Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is

This year may be the year I resolve to put my grocery shopping money where my mouth is and stop frequenting Taco Bell drive-thru twice (or thrice) a week for their rice and bean burrito.  Not to say that their burrito is evil per se (though it is tasty and addictive).  It’s just not sensible financially when I could be spending about the same on bags of rice and beans and some flour tortillas at my local supermarket and always have these staples on hand at home. 

Remember the old adage about shopping the perimeters only of your supermarket?  There’s something to that. Carefully plotted out, a healthy eating plan can be as inexpensive or more so than fast food where McDonald’s meals can now top six dollars. (I may have gotten the salads, which are also pricey, but I’m an avid scanner of their whole drive-thru menu.)

“It’s a total myth that eating healthy is expensive,” according to dietitian Katherine Tallmadge, author of the book Diet Simple. In fact, she holds, “it’s the cheapest way to eat. The fat, the salty, the sweet, that’s the expensive stuff.”

With my resolution firmly in hand (clutching my reformed grocery list, that is) I did some sleuthing at my local Price Chopper Supermarket and found out that a large bag of potato chips can cost anywhere from three dollars to $5.99.  For the same money, I could buy several pounds of fresh potatoes with nutrients intact and many possibilities for preparation.

So I am now buying things like a lot of quite small and skinless cuts of chicken, those full of protein beans I love (I tell myself, “Don’t head for that drive-thru, Cindy!”) and fruits in season when they’re cheapest not to mention freshest.

Getting on track with healthier eating can save me money in the short term, but it has the potential to save me money in the long term as well.  Studies show eating right and regular exercise can lower prescription costs and medical costs can decrease as well.

Exercise can also improve conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease.  That translates into better overall health and fewer doctor visits. 

Well, catch you later.  We might bump carts in the fresh veggie aisle.

Cindy

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Cindy Battles is a freelance writer based in Rutland, VT, winner of the National Disability Institute’s 2008 Blog Contest and a regular contributor here on the Real Economic Impact blog.