cost of healthy food vs unhealthy food

Francl27

I spend so much less now than I used to, honestly... but you have to be smart about it... You don't have to jump from Kraft Mac'n cheese to grass fed beef or free range organic eggs, you know?

- buy frozen veggies when not in season (and stock up when they are on sale)
- don't buy fruit when it's not in season (we're eating a lot of apples nowadays)
- stock up when things are on sale
- buy in bulk
- use coupons when possible (I don't go crazy though and just use store coupons)
- compare prices, a lot of store brands are totally fine.

There are 4 of us and I spend maybe $150 a week, and that includes cleaning stuff and kids snack. Typically I save about 30% of my bills with sales and coupons, and I plan meals around meat/fish sales pretty much.

KellieTru

elaineamj wrote: »

I have recently learned how to shop the sales. I always thought I did great before and have always stockpiled. But now that I meal plan BASED on the sales that week, it has made a huge difference in our grocery budget. And cooking from scratch has become much cheaper.

Before, I would choose a recipe and then plan grocery shopping. Planning my shopping and then looking for recipes based on what I can buy on sale saved a bundle.

Absolutely! It also results in much less waste of food (things like veggies that can go bad before you finish them). When I was raising a young family on very little $$ twenty years ago this is how I kept to my food budget.

kommodevaran

It depends on what you mean by healthy.
Is it high end, grass fed, organic and "health food"? Gluten free, low carb?
Is it low fat (natural fat isn't dangerous, and naturally fatty foods are more satiating, plus provide more calories per dollar).
Do you cook? Premade meals will be a lot more expensive.
Shop sensibly (seasonally (frozen out of season), store brands, look at unit price, plan meals and don't overbuy).
To compare price per calorie is just stupid, as one of the main concerns about "unhealthy" foods is that it's energy dense.

Lounmoun

nomoyoyoing wrote: »

I've heard it said that unhealthy food is less expensive than healthy food. I don't believe this to be true. I know it's highly subjective, but what do you think, generally speaking? I think cost sounds like an excuse. Correct me if I'm wrong..

I think it is somewhat of an excuse but depends on what people classify as "healthy" and how they get that food. I also think meal planning, budgeting and shopping are skills people have to learn and utilize if their food budget is low.
I've seen some of those SNAP challenges where the person bought fairly expensive items from an expensive store and then whined that they were starving and it couldn't be done. I hate that. They had no plan. They didn't really try in my opinion.
It is possible to meet your nutritional needs on a frugal budget. You have to put thought into it. Planning meals is pretty important if your budget is very tight. Being able and willing to cook helps. Buying generic/store brands. Buying things whole and boning, cutting, skinning things yourself. Looking for things on sale or comparing prices. Eating less meat. Things like eggs, tuna, rice, oatmeal, dry beans, lentils, peanut butter, bread, vegetables/fruits in season, frozen vegetables/fruits, canned vegetables/fruits, pasta, bread, milk, whole chicken or chicken thighs can fit into a lower budget and meet nutritional needs better than eating only cheap ramen or pricey fast food meals.
If your idea of healthy food is all fresh, organic, gluten free or specific name brands and you don't plan then you will spend more- unless you are growing some of that food. You might find it worth it to spend more.