A common reason people choose fast or processed foods over healthy options is because of a price difference - the latter is often thought to be more expensive. While this may be true on occasion, especially when it comes to restaurants or packaged items, in many cases eating heathly can actually save you money.
A site called LearnVest posted a great article that's getting a lot of attention, in which they outline the differences between the average cost of a meat-eater's diet versus that of a plant-based (vegan) diet. Turns out eating vegan is less expensive because meat typically costs more than vegetables: "During the sample day, the vegan saved $3.50 over the meat-eater" which is a cost savings of " nearly $1,280 over the course of a year"! Whether or not you're considering switching to a vegetarian diet, it may be encouraging to know that cutting out some meat from your meal plan and replacing it with more fruits and vegetables will benefit your bank account.
There are many other ways to keep the healthy diet from becoming expensive. Take a look at the following advice from some people on Facebook and Twitter:
- Grow your own produce, and make and can your own sauces. ~ Nikki Lockard Rosewag
- Keep it simple...I eat a lot of foods that my great-grandma used to make and they didn't require fancy ingredients. My great-grandparents ate food off the land (they were farmers) and were very poor. Don't eat the processed stuff. ~ Shira Weber
- When not shopping at the farmer's market, I shop specials, shop at health food store that sell items in bulk, and many of their products are organic. and never buy more than i need/want ~ Nadia Walcott.
- We buy a ton of bulk from 'farm' w/some split amongst friends, found good split for rest from diff. stores. ~ @lunaticmapmaker
- The best way for me to keep my food costs down is not wasting food... using everything I buy and not letting anything go bad so I have to throw it away. ~ Amber Dunham
- Plan out what you're going to eat for the next three weeks meal by meal and make dishes that last for a several days. ~ @curiousgeorge77
- Buy dried beans in bulk, make my own seitan, mayo, dressing and cheeses. I utilize my crock pots like I never thought I would! I have found that most everything I make freezes wonderfully so that if I need it I can just pull it out and have it ready. Sure, it's more time consuming but in the long run I feel better physically and fiscally! ~ Sara Stanton
- I make things from scratch once or twice a month and freeze them. I do this with dried beans, seitan, bouillon, and rice walnut sausage crumbles. It costs about 25% of what it would to buy them. ~ Kathy Hester
- Whole Foods has LOTS of sales! Local markets too; don't underestimate the use of Costco & BJs ~ @BuddyRhodesDog
- Target and Trader Joe's! TJ has lots of vegan options at great prices! ~ Roxanne Sumner
- Farmer's market & grabbing the organics @ the 99 cent only stores. ~ Ecochic Kat
- Buying day old fruits and vegetables from the grocery stores that mark them down to insanely low prices. ~ Alison Cole
- Run out of money by end of month thus have none for groceries - works a treat for me! ~ Victoria Byres
Whitney Lauritsen is a filmmaker, environmentalist, and vegan who promotes healthy living on her site www.ecovegangal.com. She shares tips on how to be kind to your body and the earth via video, photography, and writing. You can find her talking about being healthy and green on Twitter and Facebook.
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