How can spending more on food save you money?

Does spending more to save sound silly? Consider this. Most people get sick with minor ailments at least 2-3 times a year. Common ailments include colds, flus, and often conditions like stomach upsets or migraine headaches.

How much does it cost to take time off work, buy supplement pills, pay someone to do your housework, or visit the doctor, even if it is just obtain a prescription, or a medical certificate? How much more does it cost if you factor in the same thing happening to your spouse, and maybe your kids as well?

Clearly, staying healthy can potentially save you plenty of money…and discomfort of course!

This is where spending more money on the food you eat can come in. A good diet is the cornerstone of a good healthy and happy lifestyle, and we don’t need a lengthy debate to establish that eating well will improve your health. Sadly, people often try to save cash by skimping on things like fresh vegetables, fruit, and other real foods. Too often one sees shopping trolleys loaded with tins and sachets of heat-and-eat meals, microwave dinners, and other “instant” convenience foods. Trading convenience for nutritional value is not a fair trade.

By laying out a bit more of your grocery money on fresh green vegetables and fruits you can really make a positive difference to your body’s wellbeing. Vegetables are not hard to cook, and the simplest ways are often best of all. Steaming and baking are two excellent ways to prepare tasty and healthy vegetable dishes, with minimal work and in a short time.

Another way to deliver more fruits and veg to your family is to get yourself a juicer machine, and make juices.You can go all out and buy something like the Angel Juicer that does everything (if you can afford it!) or even just a basic hand juicer, which will accomplish the same thing, albeit with a bit of a workout.

Vegetable juices may sound weird to many people, but don’t knock it before you have tried something like (my favourite) carrot, celery, apple, and ginger blend. Sure, you might spend an extra $20 or a bit more even per week on bunches of celery or carrots, but what if you can cut down your sick days, or cut out, say, one annual doctors visit per each family member? Not to mention a few less packets of prescription or other medication?

I always get suspicious when I see people pulling the spend-money-to-make-money, or spend-more-save-more lines, but when it comes to health and healthcare this much is true: If you make an effort to put good food into your body, you will be rewarded.