People often complain that maintaining a healthy diet is relatively expensive because they do not have time to shop for good produce or cook regularly. This does not mean that opting for unhealthy food choices or always relying on takeout’s is the answer. It is true that maintaining a healthy lifestyle may not always give you a chance to save on your monthly expenditure, but you can definitely use money-saving strategies and live a healthier lifestyle.
A few brands that can help you do so are Kroger, Instacart, Walmart Grocery, etc. You can easily add products to your digital cart and shop for essentials, vegetables, fruits, groceries, etc. and get your order delivered right to your doorstep. Members can avail benefits like free delivery on orders above $35, additional discounts sitewide using promo codes and discount deals, or buy a plan for $10/month or $99/year to profit from this deal. Depending on your location, Instacart delivers products within a day (or sometimes within an hour) from stores like Aldi, Costco, Kroger, Safeway, and butchers or fishmongers in your vicinity. With the spread of the novel coronavirus, they have also launched a contactless delivery option so that social distancing can be maintained.
In addition to this, you can look for some tips that will help you to lead a healthy life and save money:
- Buying local ingredients
Instead of shopping at big stores, you can visit local farmer’s markets, grocery shops and encourage ‘community supported agriculture’ (CSA) programs to get fresh locally sourced vegetables, fruits, and herbs at relatively cheaper prices. These sellers ensure you get good quality ingredients and use innovative ways to deliver products directly to customers. Buying locally sourced fresh ingredients and pantry staples can help you to create healthy meals and ensure that it does not lead to extra expenses.
- Cooking at home
A lot of people are away from home for academic purposes or work and cannot find enough time to cook a healthy meal on a daily basis. You can try to prepare ingredients by chopping, marinating, and storing them in the fridge so that you can cook them easily when you get home. There are a lot of simple recipes online that help you cook healthy delicious meals in less than thirty minutes. Home-cooked meals are not only less expensive, but also healthier since you can modify usage of oil, salt, and other ingredients according to your taste.
- Planning meals
Instead of impulsively buying random ingredients, you can plan meals for a week and shop for products accordingly. This way, you will also not waste time deciding what to cook, plus fruits and vegetables that are easily perishable will not be misused easily. If you want to follow a fitness regime, you can easily alternate between healthy and cheat meals according to your schedule. You can also plan a meal timetable for each day to ensure that you consume different kinds of nutrients and have a balanced diet throughout the day.
- Look for healthy substitutes
You can try and find healthier alternatives to junk food by looking for dishes that are made with wheat flour, as opposed to all-purpose flour, plain yogurt instead of mayonnaise, baked spaghetti instead of pasta, olive oil instead of vegetable, etc. In addition to this, you can use maple syrup or honey instead of corn syrup, almond milk instead of regular milk, sweet potatoes instead of usual ones, and substitute sugar with honey or stevia (plant-based products available in liquid or powdered form). Sometimes, you can also go meatless and look for vegetarian meals.
- Shop smartly
Online retailers help customers to find several products on one portal and deliver orders right to your doorstep. These websites also give incredible offers that allow users to redeem deals like free delivery, products at lower rates, and membership or subscription plans which provide extra advantages. You can also use coupon offers or promotional codes to get additional savings and sign-up to their weekly ad or newsletter to get updates about new products, sales, and exciting offers.
Eating right from a young age will not only keep you fit but also prevent life-threatening disorders and hence save you from huge medical bills later. Shopping locally, cooking at home, and planning meals can surely help you save on monthly grocery expenses. Stores that can help you save money on healthy foods are Instacart, Walmart Grocery, Thrive Market, FreshDirect, AmazonFresh, Peapod, etc.
In addition to free delivery, Instacart offers $10 off on first online order, $20 discount on first orders and has products like meat, seafood, deli goods, protein bars, sanitizers, stationery items, medicines etc. at discounted rates. You can apply coupons or look for deals while placing in-store or online orders (on the app and website) to get maximum savings whereas, Walmart Grocery runs discounts on organic food and pantry essentials, groceries, grilling supplies, candies, bakery products and supplies, vitamins and supplements etc. The store has also introduced a $98 ‘Delivery unlimited’ membership plan that will allow you to get free delivery on all orders throughout the year. You can also use promo codes to get $10 off on your first order of $50 or more.
Thrive Market delivers the best organic brands and gives guaranteed savings of up to $30 with each order. You can shop for fresh staples and products that will help you to follow keto, vegan, gluten-free etc. diets You can also avail free gifts, samples and deals like free shipping on orders over $49 and first order of over $25. FreshDirect delivers high-quality produce and meat varieties with optional delivery pass for unlimited free deliveries. You can shop for breakfast cereals, home essentials, dairy products, healthy snacks at discounted rates and get a membership of $79 for six months or $129 for a year.
The Amazon website can be used to access AmazonFresh delivery service that supplies fresh produce, packaged foods, pantry ingredients and more. Amazon Prime members can go through Whole Foods portal to get groceries delivered within two hours. Prime members have an added advantage of availing free delivery on orders above $35, whereas Peapod provides optional PodPass for discounted deliveries at $35 for six months and $119 for one year. Peapod has a user-friendly website with a unique ‘Order Genius’ feature that recommends products based on your previous or frequent purchases. You can find groceries needed for a specific dish or look for ingredients based on the Express Shop suggestions.
Healthy foods are the best investment!
