Fast-food is tasty but also cheap. Is it possible to eat healthy on a budget?

Fast food is not an indulgence but a necessity for those who want to save money on meals.  My breakfast throughout my college years was two samosas and a cup of chai in the canteen. The combination of an oily snack and a caffeinated drink is not only cheap but also keeps hunger at bay for a while. However, that's a poor choice to make considering the money saved doesn't really stick - you would be compelled to spend on medicines later and maybe also have to sign up at a gym a few years down the line.

Luckily, you can easily eat healthy on a budget. Most of us just don't know how. I learnt the hard way after getting obese. Here are a few tips for you so that you don't make the same mistakes!

• Understand the basics of nutrition

One of the first topics we learn as children is the concept of a balanced diet. Sadly, we forget about it after writing our exams. A quick recall: there are five major types of nutrients viz. carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. We need all the five in the right amounts for a healthy diet. 

• Plan your meals

A healthy lifestyle doesn't happen in auto-pilot mode. To start planning our meals, the first thing to do is count your calories - you should not be consuming more than you spend. Secondly, it's better to have food intermittently rather than binge at one go when you are starving. That ensures that you don't overeat.

• Cook at home

Students and young professionals tend to eat out or order in until their wallets are empty on the 25th day of a month. Cooking at home will not only save you money but also save your health. It's also the best way to ensure that you are not having food fried in oil that has been reused for the third time.

• Shop for whole foods

For the uninitiated, whole foods are plant-based edibles that are not processed or refined and haven't been laced with preservatives and additives. Basically, they are foodstuffs that haven't been altered from their natural state. Millennials must give the good old mandi a chance. Not only will you discover greens that you never heard of, you will also save a lot on food expenses.

• Stock up during sales

Keep an eye out for great deals on food delivery apps. Once in a while there would be a 30% discount on dates or a 50% discount on olive oil. Since these things can be stored for a while, stock them up for a month or so.

• Buy groceries seasonally

There are two benefits of this - firstly, buying seasonal fruits, vegetables and grains means you aren't having stuff that's preserved for a long time or grown on a lot of chemical fertilizers. Second, foodstuff transported over large distances are more often than not denatured - in the simplest terms, they start rotting from inside. Most importantly, fruits and veggies imported from another region are always costlier.

• Try cheaper brands

There's no reason to buy the most premium oatmeal in the supermarket if you are on a budget. Generally, the shiny labels with marked up prices are only marginally better than their cheaper peers.

• Beware of BOGOF offers

We all have a tendency to buy what we don't need if it's for a discount. If it's a dress or a flower vase, it could be given away on a birthday. But you can't do that with foodstuffs. As such, be careful not to buy something only because of a buy-one-get-one free offer. It's better to add one of what you will eat to your basket rather than two of what will rot in your fridge.

Conclusion

There is no need to earn huge amounts to eat healthy. Use these above seven tips to make healthy eating budget-friendly. And while you make your checklist for today's grocery shopping, you must also recognise the importance of financial planning for everything in life. You might want to check out the range of interactive tools and calculators to help you plan for your financial goals with HDFC Life.

ARN:ED/08/20/20191