Why does eating healthy cost so much 🤷♀️
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Does no one eat beans and rice, beans and cornmeal, cabbage, onions, winter squash, etc., anymore?
Lots of traditional peasant foods are still pretty cheap and tasty, and quite affordable even organic if that's your jam. There are local and seasonal variations in what's cheap, especially among the veggies, but bulk dry beans and rice tend to be affordable in most places.
LOL at picking special upscale-ish choices, then complaining about the cost of being healthy. Price trades off against effort (cook from scratch) and fanciness (cuts of meat, "special" fresh veggies/fruits). Gotta pick your tradeoffs . . . and I don't think health needs to be one of them.
There was a period in my young adult life where I pretty much lived on homemade beans, homemade whole wheat bread, homemade yogurt (used powdered milk), canned tomatoes (sometimes home canned), homemade canned sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, canned tomatoes, whatever veggies we could garden or get from friends who did, and the like. Cheap, cheap, cheap; pretty healthy. In a gustatory sense, I look back fondly on that time.
Personally, I think it's common unhealthy ways of eating that are expensive (full menu of fast foods, frozen whole meals, pre-prepped veggies/sauce thingies, snack foods, energy drinks, soda . . . .), let alone restaurants.
Same here. I remember a time as a young adult where at least half my dinners were either "lentil chili" (not really very chili like, but a combination of veggies such as onions, bell peppers, garlic, mushrooms with chili seasoning and lentils) or dried pasta with canned spaghetti (tomato-based) sauce (generally store brand or whatever was on sale for both). With mozzarella I shredded by hand for variety. Then a couple of days a week I'd do something like a stir-fry that was mostly mostly cheaper veggies, like onions, cabbage, and carrots, and whatever was a good buy that week, like eggplant, green beans, or mushrooms, and maybe a splurge on tofu or whatever poultry or meat I could find on sale.
Lunches typically were store-brand cheese with cucumber, tomato (if in season), lettuce, shredded carrot, and maybe homemade hummus or guac for variety on homemade whole-grain bread.
Breakfasts were coffee or tea with some combination of toasted homemade bread, hot or cold cereal, eggs, plain store-brand yogurt bought in large tubs, and/or in-season or nonseasonal (citrus and bananas don't seem to change price by season in my neck of the woods).
I did not ever think of making yogurt from powdered milk. What I would have had to spend for fluid milk to make yogurt always seemed like there was little or no price advantage to making it myself, but I may have to give it a try with powdered milk -- I like knowing how to make things, even if I no longer face the kind of budget constraints I did as a grad student.
I enjoyed the way my food tasted in those days, and there's a certain amount of trade-off in time to having a more varied diet. I do like the variety, but it does require more thinking and planning than the days when my options were more limited.1 -
janejellyroll wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »britishbombshell08 wrote: »Bought fruits, salad, and shrimp from the grocery store and it came to $90.33 🤷♀️🤦♀️😂 Oh well, now to devour it all
Eating a nutritionally sound diet isn't inherently expensive. You're just doing it wrong. Shrimp is the only expensive thing you listed...there are numerous options besides shrimp. Chicken thighs, boneless and skinless are cheap and delicious and a perfectly nutritionally sound choice.
Still, I'd really like to know what kind of salad and fruit you bought to come out to $93 even with shrimp. You're doing something majorly wrong and need to learn to shop.
I've never actually done this, but if one was planning on just eating fresh fruit, greens, and shrimp for a week, that could easily add up to $90 for a week just because that would be a whole lot of each of them, especially if you're buying "fancier" fruits and greens. To get an appropriate amount of calories each day on these foods, it would probably be a lot of them, which is why many people would consider it to be a luxury especially in March (assuming OP is some place with cold winters).
Yeah, I suppose...but I guess I'd still consider that doing it wrong...just seems pretty crazy to me.
I just went to Costco yesterday and bought the 3 pack package of organic boneless/skinless chicken thighs, two flank steaks, lunch meat for the kids' lunches, a large package of brussels sprouts, package of asparagus, and package of zucchini and summer squash, greens, eggs, milk, and some other stuff and my bill was just over $150 for my family of 4.7 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »britishbombshell08 wrote: »Bought fruits, salad, and shrimp from the grocery store and it came to $90.33 🤷♀️🤦♀️😂 Oh well, now to devour it all
Eating a nutritionally sound diet isn't inherently expensive. You're just doing it wrong. Shrimp is the only expensive thing you listed...there are numerous options besides shrimp. Chicken thighs, boneless and skinless are cheap and delicious and a perfectly nutritionally sound choice.
Still, I'd really like to know what kind of salad and fruit you bought to come out to $93 even with shrimp. You're doing something majorly wrong and need to learn to shop.
I've never actually done this, but if one was planning on just eating fresh fruit, greens, and shrimp for a week, that could easily add up to $90 for a week just because that would be a whole lot of each of them, especially if you're buying "fancier" fruits and greens. To get an appropriate amount of calories each day on these foods, it would probably be a lot of them, which is why many people would consider it to be a luxury especially in March (assuming OP is some place with cold winters).
Yeah, I suppose...but I guess I'd still consider that doing it wrong...just seems pretty crazy to me.
I just went to Costco yesterday and bought the 3 pack package of organic boneless/skinless chicken thighs, two flank steaks, lunch meat for the kids' lunches, a large package of brussels sprouts, package of asparagus, and package of zucchini and summer squash, greens, eggs, milk, and some other stuff and my bill was just over $150 for my family of 4.
Oh, I completely agree that there are better ways to do it.2 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »Does no one eat beans and rice, beans and cornmeal, cabbage, onions, winter squash, etc., anymore? Lots of traditional peasant foods are still pretty cheap and tasty, and quite affordable even organic if that's your jam. There are local and seasonal variations in what's cheap, especially among the veggies, but bulk dry beans and rice tend to be affordable in most places.
LOL at picking special upscale-ish choices, then complaining about the cost of being healthy. Price trades off against effort (cook from scratch) and fanciness (cuts of meat, "special" fresh veggies/fruits). Gotta pick your tradeoffs . . . and I don't think health needs to be one of them.
There was a period in my young adult life where I pretty much lived on homemade beans, homemade whole wheat bread, homemade yogurt (used powdered milk), canned tomatoes (sometimes home canned), homemade canned sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, canned tomatoes, whatever veggies we could garden or get from friends who did, and the like. Cheap, cheap, cheap; pretty healthy. In a gustatory sense, I look back fondly on that time.
Personally, I think it's common unhealthy ways of eating that are expensive (full menu of fast foods, frozen whole meals, pre-prepped veggies/sauce thingies, snack foods, energy drinks, soda . . . .), let alone restaurants.
Same here. I remember a time as a young adult where at least half my dinners were either "lentil chili" (not really very chili like, but a combination of veggies such as onions, bell peppers, garlic, mushrooms with chili seasoning and lentils) or dried pasta with canned spaghetti (tomato-based) sauce (generally store brand or whatever was on sale for both). With mozzarella I shredded by hand for variety. Then a couple of days a week I'd do something like a stir-fry that was mostly mostly cheaper veggies, like onions, cabbage, and carrots, and whatever was a good buy that week, like eggplant, green beans, or mushrooms, and maybe a splurge on tofu or whatever poultry or meat I could find on sale.
Lunches typically were store-brand cheese with cucumber, tomato (if in season), lettuce, shredded carrot, and maybe homemade hummus or guac for variety on homemade whole-grain bread.
Breakfasts were coffee or tea with some combination of toasted homemade bread, hot or cold cereal, eggs, plain store-brand yogurt bought in large tubs, and/or in-season or nonseasonal (citrus and bananas don't seem to change price by season in my neck of the woods).
I did not ever think of making yogurt from powdered milk. What I would have had to spend for fluid milk to make yogurt always seemed like there was little or no price advantage to making it myself, but I may have to give it a try with powdered milk -- I like knowing how to make things, even if I no longer face the kind of budget constraints I did as a grad student.
I enjoyed the way my food tasted in those days, and there's a certain amount of trade-off in time to having a more varied diet. I do like the variety, but it does require more thinking and planning than the days when my options were more limited.
It is a little bit fraught, I have to admit: Care that the reconstituted milk has no lumps is really important; and I think fluid milk homemade yogurt is better tasting. But you couldn't beat powder for cheap, at least back then. It might be easier nowadays, as we have microwaves, and I assume one could heat the milk to the necessary temp that way. We did it on the stove back then, which can create some lumps via evaporation, and even a sieve won't catch them all. But it's not a health issue, it's sensory.
This may be one of those three goals, pick two, kinds of things: Cheap, healthy, tastiest. 1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »Does no one eat beans and rice, beans and cornmeal, cabbage, onions, winter squash, etc., anymore? Lots of traditional peasant foods are still pretty cheap and tasty, and quite affordable even organic if that's your jam. There are local and seasonal variations in what's cheap, especially among the veggies, but bulk dry beans and rice tend to be affordable in most places.
LOL at picking special upscale-ish choices, then complaining about the cost of being healthy. Price trades off against effort (cook from scratch) and fanciness (cuts of meat, "special" fresh veggies/fruits). Gotta pick your tradeoffs . . . and I don't think health needs to be one of them.
There was a period in my young adult life where I pretty much lived on homemade beans, homemade whole wheat bread, homemade yogurt (used powdered milk), canned tomatoes (sometimes home canned), homemade canned sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, canned tomatoes, whatever veggies we could garden or get from friends who did, and the like. Cheap, cheap, cheap; pretty healthy. In a gustatory sense, I look back fondly on that time.
Personally, I think it's common unhealthy ways of eating that are expensive (full menu of fast foods, frozen whole meals, pre-prepped veggies/sauce thingies, snack foods, energy drinks, soda . . . .), let alone restaurants.
Same here. I remember a time as a young adult where at least half my dinners were either "lentil chili" (not really very chili like, but a combination of veggies such as onions, bell peppers, garlic, mushrooms with chili seasoning and lentils) or dried pasta with canned spaghetti (tomato-based) sauce (generally store brand or whatever was on sale for both). With mozzarella I shredded by hand for variety. Then a couple of days a week I'd do something like a stir-fry that was mostly mostly cheaper veggies, like onions, cabbage, and carrots, and whatever was a good buy that week, like eggplant, green beans, or mushrooms, and maybe a splurge on tofu or whatever poultry or meat I could find on sale.
Lunches typically were store-brand cheese with cucumber, tomato (if in season), lettuce, shredded carrot, and maybe homemade hummus or guac for variety on homemade whole-grain bread.
Breakfasts were coffee or tea with some combination of toasted homemade bread, hot or cold cereal, eggs, plain store-brand yogurt bought in large tubs, and/or in-season or nonseasonal (citrus and bananas don't seem to change price by season in my neck of the woods).
I did not ever think of making yogurt from powdered milk. What I would have had to spend for fluid milk to make yogurt always seemed like there was little or no price advantage to making it myself, but I may have to give it a try with powdered milk -- I like knowing how to make things, even if I no longer face the kind of budget constraints I did as a grad student.
I enjoyed the way my food tasted in those days, and there's a certain amount of trade-off in time to having a more varied diet. I do like the variety, but it does require more thinking and planning than the days when my options were more limited.
It is a little bit fraught, I have to admit: Care that the reconstituted milk has no lumps is really important; and I think fluid milk homemade yogurt is better tasting. But you couldn't beat powder for cheap, at least back then. It might be easier nowadays, as we have microwaves, and I assume one could heat the milk to the necessary temp that way. We did it on the stove back then, which can create some lumps via evaporation, and even a sieve won't catch them all. But it's not a health issue, it's sensory.
This may be one of those three goals, pick two, kinds of things: Cheap, healthy, tastiest.
Plus convenience (low/no time/effort), which is another value we often see competing with cheap and healthy in these threads.2 -
Does OP ever come back to her threads or does she just start them up and then leave everyone to argue for her?17
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Does no one eat beans and rice, beans and cornmeal, cabbage, onions, winter squash, etc., anymore? Lots of traditional peasant foods are still pretty cheap and tasty, and quite affordable even organic if that's your jam. There are local and seasonal variations in what's cheap, especially among the veggies, but bulk dry beans and rice tend to be affordable in most places.
LOL at picking special upscale-ish choices, then complaining about the cost of being healthy. Price trades off against effort (cook from scratch) and fanciness (cuts of meat, "special" fresh veggies/fruits). Gotta pick your tradeoffs . . . and I don't think health needs to be one of them.
There was a period in my young adult life where I pretty much lived on homemade beans, homemade whole wheat bread, homemade yogurt (used powdered milk), canned tomatoes (sometimes home canned), homemade canned sauerkraut, fresh cabbage, canned tomatoes, whatever veggies we could garden or get from friends who did, and the like. Cheap, cheap, cheap; pretty healthy. In a gustatory sense, I look back fondly on that time.
Personally, I think it's common unhealthy ways of eating that are expensive (full menu of fast foods, frozen whole meals, pre-prepped veggies/sauce thingies, snack foods, energy drinks, soda . . . .), let alone restaurants.
I do eat these things, but my system does not seem to like too many beans in a week and I have other food restrictions (so no canned tomatoes, no sauerkraut, and other options). But even with my restrictions and even including fresh veggies/fruit (in and out of season), meat, fish, shrimp, and splurges like my Bubly and tea I can eat for less then $75 a week (and again, that includes things like paper products, kitty litter, and other non food items).0 -
Hey everyone, so sorry I did it reply sooner. I’m new to this app and just figured out how to find my discussion threads🤦♀️ haven’t read everything yet, but I bought my fruits in the US. New York to be specific. Yes I do live in London but I also reside in the US sometimes. I don’t mind spending the money because I feel you can’t put a price on your health. But I read a lot of what you all said I and I thank you for your input. Not sure how to respond to specific people yet but I’ll figure that out too. Thanks everyone and continue to crush all your fitness goals 💪💪0
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britishbombshell08 wrote: »Hey everyone, so sorry I did it reply sooner. I’m new to this app and just figured out how to find my discussion threads🤦♀️ haven’t read everything yet, but I bought my fruits in the US. New York to be specific. Yes I do live in London but I also reside in the US sometimes. I don’t mind spending the money because I feel you can’t put a price on your health. But I read a lot of what you all said I and I thank you for your input. Not sure how to respond to specific people yet but I’ll figure that out too. Thanks everyone and continue to crush all your fitness goals 💪💪
You can hit "quote" under their post, or you can add @ to their name to notify them, e.g. @britishbombshell081 -
And it was jumbo shrimp two bags. They were frozen and about $10. That was actually cheap. Next time I’ll take a picture of the receipt but definitely not bs my luvs. I also bought plums, nectarines, bananas, 3 bags of clementines, and pears. Lastly my salad was the pre made ones. Those are easier for me to take with me on the go and they have a fork included and everything. Those salads were $3.50 each and I bought 9 in addition to fresh salad to make for dinner.1
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britishbombshell08 wrote: »And it was jumbo shrimp two bags. They were frozen and about $10. That was actually cheap. Next time I’ll take a picture of the receipt but definitely not bs my luvs. I also bought plums, nectarines, bananas, 3 bags of clementines, and pears. Lastly my salad was the pre made ones. Those are easier for me to take with me on the go and they have a fork included and everything. Those salads were $3.50 each and I bought 9 in addition to fresh salad to make for dinner.
That's sounds like a lot of food, but also the salad is probably what did you in as far as the cost. Premade stuff is generally way more expensive. I buy frozen meals because they're convenient but I know it's going to add to the cost compared to prepping food myself.3 -
RelCanonical wrote: »britishbombshell08 wrote: »And it was jumbo shrimp two bags. They were frozen and about $10. That was actually cheap. Next time I’ll take a picture of the receipt but definitely not bs my luvs. I also bought plums, nectarines, bananas, 3 bags of clementines, and pears. Lastly my salad was the pre made ones. Those are easier for me to take with me on the go and they have a fork included and everything. Those salads were $3.50 each and I bought 9 in addition to fresh salad to make for dinner.
That's sounds like a lot of food, but also the salad is probably what did you in as far as the cost. Premade stuff is generally way more expensive. I buy frozen meals because they're convenient but I know it's going to add to the cost compared to prepping food myself.
I agree that’s probably where I went wrong. Thanks so much0 -
RelCanonical wrote: »britishbombshell08 wrote: »Hey everyone, so sorry I did it reply sooner. I’m new to this app and just figured out how to find my discussion threads🤦♀️ haven’t read everything yet, but I bought my fruits in the US. New York to be specific. Yes I do live in London but I also reside in the US sometimes. I don’t mind spending the money because I feel you can’t put a price on your health. But I read a lot of what you all said I and I thank you for your input. Not sure how to respond to specific people yet but I’ll figure that out too. Thanks everyone and continue to crush all your fitness goals 💪💪
You can hit "quote" under their post, or you can add @ to their name to notify them, e.g. @britishbombshell08
Ooooooh thanks so much. People thought I was an “Op” whatever that is0 -
Mouse_Potato wrote: »Does OP ever come back to her threads or does she just start them up and then leave everyone to argue for her?
Just found out how to go back to see my discussion as well as respond to people specifically. Sorry 🤷♀️🤦♀️2 -
britishbombshell08 wrote: »RelCanonical wrote: »britishbombshell08 wrote: »Hey everyone, so sorry I did it reply sooner. I’m new to this app and just figured out how to find my discussion threads🤦♀️ haven’t read everything yet, but I bought my fruits in the US. New York to be specific. Yes I do live in London but I also reside in the US sometimes. I don’t mind spending the money because I feel you can’t put a price on your health. But I read a lot of what you all said I and I thank you for your input. Not sure how to respond to specific people yet but I’ll figure that out too. Thanks everyone and continue to crush all your fitness goals 💪💪
You can hit "quote" under their post, or you can add @ to their name to notify them, e.g. @britishbombshell08
Ooooooh thanks so much. People thought I was an “Op” whatever that is
It means "original poster" and is shorthand for referring to the person who started the thread. (:1 -
I live in Indianapolis (actually in a more expensive area near by). I spent $80 between Aldi and Meijer yesterday. that included groceries for a weeks worth of breakfast, lunch, and dinner plus snacks (yogurt, popcorn, and even ice cream). It also included kitty litter, a bunch of OTC meds I needed (stupid allergies), an extra pack of ground chicken (yay sales), a case of Bubly, and more.
The OP is being picky and choosy about what they are reporting and sadly people will see it and think "eating healthy" is just too expensive for them.
Well my name is Britt. I just figured out how to respond and I may be being a little picky. I went to stop and shop and that was the price I paid. Not complaining because eating healthy can save lives9 -
britishbombshell08 wrote: »RelCanonical wrote: »britishbombshell08 wrote: »Hey everyone, so sorry I did it reply sooner. I’m new to this app and just figured out how to find my discussion threads🤦♀️ haven’t read everything yet, but I bought my fruits in the US. New York to be specific. Yes I do live in London but I also reside in the US sometimes. I don’t mind spending the money because I feel you can’t put a price on your health. But I read a lot of what you all said I and I thank you for your input. Not sure how to respond to specific people yet but I’ll figure that out too. Thanks everyone and continue to crush all your fitness goals 💪💪
You can hit "quote" under their post, or you can add @ to their name to notify them, e.g. @britishbombshell08
Ooooooh thanks so much. People thought I was an “Op” whatever that is
OP means original poster which is the person who started the thread.1 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »britishbombshell08 wrote: »Bought fruits, salad, and shrimp from the grocery store and it came to $90.33 🤷♀️🤦♀️😂 Oh well, now to devour it all
Eating a nutritionally sound diet isn't inherently expensive. You're just doing it wrong. Shrimp is the only expensive thing you listed...there are numerous options besides shrimp. Chicken thighs, boneless and skinless are cheap and delicious and a perfectly nutritionally sound choice.
Still, I'd really like to know what kind of salad and fruit you bought to come out to $93 even with shrimp. You're doing something majorly wrong and need to learn to shop.
I have a detailed list. But yes maybe the pre made salads is what did it. Thanks 😉0 -
Thanks again to everyone and didn’t mean to seem like an imposter. Just figured out how to find my discussion threads1
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Eating healthy is as expensive or not as you make it. Out of season fruit and veg are going to be more expensive than in season. "Exotic" fruits and veg are going to be more expensive than staple types of fruit and veg like apples or broccoli. With pre-made salads, you are going to pay a premium for convenience.
I eat pretty healthy and do buy certain expensive items like salmon and cod...but we still do a family of 4 for $150-$200 per week and I'd wager that's still more than most people spend.1
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