If you’ve been intimidated by rising grocery costs, pricey health foods and confusing labels – this article is for you. We’ll be sharing 5 cheap tricks to achieve your health goals.

With grocery costs up by 10%, many of us are struggling to get through the weekly shop, let alone managing to eat healthily. But it is possible – here are a few ways you can maximise your health, not your spending.

Buy whole foods

Contrary to popular belief, often time healthier foods are cheaper than their junky counterparts. This is because they’re often less processed and sold in larger portions, some even tripling in size when cooked, like rice, quinoa and oats. You may have noticed that those packs of pre-grated cheese are more expensive than a whole block – despite the fact that the former is often packed with additives. You’ll also get more serves out of dried beans than canned ones, and when you measure it to scale, you’ll end up saving a far few dollars – and you’ll skip the added sugars, too.

Buy “ugly” fruit and veggies

If you’re looking to save your health and you cash too, don’t skimp out on the fruit and veg. You don’t have to buy the most expensive produce, there are a number of “ugly” campaigns which offer less conventionally good-looking fruit and veggies for a fraction of the price of their counterparts. From Coles’ “I’m Perfect” produce to Woolworths’ “Odd Bunch” range, there are a variety of cost-effective options on the market. These campaigns also reduce the mass food wastage caused by unused fruits and veggies, with 45% of produce going to waste globally. If you’re looking to save money by skipping the organic stuff, simply give it a bi-carb soda and water soak for 15 minutes. This removes a variety of pesticide residue, according to research.

Plan and prep your meals

Plan the week’s meals ahead of time and then pick a day to cook up and store these meals to see you through the week. Cooking multiple meals every day leads to increased power bills from the stove and oven, and that’s why we love meal prep – preparing food in advance means cooking a larger amount in a shorter amount of time. With a study showing Australians and Americans spend around 6 hours cooking in the kitchen, meal planning and prepping is one way to see massive reductions in energy bills and groceries. This will not only save hours over the week and allow you to dedicate time to other areas in your life, it’ll save your wallet too. It’s a cheap way to get those fresh, nutritious foods into your diet – remember you can freeze produce to use as needed, helping you save even more money.

Combine diet with exercise

This costs nothing but time – and only a bit of it. It will boost the effectiveness of your healthy diet, helping your heart, brain and blood flow. New research has found that while diet may be more impactful than exercise, a combination of a both is ideal, and leads to far better weight-loss results than relying on diet alone. It also supports mental health, with the American Psychological Association revealing that that just 5 minutes of exercise can boost our mood. So, get those joggers on and start supplementing your diet with exercise for the low price of $0.00.

You can even try some lower impact exercises:

• Yoga
• Pilates
• Swimming
• Walking
• Cycling

Don’t do it alone

The faster you get on track, the more money you’ll save in the long term on health costs, junk food and fad diets. If you’re keen to get your health back in your control, it helps to do it with a team of experts rallying behind you, so you’ll not only achieve your goals – you’ll maintain them too. We invite you to sign up to our 8-Week Program where we’ll be ditching sugar and learning some easy tips and tricks to keep cravings at bay.

When you sign up with us, you’ll have access to clear-cut meal plans, community support and exclusive access to our sugar-free content. Here’s what’s on offer:

1. 8 weeks of meal plans and shopping lists.
2. 90+ member-only recipes.
3. Community forums to share your journey.
4. Support and guidance from the I Quit Sugar team.
5. Exclusive content from our panel of experts.

If you’re ready to ditch sugar and the host of maladies that come with it – JOIN NOW!