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 a lot more of that food spending budget. In the next five years, food costs are expected to rise which is why you should cut down your grocery budget. Eating cheaper shouldn’t mean eating less healthy.
The math behind a cheap diet
A low-cost healthy diet doesn’t have to be a lot more work. While a few $1 burgers at a fast food joint seem like a great choice to eat cheaply, they are really costly. Each month a family of four will eat 360 meals. Each meal for each person needs to be around $3.22 if on a spending budget of $1,159. Cutting down how much you spend is easy if you eat less meat.
The ‘weekday vegetarian’ concept
Even though going vegetarian completely is cheaper often, it isn’t a move people want to make. $200 can be cut out of your budget if you cut meat out of your diet. Additionally you might just try making meat a smaller part of your meal – the USDA suggested serving size for meat is just 3 ounces, not the five to eight that most Americans eat. If you eat just a little less meat, your pocketbook will thank you.
What should you eat?
If you’re not eating meat, that doesn’t mean vegetables should replace everything inside your diet (though more vegetables never hurt anybody). Protein is very important in helping you feel full after a meal though. Replacing your meat, then, with some other protein is very important. Replace your costly meat with:
- Rice and beans – about 20 cents per serving
- Hummus – about 30 cents per serving
- Lentils with a nut sauce – about 45 cents per serving
- Oatmeal with milk – about 25 cents per serving
The essential idea is to combine legumes, grains and nuts collectively. These three groups alone don’t make protein. Together, any two do.
