Hooray today a Trader Joe’s (www.traderjoes.com) opened here in Greenville, SC, on Woodruff road I am so excited. Trader Joe’s is health food store that carries mostly it’s own private label products. Trader Joe’s namesake products are excellent and committed to not having any trans fat, GMO ingredients, artificial colors, preservatives, or flavors. They also carry some organic products, some of my favorite items are the Raw Creamy Almond butter for only $4.99 a jar (a real steal) and the prepackaged guacamole (if I’m in a rush and need something quick and delicious on the run). But they have many more great products and good prices, so check them out if you never been there.
So now leading into my article for Money Saving Tips for Eating Raw Foods that comes out of my new Free Raw Living Foods Starter Kit that you can get Here.
Money Saving Tips for Healthy Living
1. Scout out all of your favorite stores in your area and look for items that you will use on a regular basis. After you do this, then you basically know the least expensive places to purchase certain items. For example; Wholefoods have 33 oz. bottle of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil for $5.99. Trader Joes carry raw almond butter for $4.99 when it can cost $8 to $12 for the same size jar elsewhere. Both of these are in-store brands, so always check for the store brand of items that you use, they are usually less expensive.
2. If you cannot afford to eat all organic than buy foods that carry the most amount of pesticide residue organic and get other things conventional. Also fruits and veggies that tend to have a hard shell such as avocadoes are usually okay not to buy organic. I tend to buy all of my greens organic though. See the chart Here.
3. Buy bulk whenever possible if it something you use a lot of and it has a long shelf life. Also you can form buying clubs or coops with people eating the same way that you are.
4. Start a garden. Great way to eat fresh and save money at the same time. Also growing your own sprouts are more cost effective than buying them.
5. Shop at farmer’s markets or u-pick farms if you have them in your area. Again fresher and cheaper.
6. Get on the email list of your favorite grocery or health food store to keep up with their specials and coupons. For example the health food store here in Greenville, SC, Earthfare, usually gives something away free with a purchase weekly. Also visit stores once a week to take a look at in-store coupons and circulars.
7. Try shopping at Cultural grocers such as Indian or Asian markets, because they carry a lot of natural products and exotic produce usually cheaper than mainstream grocery or health food stores. For example, you can usually find seaweed cheaper at the Asian market.
8. Take a grocery List with you to the store, to stop a lot of impulse buying.
9. Do not overbuy produce and perishable items because you can find yourself wasting a lot of food.
10. Keep it simple on a daily basis and treat yourself to the more complicated recipes once in a while.
11. Buy Quality and not Quantity. It will save you money in the long run.
Follow the instructions outlined in the program that you decide is best for you.
