You can be on a tight budget and still choose healthy food for you and your family!

You may be tempted to buy more frozen and processed foods when you are living paycheck to paycheck. But be warned, there is a high cost associated with eating cheap food in the form of weight gain, depression, and disease risk.

Instead, follow some tried and tested tips to help you stretch your food budget.

10 Tips to Help You Eat Healthy and Save Money:

1. Avoid Restaurants, Takeaway and Delivery

If you are trying to maximize your monthly food budget, the first thing to consider is going out less. Even a handful of sitdown or takeaway meals a month can be enough to throw off your food budget.

2. Plan Your Meals Around Grocery Sales

Rather than pick a meal out of the cookbook and buy the ingredients, let the ingredients determine what meal you make. By keeping up with supermarket deals you can plan out your meals for the week based on what is going to be on sale.

You should also try to plan your meals around produce that is in season locally. Imported fruits and veggies always cost a premium.

Many supermarket chains now have apps you can install on your phone to keep up with their sales for the week. Failing that, there’s nothing like good old fashioned flyer reading and coupon clipping.

If you are a senior, you should also wait for senior citizen discount days that many supermarkets offer.

3. Cook in Large Batches

The best way to stretch your food dollar and still eat healthy is to prepare food in large batches so you will have leftovers. Choose recipes that provide a lot of servings, keep what you plan to eat that week in the fridge and freeze the rest.

If you tend to not want to cook during the week because of work, you are not alone. Instead of eating frozen pizzas, do some meal prep! You can cook your meals for the week on Sunday and then not have to worry about buying lunch or having to cook dinner.

4. Have a Grocery List and Stick To It

Many grocery bills end up a lot larger than intended due to impulse purchases. Supermarkets set up their aisles in such a way that you will walk past other items you might want to buy at the last minute.

That doesn’t mean you should deny yourself treats. If you factor them into your food budget you are less likely to go overboard buying last minute snacks.

Another tip to resist impulse purchases is to not shop while you’re hungry. Make sure you have a meal or a snack beforehand!

5. Swap Name-brand Items For Generic

So often the “No-name” brands of items are often the same product as the name brand, just sold under a different label. Even if the savings are a couple of cents, buying no-name adds up in the long run.

6. Try a Cheaper Cut of Meat

When shopping for protein, consider using cheaper bone-in or tougher meats, ground meat, or organ meats in your cooking. Try to broaden your horizons, organ meats, in particular, are extremely nutritious!

You can also buy a large roast or whole chicken on a good sale and make a large batch of food to eat for the week or freeze for later!

7. Pad Your Meals With Healthy Whole Grains and Beans

To reduce your meal budget, consider adding beans or whole grains such as quinoa, freekeh or brown rice. These items are low in cost and high in dietary fiber and nutrition.

Whole grains also have a low glycemic index, meaning they help keep your blood sugar down and keep you feeling full longer.

8. Buy in Bulk

When you can, buy your food in bulk to save money in the long run. You can either visit a wholesaler like Costco for regular groceries or buy loose items by weight at your local bulk food store.

Just be sure that you store bulk food in the right containers and eat all your food by its expiration date.

9. Prevent Food Waste With Proper Fridge Management

How often do you lose food in the back of your fridge, only to find it after it has gone bad?

Instead, portion your leftovers into individual meals and keep them within eyesight. You can also label your containers with what is in them and when they should be eaten by.

10. Consider Other Sources of Protein

If you live in a meat-heavy household, consider other, cheaper protein sources for your meals. Eggs are extremely versatile and can be used to make all sorts of exciting dishes such as quiche or frittatas.

Some other options include canned fish, beans, lentils, chickpeas, tempeh or tofu.