eating healthier while poor.

StephanieMoon6

Hey y'all! Starting this thread just to get some ideas.

So, I have PCOS and have lost a lot of weight before. But I had more $$ back then and more time. I gained all the weight I lost back probably because I quit smoking (1 year cig free!). So now I'm starting my get healthy and strong journey again.

My partner and I both work and I am a social work student. I have a 6 yo child. I also care for my elderly parents, volunteer and do a bunch of social justice work so I'm always busy.

We are on a tight budget most of the time unless we get extra income or help from some friends/family and or food banks.

Basically, this is what I eat: eggs, spinach, cheese, ground beef, fruits like mangoes grapes strawberries bananas, cereal, protein (I bought it when I had extra money), oatmeal, chicken breasts, potatoes (sometimes, cause low carb), whole wheat bread and pasta, beans of all kinds, rice. And a lot of avocado which I love but I can't really afford it all the time.

I don't really cook meals (husband does) but I'm interested in what y'all recommend if you're trying to eat cleaner/healthier while poor/on a limited budget. Recipes? Websites?

I want to try couponing but idk if I'll have the time. Let me know what y'all think.

I'm lucky to have sources of income and friends and family support. I know a lot of us don't have that. But I want my husband to join me on this journey (he has diabetes and needs to get fit) and he gets discoruaged cause he feels its expensive.

Thanks in advance.

LKArgh

What you describe sounds pretty good actually. I would add a few more vegetables, but in general it sounds like a very balanced grocery list. I would focus on portion control in your place.

rachsoderberg

Rice cakes and bulk peanut butter is a lunch I have most days right before my workout (they have those machines in the grocery store where you do it yourself and it's normally about $2 a pound for that!)

Otherwise I eat lots of chicken, rice and bags of frozen veggies! I buy the bags of frozen bulk chicken to cut down on cost and bulk of the other two as well. Breakfasts cost a little more because I do a quality bacon, eggs, and sweet potato, but if I went with regular bacon it wouldn't be super expensive either. Eggs and potatoes are cheap! It sounds like we eat pretty similarly, I'm not sure you can cut it down much more in cost and not go to eating garbage like Top Ramen noodles and Rice A Roni.

I use allrecipes.com for most of my recipe hunting, otherwise I just get creative with spices. I have an Asian blend, a BBQ chicken blend, or I sprinkle garlic powder/onion powder/pepper/paprika on the chicken. (Have you tried paprika on chicken? It is divine!)

kkarcher94511

buy chicken breast in bulk when on sale and freeze it, same for tilapia and other whitefish as it tends to be very cheap. canned tuna and chicken are other good cheap protein sources. I also do the bulk peanut butter and am able to get FRESH, organic, no ANYTHING added PB for half the price off crappy PB. Nonfat cottage cheese and nonfat plain greek yogurt when on sale. i buy eggs for less than $6 for 4 dozen at costco and liquid egg whites for about $7 a case. proteins and meats are the most expensive so fill up with as MUCH seasonal veggies and fruit as you can! frozen vegetables are a staple in our house too. "Healthy" is not expensive. processed is much more expensive, you just have to put a little more time into prepping food:)

Napier_mum

We tend to bulk out meals with cheap items as much as possible. Shop in season for your fruit and veg. In summer we go through seriously at least 3 cucumbers a week which is fine when they are under a dollar each but they are now nearly $5! so off the list.
There is a great FB page https://www.facebook.com/HowToFeedAFamilyOf6ForUnder20 (am I allowed to post links?) It is a New Zealand page so some things might be a bit strange for you but should be able to give you great ideas. Not all of it is "healthy" but you could totally sub items out.
From what I have seen we seem to have WAY more expensive grocery items here than you guys do, but awesome meat and fruit and veg so I guess it is worth it.

kdcancan

Good for you for quitting smoking.
Years ago when first married in the 70s, there was an article in the newspaper saying one person could live for $25 a month if you made nothing but Chinese food. We found 2 people could live on that amount and we ate well with plenty of leftovers, using a good Chinese cookbook for a couple of years. Not the high calorie things you get in a restaurant, but ordinary home cooking with lots of vegetables, rice and small amount of animal protein. I used to buy veggies off the sale bin every day and cooked them right away for that day. Rice makes a great breakfast cereal with cinnamon and nuts. You can do the same thing with Japanese cooking. Stir fry at home uses very little oil and you can steam things too. Soups are good from leftover bones. Don't heat the whole pot, but only what you need for that meal. Carry lunch of leftovers instead of buying it. You can pre-make salad for the week with items that keep well when cut:cabbage, lettuces, watercress, parsley, cilantro, carrots etc. and add in the items that don't keep if cut at mealtime such as onion, peppers, avocado.

In general, I find eating healthy is much cheaper than buying prepackaged ready made food, plus you don't get the chemical soup of enhancers, stabilizers, preservatives and who knows what else is in there that might not be on the label. It calls for cooking, but plan it right, and you don't have to spend much time at the stove.

tudoroaks4

I like budgetbytes.com for cheap recipe ideas.

dreena222

Congrats for quitting smoking!! Not an easy thing to do!

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zoeysasha37

I dont have time to coupylike the tv shows either, but definitely needed to save on my food budget. Heres what i do,
I check all sales flyers for grocery stores in advance and plan my meals around the sales. If rice is on sale that week, then thats what were eating!
I clip whatever coupons i can without spending tons of time on it. I also do a quick search online to look for any printable coupons for the things i need. I have friends ans family save me their coupons from their Sunday papers also.
I plan all my purchases to make sure that im getting a good deal. If peanut butter is on sale at the supermarket near my job, then I'll swing by there after work instead of paying full price at the other supermarket. So its all about planning. It doesn't take as much time as people think and it does save money.
Also, when you do have extra money try to buy in bulk. A 3lb bag of rice at the local supermarket is the same price as the 8lb bag at my local sams club. So i get almost triple the amount of rice for the same price. If you dont want to spend money on a membership to a sams club, bjs. Then you can see if a friend or family member has a membership card that you can use every so often. I dont pay for membership, i just borrow my sisters card. Lol

zoeysasha37

I dont have time to coupylike the tv shows either, but definitely needed to save on my food budget. Heres what i do,
I check all sales flyers for grocery stores in advance and plan my meals around the sales. If rice is on sale that week, then thats what were eating!
I clip whatever coupons i can without spending tons of time on it. I also do a quick search online to look for any printable coupons for the things i need. I have friends ans family save me their coupons from their Sunday papers also.
I plan all my purchases to make sure that im getting a good deal. If peanut butter is on sale at the supermarket near my job, then I'll swing by there after work instead of paying full price at the other supermarket. So its all about planning. It doesn't take as much time as people think and it does save money.
Also, when you do have extra money try to buy in bulk. A 3lb bag of rice at the local supermarket is the same price as the 8lb bag at my local sams club. So i get almost triple the amount of rice for the same price. If you dont want to spend money on a membership to a sams club, bjs. Then you can see if a friend or family member has a membership card that you can use every so often. I dont pay for membership, i just borrow my sisters card. Lol

zoeysasha37

Meant to say coupons not coupy ^^ but i cant get back in to edit it for some reason....

coueswhitetail

Beans and lentils are great for nutrition and diabetes....And very cheap.....buy canned black beans.....drain them...mash them up...add cumin, onions and put into whole wheat tortilla for fast and healthy burrito.....add frozen or canned corn, tomatoes, spinach for more health.....cheap...easy...tasty.....in general its much cheaper to get your protein from beans than from meat....and beans help stabilize blood sugar and keep you full longer

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goaliesmate

To maximise the nutrition from your limited budget avoid buying big brands, buy in bulk, buy frozen, by dry beans and pulses rather than canned - a bit of soaking before cooking cuts the cooking time - and bake your own bread. Good quality bread becomes a meal when added to soups and meagre stews. Boost protein levels by adding mushrooms and beans to meat dishes.

Queenmunchy

tudoroaks4 wrote: »

I like budgetbytes.com for cheap recipe ideas.

Yes!

softblondechick

My opinion is no pasta, or bread. Lose the processed food carbs. Weight will melt off.

missiontofitness

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10037702/affording-your-new-lifestyle-tips-and-tricks-for-the-grocery-store/p1

I coupon, and it's been a lifesaver. I can stock up on staples, and afford more produce/meat/ect. This post of mine is really old, but I've been able to accrue a bunch of pasta sauces, beans, rice, and veggie-based pastas since then. Couponing doesn't take much time; once you learn store policies and try it out, it gets easier. Even if you're only saving a $1 here and there, it adds up! Not sure how the inserts work in TX, but there are plenty of sites like coupons.com and smartsource.com that have printable coupons that you can use in most grocery stores.

missiontofitness

softblondechick wrote: »

My opinion is no pasta, or bread. Lose the processed food carbs. Weight will melt off.

Not necessary. Weight will melt off with a calorie deficit, simple as that.
Calories are calories, whether they are coming from vegetables, bread, or ice cream.

StephanieMoon6

aggelikik wrote: »

What you describe sounds pretty good actually. I would add a few more vegetables, but in general it sounds like a very balanced grocery list. I would focus on portion control in your place.

Thank you!

StephanieMoon6

rachsoderberg wrote: »

Rice cakes and bulk peanut butter is a lunch I have most days right before my workout (they have those machines in the grocery store where you do it yourself and it's normally about $2 a pound for that!)

Otherwise I eat lots of chicken, rice and bags of frozen veggies! I buy the bags of frozen bulk chicken to cut down on cost and bulk of the other two as well. Breakfasts cost a little more because I do a quality bacon, eggs, and sweet potato, but if I went with regular bacon it wouldn't be super expensive either. Eggs and potatoes are cheap! It sounds like we eat pretty similarly, I'm not sure you can cut it down much more in cost and not go to eating garbage like Top Ramen noodles and Rice A Roni.

I use allrecipes.com for most of my recipe hunting, otherwise I just get creative with spices. I have an Asian blend, a BBQ chicken blend, or I sprinkle garlic powder/onion powder/pepper/paprika on the chicken. (Have you tried paprika on chicken? It is divine!)

Thank you!

mmnv79

You can buy supermarket own brands which are just as good and downshift cleaning products using vinegar and lemon instead. If you live in a flat you can grow "Cut and come again salads" (cress, mustard, komatsuma, mizuna, sorrel, red veined spinach, etc.) and strawberries in pots or large containers and if you have a garden you can plant fruit bushes or dwarf trees. I grow some veggies and fruits in my tiny garden that are relatively easy to grow and I'm saving lots of money.

mmnv79

You can buy supermarket own brands which are just as good and downshift cleaning products using vinegar and lemon instead. If you live in a flat you can grow "Cut and come again salads" (cress, mustard, komatsuma, mizuna, sorrel, red veined spinach, etc.) and strawberries in pots or large containers and if you have a garden you can plant fruit bushes or dwarf trees. I grow some veggies and fruits in my tiny garden that are relatively easy to grow and I'm saving lots of money.

daaaaaanielle

softblondechick wrote: »

My opinion is no pasta, or bread. Lose the processed food carbs. Weight will melt off.

I eat a whooooole bunch of pasta and I've been losing, on average, about 1.2lbs a week (I only aim for 0.5-1lb). Certainly pasta is more calorie dense so it's easy to go over if you're not careful when you log it and so on, but it's not the fault of the pasta if someone isn't losing weight.

Anyway, back on topic.

Buy in bulk! That is, by far, the biggest factor for me in reducing what I spend on food. I make sure that what I'm buying in bulk can form a meal in and of itself or in combination with other bulk-bought items - rice and chicken, pasta and sauce, frozen veg, etc. Not the most interesting of meals ever for sure, but they do me fine when money is a bit short.

The second biggest factor does somewhat tie into the first - seasoning. Buy different herbs, spices, salts and sauces (though be mindful of calories in sauces) because they make "boring" meals significantly less boring. I have seasonings that are versatile enough that I could make the same meal of rice and chicken 5 days a week and each time it would taste different. Likewise, I have a whole bunch of pasta sauces stocked up (got them when they were on sale in Costco and I top up when they're on sale in my local supermarket) so again, I can make pasta but make it different every time.

Couponing can be tiresome and difficult depending on where you live and what you have around you. I'm in the UK and couponing isn't really a thing here - or at least not enough to warrant a TV show - but I do keep an eye on sales and whenever I'm setting up my delivery from the supermarket, I always do a search around to see if there's any coupons.

mmnv79

You can buy supermarket own brands which are just as good and downshift cleaning products using vinegar and lemon instead. If you live in a flat you can grow "Cut and come again salads" (cress, mustard, komatsuma, mizuna, sorrel, red veined spinach, etc.) and strawberries in pots or large containers and if you have a garden you can plant fruit bushes or dwarf trees. I grow some veggies and fruits in my tiny garden that are relatively easy to grow and I'm saving lots of money.

Edit: Not that I'm cheap but my company went down and I was unemployed for few months.

StephanieMoon6

kkarcher94511 wrote: »

buy chicken breast in bulk when on sale and freeze it, same for tilapia and other whitefish as it tends to be very cheap. canned tuna and chicken are other good cheap protein sources. I also do the bulk peanut butter and am able to get FRESH, organic, no ANYTHING added PB for half the price off crappy PB. Nonfat cottage cheese and nonfat plain greek yogurt when on sale. i buy eggs for less than $6 for 4 dozen at costco and liquid egg whites for about $7 a case. proteins and meats are the most expensive so fill up with as MUCH seasonal veggies and fruit as you can! frozen vegetables are a staple in our house too. "Healthy" is not expensive. processed is much more expensive, you just have to put a little more time into prepping food:)

A Costco membership is expensive, so check that privilege. Also, organic is subjective is it not? I buy store brand PB and its cheap. But when I have the $, I might do the Costco. Thanks.

StephanieMoon6

shell1005 wrote: »

I'll also say...and I mean this with all kindness, when you were a smoker you found a way to afford the cigarettes no matter your budget. Use that same resolve when figuring out how to afford healthy foods.

Honestly, that's how I afford the occasional protein shake and other stuff. It has saved me some money. Husband still smokes but he's cutting back too!

StephanieMoon6

mmnv79 wrote: »

You can buy supermarket own brands which are just as good and downshift cleaning products using vinegar and lemon instead. If you live in a flat you can grow "Cut and come again salads" (cress, mustard, komatsuma, mizuna, sorrel, red veined spinach, etc.) and strawberries in pots or large containers and if you have a garden you can plant fruit bushes or dwarf trees. I grow some veggies and fruits in my tiny garden that are relatively easy to grow and I'm saving lots of money.

Virtually almost everything I buy is store brand. And yes, my dream is to have a garden, but alas $ and space are factors.

StephanieMoon6

coueswhitetail wrote: »

Beans and lentils are great for nutrition and diabetes....And very cheap.....buy canned black beans.....drain them...mash them up...add cumin, onions and put into whole wheat tortilla for fast and healthy burrito.....add frozen or canned corn, tomatoes, spinach for more health.....cheap...easy...tasty.....in general its much cheaper to get your protein from beans than from meat....and beans help stabilize blood sugar and keep you full longer

I usually do all this cause I'm xicana lol. Except i call it a taco, not burrito. You're right, tho. Beans and legumes go a long way. My mami makes amazing lentils or lentejas as we call them.

mmnv79

Silly question but, can you cross the border to go shopping? In Northern Ireland lots for people to cross the border to buy cheaper petrol and diesel, as well as food, clothes, etc. in Ireland.