The average grocery bill for a family of four within the United States is anywhere from $586 to $1,159. For most American families, meats make up forty percent or more of that food spending budget. Cutting your grocery budget is something people are investigating as food costs are expected to rise in the next five years. Eating cheaper shouldn’t mean eating less healthy.
The math behind an affordable diet
A low-cost healthy diet doesn’t have to be more work. While a few $1 burgers at a fast food joint seem like a great choice to eat cheaply, they are actually costly. A family of four will eat about 360 meals every month. A liberal food budget of $1,159 means each meal should be no a lot more than $3.22. One easy way to cut down on how much you spend is simple: eat less meat.
The idea of ‘weekday vegetarian’
Although it may be cheaper to go completely vegetarian, individuals are unwilling to make that move. If you cut meat out of your diet, it can conserve you around $200 a month. You can also try making meat a much smaller portion of your entire meal – the USDA recommended serving size for meat is just three ounces, not the five to eight that most Americans eat. Your pocketbook will thank you if you eat just just a little less meat.
What to eat then?
If you’re not consuming meat, that does not mean that your vegetables should replace anything as part of your diet (though a lot more vegetables never hurt any person). Protein is important in helping you feel full after a meal though. Protein needs to replace the meat somehow. Try replacing your $2 – $3 per serving meat with:
- 20 cents per serving – rice and beans
- Lentils with a nut sauce – 45 cents per serving
- Oatmeal with milk – 25 cents per serving
The basic idea is to combine legumes, grains and nuts together. These 3 groups alone don’t make protein. Any two do when together.
