I am so excited to be sharing my most recent find with y’all. As a college student who is newly married and not rolling in the dough, I am always trying to find ways to save money. At the same time, though, I want to make sure I am not jeopardizing my health so this means I must find good deals on good food. Good food = happy belly = happy ashlee! My husband and I have done quite a bit of shopping around to find the best places with the best prices and I am going to share one of those secrets with you today.

First, you have to do your homework. We have done ours by going out and exploring the cities best stores. You have done yours by coming and reading this blog post, thanks by the way! While we were out and about we found major differences & here are some of the examples:

• $6.97 for a bottle of almond milk vs. $3.49
• $6.99 for 18 eggs vs. $5.99 for a dozen
• $14.99/lb of raw cashews vs. $5.49/lb (what!)
• $27.64 for 32 oz. of (real) maple syrup vs. $6.99 for 16 oz.

As you can see, those are pretty significant price differences. That’s why we do the exploring and give you the tools and information you need to go out and save. It’s a win win situation. Here at Simplholsitic we want to make this as easy as possible for you. We want you to succeed and to share this good news with your friends and families because they deserve to know as well. Now, there was one other amaaaazing deal that we found. Want to know what it is? Okay okay, you don’t have to yell, I’ll just share it with you.

Here are some of favorite stores to shop at for a good deal on clean eats and products

1. Thrive Market – This website is one of the greatest online stores for organic food without the hefty price tag. They carry the best brands that are sustainable, organic, GMO-free, gluten-free and much more. Their brand partnerships are incredible and they always have a free item you can get with your order. If you click here you can get a free item, 1 month of free access and 15% off your first purchase. Whoa, that’s good. Plus, for every membership purchased, they donate one to a family in need. So cool. My favorite items there are: cacao nibs, CALM magnesium powder and superfood nut blend. Another favorite are these delicious bars that are FILLED with protein.
2. Grocery Outlet – They are a great store with a great jingle. This store always has some kind of surprise at hand whether that be granola bars (pictured below), grass-fed meats, organic blueberries or Alaskan Salmon. Grocery outlet has been booming with the NOSH section which is filled with organic, GMO-free, local and nutritious options. Be careful though, somethings here are expired so just keep an eye out for that.

Aloha Bars: usually $3.00/bar and we got 15 bars for $7.50… SCORE.

3. Natural Grocers – What, what, what? Yep, I’m so serious guys! This store is great and I say that for many reasons; the biggest being their avocados…. Where else can you find big, ripe, organic avocados for .99 cents?! If you know, tell me because I surely can’t find another place like that (unless there’s a sale). They have much more to boast than the avocados though, their produce in general is immaculate. Their staff are trustworthy and loving. Their education program is on point and they have incredibly high standards. So, go there & remember to tell them who sent you 🙂

4. Amazon – Yes guys, amazon has food and good food at that. One of my favorite products to order from amazon is their organic nori sheets. This is a seaweed sheet that is perfect for homemade sushi nights with family and friends. The price is unbelievable and the taste is even better! They have lots of other goodies too 🙂

5. Simply Real Foods – An incredible store for online health food shopping, without the membership fee! The owners are THE sweetest and they are in for for health (not $$).

​​Now, navigating the grocery store can be a whole different can of worms. You have to dodge twinkles, strawberry milk, pop tarts and potato chips, dang. I mean, this takes a lot of self control and when you have kids begging for everything you pass, how can you say no? I am here to tell you that it’s possible and that you are going to not only do it but you are going to excel in the are of healthy grocery shopping. I figured I could rant on and on about the do’s and don’t but instead I created a small list on how I began to choose health in the grocery store. Here you go:

• Positioning: As a general rule, steer clear of the inside aisles. These aisles are the ones that hold the holy grail of trans fat, food colorings, fake sugars and other nutritional bandits. The cereals that are targeted at grabbing the attention of your kids are also in these aisles. Save yourself the hassle and don’t even walk down them. The majority of the foods you NEED will be on the outskirts of the store or in a health section. Segregation, I know. Produce will all be together and they usually have an organic section where you can grab all of your chemical free goodies. Look for the stickers on fruit/veggies that start with a 9 are are five digit long. If it starts with a 4 and is four digits long, it is conventionally grown and more than likely contains a host of toxic chemicals.

• Lists: These little pieces of paper, notes on your phone, voice recordings a be a life saver. They will save your time, money and sanity. Lists prevent us from buying what we don’t need and they encourage us to go after the prize (probably dinner). I liked to compartmentalize my lists into sections like “produce”, “pantry”, “cold”. This helps me to grab all that I need from each section at once. Then, I get out of the store more quickly. Be strict, do not buy anything that you don’t have on your list. This will bring some healthy discipline into your life & the lives of your kiddos!
• Labels: This is another big one when it comes to grocery store shopping. The shelves in these places are filled God only know what. These foreign ingredients can harm our bodies more than we can imagine and that is why it is important to start tuning in on what the labels say. I have a general rule, if it is more than 5 lines long or has ingredients you can’t pronounce, DO NOT GET IT. Set it down gently & run away. There are, of course, some exceptions like “quinoa” & “turmeric” but you get the point. If sugar is high on the ingredients, no. If you see numbers, no. If the word artificial is in there, you guessed it, no. This is a great post by my friend Jenny from Organically Blissful!

All of these tricks are going to save you money in many ways. 1) you won’t buy unnecessary foods anymore, 2) you will not pay unnecessary medical bills anymore, 3) you will not pay for the weight loss supplements because you will NOT need them 🙂

So, you have the information you need to go out and make smarter choices. Your wallet will be happier. Your belly will be happier. You will be happier. If you would like to join me for a grocery shopping trip, head over to my services tab & book a time for us to go shopping. This girl does love to shop (for food, not clothes!). I can’t wait to hear from you.

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Comment your favorite places to shop below!

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