The Cost of Eating Healthier

This month my husband and I are making a conscious effort to become healthier.  I work out at Curves and before I go to my work out, I mall walk as fast as I can for 45 minutes.  Fortunately Curves is located in our mall which is quite convenient for me.

We started making a few subtle changes back in the fall but in December we began watching our sodium intake and we became diligent about reading those food labels.  I have posted about some of our food decisions here and under the healthy eating label.   What am I learning?  That I really need to be careful with grocery spending and put the money where the healthier food choices are such as fresh produce AND I need to make as much from scratch as possible. 

The pit fall to this is that if I take on too much all at once, I will become overwhelmed.  I am taking baby steps. 

Tonight I decided to try those indigo blue potatoes that I have seen in the produce section of the grocery store.  They were $3.99 for a 1.5 lb. bag.  Yikes.  I bought them because I wanted to have something different and frankly, they intrigued me.  I sliced these thin, tossed them with a little olive oil, sodium free barbecue seasoning and a smidgen of sea salt.  They were delicious and pretty.

We had ground chicken burgers for dinner also and I wanted to serve them with healthier buns than the normal burger buns.  The cost?  $3.69 for 8 buns that have 5 grams of fiber and 1/3 less calories than regular wheat burger buns.  Double Yikes.

I wanted ice cream for a treat.  I haven’t had ice cream in a very long time and I wanted chocolate ice cream.  Normally I would have purchased the on sale store brand 1/2 gallon of ice cream.  I am reading labels now and I ended up buying the name brand that comes in a 1.5 quart container and it only had 5 ingredients – all recognizable to me.  The cost?  $5.89.  Triple Yikes.

I would never have made these kind of purchases in the past, and I won’t be making these in the future.  Some people on a whim head to a restaurant, I on a whim headed to the grocery store and spent a high premium amount of money on 3 items.

So, what does this have to do with “The Path to Frugality?”  After all I made some high price purchases for three items today.  Well, I am going to be making my own ice cream from now on.  I am saving up for an ice cream attachment to my Kitchenaid mixer .  This special bowl will be kept in my freezer ready to be used.  Perfect for making ice cream and perfect for not taking up space in my cupboards.  I want to make ice cream that has things like blueberries and blackberries in it. 

I have baked my own honey whole wheat bread in the past but I am researching recipes for high fiber, multi-grain bread that I can bake in loaves, buns and rolls.  Making my own will be oh so much cheaper and again, I will know what ingredients will actually be going into the bread.  The same goes to researching recipes for healthier pasta.

And, I can save in other areas of our budget by making my own safer cleaners and soaps for our family.  I am still on and will continue to be on "The Path to Frugality."