How can I Eat Clean on a Budget?

We get questions all the time about cooking and eating clean on a budget: “How can I possibly eat healthy and not break the bank?”

Here are our tried and true resources for maintaining your budget, even feeding a large family, and sticking with a clean diet.

* When I say “eating clean” I’m loosely using the understanding of eating as many whole foods as possible- eliminating processed foods, seed oils, added sugars and dyes, and avoiding eating out as much as possible. This could additionally mean eating gluten free, dairy free, or organic depending on your needs.

Tips:

Eat at home – check out our resources below for meal planning, grocery lists and more! You will spend 5x as much trying to eat out and 3x as much with food services delivered to your door (although they can be a great bridge to learn how to cook or spice up your recipes).
Shop at Aldi or Costco- Not only do these stores deliver the cost savings, they have many quality organic options as well.
Establish a budget- Instead of building up fear around how much you’re spending, establish a reasonable goal for what you actually need. You’d be surprised at how many snacks and fast food items add up.
Focus on Meals- You’d be surprised at how many snacks and fast food items add up! Fill up on quality fats and proteins at meal time and the expensive snacks are no longer needed.
Plan your Meals- Better planning and preparation leads to less wasted food.
Find a local butcher or meat source- Do a quick google search for a local butcher and they can likely hook you up to a local farmer- grass fed (preferable) or grain fed! You can also use resources like eatwild.com to search for farms locally. Buying meat in bulk can save 2-3x the cost of meat.