People are always telling me they can’t afford healthy food. Really, you can’t afford to not eat healthy food. American’s now spend 18% of their income on health care. But only 8% on food. What would happen if we spent 18% on food? I’m sure we would then spend 8% or less on health care. And save time from going to doctor’s appointments! And feel much better too! We’d be more productive and therefore earn more money. We’d have more time and energy to spend time with our loved ones, pursue hobbies, and serve others. The whole nation would thrive!

So now can you say you can’t afford healthy food? I don’t think so!

I get asked a lot about how to eat healthy on a budget. So here are some of my thoughts and tips as well as a video on the subject.

My best tips for how to eat healthy on a budget:

1. Anytime you reach for a side dish in a package, choose a fruit or veggie instead. For example, instead of a bag of chips to go with grilled cheese or hamburgers, grab baby carrots or slice an apple.
2. Salt your food instead of reaching for chips. Most of the time when you want tortilla chips with your soup or potato chips with your sandwich or French fries with your hamburger, you’re really wanting something salty. Simply add salt to your soup, sandwich, or hamburger. The salt you add will be a lot less than what’s in the chips or fries. Plus you’re saving so many calories and refined oils that cause chronic diseases.
3. Waste less food. Americans waste 38% of their food. Here are some tips for wasting less:
   • Don’t overbuy! Only buy what you know you’ll cook with or eat this week.
   • Notice expiration dates when you buy the food or put them in your fridge.
   • When you’re shopping, plan meals with the most fragile foods first. For example, if you got cheap squash on the “day old” rack, plan the squash casserole for tonight. If you got unripe avocados, they will go on the menu for 7 layer dip in 4 days. If you got stuff for lasagna and a fresh bread, that can be made tomorrow. If you got a head of lettuce, plan a salad with each of these meals. Following this will ensure nothing goes bad.
   • Use all the leftovers in another meal.
   • When you see fruits and veggies in your fridge you thought you’d eat by now but haven’t, eat them today! If not, freeze them. Cut up the broccoli, celery, carrots, etc and put them in a ziplock bag. Label them and put them in the door of your freezer. That’s where I keep cut veggies I can quickly add to soups and stews. I love having celery already cut and ready for the pot.
   • Notice food that’s been in your fridge or cupboards for awhile. For example, if you see a loaf of bread with only 4 slices left, either make toast w/peanut butter on it and cut it into slices for your children’s snack. Or put it in the freezer to pull out sometime when you want to make a strata. Don’t let it sit there and mold!
4. Cut out or cut back on most condiments and salad dressings. Most don’t provide any nutrition, so not buying them and putting the money towards healthier food is a good budget trick. Salt your food instead, or dip it in milk.
   • I used to dip my cooked broccoli in barbecue sauce which has a lot of HFCS in it. Now I simply put salt on it. It’s actually enabled me to enjoy the delicious flavor of broccoli when I used to hide it in the barbecue sauce.
   • I also enjoy putting a little salt on my grilled cheese sandwich and then dipping it in a glass of cold raw milk instead of putting mayo on it or eating chips with it. Mayo doesn’t have any nutritional benefits. Chips just make me want more.
5. If you do enjoy condiments, make your own! If you don’t want to do that either, then choose ones that are the healthiest: mustard doesn’t have added sugar or fat and simple varieties with just whole grain mustard seed, vinegar, salt and spices. And it’s the cheapest.
6. Cook from scratch. More on this below! Cooking from real, whole foods is a lot cheaper than buying processed food.

How to eat healthy on a budget, best tips summarized

• Sub a fruit or veggie for a packaged side.
• Salt your food instead of eating packaged foods.
• Waste less food.
• Cut out most condiments and salad dressings.
• Make your own condiments or buy the cheapest ones.
• Cook from scratch

Cooking from scratch for budget friendly healthy meals

1. Use dried herbs and spices instead of fresh. Or grow your own on your windowsill, desk, counter, patio, or garden.
2. Use dried beans, not canned. This saves a lot of money! Simply put in a crock pot at night, cover with 3″ extra water, cook on low while you sleep. Or cook on high in the morning for 3-4 hours. Then drain and use or freeze to have on hand.
3. Add beans, quinoa, and lentils to ground beef to stretch it so you don’t need as much. Use in taco meat, casseroles, meal loaf, sloppy joes, spaghetti sauce, and so much more!
4. Can also add quinoa and lentils to soups.
5. Soups are one of the cheapest, quickest and healthiest dinners to make.
6. Buy and use fresh fruit and veggies in season. Stock up on them and cut and freeze them. For example, bell peppers are super cheap in the summer. Every time I go to the store I buy 5 and cut them up, bag them, and freeze them to use in the winter when they’re expensive.
7. Don’t use fancy ingredients like coconut flour. Stick with the basics your great-grandma would have used when she made dinner for her family.

Bottomline about real food meals

When you think eating real food is too expensive, first cut out all processed foods and see how much money you save. Maybe you really can afford real food with all that extra money! If not, follow the above tips such as not wasting so much food, salting your food, and cooking from scratch. Know which ingredients are cheap and can be used in place of more expensive foods. Stretch ground beef by adding beans or lentils or quinoa. Shop in season. Cook from scratch. Remember basic foods your great-grandma ate: beans, rice, soups, stews, cornbread, fresh fruits and veggies, etc. Plain homemade food can be more nutritious, filling, and satisfying than fancy store bought food! Don’t believe the myth that it’s too hard to eat healthy on a budget. You can do it!

Keep it up! You’re doing great. Eating healthy some of the time is better than never. Keep progressing to more and more real food and less processed food. Right now Americans eat 80% of their daily calories come from processed food and only 20% come from real food. Try to get that even and then totally flop it. Try to get to where 80% come from real food and only 20% are processed foods. Keep making baby steps until you get there. You got this!

Here are links to several blog posts about real food and exercise. Including benefits of real food and lists of fantastic books about real food that have stories of people reversing their diseases and their lives by eating real food. Check them out!