How To Eat Grass-Fed Meat On A Budget

Is it possible to buy grass-fed meat on a budget?

Simply put, yes, grass-fed meat on a budget can be done!  If you read my last article on “Why I Switched To Quality Meat” you will understand my reasoning’s behind the switch.  I’m happy to announce that since being introduced to ethically raised, sustainable, grass-fed meat, I haven’t purchased ANY store-bought meat or fish.

This doesn’t mean I am against going out and getting a burger at the five guys down the road or stealing a few of my daughter’s fish sticks when she’s not looking.  Everything in moderation right? But what I have switched is my entire thinking on the meat I am buying.

How do we budget in grass-fed meat?

As a family of four, we are very frugal.  One of the hardest things as a family that is conscious of money is budgeting when it comes to groceries and meals.  However, after doing things inexpensively for so long we had a pretty good system down.  This all changed when I came across Meatme.

The thought of high quality, grass-fed, ethically raised and sustainable meats, poultry and fish sounded amazing to me.  I knew the health benefits would be great, I knew my body would react much more favourably to this kind of food over store-bought cheap meats and I loved having peace of mind of how the animals have been raised.

How we were able to spend double on our meats when we’re already on a budget

I did a little bit of a trial run with this and to my surprise, it turned out great.  Here are my tips for eating clean, quality grass-fed meats on a budget.

Budget in the quality meat first

When we started figuring out how we can add grass-fed quality meat to our budget, we decided to make it our priority.  That meant it would come first out of our monthly grocery fund.  As a family of four, we are pretty good at keeping our grocery budget at $250.00 – $300.00 bi-weekly.  The box of food from Meatme came to a total of $192.00 and that included the following:

To put this into perspective, take your monthly grocery budget and subtract $192.00.  How much are you leftover with for fruits and veggies plus of course all the other family supplies you need (snacks for the kids, toilet paper, diapers, wipes etc…)?  Probably a pretty good chunk.

Eat more veggie and fruits

That’s right, you were probably thinking you would need to spend $192.00 bi-weekly.  I am sure MANY do it that way.  But to stick to our monthly budget I used my one big order seen above and spread that out over the month and just instilled way more veggies and fruits into our diet.

Spread the quality meat out

Did you know that the actual “healthy” portions of meat, fish, and poultry we SHOULD be eating are a very small portion?  Experts call for 5-7 ounces of protein a DAY in our diet.  But guess how much we weighed a standard grocery store chicken breast at?  6 ounces!!

Do you know why it’s that big?  Most likely hormones and fillers.  Yuck!  When you think about this, if your using and weighing your meat out properly, it spreads A LOT farther than you’d think.

Also, once I cooked the chicken roast, I used every last piece I could, including saving the bone and making chicken broth.  I added the leftover chicken, some veggies and whole wheat noodles and was able to have a big pot of soup to last another few days.  Yes, it might take getting creative, but trust me it’s worth it.

Buy more frozen fruit and veggies

It’s pretty known that you can buy frozen fruit and veggies for much cheaper and yet you can still buy organic while saving money.  For instance, we like Costco for the big frozen bag of organic broccoli, organic mangos and the root vegetable mix.

All of these bags cost between $10-$14 and last a long time!  That’s not to say we don’t still buy fresh veggies and fruit because we do.  The fresh veggies and fruits are usually a mix of avocados, bell peppers, lettuce, cucumbers, oranges (you get the picture).

We like to keep everything well rounded. This helps keep the grocery bill cost down and in the long run, have much less waste.  This leads me to my final tip…

Use up everything in your fridge/freezer before restocking

By now you would have a fridge/freezer full of quality healthy foods, plus no doubt your typical eggs, cheese, bread, all the things that make up the other portion of your healthy diet, so use it up!!

I can’t stress that enough.  Even if that means avocado toast with a side of eggs for dinner.  It’s still healthy, filling and nutritious.  Some nights we have had so many veggies leftover we just do a lazy stir fry.  Mix up the leftover veggies, maybe a little bit of grain (quinoa, whole wheat rice, etc…) some seasonings and you’ve got another easy, healthy dish.  Use up as much as you possibly can before you go buy more.

Grass-Fed Meat On A Budget Can Be Done, You Just Need A Plan

Eating grass-fed meats on a budget is possible with these five tips.  Our family lives by these tips and they have helped us be able to afford these foods to better impact our healthy budgeted lifestyle.

This is not to say you should feel guilty if you can’t do it this way, or if it’s easier to buy Kraft Dinner for the kids and you nibble on it too. Everything in moderation I truly believe.  I just hope that this article helps you see how it IS possible to make small adjustments and to afford quality foods that can seriously impact your overall health.  I want to give another big shout out to Meatme! If you reside in the Metro Vancouver area, I encourage you to check them out.  If you missed my interview I conducted with them, check it out here!  

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Xo, Asia