The Secret Hideout of Cheap Restaurants

Though it is much cheaper to cook at home than to eat out, sometimes going out is inevitable. But where would one go on a tight budget?

Here is a little known secret – the best place to look for cheap healthy eateries of all kinds is near the local college or university campus.

Cause students don’t have money, mostly don’t cook, are prone to many food movements (vegetarian, vegan, green, ethnic, etc…), and are always hungry. And the local business owners know that.

I used to live near the University of Waterloo. There is a whole area of restaurants right next to it where you can get all imaginable food for a fraction of the price elsewhere charged. Next to each other, and undercutting each other on price where Egyptian, Greek, Falafel, Italian, Indian restaurants and more. I blame the location for me taking a whopping ten years (after I moved out of my parents’ place) to actually start cooking. But if you are more intelligent than I was and only go out on occasions, than these places are a great source for cheap food.

And thought it’s true that many of the customers will be students, they won’t be the only ones. So you don’t have to worry about looking odd. Besides – you could always pass for a student. Or a professor ;)

Healthy Food on a Thrifty Budget

Whenever the subject of thrifty frugal living comes up there is always someone voicing a concern that they are not prepared to eat junk just to save money. It is universally acknowledged that coupons and discounts are much easier to find for things like sugary cereals, chips and ice cream.

But if you are on a tight budget yet want to eat and feed your family healthy foods, don’t despair. There are many ways to stretch the dollar while enjoying the savory pleasures of life. It just takes a bit more planning and organizing.

Here is a list (in no particular order) of money saving strategies you may find useful. If you have more suggestion, don’t be shy to add them in the comment section!

First of all you have to cook at home. Restaurants and takeout places wouldn’t be in business if they didn’t charge more than it costs them to make, plus maintain the place.

Buy local and in season. These would generally be healthier and cheaper because they don’t incur additional transportation costs.

If you live close to the edge of the city, drive around to check out local farms. ‘Pick your own’ deals offers cheap fresh produce plus fun family time. My kids still think that picking strawberries was the highlight of last summer.

Know your cheap produce and easy recipes to adapt them. Browse through your fliers. And then select the cheapest veggies to be the main feature of the week and others as garnish. Produce that is almost always on special somewhere includes: onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, apples, cabbage. Stores use them as “loss leaders” to lure people inside, so the discounts can be really significant. Just avoid the temptation to proceed into the junk aisle.

Here is a list of cheap healthy bargain foods other than produce.
* Legumes of all kinds.
* Whole grains.
* Spices. Tip – check spices (and legumes, actually) in ethnic stores. They are usually much cheaper there, sold in bigger bags and have a great variety. Which really beats paying $3 bucks for tiny bottle.
* Tofu (especially if bought at Asian markets).
* Dry fruits for snacks.
* Herbal teas. Indispensable in winter.
* Dairy

If you want to include organic, choose cheapest organic produce. Usually carrots and potatoes are low priced.

Grow your own organic garden. If you are intimidated by the size of your project, consider a square foot garden . That’s an easy way to get into gardening. Heck, you can start it in a box! There is plenty of free information on how to do that on the web, or you could check out books like McGee & Stuckey's Bountiful Container.

Grow your own herbs on the window. Fresh right into the pot or salad! What could be better?

Make smoothies instead of buying ice cream. Use bananas as a base – they are always cheap.

Know your health food stores. They often have specials going too and you can get great deals on things like hummus and yogurt. As a rule of thumb, there are more specials on products that have many competitors in the genre.

Many mainstream stores now carry organic brands. There frequently have discount. But make sure to check due dates. I find that organic products in big stores can be too close to their d-day for comfort.

Frozen Veggies – in winter these may actually have more vitamins than the overly transported fresh ones. And they have coupons, price matching and other special deals.

Drink more water – save on juices. Juices are full of sugar and unnecessary calories. Put a filter on your tap and enjoy.

Bag leftovers for lunch.

Get coupons from http://www.mambosprouts.com (USA), http://www.thehealthyshopper.ca/ (Canada). They have coupons for a great variety of health products.

Many manufacturers have coupons that can be printed from their sites. You can also contact the manufacturers directly and ask them to send you some coupons by mail. Many will do so. For example I buy Kiju organic apple juice for my kids. I wrote to the company, and they sent me coupons. Some of the other coupon friendly brands are listed here.

Collect easy cheap recipes. For great ideas, check out this blog . This girl lives in New York of all places, and cooks and eats healthy meals at home. She also breaks down the cost of all her recipes. (Now, I wish I could do that.) And here is a list of cheap one meal dishes with leftover potential.

Well, that’s aught to get you started for now, don't you think? :)