Registered Dietitian Carrie Taylor, RD, LDN and Nutritionist Andrea Samson, BS

Now more than ever, it is important to make the most of your food budget. Obtaining the variety of nutrients your body needs to maintain good health may feel challenging as finances become the focus of food selection. Follow these nutrition-boosting, money-saving steps for a more healthful, wallet-friendly diet.

Know your budgets

You should focus on two budgets - your financial budget and your “caloric budget.” Financially speaking, your food budget refers to the amount of money you can afford to spend on food each day. Calorically speaking, your food budget refers to the amount of calories your body can afford to spend each day to maintain a healthy weight. If you're unsure how many calories you need or typically consume, speak with a registered dietitian. In the meantime, find your very own MyPyramid Meal Plan at MyPyramid.gov for a rough estimate of your daily calorie needs.

Get the most nutrition bang for your buck

Now that you know your monetary budget and how many calories you need, it's important to choose foods that will provide the most nutritional punch per calorie. Some foods are nutrient dense, meaning they provide a bounty of nutrition from lean protein, heart-healthy unsaturated fats, vitamins, minerals, whole grains and fiber relative to their calorie content. Other foods are nutrient poor, meaning they take up your calorie budget without providing many, if any, healthful nutrients. To eat healthy on a budget, it is important to focus on increasing your consumption of nutrient-dense foods. This will lessen the amount of money spent on nutrient-poor foods that fill you up, but leave you undernourished.

Take time to plan

Planning is essential to staying within both your financial and nutrition budgets. Build meals around MyPyramid recommendations. Include lean protein, lowfat dairy, whole grains and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Take time each week to review supermarket circulars and manufacturer coupons. Once weekly meals are chosen, create a shopping list specific to the ingredients you need. Shopping based on your meal plan will reduce impulse buying, keep you within a planned financial budget and ensure you have the food needed to make balanced, nutritious meals all week long.

When planning meals, take advantage of sale items - especially with costly items like meat. For example, if you purchase a pound of chicken breast on sale, benefit from the sale over the course of a few meals. Simply bake the chicken one night for dinner, enjoy the serving size required to finish your Meat & Beans Group goal for the day, and add leftovers to a leafy green salad or sautéed pasta with broccoli the next day.

As you can see, eating healthfully on a budget requires identifying your needs, factoring in resources and recognizing the differences between nutrient-dense and nutrient-poor foods. Although it will take extra effort at first, practice makes perfect! Simply use the recommendations above to start planning and you're well on your way to ensure the money you spend on food is spent wisely.

Download a shopping list to help you plan a week's worth of healthy meals.

Have a nutrition question? Ask Big Y's Wellness Team:

Big Y's Registered Dietitian, Carrie Taylor, RD, LDN
and Nutritionist, Andrea Samson, BS

Send e-mails to: askcarrie@bigy.com
Write to Ask Carrie
2145 Roosevelt Ave.
PO Box 7840
Springfield, MA 01102

  Add Page To My Favorites | View My Favorites |