It’s very easy for a lack of money to have a negative impact on your health. When shopping for food the healthiest option is rarely the cheapest, but with a little forethought and planning it becomes possible to save money and eat a great nutritious diet. Everyone loves a win-win situation.

Pack lunch at work: No one likes waking up at the crack of dawn to make their lunch but at the end of the week when your £50 you won’t be regretting it. The key to this is planning ahead. One of my favorite things to do is make a large pan of pasta once a week, this can be split up into containers and frozen once cooked, all you need to do is remember to put the container from your freezer into your fridge before you head to bed and in the morning you have a great cheap and healthy meal to take to work.

Buying in bulk: This should be obvious but you would be surprised how many people still always go for the smallest option. For many years before I gave up smoking I would always buy the smallest pouch of tobacco available even though I knew I would still be smoking and have to re-buy the same item again at a higher cost to me than if I had bought a larger pack initially. This translates to food in just the same way, if it’s something you know you will use why not purchase a larger quantity and save some cash in the long run?

Invest in a good quality water bottle: We all know how important it is to keep our bodies hydrated but bottled water can cost an awful lot of money for something that’s a basic human right. Not only that but bottled water sometimes has to travel across the world before getting to you giving it a pretty nasty carbon footprint. To solve this I recommend getting yourself a good quality water bottle that can be taken everywhere with you within weeks it will have paid for it’s self as you won’t be purchasing water at every gym visit or train journey.

Become snack smart: By snacking throughout the day on healthy things like seeds nuts and dried fruits you can effectively strengthen your metabolism, as well as this by eating regular snacks you will have improved concentration levels and are less likely to overeat at your main meals.

Buy fresh fruits: This is always a tricky one, how many times have you had to throw out half a fruit bowl of food because you left it too long before eating and they have started to go bad? I know this happens to be all too often. The best thing to do is improve your fruit storage a bowl in direct sunlight is far from ideal. Instead try and store your fruit in a cool dry cupboard. Also harder fruits such as apple have a much longer lifespan than soft ones.

Get writing list: One of the best things anyone can do when trying to increase their productivity is list writing, the simple act of writing something down can have a powerful effect on us and I have found it’s helped me become far more organised than I used to be. The best thing to do with food is to keep a notepad in your kitchen, make a note of all the things you are running low on and any ideas you have regarding new things you would like to try, make sure you don’t forget this notebook when you head out shopping though!

This it guys with these tips you should be able to improve your health at the same time as tightening your purse strings, what more could you want.

Written by Cal Ince.