RE: Health within budget!

Haha... Loved the article. Then again if it was me and I was trying to slash every penny from the budget I'd make far deeper cuts.

I absolutely agree that you should make sure you aim for nutrition because without nutrition your body degrades and that is far more expensive than any short term savings on food!

Meat: White meat VS Red meat? Yup. I do that. In Canada ground turkey is about 80% cheaper than beef. Having said that different cuts of meat cost different amounts. Premium beef cuts? $70HBD/kg while ground turkey is under $2HBD?kg. Guess what, both are good protein sources.

Oils: Use less is #1 goal but also look at the oils carefully. Olive oil is super expensive here. Canola oil is super cheap. Palm oil isn't even available. You need omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9 fats so if you can find a way to get them in an oil that makes things taste better. Go for it. Just watch the amounts.

White stuff: Sugar, rice, potato, etc. Use carefully but a little can go a long way.

Veggies: Great stuff but watch nutritional content to cost and make sure you know what vitamins are in each type of veggie so you can get the most nutrition for the least price.

Rice: Watch the starches and get the least expensive on. In Canada rice is common and considered cheap but honestly? Oats, flour, and corn flour are usually less expensive. So sourdough bread can fill the carb role at a cheaper price than rice.

But you forgot to mention: BEANS!

You need some meat for B12 but most of my protein I try to get from beans and quinoa (vegetarian sources). They are less expensive which is great. However, they also are dried so if I get a bag on sale (like my 25kg bag of Quinoa) I can keep it for a very very long time. Half the price of even the cheapest meat and no fridge required.

Side note: Oats and Soy can be turned into milk... So if your milk budget is tight there is a vegan alternative. BUT make it at home. Buying soy milk in the store is super expensive. Making it at home super cheap. At least in Canada. $5.65 for 4L of milk but making soya milk? About $0.90 for 4L.

Storage: You mentioned freezing tomatoes. Great idea. However, I find that drying is a one time energy expenditure and keeps for a very long time. Canning another one time effort for long term storage. Pickling (like making kimchi, saurkraut, etc) another way to buy fresh in season and save for a long time to come. Every thing that doesn't have to be in the fridge or freezer is less money you spend on electricity.

Which brings up: Avoiding waste.

Did you know that some parts of fruits and vegetables are often thrown away when they don't have to?

Did you know Carrot tops are edible?
Did you know that Banana peel is edible?
How about the Soya pulp after making soy milk?

All edible.

Any food you throw away is just wasted nutrition so learn what you can use and save money.

....

Or maybe I'm just really really cheap hahaha

thanks for the post :)