Myth: Healthy Food isn’t Budget Friendly
I’m here to tell you that eating healthy does NOT mean breaking the bank. It’s possible to save money on real food, especially at your local grocery store. With a little thought and preparation, you can stay within your budget, give up processed foods, and start eating more real foods.

Here’s a great example! I created these two real food meals, Crockpot Chicken and Vegetables, Leftover Chicken Soup, plus leftovers for the freezer for less than $19.
There are so many sources to find real food. It isn’t like the days of our great-grandparents. For them, if they didn’t grow or produce it, it wasn’t available. Today, we can grow our own food, shop online, run down to the supermarket, visit a Farmer’s market, join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture program), etc.
This week, we are going to start with where you’re probably doing all of your food shopping, the grocery store or supermarket. We’ll talk about buying real foods and staying on a budget.
My family of five eats about 85% organic with a food budget of $800 a month. Between late spring thru fall, it is much lower, because our garden is in full production. Whenever I go to the grocery store, I try to follow these three tips:
1) Do NOT go to the store hungry!
2) Make a grocery list of staples and general grocery items needed.
3) Choose produce and vegetables based on what looks best, in season, and how much it costs.
Save money by:
1) Making a lot of our food from scratch.
2) I stopped buying packaged breakfast cereal and sliced deli meats. They were too expensive.
3) Buy when items go on sale and stock up if necessary.
Where to Find Whole Foods in the Grocery Store
Save the Aisles for Last – Shop the Periphery First
You are going to find your fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, eggs, etc. on the outside aisles of the supermarket. This is all real food. Well, with the exception of the caramel sauce stacked ever so conveniently next to the apple display. Beware of the marketing displays offering food like products. Remember that real foods are the foods that grow out of the ground, on a tree or bush, or are raised on a farm. Do the majority of your shopping from these areas.
Tip: Pick your fruits and vegetables from the back of the displays. They are fresher! Watch the next time they stock, they place the oldest produce up front and restock from the back.
On your dairy products, be sure to read the labels. Choose unsweetened or plain varieties of yogurt and add your own sweeteners. Buying larger containers is also cheaper.
On your cheeses, buy the block. It is generally cheaper than shredded or sliced. Plus it won’t have any anti-caking agents.
Don’t buy products at eye level in the aisles
Grocery stores market the more expensive items at eye level. Food manufacturers have paid for this prime space. These items will probably not be a healthy choice. Start looking at the bottom of the shelves. This is where you will find the bags of beans, rice, whole grains, etc.
Remember when shopping the aisles; ask yourself if you could make this same item yourself for less. For example, that can of black beans is $1.09 a can. Can you make it at home for less? Yes, a 1 pound bag of black beans may cost you $2-$3 and make the equivalent of 4-5 cans.
Be aware of food ingredients contained in products found in the aisles. This is where you are likely to find many food like products. Be sure to read the labels.
Shop the Freezers for Vegetables and Fruit
Sometimes fresh ingredients can be just too expensive. For example, corn in the middle of winter is $$$. Instead of buying at a premium, buy it frozen. Frozen vegetables and fruit are more nutritious than canned varieties and contain no added salt (typically). Most stores offer both organic and conventional versions.
What you want to avoid in the freezers is all the food like products. Skip the vegetable packages with sauces, frozen pizzas, frozen meals, etc. These are overly processed and expensive. If you want these types of items, make them yourself. When comparing the costs of frozen cheese pizza to homemade, the frozen version will cost you $6-7 for a large. The homemade version may cost you $2-3. If you have pizza once a week, that’s a savings of at least $20 a month or $240 a year.
Supermarket Savings Hacks
Shop the weekly sales
Buy what is on sale. Organic whole chickens were on sale recently for $1.99 a pound. I bought 10 and put them in the freezer. Plan your meals by what is on sale that week and what you have on hand.
I make my list of groceries each week. I list all of the staples I need and any other necessities. I plan to shop for produce and vegetables that are on sale. But I make the final decision on fresh ingredients in the store. Something may look better than what was on my list.
Buy what is in season
Buy vegetables and produce in season. In the winter buy kale, spinach, winter squashes like butternut and acorn, parsnips, rutabagas, leeks, etc. During the spring buy radishes, lettuces, carrots, lettuces, peas, etc. Summer months include melons, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, etc. When you buy in season, you will be paying less. When you buy out of season, like a watermelon in December, you are paying more to have it shipped thousands of miles.
Buy staples in larger quantities or in bulk
Buy your staples like grains, flours, rice, nuts, beans, coffee, tea, etc. in bulk. Whether you’re shopping at a natural foods store, supermarket or co-op, buying in bulk is a great way to stretch your food dollar.
For flours, grains, and rice, larger quantities can be less expensive. I buy my rice in large 20 pound bags from a local Asian market. It saves me about 40% when compared to buying smaller bags at my local grocery store.
For beans, lentils, dried fruit, coffee, tea, and nuts, head straight for the bulk containers. You pay for what you need and don’t pay for added packaging. Just make sure you have a cool, dry place in your kitchen to store your dry goods. I like to use glass jars.
Be sure to bring your calculator along. Not every item you can buy in bulk is worth the bother. Do the math.
Avoid premade or prepared foods
Very few convenience foods are good for you. They may be fast and easy to prepare. But your body will hate it and your wallet will be considerably lighter for buying it. The time investment in making items from scratch is well worth the effort.
Shop the sale/clearance bins
Some grocery stores offer overly ripe or slightly older produce and vegetables at a discounted rate. There is nothing wrong with these items. They are still full of nutrients and taste. The store just considers them past their prime. Overly ripe bananas are great in smoothies or dairy free ice cream. Unpeel them, place in a freezer bag, and freeze. Other vegetables can be used right away or frozen and used later.
Use Coupons
Just like conventional groceries, you can find coupons for organic and all natural foods.
Common Kindness also has a variety of organic and natural product coupons. Plus they help fund non-profits.
Many organic companies also offer coupons directly on their websites or social media sites.
Here are a few sites:
Organic Valley Coupons: Sign up for FREE online coupons
Applegate Organic and Natural Meats: Coupons for signing up for their newsletter.
Lundberg Family Farm Coupons: Printable coupons
Cascadian Farms Coupons: Get a $1 Cascadian Farm coupon when you sign up for their newsletter, plus more coupons in each issue.
Earthbound Farm: Get a $1 Earthbound Frozen Fruits and Vegetables when you sign up for their newsletter, plus more coupons in each issue
Santa Cruz Juice and Soda Coupons: Coupons available online.
Naked Juice Coupons: Sign up for the newsletter and get coupons.
Annies Natural’s: Get $1.00 off coupons .
Simply Organics Spices and Sauce Mixes: Plenty of coupons on their website.
Grocery Stores:
Whole Foods Store Coupons: Print coupons online for FREE in store Whole Foods Coupons.
Safeway – Organic Store Brand O Organics: FREE coupons online and through your club card.
Super Target Stores – Organic Store Brand Anchor Farms: FREE coupons online
Sprouts Store Coupons– Print coupons online
As you can see, there are many ways to save money on real foods at the grocery store. Next week, we’ll discuss other places to find real foods; Farmer’s Markets, Grow Your Own, CSAs, and more.
I’d love to hear how you eat real food and stay on a budget. Tell us your story in the comments.
Read more about how I save money on real food at the grocery store in these articles:
Good practical advice! We get great coupons from Wegmans and Giant often for fresh food. Also, Asian food markets often have fresh fruits and veggies at a fraction of the cost of regular grocers! And tofu is an excellent, inexpensive source of protein. Thanks for the great tips!
Paula, I agree with you about the tofu and produce at Asian markets. Our local Asian markets don’t carry organic varieties, only conventional. But they can be much cheaper than other stores.
Thanks for the info! I’m always looking for healthy ideas that are budget-friendly! Love the coupon section of your post as well!
Your welcome Debi. Thanks for stopping by. I listed more coupon sites on our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/OurLittleFamilyAdventure
Thanks for sharing .These are some great ideas. I also like shopping at discounted grocery stories, like Aldi and Sharp Shopper, in our area.
Rebecca, we have an Aldi too. They are great for saving money. Their produce is usually very inexpensive. Thanks for sharing about Sharp Shopper. Trader Joe’s is another great option. But unfortunately, we don’t have one close by.
Where did you find the organic whole chickens? I need to keep my eyes open for the next sale! Also, I don’t go to Aldi very often. Do they carry organic produce and other products? The last time I was in there, it all seemed to be conventional.
Annette, the organic chickens were at Whole Foods. It was one of their one day sales. Lately, It seems they have some great one day sale on Thursday or Friday. They usually post it on their local Facebook page. Aldi is mostly conventional produce and vegetables. At times, they have a few organic products like canned tomatoes. Their website says that they will start to offer more organic products in some areas.
What a great article! I really appreciate your sharing this at http:// FeedingBig.com at the Feeding Big on Less Money series. I have pinned this and shared it on Google+ and StumbleUpon! I hope to see you next week too!
Excellent post, Cynthia!
Well said with plenty of great tips for everyone. I’ve also talked about all of this on my blog as well in the grocery game challenge. It’s so important that people realize that cooking homemade food and proper planning easily could add up to savings. Pre-packaged foods are meant to cost over the top prices and if they are cheap you get what you pay for with convenience type foods. Thanks for sharing!!! Mr.CBB
Home cooking is the way to go. I saw a sign the other day that read,” You can’t look and feel like a million bucks if you order off the dollar menu.” You get what you pay for.
That may be true eating out but I can eat very healthy on a buck at the grocery store! A buck here and there ads up to a great meal. Last year I blogged about the Welfare Food Challenge I did. I had about $27 for a weeks worth of groceries and away I went. I finished the week. You can read all about the food I bought and see pictures of the food I made. I even had leftovers.
I agree that cooking from scratch can be inexpensive, especially when compared to eating out. I will have to read your welfare food challenge. I’d love to see how you accomplished $27 for a week.
Love it that you do a lot of organic! I do too. I get them at 50% off a lot of the time here in Canada, it becomes the same price or even cheaper than conventional. We need to know our prices and I guess I’m lucky that the store nearby has organics at 50% off. I stay clear of frozen box meals, GMOs in biscuits etc, candy. My kindergarten son is ‘deprived’ in a lot of ways cos he’s not brought up with conventional foods, McDonald’s and the like haha. This is the 2nd year I’ve started my organic seed/veggie/herb garden so looking forward to the produce. So many options to healthier food and save money as well, one just needs to make the effort.
That’s great that you can get organics at 50% off. I haven’t seen anything like that here. Your son isn’t deprived, he’s lucky he has a mom that loves him enough to give him the very best. 🙂 Your garden pictures were great. Thanks for sharing them. What are you growing this year?
Yes to the frozen produce! I buy fresh whenever possible, but my theory has always been if I am going to cook it then I will go ahead and buy frozen.
Frozen is generally less expensive than fresh. So if you ‘re cooking it, it just makes sense.
I try to follow food from scratch,fresh fruits -not processed,season fruits and vegetables .Only thing is i can’t buy everything organic except eggs,milk.Thanks for the great share nicky.
When you can’t buy all organic, it’s just good to remember the Dirty 15 list.