Being healthy on a budget?

hopefullyfitt

How do you all going from takeaways and such, seeming like the cheap and easy option, to healthy foods? They all seem so expensive, especially fruits and vegetables.

tiptoethruthetulips

For me it is cheaper to eat healthy as opposed to what I was eating prior. Lots of takeaway, lots of lollies, chocolates, chips etc etc.

Sometimes buying frozen veg is cheaper than fresh or buy from local markets, buy the odd shaped fruit & veg (marketed cheaper here in Australia), buy mark downs. Is there a local co-op where such goods are cheaper?

Lentils and dried beans bought in bulk are quite cheap, as can be oats. Look at what other groceries can be bought in bulk.

Buy the cheaper cuts of meat, cook in slower cooker which gives a tender piece of cooked meats.

MilllieMoo

Instead of buying chicken pieces, but a whole chicken for Sunday roast, and left overs for salad and casserole, then use the carcass to make soup.
Use seasonal fruit and veg as these will be much cheaper than stuff that's been flown half way around the world.

dutchandkiwi

takeaway food is bad for the budget. It seems to cheap but it does not fill the way veggies and fresh food does.
The simple answer is planning and forward thinking in what you want to eat. Healthy food then becomes cheaper than takeaway stuff. One of the secrets is to buy within season. Yes lettuce tends to be expensive in winter, but carrots and kale are cheap.

One of my personal heroes for budget food is Jack Monroe Her ideas are userfriendly for low budget food yet very healthy..

kommodevaran

Yeah, so it seems. But real food gives you so much more nutrition per dollar, it tastes much better, and it lasts so much longer. You're supposed to only buy and eat as much of everything as you need (hint: logging in MFP will tell if you get enough of macro/some micronutrients; use choosemyplate or similar to get an overview of how many servings you should eat of each food group and what constitutes a food group).

You don't have to buy any special ingredients, "organic" or "health food". Ordinary food is good enough. Buy fresh, frozen or canned, they are equally good, just look at the ingredients list (ideally, it should be only one "ingredent" per pack, but don't be scared of ingredients, read up on what any unfamiliar words mean). Cooking from scratch can be daunting, but it is liberating and empowering, and can be fun. You'll have to plan ahead, decide what you want to eat, learn to cook, read recipes, write a shopping list, portion out and store foods properly. Compare that to the time and money you spend on takeaway and readymeals. And how you feel after you've eaten.

tiptoethruthetulips

dutchandkiwi wrote: »

takeaway food is bad for the budget. It seems to cheap but it does not fill the way veggies and fresh food does.
The simple answer is planning and forward thinking in what you want to eat. Healthy food then becomes cheaper than takeaway stuff. One of the secrets is to buy within season. Yes lettuce tends to be expensive in winter, but carrots and kale are cheap.

One of my personal heroes for budget food is Jack Monroe Her ideas are userfriendly for low budget food yet very healthy..

Thanks for the link, some of those soup recipes look fantastic.