So, you’re looking to save some more money at the grocery store without compromising your health. Sometimes it can be as simple as replacing one item with another similar item! Today, I’d love to tell you about 8 items you can buy to replace their costly, less healthful counterparts.

Oatmeal instead of cereal

Do away with the expensive boxes of cereal full of sugar and buy oatmeal! You could purchase those convenient packs of pre-made oatmeal, but I’d encourage you to buy a bag of oats instead. I find it so easy to create my own instant oatmeal packs, plus I can control the sugar content by adding various delicious toppings. Oatmeal will also help keep you feeling full so you may need less snacks 😉

Frozen fruit instead of fresh

Purchasing fresh fruit in season is an inexpensive way to get them, but frozen vegetables are a good option too. Especially because  they’re picked at the peak of their flavour and aren’t any less healthful than fresh. So if you find yourself in the dead of winter wanting fruit, try grabbing a bag of frozen fruit to save yourself some cash and disappointment with the lack of flavour.

Yogurt tub instead of cups

Sure, yogurt cups are really convenient for packing in lunches, but you could spend a little extra time once a week filling up reusable containers with yogurt from a tub instead. Buying yogurt in larger quantities (tubs or those pour bags) will save you big time.

Make dressing instead of bottled

Making salad dressings from scratch has got to be one of the most simple kitchen tasks you could do. Believe me because I don’t do complicated in the kitchen. If you’re used to buying those expensive bottles of organic/natural salad dressings, you’ll be saving yourself a bundle at the grocery store by making your own with simple inexpensive ingredients you may already have on hand! Here are some of my recipes:

• Ranch Dressing
• Raspberry Poppyseed Dressing
• Pomegranate Balsamic Dressing

Head of lettuce instead of bagged salad

Not only is a head of lettuce much cheaper than the bags or containers of salad, they last longer too! I understand the convenience of buying a bag or container, but really it doesn’t take much effort to tear up some lettuce leaves for a salad. Especially when you have to sort through the slimy pieces in the bags or containers anyways.

Rotisserie chicken instead of deli meats

Go for the whole rotisserie chicken instead of the deli meats for sandwiches. Your boring ol’ sandwiches will taste so much better! Plus, you’ll be feeding yourself something a bit healthier. But don’t stop at sandwiches, hang onto the bones and extra meat to make a delicious chicken noodle soup for another meal or two.

Dried beans instead of canned beans

I’ll be honest and say that we don’t eat a lot of beans in our house so I do tend to purchase the cans of beans. But, if you use beans a lot in your cooking, purchasing dried beans is the way to go if you want to save yourself a bundle! Cooking up a batch of dried beans is simple if you put your slow cooker to use or the new Instant Pot.

Brown Rice instead of white rice

There may not be much of a price difference between white rice and brown rice, but if you look at the nutritional value, you’ll win with buying the brown rice. The vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are some of the benefits, but one of the biggest pluses may be that the high amount of fiber in brown rice helps fill you up longer than white rice would. In turn, cutting down on the amount of snacks you may need between meals. Or even the amount you pile on your plate in the first place.

A you can see, there may be no need to stop buying some items completely to save money, but a simple replacement should help you out. How many of these replacements do you buy already? What are some other things that you buy to save money?