Keto on a budget – 12 wise tricks

Keto on a budget is a subject that bothers many Ketonians or Low-Carb enthusiasts around the globe. Let’s face it, we are living in a Carboholic world where the sugar and starch foods are cheapest and most available. From the supermarket to the corner kiosk or street food vendor – carbs are everywhere. However, if you decide to implement Keto, or even Keto Mediterranean lifestyle, your waistline will not be the only thing to shrink! In fact, your weekly or monthly food budget will definitely suffer!

Natural is rare, therefore pricey

Keto Mediterranean, the lifestyle we are trying to promote here in this website, can be extremely tempting in western countries. Anything organic and natural is treated like gold. Well, it is gold, but it shouldn’t cost so much! This is why I decided to write a short guide for all of Ketonians who want to get healthier, but can’t really afford it.

Keto on a budget in the Western World

Interestingly, what we know as the western world, is the worst place for sourcing healthy organic food! It’s not only about the prices, finding organic farms and farmers markets is an odyssey in large cities, especially in industrially “advanced” countries. This phenomenon is particularly present in countries where the whole culture circulates around shopping malls and supermarkets!

Pharmacy dominance

When it comes to health stores, they somehow became as expensive as pharmacies. In most cases, if you want to describe something as pricey, you usually say it has a pharmacy price tag! Well, Ketonians do not need to pay a visit to a pharmacy so often as they did during their previous carb-oriented lifestyle. On Keto, we learned that our food is our medicine! This is why we must find the way to implement the Keto Mediterranean lifestyle regardless of our location and our economic status! This means finding more natural, unprocessed and whole food.

What makes KMD so powerful?

The main reason why Keto Mediterranean lifestyle is beneficial lays in the great and affordable ingredients. The emphasis is placed on fish, eggs, lamb, fresh vegetables, full-fat dairy, nuts, seeds, olives, of course, butter, and animal fat like lard or duck fat. The right choices are usually found in the farmer’s markets or at small farms. These ingredients will provide satiety and 100% healthy macronutrients. KMD is all about healthy fats. Also, omega-3 fatty acids which are found in fish and flaxseeds will bring in balance the omega-6 from the other sources of fat.

Surviving in the contemporary world

As Apollonas already wrote in this article, Keto in the time of postindustrial era can be quite difficult. Especially if you decide to make it as clean and natural as possible. For this reason, we decided to make this 12 little pieces of advice to help you easily transfer from the Carboworld to Ketonia! And to help you stay in Ketonia for life!

Trick – 1 Finding a farmer’s market

It can be your weekend trip out of the city! Even if you are living in a small town, farmer’s markets should be accessible! Fresh, organic product, smiling faces and lots of fun! This is what we experience each time we visit the farmer’s market in Greece or in Herzegovina. We end up carrying home loads of treasure for the extremely affordable price. In fact, one of these days we’ll make a video from our farmer’s market! We call it our happy place!

Trick – 2 Fishmarket or fishing

Even if you don’t live near the sea coast, there must be a fish market nearby. If there’s a river, ask about local fishermen. Many of them will be happy to sell you fresh fish. You can also learn to fish and make another healthy habit.

Trick – 3 Frozen is not unhealthy

When buying frozen fish, just check where is it packed. Many producers sell frozen fish that was frozen immediately at a fishing boat minutes after the catch. This information should not be kept away from you. Call the company and ask. By making so, you can be sure you are buying healthy frozen fish. That also means – affordable!

Trick – 4 Make it all at home

You can make excellent keto desserts, chocolate, gummies, cookies, beverages… Don’t fall into the trap of food industry selling you low-sugar, sugar-free, gluten-free products. We made a small research and did not find not even a single industrial Keto friendly product that does not contain at least one controversial ingredient. And they usually cost a small fortune.

Trick – 5 Good storing containers

Glass jars are the ideal example of perfect refrigerator containers. They can even serve as travelling containers for taking your Keto meals at work or on a trip. You usually get them with olives, pickles or some other food. Don’t throw them, they are extremely practical for storing and transferring meals, spices, nuts, seeds…

Trick – 6 Cook more meals in advance

Not only that you’ll save on the electricity bills, but you will also find it really easy to organise your meals. Many Keto friendly dishes will stay fresh for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Use glass or ceramic containers, they are healthier and easier to wash than the plastic ones.

Trick – 7 Food processor

Keto friendly flours can be quite pricey. If you invest some money in a good food processor, you will be able to make your own flours out of Keto ingredients. From chia seeds to almonds! In many cases, the seeds and nuts cost 3 times cheaper than their flours.

Trick – 8 The mighty bone broth

If your butcher sells boneless pieces of meat for a triple price (as they usually do) just buy meat with bones. Then invest in a good knife and separate the meat from bones so you can use them for the beneficial bone broth. Also, in many countries, butchers will not charge for bones if you already bought some meat. Ask them, most of them will be happy to give you bones for free or for a very low fee.

Trick – 9 Let thy tea be thy spice

In some countries, herbs and spices are quite pricey! However, you can use herbal teas, which typically are the same thing sold for a much lower price. For example, if you buy peppermint as a spice it will cost much more than a box of mint tea. In the Mediterranean area, we use sage, tyme, and many more herbs which are usually sold as herbal teas.

Trick – 10 Soda addiction

Many people keep the bad habit on Keto and continue drinking diet sodas. Not only that it doesn’t exist, but healthy soda is also an oxymoron. However, a bottle of sparkling mineral water, some lemon or lime, a few frozen berries and a dash of stevia will taste excellent. At the same time, this homemade soda will not stop your weight loss and will not cost as much as the industrial artificial sodas.

Trick – 11 You don’t need industrial supplements!

Now, I am not talking about the specific medical cases here. I am talking about ordinary Ketonians who want to lose weight or have better performance in the gym. If you ask me or my muscly husband, you don’t need any industrial supplements! If you are eating a good and well balanced clean Keto diet, all your supplements are already there! You most certainly don’t need industrial protein powder. Regardless of your fitness goal, clean Keto can give you a perfect physique. Look at Mr Greek Goes Keto in this photo! He does not take any supplements! His post-workout potion is a glass of organic, full-fat goat milk and quail eggs, not an overpriced industrial protein powder!

Trick – 12 Learn to cook and bake at home

Seriously! If someone tells me that Keto baked goodies don’t taste or look as good as the carby originals, I usually tell them to go back to the cooking school! I know that not everybody loves to cook and bake, but if you give it a try, Keto cooking and baking can be really fun! The rewards are numerous. If your Keto meals start looking and tasting better, soon you’ll end up saving much money that you usually spend on industrial snacks and on eating out!