Be honest, how much are you spending on groceries? Amidst an affordability crisis, which isn’t expected to let up anytime soon. Many Canadians are having to slash their budgets.

That has folks turning to dollar stores to buy food (Dollarama sales increased by 20.3% in one year), and Canadian dietician Abbey Sharp shared her Dollarama haul on social media and showed hungry folks how they could stock up on essentials for less.

@abbeyskitchen

Dollarstores can be SUCH a saviour when youre trying to stretch your groceey budget. I take the boys often to let them buy a toy with their piggy bank money and in the process Ive discovered some grocery staples that I can buy for a fraction of the cost of the grocery store🌟 whats your dollar store grocery go-to? @Dollarama #dollaramahaul #dollaramahack #budgetfriendly #grocerypricesupsurged #budgetstretcher #egoaside #dollarstoregroceries #wallettok

♬ original sound – Abbey Sharp

 

Daily Hive has reached out to Sharp for more and will update this story.

In the video, Sharp calls out Life cereal, apple sauce, whole grain bread, canned tuna, nuts, seeds, freeze-dried fruit, and more as some of her top picks.

Daily Hive spoke with Vancouver-based dietician Diana Steele to learn more about buying groceries at the dollar store while being healthy.

Is it possible to eat well if you buy food from the dollar store?

“Eating a balanced diet 100% from the dollar store may not be totally feasible, but you can certainly find some healthy options,” said Steele.

“Most foods at the dollar store will be dried or canned goods, and you will need to find fresh and frozen items elsewhere.”

“Ideally, a meal should have a good source of protein, a whole grain and some vegetables. This could be a soup made with vegetable stock, canned lentils or chickpeas, barley or rice and canned tomatoes, mushrooms, green beans and corn.”

Is there something you would buy or wouldn’t buy at the dollar store to save money without compromising nutritional value?

Protein: “I would choose canned tuna or salmon, kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas (canned or dried).”

Vegetables and fruit: “I would choose canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn peas, beans, mushrooms, pumpkin, sweet potato and canned pears, peaches, apple sauce, and pineapple.”

Grains: “You can find rice, barley, pasta, and sometimes quinoa (but it won’t be a dollar), cereals, oats, flour, pancake mix, whole grain crackers.”

Beverages: “You can find fortified soymilk, almond milk, and 100% pure fruit juices.”

“I would avoid the candy, chips, chocolate, pop and sugar-sweetened beverages,” said Steele.

If I eat a bowl of instant noodles for lunch to save money one day a week, is that going to have a negative impact on my overall health?

“Once a week is not a big deal, but you can do a lot to make it healthier,” said Steele.

“Consider adding a tin of tuna for protein or some canned tomato. Or, instead of noodles, do instant oatmeal and add frozen berries.”

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Are you getting groceries from dollar stores?