Healthy Eating on a Budget

Do you want to have a healthier diet AND save money? Here are over 30 top tips and cheap healthy meals to reduce the cost of your food shopping whilst eating delicious and healthy food. No fancy ingredients or specialist shops - just family friendly meals and tips that won't break the bank. Healthy eating on a budget is possible!

The cost of healthy eating can be a little overwhelming to some, but it doesn't have to be too expensive! Whilst that might be true for some people who really do live on very little money, most people would be surprised at how it doesn’t have to cost any more than ready made processed food – it just takes a little bit of preparation to make cheap healthy meals.

It will take a little extra time and planning to eat healthily on a budget, but it's worth it. Too often, people use their budget as an excuse not to buy healthy food, when the reality is that junk food is just more convenient. We actually spend less money now on food than we did when I was 100lbs overweight and unhealthy.

I started using these tips when I was a student and we still use them now as a family with 2 active kids to feed.

Some weeks it will cost a little more, if you need to stock up on herbs and spices and some weeks it will be much cheaper. You don't have to buy every trendy superfood to be healthy. These tips will help you to cut your shopping budget and feed you family nutritious, delicious and cheap healthy meals.

Cook from scratch

This is the thing that has saved me the most money when it came to healthy eating on a budget. Yes, it is going to take you a little longer, but it is really worth it. I used to buy low calorie ready meals because they were “healthy”, but they were costing me a fortune. Sometimes I was just buying a pasta dish that was ready made. How easy is that to make yourself!

Making it myself not only saved me money, but made it a lot healthier than a ready made meal as it had no added salt and sugar. You don’t have to cook from scratch every day, most people don’t have time for that, so do some food preparation once a week or cook in bulk and freeze portions.

Food prep

Here is a video I made on what food I prep once a week it saves me so much time and money. You don’t have to prepare everything, but having grains and beans cooked up, and some vegetables chopped will save you a lot of time in the week. It also allows you to cook up lots of stuff you bought cheaply/reduced.

In our fridge we usually have some salad, vegetable sticks, chopped veg ready for roasting, shredded chicken, cooked grains and cooked beans ready prepared which makes healthy eating on a budget much easier. This means we can make a meal quickly, rather than ordering another takeaway.

Take a look at our Ultimate Guide to Picky Plates for some inspiration on how to use all that prepped food!

Buy local

This normally works out cheaper as you can buy meat in bigger packs and then freeze what you don’t need right away. It's also great to buy locally and support small independent businesses. You have a much bigger selection of cuts when you buy from a butcher too.

Buy whole food

This can then be added to a variety of meals throughout the week like this Healthy Chicken Korma below or our Slow Cooked BBQ Chicken. Don’t forget to use the carcass to make a chicken stock for soups too. Using up everything is a great way to save money. We love using leftovers from a roast to make our Leftover Chicken Pasta.

We love making this Whole Slow Cooker Chicken and then shredding it up and keeping it in the fridge for sandwiches and salads.

Eat vegetarian

Meat is expensive, no matter where you buy it from. So, try eating a few more vegetarian meals a week. Replace meat for beans and you will save quite a bit of money and you will definitely be getting enough protein.

Bulk out dishes

Not sure what bean dishes to try? Give these Bean and Vegetable Enchiladas, Slow Cooker Baked Beans, Quick Broccoli Pasta, Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry, Easy Naan Pizza or Chipotle Black Bean Stew a go.

This way you don’t have to use as much meat. We add lentils to things like spaghetti bolognese, shepherds pie and curries and use less meat. If you can't imagine your family eating lentils, this is an easy way to sneak them in and they are so cheap too.

Buy local fruit and veg

Not only is it great to buy locally as you are supporting your community and eating fresher food, it is usually much cheaper as well. My local market is about 25% cheaper than my supermarket for fruit and vegetables.

Also, try going later in the day when they are trying to get rid of their produce, as they will usually lower the price. If you can't use everything you bought straight away, then freeze it.

Save cuttings

When you are peeling vegetables, put the peelings in a bag in a freezer as and when you have them. Once the bag is full, you can make a vegetable stock with them. Nothing gets wasted!

Eggs

We always buy free range, but they are still budget friendly and you can also do so much with eggs! Our Courgette, Mint and Feta Fritatta is one of my favourite ways to eat eggs, along with our Eggs Baked in Mushrooms, Breakfast Egg Muffins and Shakshuka.

Eat seasonally

Eating out of season can really push your budget over the edge, so be aware of what is in season for where you live. This is obviously different depending on where you live. I use this seasonal planner to check what is in season here in the UK.  At the moment it is mostly green leafy vegetables, so that is what we are eating. Eating seasoning is really important for healthy meals on a budget.

Plan your meals

I usually plan my meals once I have bought everything, not before. Once you have bought the things that were on offer/reduced, you know what ingredients you have to use and you can then plan all your meals around that.

Use food blogs, free supermarket magazines, Pinterest and recipe books (which you can pick up for free in the library) for meal inspiration.

Oats for breakfast

It might not be the most interesting breakfast, but they are cheap (especially if you buy in bulk) and they are healthy. You can also add so many different things to make them more exciting.

Nut butter, seeds, frozen berries are all pretty cheap and add lots of flavour to oats. In the summer you can make overnight oats as an alternative.

Why not try our Baked Oats or 10 Ways to Have Overnight Oats.

Coupons

For those of you in the USA, you are so lucky when it comes to coupons, they seem to be in abundance. So use them! But, don’t buy things you don’t need just because you have a coupon for it. Even though coupons are a little harder to find over here in the UK, they are there if you can find them.

Sign up to the mailing lists of expensive products that you like, as they occasionally send out coupons (but a lot of junk email too). Also check on their websites for coupons or offers. Pick up the free magazines in supermarkets as they always have some decent coupons in them, as do the local papers if you get one of those through your door.

There are lots of online forums where people post the latest coupons that I find really handy. These forums also post supermarket glitches. I recently bought 10 bottles of fabric softener for 90% off as there was an error. If you are in the UK, I use the Money Saving Expert forum for all that.

Reduce priced food

This is great for buying meat, which you can freeze in portions. If you know someone who works for a supermarket, ask them when they reduce items. Or, try going into the store at different times of the day to see if they are reducing items. In my local supermarket, they reduce things at 10am and then they mark what is left down a second time at around 8pm.

Use herbs and spices

You can buy dried herbs and spices very cheaply in bulk, and they can really transform a dish on a budget. Just read up on what ones work well with what foods. I add chilli to a lot of cheap dishes to add more flavour. You will find that herbs and spices are cheaper in the world food aisle in supermarkets.

You really can't get it wrong though, so start experimenting and find what you like. If you are anything like us, you buy fresh herbs for one recipe and the rest go to waste. So dried herbs save us money.

Slow cook

You can make so many cheap and healthy dishes in a slow cooker. All you have to do is throw it all in and leave it to cook. Not sure what to make? Order a copy of my book The Healthy Slow Cooker for over 100 recipe ideas.

Using a slow cooker means you can use cheaper cuts of meat that would usually be quite tough. The low and slow cooking makes them nice and tender. Here are some of our favourite slow cooker recipes: Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, Slow Cooker Bolognese, Slow Cooker Chicken Casserole and Slow Cooker Meatballs.

Make snacks

Snacking can be part of a healthy diet, but making your own healthy snacks can save a fortune. There are so many little snack packs out there that can really add up. So, use them as inspiration and make your own. Having a toddler means we can spend a fortune on snacks, so we try to make as many ourselves as we can.

Drink water

I have the occasional tea or coffee, but generally it is just water. Water doesn’t have to be boring – try adding fresh lemon or lime juice to jazz it up a bit, along with some fresh mint. You’ll be surprised how much you save by cutting out drinks from your shopping list. Why not try our Raspberry and Mint Water or Sparkling Cucumber Water.

More protein sources

Whilst there is a lot you can do with chicken breasts, they can be expensive. Other cheaper ways to get protein include beans, tuna, Greek yoghurt, eggs and nuts. Also – frozen chicken breasts or frozen fish normally work out cheaper. Try making our Tuna Fish Cakes or Homemade Fish Fingers.

Pick your battles

If you are on a budget, you can’t do/buy everything that you want, so you have to make some sacrifices somewhere. For some, that might be organic foods. If you really can’t afford them, don’t buy them.

But, be aware that some foods have higher amounts of pesticides than others, so some organic foods (like strawberries and spinach) are worth buying organic if you can, and others are not. If you can’t buy organic, wash, scrub and peel stuff as much as you can.

Make bread

Flour is very cheap and when making your own bread, you can control what goes into it. When I make bread, I make 4 times as much dough and then portion it out and freeze the remaining dough in single loaf portions.

Then, when I want bread, I defrost the dough and carry on from there. It’s all about planning ahead. I do this with Flatbreads, tortillas, Easy Naan Bread, White Loaf and pizza dough too.

Grow your own fruit and veg

This might be a bit expensive initially, but it can save you money in the future. If you don’t have a garden, there are still things you can grow in the house in containers, like herbs. You could also get involved in a community garden project or make friends with people who grow lots of things. Don't have much room? Take a look at our DIY Strawberry Guttering.

Potatoes

They can be used to bulk out loads of dishes, like soups and stews. They can be made into oven chips, mashed potatoes, roast etc too. Don't be scared to eat potatoes - they are good for you.

Looking for some potato recipe inspiration? Try this Easy Cheesy Potato Bake, Oven Baked Hash Browns, No mayo Potato Salad, Garlic and Rosemary Roasted Potatoes, Mediterranean Potato Salad, Garlic Potato Wedges, 10 Healthy Baked Potato Toppings.

Use frozen fruit and veg

It also hasn’t had lots of people touching it and it isn’t sitting in the shop for ages, it is frozen pretty soon after being picked. Frozen onion and garlic for example, is much cheaper than fresh, and you don’t have to chop it! It won’t go off either, so there is no waste.

Bags of frozen veg like peas, sweetcorn and spinach is great for throwing in to curry and stew.

Portion control

Most of us are eating way more than we should be, and that is where we could be saving money. Try to lower your portion sizes and save money and calories.

Instead of taking a big dish to the table for everyone to serve themselves (and eat seconds), portion it all up in the kitchen and then save some for leftovers to go in the freezer.

Reduce waste

Plan what you are going to do with everything you buy. I cringe when I think of how much food we used to throw away. It is literally throwing money down the drain. A little bit of planning means this doesn’t have to happen. If you see something in the fridge that is going to go off soon, either plan to use it that day, or freeze it.

Buy in bulk

I go to my local health store and I stock up on huge bags of beans and grains. I know this might not be an option for all of you if space is limited, but any extra space you have (like under a bed or in the garage) could be used to store them. You can even buy the smaller bulk bags.

If you really don’t have any room, perhaps you and some friends could buy the bulk items between you and split them – that way you are all saving money. I buy a variety of beans, couscous, bulgur wheat, quinoa, brown rice, lentils and many other things in bulk which are great for making healthy cheap meals.

Price per unit

Sometimes, when you think you are getting a good deal (maybe it is on offer), it actually works out cheaper to buy something else when you look at it per 100g. Work out how much something is based on the weight, rather than how much it costs as a whole.

Shop around

I don’t buy all my food from one shop, I buy different things from the places I know I can get them cheapest from. Try to walk to the shops though, so you don't end up spending lots of money on petrol. Carrying all the bags back is a bit of an arm workout.

Batch cook

If I am making something like a lasagne, any pasta dish, casserole, or actually pretty much anything, I always make double and then freeze the leftovers in individual portions. I then have cheap, healthy and convenient food in the freezer. Why not try our Vegetable Lasagna or Cumberland Pie.

Doing this with soup is good too. I let soup cool and then put it in zip lock bags to go in the freezer, as it saves space. I usually spend an hour or so on a Sunday making up big batches of a couple of dishes to freeze for the week ahead.

Freeze reduced food

For example, if there are loads of bananas reduced because they are brown, I buy as many as I can, peel them, wrap them and then put them in the freezer and they are perfect for smoothies or snacks. Why not try our Banana Nice Cream or Make Ahead Smoothie Bags.

We are lucky that we have room for a freezer in our kitchen, but even if we didn't I would put it in the bedroom if I had to. They are the best things for healthy eating on a budget.

Cut back on takeaway

You can make healthier alternatives yourself. Take a look at our Hidden Vegetable Beef Burgers, Healthy Chicken Tikka Masala, Slow Cooker Beef Curry and Slow Cooker Lamb Rogan Josh.

Eat out less often

This is where the majority of our budget went. Whether it was eating out at fast food places, ordering in, or going to far too many restaurants, we were spending a lot of money on food that we were not cooking. When we look at healthy eating on a budget, this is the first thing we cut back on.

We do still go out to restaurants occasionally now, but it is to nice places that we have been looking forward to going to, not just a spontaneous trip because we can’t be bothered to cook.

That is not a luxury we can afford, as we would much rather put that money to something else, like healthier food at home, or saving up for an amazing holiday. It’s all about priorities. Also, you have less control over what you are eating when you are out.

Why not try making some of your favourite restaurant meals at home? A lot of the big chin restaurants have their own recipe books so you can replicate their meals.

Take a look at your receipts for the food and see where you are spending your money. If you are buying lots of packaged foods for convenience, or getting a lot of coffees out, then cutting those out is a great place to start.

If you’ve tried any of these tips or recipes, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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