Grocery hacks: Dietitian weighs in as people face tight budgets, rising inflation

Inflation continues to hit Canadians’ pocketbooks, with rising grocery prices just one of the many areas where this is being felt.

Millions of Canadians have reported going hungry over the past several months, with the price of things like groceries only expected to grow as the cost of living rises across the country.

And with many people making difficult decisions to cut back in an effort to save some money, a registered dietitian is letting people know that health doesn’t necessarily need to be sacrificed at the same time.

Buying bulk groceries

Jessica Pirnak says planning ahead and adjusting your shopping habits can help you avoid overpaying.

“If it’s on sale, buy two. Don’t just buy one, go home, make it, and then next week have to go out and spend full price on it. So I would say definitely keep an eye on the flyers,” she explained.

While buying in bulk is one option, she says buying in-season and frozen is also another way to save some cash. Combining shopping hacks can also help you stretch your dollars.

“Sockeye salmon’s in season right now and I think this weekend there’s a bunch of grocery stores that are doing big salmon sales. So don’t just go and buy one — buy five, freeze them, and that way you’ll have a bunch in the freezer,” Pirnak added.

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When it comes to food choices, staples like beans and lentils can pack in nutrition and provide a good meat-free alternative to meal planning. Pirnak notes they tend to be on the cheaper side, too.

“Beans and legumes are significantly cheaper than animal-based products. So even if you wanted to just buy the cans and rinse them, that’s even cheaper than having to buy animal-based protein. The plant-based wave is hitting us just because it’s a lot cheaper,” she explained.

“I would say for people who are really not wanting to change but are still trying to watch their wallets, buy bulk — it’s the easiest way to do it.”

Dairy vs non-dairy

As the cost of virtually everything rises, so is the price of dairy in many cases. While many people have switched to non-dairy alternatives, Pirnak says you may want to double check what you’re buying before you check out.

“The amount of almonds that are actually in almond milk, there’s none. There’s like three or four almonds in that whole litre container, so it is kind of crazy that when prices increase, that they are jacking up everything,” she told CityNews.

“One particular almond company was actually getting sued for their lack of almonds, so they had to released how many almonds were actually in their containers. So the average is about three or four.”

Because of this, she believes people might just be better off trying to stretch dairy milk. You can do that with water.

“If you wanted to use, let’s say, milk or a non-dairy milk in a smoothie, maybe go half and then go half water,” she suggested.