Healthy on a budget - so?

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  • Sarasmaintaining
    Sarasmaintaining Posts: 1,027 Member
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    melimomTARDIS wrote: »
    I don't think anyone should choke down food they hate for the supposed "health benefits". Eat what you like, only less. Should save some cash that way.

    Pretty much this. If I don't like something, I'm not going to eat it, let alone pay money for it.
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    insideoutgirl wrote: »
    I love Aldi.for produce!! It is so inexpensive and they even have organic. Once I got over the rented cart thing - I love that place!


    Yes! We are lucky to have a great Aldi locally. I have been in some though, where the produce was gross. I do just about all my shopping at Aldi, except for a few specialty things they don't carry.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    buy whats in season, cook all your own meals, look out for deals (I shop in Lidl a LOT!) ...simple :smile:
    I cook for 3 adults in my house and our weekly food bill is around £70, not bad at all :smiley:
  • CandiceMcD
    CandiceMcD Posts: 115 Member
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    I buy whatever fresh veggies are on sale that week and work around that. Our food bill has gone up a bit since I am eating a ton more fresh things, but its worth it. Once a month we go to BJs and stock up on big packs of chicken, steaks, and chicken sausage - that way we always have stuff in the freezer to pull out for dinner. We spend about $60-80 a week on food for 2 of us. That includes things that I am stocking up for when on sale - like beans, eggs, rice, etc... Also I have been buying more expensive cat food because I realized that they were basically eating junk food and its only fair that I treat their bodies well too.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Really, I think that most people just have a very narrow view of "healthy"...on top of that, the art of cooking has largely been lost so it would seem that a majority of people think "healthy" also means boring and bland food.

    It's actually all kind of sad really...
  • thin1dayplease
    thin1dayplease Posts: 291 Member
    edited April 2015
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    It now costs me roughly £6.00 for a full 5 days work lunches. Before I used to spend £4 a day on lunch!! I used to buy sausage or bacon sandwiches in the morning costing around £2 a day at work, now I buy a box of cornflakes for 31p which lasts me a whole week!!

    Its defo paying for me to eat more healthy! But its not just that, it makes it cheaper when the volume of food is less! :hushed:
  • isulo_kura
    isulo_kura Posts: 818 Member
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    My advice is: learn to shop and to cook and don't be adraid of natural ingredients - you can have the best of both worlds :)

    What's an unnatural ingredient? Just wondering?
  • isulo_kura
    isulo_kura Posts: 818 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Really, I think that most people just have a very narrow view of "healthy"...on top of that, the art of cooking has largely been lost so it would seem that a majority of people think "healthy" also means boring and bland food.

    It's actually all kind of sad really...

    Well said
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    isulo_kura wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    My advice is: learn to shop and to cook and don't be adraid of natural ingredients - you can have the best of both worlds :)

    What's an unnatural ingredient? Just wondering?

    Bricks?
  • NinjaJinja
    NinjaJinja Posts: 147 Member
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    It's worth it to invest in stockpiling if you can. Non-perishables, of course. Spend an extra $5-$20 and buy a ton of stuff when it goes on sale. Yes you might feel self conscious when you buy 20 cans of beans and clear out the shelf, BUT it really does lower your weekly grocery bill because you aren't having to buy that can of beans every week now. Plus you have the peace of mind knowing that if an emergency of any kind happens (financial, natural, etc) you have food in your house. Mostly the problem I get into when buying anything fresh is that I am only one person and I simply cannot eat most of it in a timely manner.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited April 2015
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    beachhouse758 wrote: »
    Some things are expensive, but they are not a "must" when it comes to eating better: Organic Produce, fresh fish, a well stocked pantry, a collection of herbs and spices to have on hand. All of these things make it easier for me to stay on track. So it is worth it for me to buy them.
    But, for example, if we only had one income, I wouldn't be able to afford it.

    I guess I'm like a child in that if my food (or working out, for that matter) is not exciting for me, then I revert to my old habits: gluttony & sloth.

    **hangs head in shame** but it's the truth.

    I agree wholeheartedly to some of this! I think one of the best things we can do for ourselves, is to make eating healthy both exciting and tasty. If it's not tempting and delicious, we just won't eat it, not when there is a choice. Don't be ashamed of that, its human, and I really think taste should lead us to what's good for us! I'm not very much into all kinds of spices - salt and pepper is my to-go - but I'm all for a variety of fresh produce - vegetables, fruits, meat and fish and seafood, and cereals, I have recently rediscovered semolina, which I think is something similar to your Cream of Wheat, polenta, tapioca, and I truly enjoy my oatmeal. I love to be able to taste the ingredients.

    I buy and eat most of the cheap stuff, and add some more expensive foods in between. Even without those luxuries, I think I'd get enough variety and taste, because I rotate through everything I like, and I like almost everything.
  • Sarasmaintaining
    Sarasmaintaining Posts: 1,027 Member
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    Laurend224 wrote: »
    insideoutgirl wrote: »
    I love Aldi.for produce!! It is so inexpensive and they even have organic. Once I got over the rented cart thing - I love that place!


    Yes! We are lucky to have a great Aldi locally. I have been in some though, where the produce was gross. I do just about all my shopping at Aldi, except for a few specialty things they don't carry.

    <3 Aldi
  • OldHobo
    OldHobo Posts: 647 Member
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    isulo_kura wrote: »
    What's an unnatural ingredient? Just wondering?
    Natural, like beauty, is an eye of the beholder thing. If you say DDT isn't natural somebody's gonna list the chemicals it's made of and say those all occur in nature, naturally.

    I believe it is an indisputable fact that the word natural on a can, bottle or cardboard box doesn't mean a thing. For me boxed scalloped or mashed potatoes aren't natural. Neither is hamburger helper and most of that ilk. Likewise most of the prepared salad dressings, artificial sweeteners, and powdered coffee "creamers." Practically nothing on the chip, candy or cookie aisles. From what I've seen and heard, I doubt that anything in a health food store is natural. Powdered peanut butter isn't, to my way of thinking, no matter how many MFP members rave about it. Some folks say anything that isn't on an outside wall of a supermarket. I don't go that far. Flour, oil, vinegar and dried herbs are always in the aisles and at least some of those are natural.

    In this day and age I think natural is a relative thing and the closer something is to the state from which it came out of the ground or the animal, the more natural it is. Since none of us grow all our plant food and either raise or hunt the animals we eat, it is all a compromise. You have to balance your choices with money available, risk of contamination, philosophical ideals about the environment and humane animal treatment and even flavor and taste. I appreciate the taste of fleur de sel but I'm just notagonna pay $30 a lb. for salt. Not today anyway.
  • DataSeven
    DataSeven Posts: 245 Member
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    When you're buying all your food at the grocery store instead of half there and half at the drive-thru it looks like you're spending more, because all those $8 trips to the drive thru, you don't count on your grocery bill.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    DataSeven wrote: »
    When you're buying all your food at the grocery store instead of half there and half at the drive-thru it looks like you're spending more, because all those $8 trips to the drive thru, you don't count on your grocery bill.

    I think it has to be something like that :p
  • beachhouse758
    beachhouse758 Posts: 371 Member
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    isulo_kura wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    My advice is: learn to shop and to cook and don't be adraid of natural ingredients - you can have the best of both worlds :)

    What's an unnatural ingredient? Just wondering?

    Artificial sweeteners, FD&C colors, artificial flavors(like Isoamyl acetate, Methyl anthranilate, Allyl hexanoate), artificial emulsifiers (like sodium stearoyl lactylate, polysorbate-80, Carboxymethyl cellulose), acidity regulators,

    And no, I am not a food purist and I don't have a battle to fight against artificial ingredients. In fact, I loooove the taste of my artificially flavored amino acid drink.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    melimomTARDIS wrote: »
    I don't think anyone should choke down food they hate for the supposed "health benefits". Eat what you like, only less. Should save some cash that way.

    Oops... I've being doing something like that... Buying "healthy" foods just to see them slowly rot in the fridge. I hated the thought of money out of the window - but I felt compelled to do it, haha. Now I only buy what I like and want to eat and can make a plan for. Some bad luck is inevitable when fresh produce is involved, and all experiments won't be a success, but I don't buy things just because I think I "should" anymore. *Shudder*
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    OldHobo wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    I've had quail eggs. A delicacy :) Light blue inside of shells.
    I looked inside the carton and these were blue on the outside.
    Hey kommodervaran, after my first post here I looked at your profile. You're from Oslo, OS? I've heard of Oslo Norway. Is it the same place?
    I've never seen a Norwegian or Scandinavian ethnic market. Maybe they have them in Minnesota or maybe there aren't enough non-assimilated immigrants to support such stores.
    I met a young Norwegian on a Memphis bus a few years ago but she was a tourist.

    Scrambled khaki-brown on the outside, baby blue on the inside :)

    Yes, I live in Oslo, Norway, born, but not raised, here.

    It would be possible to get Scandinavian foods in Minnesota - that's where the majority of Norwegian immigrants settled, I think. Now we are all over the place :p

    Norwegian/Scandinavian foods have some interesting similarities to Eastern European foods - the cereals, spices, vegetables and some dairy and meat we use is quite close to the description of Slavic, Russian, Baltic eats. I have started eating more traditionally during the last year. I think it's fascinating to see the continuum and trying new (old) things.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Really, I think that most people just have a very narrow view of "healthy"...on top of that, the art of cooking has largely been lost so it would seem that a majority of people think "healthy" also means boring and bland food.

    It's actually all kind of sad really...

    I've been guilty of this. It saddens me to think about it. I used to think cooking was boring, too. Not really strange considering I used to think healthy home cooking had to be low fat, low salt, low taste.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    isulo_kura wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    My advice is: learn to shop and to cook and don't be adraid of natural ingredients - you can have the best of both worlds :)

    What's an unnatural ingredient? Just wondering?

    "Artificial".

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