Streamline your Grocery Shopping Routine to Finally Get Healthy  and Save Money

One of the first steps to eating healthy is having the healthy and delicious option in your house. Deciding what to buy and figuring out how to eat healthy on a budget can feel overwhelming. Here are 21 grocery shopping tips to get your home and kitchen ready for a healthier lifestyle!

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Before Grocery Shopping Tips

To have the healthiest kitchen and save the most money, you may want to do a few things before you shop. A plan, a grocery list, and a phone full of discounts goes a long way. Getting a little organized before you go can relieve stress and help you feel less overwhelmed. Here are a few grocery shopping tips to try before you grocery shop.

1. Clean out your kitchen of foods that you feel are having a negative impact on your health.
2. Make your grocery list. There are many ways to go about this. One idea is to  plan your meals ahead of time and make a grocery list according to your planned meals and planned snacks. If you follow a list, you’re less likely to make an less nourishing last-minute food choice. Another idea is to make a general grocery list using The Meal Builder Cards found in The Nourishing Meal Builder. The Nourishing Meal Builder shows you how to make nourishing, delicious meal on the fly without meal planning.
3. Not sure how to meal plan and grocery shop? Try a healthy meal plan app.  For help preparing a HEALTHY meal plan and grocery list, you can visit several websites or apps like Mealime.com. The Mealime site and app helps you plan meals and  include a grocery list. You can find a healthy grocery list developed by a dietitian at http://dietitiandeanna.com/grocery-lists/
4. Take it a step further, after planning your meals once a week and following your grocery list; then pre-cook, pre-portion, and freeze food for the week. Then you will be ready to go the whole week and won’t worry about what you are going to eat all week long. Even better, you can even plan frozen meals, make all the meals in one day and freeze them for the rest of the month! I show you how to efficiently do this in the ebook, Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals.
5. The next step after planning your grocery list, is to find ways to save money. The best strategy I have found is using coupon and rebate apps. These apps are completely FREE!!!! By using these apps,  I was able to keep healthy foods in the house AND still save money. I don’t make it too complicated either. So I don’t get overwhelmed, I focus on only four discount apps. I just check these four apps before I shop for anything, not just groceries.

My Four Favorite Money Saving Apps

Ibotta App

The first is Ibottta. You can shop online by clicking on the store selections and shopping at your favorite stores right from the app. You can shop in a brick and mortar store as well, and you can even add your grocery store rewards card to the app! Before you shop, you just pick the coupons in the app that you think you might use. These coupons are added to your rewards card, and your discount will be added to Ibotta when you swipe your card at checkout. If you don’t have a card, no worries. You still pick out your coupons on the app before shopping. Then you scan your receipt in the app to receive the rebate. It is so simple. To sign up for Ibotta with my referral code click the link below:

ibotta.com

Coupons.com

The second app I use is coupons.com. This works much like Ibotta. I simply select the coupons I want to use before I shop, and then I shop. When I swipe my Food Lion card, for example, the coupons are used automatically! Check it out at Coupons.com

Swagbucks

I also use an app called swagbucks. For this app you get points for shopping at certain stores. These store selection is huge. I can buy groceries on amazon or a birthday present for my daughter at The American Girl store and earn points. You can also earn points by answering daily questions and taking surveys through the swagbucks app. You can use the points to get gift cards!!! And these are legit great gift cards. You can get $25 gift cards to Amazon, “Bath & Body Works”, Walmart and so much more! It is pretty amazing. Start getting swagbucks as my referral by clicking on the link below:

Swagbucks.com.

Ebates

The final app I use doesn’t really have many grocery coupons, but I like to mention it when I mention my other apps. This is ebates. You can buy all kinds of products and save. Again, this app gives you discounts to a huge number of popular stores like Kohl’s, “Bed, Bath, and Beyond”, and of course, Amazon. The list goes on and on. Whenever I am about to buy somehting online, I check this app along with the other three apps to see if a coupon or rebate is available. You can download this app through my referral link by clicking on the Ebates button below.

I can not emphasize enough how huge these saving have been for my family. My friends are amazed at how many groceries I am able to buy for the amount of money spent. When I get that rebate, I feel like I am bringing in money for my family!

By using these apps, you can shop healthy and save money.

5. Okay, so you planned your week or month, you made a grocery list, and you have found all your discounts. Now you are ready to grocery shop. Hold on! Are you hungry? Don’t go grocery shopping when you are hungry. If you are hungry, eat a healthy snack before grocery shopping.

Now you are ready to shop healthy and save money!

 Grocery Shopping Tips: At the Store

6. Stick to the Grocery List.  Or stick to the general grocery list found in The Nourishing Meal Builder. The Nourishing Meal Builder is more fluid and open to your mood and what is available in the grocery store.

7.  Get your children involved by letting them pick a different fruit or vegetable to try each week at dinner. Have them pick a variety of colors.

8. Buy packaged products that have whole foods listed at the first ingredient on a simple ingredients list. Check the labels and look for foods that are more nutrient dense vs. sugar and calorie dense. 

9. Make sure the majority of your grocery items are lean meats, fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.

10. Stock up on frozen and canned fruits and vegetables like canned peaches and pears so that a healthy option is always on hand.

12. Save time and money during the week by buying foods in bulk like lean protein (chicken breast and ground turkey), pasta, rice, beans, pretzels and cooking a week’s worth on Sunday night. Then, pre-portion the chicken or other meat into deck of card sized portions and store in freezer. Divide other foods into portions after getting back from the grocery store. (Example: make zip lock bags of pretzels.)

13. Don’t buy food just because you have a coupon. Use a coupon only for foods you actually want and use.

14. Avoid buying sugary desserts. Eating sugar causes us to want to eat more so limit sugary foods. In other words, the sweeter the food, the more we want sweeter food. The less sweet the food, the less we desire sweets. For example, if you go a long time without sweets, then a piece of fruit will taste plenty sweet to you and a piece of chocolate cake may taste too sweet to you. But if you continue to eat sweet foods, a piece of fruit will not taste sweet enough and a piece of chocolate cake will be needed to feed your sweet tooth.

After Grocery Shopping Tips

Once you are home from your grocery trip, you can unpack in a  way that can help you eat healthier throughout the day.

15. While you are unloading the groceries, wash fruits, and pre-portion healthy snacks in small ziplock bags as part of your unloading routine. I keep pre-portions snacks in a lower side shelf of the fridge. I wash grapes, strawberries, blueberries, etc and put a small amount in little ziplock bags. Then I store these individual bags in this lower refrigerator shelf. This is the “kids grab and go” snack shelf. My children know that if they are hungry they can always grab anything from this shelf. I also include cheese squares and yogurt on this healthy snack shelf as well.

16. You can also have a similar healthy snack spot in your pantry.  I bought a new shoe rack like the 24 Pockets – SimpleHouseware Crystal Clear Over the Door Hanging Shoe Organizer, Gray (64” x 19”)and hung the rack over the pantry door. I like the clear shoe racks so that my children can easily see what is inside. I keep healthy snacks like popcorn, cups of mandarin oranges, and whole-wheat crackers on the lower shoe compartments. These are snacks my children (and I) can easily grab anytime. I keep a small portion of their favorite not-so-healthy snacks in the higher shoe compartments. My children can’t reach these compartments and have to ask me if they can have these snacks.

17. Store foods out of site. If snacks are sitting on the counter, you are more likely to munch on them throughout the day. When you see them you will constantly crave them.

I hope you found some grocery shopping tips you can use in your home. Which grocery shopping tips did you find most helpful? What grocery shopping tips and tricks do you use when shopping?

The Nourishing Meal Builder

Find out how to make grocery shopping and cooking less stressful in The Nourishing Meal Builder! I don’t even spend time making grocery lists or meal planning now that I follow The Nourishing Meal Builder, and I am making an endless variety of fantastic meals!

Find More Grocery Shopping and Kitchen Organization Tips in  “Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals”

The “Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals” ebook not only includes a detailed freezer meal plan and grocery list, but also includes mindful eating strategies and techniques and a weight loss guide.

The “Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals” eBook has 22 Chapters full of helpful information and tips including:

• The “What is Preventing You From Living a Healthier Life?” interactive quiz
• The Mindful Eating Guide
• The Importance of Faith
• A Complete Healthy Freezer Meal Plan: You will learn how to cook all of your breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for a whole month in ONE day. Don’t worry, I don’t just give you a bunch of recipes and tell you to cook them in one day. The ebook includes strategies and “Pro Tips” on HOW to efficiently cook your meals in one day.
  

  The goals of cooking all of your meals in ONE Day are:

• More daily free time,
• A decreased grocery bill,
• Healthier meals for the whole family,
• Less daily stress, and
• Weight Loss/Weight Maintenance

Learn more about the “Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals” eBook here.

What Others are Saying about the “Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meal” ebook

“I have lost 17 pounds since I started eating these freezer meals. They are healthy AND taste great!!! We are now eating at home more, which has made a huge difference!” Chad, South Carolina

“As I read this book, I kept thinking, ‘this is so much more than a freezer meal cookbook! Lacy needs to be a life coach! She has such a positive outlook on life!’ “The Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals” ebook is so uplifing and encouraging!” Wendy, South Carolina

“I can actually see a decrease in my grocery bill since I started eating these freezer meals, and my kids love them! We are eating healthier now. Plus, we are eating more meals together as a family!” Nicole, South Carolina

Click here to learn more about the “Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals” ebook

About Lacy Ngo, MS, RDN

Developed by a registered dietitian, Lacy Ngo, MS, RDN, Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC focuses on how to live your healthiest, happiest, most meaningful life through faith-based mindfulness and evidence-based nutrition.

Ngo is currently the owner of Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC. Several branches fall under the Mindfulness in Faith and Food, LLC umbrella. One is Mindful Vending, which is one of the few dietitian owned and operated vending companies in the nation! She is also the author of two books, Mindfulness in Faith and Freezer Meals and The Nourishing Meal Builder. You can also find evidence-based nutrition articles, recipes, convenient healthy snack lists, and faith-based mindfulness techniques on her blog, Mindfulness in Faith and Food.

Copyright © 2017 Mindfulness in Faith and Food.

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