I had, in all honesty, intended to write my own post on the cost of going low-carb ( Primal/ Paleo/ Banting – what ever you want to label it!!! ) but then I spotted this article from The Real Meal Revolution and decided they’ve done the job for me 🙂
https://realmealrevolution.com/real-thinking/banting-on-a-budget-is-easy-part-one
N.B. This is a South African website (hence the notion that avocados can be bought cheap!) but all the suggestions still apply in the UK.
Main points:
- Compare shop prices – MySupermarket is a very quick, if rough, way to do this if you don’t want to go to each website individually.
- Buy in bulk, but I would add only if you can store it properly. If you can’t store it, or better still share it, then you risk wasting food.
- Buy from markets – having already checked your store prices (see above) you can decide if it’s cheaper, better quality or you just want to support a local business.
- Eat eggs every day. Simples.
- Swap out expensive cuts of meat – just check the prices, it’s a no brainer. A whole chicken is significantly cheaper than pre-cut portions, you get way more bang for your buck and really is not that hard to prepare.
- Try eating more tinned fish. I had horrible memories of being forced to eat tinned pilchards, with the bones, on toast as a child…. but I tried again with some good quality sardine fillets in olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon juice, and I was converted. Think of those gorgeous tapas dishes you have on holiday. It’s the same thing!
In addition to the myth that it’s too expensive, I get a lot of comments that it must be boring and repetitive with so few options (?) to choose from….. well we’ve been low carb for over 4 years and I can’t say that’s been the case for us. In fact I see far more repetition in “traditional” diets e.g. Friday night is pizza, Tuesday is tacos etc.
Along with trying out the odd *new* ingredient from time to time, or taking inspiration from restaurants, eating seasonal veggies keep things changing. This can be confusing in the UK since we have access to pretty much everything (mostly imported) all year round, and the prices don’t change all that much either. On our recent trip to South Africa, we saw how little choice their supermarkets have compared to ours – and this is meant to be the country so much of our produce comes from!
The BBC have a good, simple guide here to help you out:Â http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/seasons