Financial Reflections

When trying to save money, it’s way to easy to fall into the cheap food trap.  You know, the discount foods that often are over-processed, high in fat and low in fiber.  They’re almost as bad as all those heavily-hyped health foods that offer little benefit at a high price.  High-end health food stores offer healthy foods, but at a price that people on a budget can’t handle.  So what can you eat without going broke?

The good news is that if you’re willing to cook a little bit, there are plenty of choices.  Here’s my top five from my own experience:

1. Oatmeal - I eat this nearly every day.  It’s long been reported to be good for you and comes in at about 12 cents a serving.  I get the store brand of 1-minute oats, boil it up according to the instructions and add just a touch of brown sugar.  Oats not your thing?  Try grits, or maybe Cream of Wheat.
2. Brown Rice – Much like oats, this is another whole grain that cooks easily and is widely recommended as a healthy food.  Rice shortages hit back in 2008, but those are over, and brown rice isn’t exactly high in demand.  It takes longer to cook that white rice, but tastes great.
3. Beans - These come canned or dried and can be used in a ton of meals.  I’ll post my super-easy chili recipe next week when I discuss menus.  It uses red beans, which the Mayo Clinic recommends.
4. Sweet Potatoes – Much like regular potatoes, but super-powered.  As long as you don’t make them into a Thanksgiving-esque sweet potato casserole, they’re also low in calories.  Can’t stand sweet potatoes?  Try regular potatoes, they’re pretty good for you as long as they’re not in “fry” or “chip” form.
5. Fruits and Vegetables (in season) -  It’s the “in season” here that’s the important part.  You aren’t going to find good deals when veggies are out of season, but they are often.

I’ve eat all of these fairly regularly now.  What’s best is that I find I skip the vending machine more often, saving money on there and I’ve lost about 15 pounds since getting more serious about it.

What frugal fit foods have you found?  Let me know in the comments below…