Eating Healthy for Less by Meg McGowan

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August 1999
Eating Healthy for Less
by Meg McGowan

Keeping monthly expenses to a minimum allows me the flexibility to live with a writer’s unpredictable income. If the pen has not been as mighty as it might be, the one area of the budget that can always be squeezed is the food bill. Fortunately, eating cheaply and eating healthy have a lot in common. If the gourmet organic food trend has almost convinced you that only the wealthy can eat well or if you’ve come to accept your high grocery bill as better than a high medical bill, take heart. Here are my top twenty-five tips for eating healthy without eating up your retirement fund.

1. A plan is essential. Think in terms of creating new rituals and rhythms for your life rather than more schedules and routines. Take time to think about what you want to form the basis of your life and your menus. Eating healthy and eating cheaply rarely occur without some forethought.

2. Give some thought to why you want to make a change. If you are already eating well but you want to spend less money, ask yourself why. Of course most people would like to have more money left after paying bills, but why do YOU want more money? What will you spend it on? Define your goals, then make sure you follow through. If you want to eat better, being specific about your goals will help you formulate your plan. What is most important to you — buying more organic foods, less meat, food without preservatives, dairy products without hormones, eggs from uncaged hens, whole grains, more variety, less fat? Knowing what is most important to you establishes priorities, which creates a place to begin and forms criteria to help you make decisions.

3. Limit your repertoire. Variety may be the spice of life, but too much will give you indigestion. Most of us have kitchens filled with ingredients (especially spices) that we rarely use. One strategy is to collect about two weeks worth of recipes that meet your criteria for both cost and nutrition. Cycle through them, then begin again. Or designate each day of the week for focusing on a particular type of food: Monday, soup in cold months and salad in warm months; Tuesday, tofu; Wednesday, pasta; Thursday, eggs; Friday, pizza, Saturday, sandwiches; Sunday, beans and rice. Variety and flexibility are built in. Soup might be from a can, from a mix or from scratch depending what is on sale and what is in the cupboard. By beginning with just a couple recipes for each category, the system stays manageable.

4. Organize a food exchange. Convince a few friends to join you in an informal food tasting. When each of you cooks a favorite inexpensive, healthy meal, make a double batch. Divide the extra into sampler sizes for each participant. Everyone can take turns sampling and providing samples of new recipes without having to purchase all the ingredients, only to discover that half the family hates it.

5. Or swap complimentary foods. I have a friend who loves to make soup, but her husband rarely eats soup. I like the idea of making soup, but I rarely get further than imagining a robust pot simmering on my stove. Instead I make a variety of quick breads and trade my friend for soup. We both get homemade meals with less work and less cost.

6. Drink more water. Even if you drink bottled water, it is still the cheapest beverage available. By consuming the recommended eight glasses of water a day, you support all your body’s systems and reduce the number of more costly beverages you consume.

7. Eat less meat. Most Americans still eat too much meat relative to other components of their diets. Meat also takes the biggest bite out of the food budget. The answer seems almost too easy.

8. Grow your own herbs. A vegetable garden is also a good idea, but an herb garden is much less daunting. Herbs require little space or care, and once established, most provide a continuous harvest. Fresh herbs add a gourmet taste to any meal. They also provide nutrients. You can buy fresh herbs at the store, but for the price of a few sprigs you could buy the whole plant. Freeze or dry your harvest at the end of the season and you can use them all winter.

9. Good produce gone bad can make you feel as though you are throwing your money away (though, I hope, you are composting it!) Expand your selection of produce on hand and reduce waste by using high-quality frozen vegetables available in large polybag sizes. You can easily add a handful of frozen peas, carrots, and corn to a recipe, then reseal the bag and tuck it back in the freezer. Frozen veggies can augment rather than replace your fresh produce purchases.

10. Look for recipes that don’t have a lot of ingredients or that lend themselves easily to substitutions. You can always be creative and add herbs, spices, or vegetables that you have on hand.

11. Make meal preparation a family time. Meals prepared together nourish each person’s spirit as well as their bodies, and every step of preparation at home saves money at the grocery store. Avoiding convenience foods means food that is fresher and has fewer preservatives.

12. Decide where you can and cannot compromise. I stock up on regular name-brand spaghetti sauce when it’s on sale (preferably with coupons as well). Most of the sauces are preservative free and I can recognize all of the ingredients. I buy only organic milk and free-range eggs. Your priorities may be different but should be in line with your own values.

13. A diverse diet costs less at my local food co-op where I can choose from a wide selection of bulk pastas, grains, legumes and rice, without having to buy more than I need. Look for stores that also let you select only as much produce as you will use. Farmers markets are often a good source for finding flexible quantities at excellent prices.

14. Keep snacks simple. Healthier snacks tend to be cheaper snacks. Gourmet chips abound, and though they may be baked not fried none are as healthy as carrot sticks. Other choices that tend to be low in fat, calories and cost are seasonal fruits and vegetables, pretzels dipped in mustards, popcorn (the traditional evening snack served at the Heartland Spa), and graham crackers.

15. Make your own convenience foods. Blend your own spice mixes. Prepare an extra large batch of pancakes or waffles and freeze them between sheets of wax paper to pop in the toaster oven at breakfast time. Freeze chocolate chip cookie dough in pre-formed balls to bake later. Many of the mixes in Make a Mix Cookery and More Make-A-Mix Cookery (H.P. Books, 1978 and 1980) can be modified and prepared using high quality, organic ingredients while still saving you money.

16. Realize that if you can control costs on items you consume regularly, you will realize the greatest savings for the least amount of effort. You can purchase organically-grown coffee beans for far less than a barista-made beverage — even if you add organic, hormone-free half and half. The same is true for any snacks and meals consumed away from home. If you make and take your own, you control the quality and the price. And remember: one simple change that saves you a dollar each weekday adds up to over $250 per year.

17. Consider, however, that paying extra for the feeling that someone else is taking care of you may be meeting an emotional need. If this is the case, is there an alternative way to meet your needs? Can another family member start the coffee in the morning? Would a neighbor or co-worker be willing to bring you coffee in exchange for a small favor in return? An extra benefit of trading is a more genuine feeling of being nurtured.

18. Play the stock market. Stock up on non-perishable items you use regularly when they are on sale (Here’s where your plan comes in handy!). When prices rise, you can serve yourself a large share of savings.

19. If you are really ambitious, you can freeze fresh fruits and vegetables when they are at their peak and their prices are not. Berries are best frozen in a single layer on a cookie sheet, then bagged, so they are easily separated. Even if you are not too ambitious, you can freeze your leftover, slightly wilted vegetables for soups or stews. Fruits can be frozen and added to muffin, pancake or waffle batter.

20. Never go shopping without a list. If you don’t have a list, go home and put the tail ends of all of your frozen, polybagged vegetables together in a melange. Serve with your last piece of cheese grated over bread heels and toasted. Return to the store tomorrow when you have a list.

21. Never shop when you are hungry.

22. The more often you shop and the longer you are actually in the store, the more money you will spend. This is why preparation time saves you money. Not only are you able to think about what you want, away from the hypnotic hum of the merchandising machines, but you also spend less time in the store and need to make fewer return trips for forgotten items.

23. Put your intentions before you. If you are full of menu ideas while shopping but your follow through is less than stellar, jot a quick list of your plans as you unpack your groceries. Post the list in a prominent place in the kitchen.

24. Keep things simple, and begin with small bites. If you suddenly decide that you are going to cook only from scratch, it is likely that you will end up with a cupboard full of ingredients that will torment rather than tempt you and a huge bill for that most expensive eating option, take-out food.

25. Choose a starting point and begin. My personal touchstone is oatmeal for breakfast. It is where I began and what I return to if I feel I am losing my way. Oatmeal is easy, cheap, and good for me. It means I don’t have to think in the morning. I can eat it plain or dress it up with whatever is on hand or on sale. With that one piece in place, I start my day with a tangible affirmation of my resolve to eat healthy for less.

Whatever your first step, simply take it, now. If you wait until your plan is fine-tuned, you will lose your enthusiasm and become bogged down in details. When you move your household, you can’t wait until each picture is hung in the right spot to resume the business of your life in a new location. So it is with all change. Decisions are made, the framework is shifted, and small adjustments are made in all the days that follow.

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