A Dietitian’s Tips for Eating Healthy on a Budget

I’m a registered dietitian and these are my tips for eating healthy on a budget.

With increasing grocery prices, many of us are looking to save money on our grocery bill. I hope that these tips will offer you some strategies to reduce food waste, save money and eat nourishing foods you enjoy.

Keep in mind that many of these tips will be focused on planning and may require a little more time. All tips may not work for everyone, but I hope you’ll find a few strategies that work with your preferences and lifestyle. And finally, if it’s possible for you, I encourage you to support your local farms and businesses. Do you best, while being realistic with your budget.

Before You Shop

Plan Ahead

Eating healthy on a budget starts before you head to the store. If you have 5-10 minutes, try writing a grocery list based on the meals you’d like to eat that week. You don’t need to be specific. Allow some flexibility for items that are on sale. For example, if you want a leafy green, write “leafy green” and pick the one that’s cheapest at the store that day. You can use this flexibility to swap vegetables in meals that allow it. For example, using broccoli instead of cauliflower in a roasted vegetable bowl.

Use What You Have First

Another step you can take during your planning is to go through your kitchen and identify foods that are about to expire. Plan your meals using these foods. Some meals, such as soups, can be a great way to use up older vegetables.

Look for Sales

Using coupons and looking for sales is a great way to save money. Regularly look for sales on your favorite products that can be kept in the pantry or freezer for long periods of time. If your favorite bread is on sale, buy a few extra loaves and keep them in the freezer. Of course this may not be possible if you don’t have extra storage space or if you’re on a tight budget every week. Do what works best for you. You can still benefit from sales by staying flexible with the brands and products you buy (see the first tip).

That being said, don’t buy something you don’t need, just because it’s on sale.

General Tips When Shopping and Planning

Focus on Cheap Basics

Build your meals around budget-friendly proteins and grains. Beans, lentils and tofu are great protein options, while oats, rice, couscous and sometimes pasta can be good cheaper grains. These can be used as a foundation for many of your meals.

Shop With the Seasons

The price of produce will change with the seasons. Try to buy local fruits and vegetables that are in season to save money and to enjoy fresh-tasting produce.

Buy in Bulk

Buying long-lasting products in bulk can be a great way to save money. This works best for nuts, seeds, frozen produce, grains, nut butters and other ingredients that can be stored for long periods. This goes without saying, but avoid buying in bulk if you can’t eat those foods before they go bad or if you don’t have the space to store them.

Buy Frozen or Canned Products

Frozen produce is just as nutritious (if not more) as fresh produce! If fresh produce are not possible, find basic frozen fruits and vegetables to accompany your meals. This can also reduce food waste if you struggle to finish fresh fruits and vegetables before they go bad.

Canned produce can be packaged with added salt and/or sugar. That being said, there are many lower salt options or you can easily rinse out some of the added salt. Remember, all foods fit! There’s no problem with getting your produce from a can. Some of my favorite canned foods include beans, lentils, olives, canned pineapples, and coconut milk.

Rely on Long-Lasting Produce

Some fresh produce have a much longer life than others. Try using more cabbage, kale, apples, carrots, potatoes, onions and other longer-lasting fruits and vegetables. These can often last several weeks in the fridge before losing their freshness if stored well. This will help reduce food waste. Many of these are also cheaper than more delicate produce, such as berries and avocados.

Try “Imperfect” Foods

Many grocery stores here in Canada have “imperfect” produce options. These are fruits and vegetables that have “weird” shapes or don’t meet the strict requirements for size and look. I personally use imperfect apples and frozen fruits often and they’re just as good. There are also “imperfect” produce boxes available, such as Odd Bunch in Canada, or the Too Good to Go app, which allows restaurants to sell their older or leftover products as a lower price. Some local farms may also offer similar services and it’s a great way to support local businesses.

Eat More Plants

Plant-based proteins are generally much cheaper than animal-based proteins. Try adding more vegan or vegetarian meals to your week. Cheap plant-based proteins include beans, lentils, tofu and frozen edamame. It doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. You can also “stretch” your meat servings by mixing them with plant-based proteins or vegetables. One example of this is to make a chili with less meat and more beans.

After You Shop

Cook from Home

Now that you have a plan (maybe) and that you bought your groceries, it’s time to use them. Try having a plan (in advance) on how often you can realistically eat out each week or month within your budget. And then, make sure that you can cook from home often enough to use up what you buy. We all know this, but cooking from home more often is a great way to save money and eat nutritious food. As long as we use what we buy.

Meal Prep

Meal prep is a great strategy to help reduce food waste, limit trips to the restaurant and save money. You don’t need to prepare each and every meal you eat to benefit from meal prep. There are many meal prep strategies and I encourage you to find an approach that is realistic for you. My favorite method is to simply prepare a few meal components (grain, protein, sauce) to simplify my meals during the week. Just make sure to store your leftovers properly and to use them within a few days for safety. You can check out all of my meal prep tips here and here. I also have a compilation of meal prep recipes here.

Prepare Staples from Scratch

This tip won’t be for everyone. I completely understand that store-bought products can be important time savers. That being said, if you have the time, try preparing salad dressings, pasta sauces, spice mixes, hummus and even bread from scratch. Some of these don’t take much time and can help you save money. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can pick and choose what you realistically want to prepare from scratch.

Store Food Properly

Learn more about storing your fruits, vegetables and other products properly to keep them fresh longer.

Use Your Freezer

To continue on that last point, if you have a big freezer, take advantage! Stock up on frozen foods when they’re on sale and use it to help with your meal prep. It’s also a great way to reduce food waste. Do you have fruits, vegetables, grains or other foods that are about to go bad? Consider storing them in the freezer for future use.

Plan a Regular Kitchen Clean Up

As mentioned earlier, you can try going through your fridge before every grocery trip. This is a time to go through all of your produce and plan to use up any ingredients that are about to expire.

As for a pantry and freezer clean up, this can be done each season or a couple of times per year. You can challenge yourself to use everything (or almost everything) in your pantry and freezer before restocking. It can be a great way to reduce food waste and get creative in the kitchen! This is especially needed if you tend to accumulate specialty ingredients that are used once in a recipe and are then collecting dust in the back of your pantry.

Looking for more tips? You can check out my older list of tips for eating on a student budget. This one was written years ago when I was a dietetic student. Most of my tips are similar, but I shared more on my go-to cheap meals as a student in that post. I hope you found this helpful!