You’ve heard the old excuse before: Healthy eating is expensive. My food choices are healthy most of the time, but I’m also a cheapskate at heart. Luckily, I manage to eat healthy on a budget, thanks to a few simple swaps.
Expensive: Instant oatmeal
More affordable: Quaker Oats
Instant oatmeal is great in a hurry, but buying a huge canister of Quaker Oats (NuVal score: 57) is a much more cost-effective option. If you compare unit price on the two items, it’s much more economical to purchase the quick oats. For an on-the-go option, I portion out 1/2 cup of quick oats, put them in a Tupperware container, and add hot water when I get to my destination. Plus, instant packets are often packed full of added sugars. Quaker Apple Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal, for instance, scores just a 25 on the NuVal scale.
Expensive: Fresh berries
More affordable: Frozen berries
Fresh berries are often very expensive, especially when they are out of season. Frozen berries cost much less and they’re just as nutritious for you. Plus, with frozen berries, you don’t have to worry about eating them before they go bad. Throwing away rotten food is like wasting money!
Expensive: Vegetable chips
More affordable: Kale chips
As a salty snack, homemade kale chips are a great swap to expensive veggie chips. Plus, kale scores a 99 on the NuVal scale! While they do require some prep work, kale chips are incredibly easy to make. Just spray washed kale with cooking spray, season with sea salt, and bake at 450° for about 12 minutes. They taste just like potato chips!
Expensive: Fresh salmon fillet
More affordable: Canned salmon
We all know we should eat more fish, as it is rich in omega-3s, but buying fresh fish is not always friendly on my wallet. Instead, I swap fresh salmon for Canned Bumble Bee Wild Alaska Pink Salmon (NuVal score: 70), which is much less expensive, and I am still able to get those healthy omega-3s in my diet.
Expensive: Larabars
More affordable: Nuts and dried fruit
Larabars are one of my favorites snacks, but buying them every week definitely takes a toll on my budget. Instead, I eat dried fruit, like dates (NuVal score: 91) and prunes (NuVal score: 91), and nuts, like almonds (NuVal score: 81) and walnuts (NuVal score: 82), and save my Larabars for a special treat.
Developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts, the 
Seeeee? Eating healthy is NOT hard, nor is it expensive! Glad to know
Wei-Wei
Those are some great ideas. I also buy pineapple (core myself) when on sale and buy eggs (Hard boil them and they make great snacks!). Also some websites to check out are http://www.mysavings.com/, http://moneysavingmom.com/, http://www.bulktix.com/ (movie ticket bargains).
I love adding frozen berries to my oatmeal in the morning. I just add them before I start cooking.
[...] the cans of salmon they had left and fully intend on having it every night the rest of the week. Cheap and delicious (as advocated by Tina earlier [...]
I just made kale chips recently and I loved them. Anything with a little olive oil and salt is yummy to me!
Great money-saving tips. Thanks! I just invested in a giant canister of oats, but I plan to refill it from the bulk foods bin when it’s empty.
great post