Things You'll Need:
- Willingness
- Patience
- Baby Steps
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Step 1
No juice and never soda for day-to-day consumption. Save sparkling and regular juices for special occasions. Instead, have herbal iced tea, milk, and water available for daily beverages. If you don't know how to make iced tea, I'm sure you can find a free eHow article that can teach you. Keep a pitcher of it in the fridge available. If you like it sweet, mix raw honey or agave nectar in it to taste. Limit milk to one glass a day per family member. Water is the healthiest drink you can have, so drink it most of all. You can do this! You will be amazed at how much extra money you'll have in your grocery budget.
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Step 2
Dump the coupons. Spend all that time clipping, comparing, and organizing your "savings" on processed, preservative-laden poison and go to the kitchen to make your own healthy goodness from scratch. Can't cook? Not true! In the words of Ratatouille, "Anyone can cook!" Find simple recipes and start practicing! I've published several easy recipes full of step-by-step pictures that you can find by clicking the link on my username at the top left of this article. Just like anything else in life, you learn as you go. Don't be afraid of your kitchen, don't be afraid to make mistakes, and don't be a perfectionist, it takes out all the fun!
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Step 3
Change your ingredients, not your recipes. You and your family have already established favorite foods, and there is no need to forsake them. Healthy food doesn't have to taste gross. Instead of using refined sugar, use rapadura. Instead of using chemical-laden margarine or vegetable shortening, use real butter, olive oil, or coconut oil. Instead of bleached flour, buy whole-grain or whole-wheat flour. Experiment with spelt and kamut, the most nutrient-dense grains and flours out there.
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Step 4
Remember to start out slow. Don't trash the ingredients you already have, but slowly start to incorporate the healthier products into your cooking. Use half of your new, healthy ingredients and half of what you already have and slowly start to taper the old stuff off until it no longer lives in your home. Good riddance!
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Step 5
Stop buying cold cereal. You heard me. Don't panic. This can be a hard habit to wean yourself from, but boxes of cereal are notorious for being nutrient-lacking (yes, even the "healthy" kinds) and very expensive. Instead, start to enjoy eggs, oatmeal (not the packaged kind, the kind easily made from scratch), sweet breads, pancakes, and if you're just jonesing for cold cereal, make your own granola.
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Step 6
Buy your staples in bulk. I'm not necessarily talking about the typical big box stores, but find a whole food co-op. Coordinate with other families and go in on 50-pound bags of oats, brown rice, popcorn, flour, grains (if you mill your own flour), butter, rapadura, raw honey, produce, and other staples. This will save lots of money, enable you to buy organic, and still save money. Look at the resource links at the bottom of this page to find a co-op near you.
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Step 7
Make your own baked goods: cookies, cakes, bread, biscuits, rolls, crackers, tortillas, etc. from scratch. The average family can save $1,500 a year following this step. Don't buy any more mixes, tubes, or boxes. They don't save that much time, but they do use up your grocery budget money, and they are filled with preservatives. Start out making your own cookies and desserts, then ease into making your own bread. Be realistic. If making things like your own tortillas takes up too much time, buy them and feel good about the money you're saving making other things.
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Step 8
Limit snacks to fresh fruits, berries, vegetables, nuts, and air-popped popcorn. This saves time in the kitchen. Crackers and chips are huge money-suckers, and they are largely void of any nutrition. You'll be surprised how often you and your family just eat boxed snacks because they're there and easy to grab, even when you're not hungry.
