by Matt on July 23rd, 2009 at 08:24am

I, like many people I know, try to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I try to eat many fresh fruits and vegetables. I stay active, walking and biking whenever I get the opportunity. Many people want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but fail to do so for a variety of reasons. A big reason is that eating healthy can often be expensive. Whole grain breads cost more than processed breads. Organic produce costs more than regular produce. Junk food is super cheap and healthier alternatives are often more expensive. Don’t let cost get in your way of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Here are some tips to help you save money while striving for your lifestyle goals.

1) Plan your menus in advance
Before every week, create a menu of what you are going to eat during the week. When you go food shopping, you buy the exact amount of food you need during the week, no more and no less. Planning meals in advance helps you to better budget your money.

2) Cook in advance
Often, food that cooks up quickly is not very good for you. Frozen meals are not usually healthy fare. Brown rice is far healthier for you than white rice, but making white rice takes up less time than making brown rice. Use your weekends wisely to make longer-cooking food in advance to enjoy throughout the week. On Sunday, make a big pot of vegetable soup. Store it in the freezer over the week and reheat it in minutes when you need it. I like to make big batches of brown rice and dry beans and then stash them in my fridge.

3) Frozen Vegetables
Frozen vegetables are great because they are a cheap and plentiful source of fresh veggie flavor and nutrition. Fresh vegetables can be expensive and not always great tasting. Frozen vegetables are consistently tasty and easy to cook with too.

4) Vegetarianism
OK, so clearly vegetarianism is not for everybody, but try once a week to make a dinner that does not have meat in it. A simple vegetable stir fry, for example, makes for a quick and easy meal any night of the week. Cutting down on meat consumption means buying less meat and thus spending less money at the grocery store.

5) Spices
Herbs and spices are a great way to add flavor to any meal without adding calories. A few key spices are a worthwhile investment because they allow you to stretch out the flavor of simple dishes. Some sauteed vegetables with rice can be transformed from one dish to another simply with different spices, letting you do more with less ingredients. Instead of buying more ingredients to change the flavor of a dish, use spices instead.

For more great healthy living tips, check out FaveDiets.com

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