Keto Diet on a Budget

There is no reason that participating in the keto lifestyle should cost more money. In fact, it should save you money! Find out how to do the keto diet on a budget.

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Keto on a Budget

I hear too often about the concerns people have with the cost of transitioning to a keto lifestyle. Here's the thing though, it doesn't have to be more expensive at all. In fact, it can be cheaper! You absolutely CAN do keto on a budget and enjoy your food at the same time!

Prepare yourself to...PREP! Prep your meals. Prep your time.

There are a few things that need to be done in order to successfully not dent your wallet when transitioning to Keto!

The first step in preparation is cleaning out your freezer and making room for bulk foods and leftovers.

RELATED - How to Start the Keto Diet (AGAIN)

Buy in bulk

if you have a store like Costco or Sam's club near you, you should definitely get a membership. Buying foods in bulk can save you a ton of money.

Things like meat, grass-fed butter, nut butters, eggs, almond flour, spices, monk fruit, goat cheese, avocados, and organic frozen veggies are always on my Costco list. If you go once a week and rotate what you buy, it won't be such a hard hit all at one time.

I go every weekend. If you buy their bulk meats, take them home, portion it out, season it and freeze it then you have an almost ready-made dinner just waiting to be thawed out. Super time saver too!

Be sure to check out my Costco Shopping List with recipes for some ideas on what you can guy in bulk. Even if you don't have a Costco near you, it can give you an idea of what is available in bulk!

Buy Freshly frozen organic fruits and veggies

As I said above, I buy organic frozen veggies mostly at Costco. My regular store has them as well, but they end up being more expensive.

We don't eat a ton of fruits with keto, but certain berries are ok to eat in small amounts. I always have a bag of frozen blueberries and other berries on hand to throw into smoothies.

The organic frozen broccoli is great because it comes in a large bag but inside it is partitioned into 1 pound bags. Perfect to pull one out for dinner (or two in my case).

Are you having issues with veggies and carbs? Maybe skimping out? Please take a moment to read about Keto and Veggies: Are Veggies Optional?

Meal Prep

If you plan your meals ahead of time, you are less likely to run to the store to buy higher priced items. Lunches can be especially hard for keto folks.

Check out a few of my meal prep guides for shredded chicken as well as with ground beef.

Ground Beef Meal Prep

How to Meal Prep with Shredded Chicken

These are just some basic ideas for getting started with meal prepping.

You can prep meats, veggies, sides, anything you want for the week.

Batching cooking

BATCH COOKING!!! Not only does this save you time, but it will save you money.

Eating leftovers is a great way to not waste food.

When we don't plan for leftovers, we usually end up throwing away smaller portions of food.

If we plan for leftovers then we can eat dinner leftovers for lunch the next day or for dinner in a few days. I will often eat the same dinner twice in a week so I can make a bigger batch.

Freeze unused leftovers

If you have leftovers and are tired of eating them, FREEZE THEM! You may be sick of them now, but you'll love them in 2 weeks when you don't have to cook some night.

Even if you have only 3 meatballs leftover, stick them in the fridge, cut them up the next morning and mix in with some eggs rather than making bacon! Boom - you just saved a few pieces of bacon.

Intermittent Fasting

If you practice Intermittent Fasting then you are technically skipping breakfast and saving the cost of breakfast. Enough said.

Shop the meat sales

Seriously! You can save huge on this one. If you shop a bit more often at your local grocery store, they will usually discount meat that is expiring that day or the next day.

Even if you don't want to eat it that night, stick it in the freezer. As long as you freeze it by or on the "best by" date then you are good! Use your judgment obviously and make sure it looks good. My local store, Safeway, will often discount these by 50%! That is a huge saving!

Ingredients

Don't use exotic ingredients. If you don't have a lot of spices or crazy ingredients (like Tiger nut flour), then you can budget to buy one "extra" thing per week and over time your pantry staple items will grow!