by Cindy Tabacchi

Created on: June 04, 2009

You can save a great deal of money while eating healthy, delicious food. This can be achieved through a variety of strategies. Some of the most obvious money saving activities are avoiding waste, preparing meals at home, and buying foods when they are in season and on sale. Other helpful ideas are planning, freezer meals, making water your beverage of choice, and vegetable gardening. Utilizing all of these methods will provide the greatest savings, but even using a few strategies can eliminate some big budget busters.

Avoid Waste

According to the USDA, as reported by CNN, about one quarter of the food purchased in the U.S. is thrown in the garbage each year. Some researchers believe the amount wasted is much higher. A good way to stop wasting food is to start keeping track of how much food your family throws away each week. Just by being aware of the situations that result in wasted food, you may learn what causes you to waste food and make the necessary changes to reduce the waste. Perhaps you are in the habit of overbuying perishable items that go bad before they can be eaten. Leftovers have a way of migrating to the back of the refrigerator where they are forgotten. Freezing leftovers and reheating for a leftover buffet dinner is a good way to avoid throwing food away.

Prepare Meals at Home

The dollar menu at your favorite fast food restaurant may seem like a good deal, but by now I think we all know that cheeseburgers and fries really aren't good for us. Many people choose fast food more out habit than because they actually like the food. Habits can be hard to break and food habits especially so. It may seem like a time saver to pick up lunch or dinner at the drive through, but you may be saving less time than you think. Preparing simple meals doesn't actually take that much time, especially when family members work together. And the time spent together in the kitchen is just so much more satisfying than time spent in the car waiting in line at the drive through.

Sales and Eating in Season

Eat produce that is in season. The quality will be better, and the prices will be lower. Some produce, like carrots and apples, last a long time in the refrigerator, so stock up when they are on sale. Other items, like broccoli, don't keep as well. So only buy what you intend to consume within one week, or stock up by blanching for a minute in boiling water and then freezing.

Meats should be purchased in bulk when on sale. They can

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