Two facts remain true about food: it is necessary to eat, and it is not just expensive but getting more expensive every day. So how can you eat well and healthy while staying within your budget? Remember, that less is often more. According to news stories, most Americans are frighteningly enough overweight to the point of being obese. We do not need all that we are eating. We can eat lighter and we can eat less. Food prices may be the perfect excuse to cut back.
Try to eat more whole grains, fruit and vegetables. Try to eat less meat and poultry but include fish as often as you can. There are many recipe sites on line that will give you healthy recipes that still taste good. Often a supermarket will also have recipes on hand. Look for healthy items that are on special or sale. Use coupons when applicable. You can often get better prices buying from the bulk bins at your supermarket. Do not forget to check on the reduced or day old products for sale.
Cut back on unhealthy desserts and eat fresh fruit, raisins or nuts instead.
See what your Dollar Stores offer. Just because a food product is being sold at a Dollar Store does not necessarily mean it is of low quality. Other places that you might consider shopping for canned and dry goods are estate sales. Not all estate sales offer food at greatly reduced prices but some do. You might be able to get a $2.00 or $3.00 can of food for 25 or 50 cents.
Consider growing some of your own food. It is not that difficult. If you live in an apartment, you might still be able to grow some herbs or vegetables in containers. If you have a home with yard space, better yet. You might be able to grow many, if not most, of your vegetables. That would be a mighty big savings and you could grow organic vegetables which tend to be very expensive in most supermarkets.
Consider bartering on craigslist. For instance, maybe you have a lot of costume jewelry or loose beads that you were unable to sell for one reason or another. Consider putting them under barter and see if you could exchange them for excess food that someone has but does not necessarily need at that time period. The person who responds to your ad could be a really creative cook with home made pies or canned preserves and vegetables who loves making jewelry and is looking for loose beads. Or that person just might have way too many canned and dry goods that she or he would love to exchange for your jewelry or other items.
Amazon sells food products and might be a good way to save. Ebay sells food coupons which might be worth looking into. Do you have a favorite brand? Go to the website. See what specials they might be offering.
It is not easy to eat well these days while on a budget but it can be done. It just requires a lot of creative thinking and some hard work.