5 Grocery Shopping Tips For Managing Food Allergies on a Budget

If you have food allergies, you may wonder how to shop for food on a budget. It’s possible to save money on your grocery bill even if you have food sensitivities. You don’t have to spend a million dollars on food just because you have a restrictive diet.

I know there are plenty of temptations when it comes to allergy food shopping and there weren’t that many items available 10 years ago. But now there are so many yummy gluten-free muffins and other alternative foods that are pretty expensive.

If you feel like that’s your only option for managing allergies, it gets so, so expensive. But it doesn’t have to be like that, even if your diet is complicated!

For example, some of the main things I avoid are gluten, dairy, and basically all grains. So how do I deal with this at the grocery store?

I see all these great videos that talk about eating for $10 a meal–like tacos, pasta, French toast, and other types of foods like this. But I can’t eat these foods without getting seriously ill! So what’s the solution to saving money when your diet is complicated? Here are a few of my own tips:

1. Shop once a week

Shop once weekly and with a list. This one tip helps you to avoid so many other pitfalls. If we run out of something essential, like eggs, we’ll start to think of other things we “need” when we’re at the store just to get eggs. So we add them to the list and before you know it, this trip to the store just to get eggs has grown to $50 worth of items.

If you do that once or twice a week, it starts to add up. So if you go to the store once a week, you will avoid more add-on items that you could have waited for.

5. Avoid lookalike products

Those expensive lookalike products have to go. For example, if you’ve gone gluten-free, don't buy gluten-free muffins or donuts. Don’t try to buy replacements for things you’re restricted from eating. Not only is it expensive, the items often taste disgusting.

Gluten-free bread has gotten so much better tasting, but it’s still very expensive. It also isn’t always better for you than the gluten version.

You need to have a few fun foods that you know will work for you and that you can make at home. So what kind of snacks can I make at home? You can come up with your own weird snacks, but one of my favorites is a mixture of puffed millet, sunflower seed butter, and maple syrup mixed. It’s sweet, salty, and has protein in it, and it hits the spot.

Another fun spot is candied chickpeas. All you need is a can of chickpeas and sugar you cook in the oven. Look for more snacks at Elana’s Pantry.

It helps to have recipes to turn to because some recipes for alternative foods, like gluten-free items, take too much time to make and they don’t taste very good.