Plan ahead to cut costs without cutting nutrition

In order to reduce costs but keep nutritional value up, you have to plan ahead.

1. Use unprocessed oatmeal. It takes a little while to cook, but it’s cheaper, with less sodium and additives than the instant stuff.
   
2. Skip prepared, convenience foods. The more prepared you get the food, the more it will cost you. The more whole your food, the better it is nutritionally.
3. Cook just once for every two or three meals.
4. Frozen vegetables are a great nutritional bargain. Frozen vegetables are flash frozen, picked at the peak of ripeness, so often the nutrients are at a higher level than the more expensive fresh.
5. Keep variety in your diet. Eat various affordable fruits, vegetables, beans and proteins, but also experiment with seasonings.
6. Go ethnic. The diets of some cultures are a healthy bargain since they tend to use less meat and more plant foods and grains.
7. Buy tubs of plain nonfat yogurt. It’s less expensive and more nutritious than the individual cartons of flavored yogurts.
8. Some healthy foods are worth the splurge. High-fat and high-sugar foods may seem less expensive and more convenient than whole, low-fat, high-fiber foods, but too much can have long-term negative health consequences, including heart disease, diabetes and obesity.