Why does eating healthy cost so much 🤷‍♀️

nowine4me

A bag of black beans is $2
A bag of rice is $2
Frozen Broccoli $5
Assorted (not pre-cut) fruit $5
Instant Pot $50
I saved you $26 and you can eat for week

britishbombshell08

yirara 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

Wow, that's nearly a month worth of groceries for me. I spend about 100 Euro per month on groceries. I usually have about 100gr of meat or fish with my dinner, a proper portion of veggies, and fill up the rest of my calories with rice, pasta, potatoes, or other such things. Breakfast is oats with skyr, raisins, and whatever fruit there is at the office (yay, free fruit). Dinner is bread with cheese, thinly sliced chicken, turkey or ham. With a few grapes or nuts from the office inbetween. Two candy bars each day, one with lunch, the other after dinner.

Well props to you. I’m impressed!!💪💪

lalalacroix

I think I read once that grocery bills are often the second highest expenditure for families, after rent/mortgage. Learning how to shop frugally can make a big financial difference.

Personally I buy produce in season most of the time. Which means buying mostly frozen in the winter because where I live there really isn't much affordable produce.

I also stock up during good sales. Yesterday I got several containers of sugar snap peas cause they were under a dollar and I stocked up on corn on the cob because 6/$1 is awesome. Hope they taste sweet.

Seafood can be very expensive. I only buy what's on sale because otherwise the cost would be prohibitive for me.

I think flexibility is key when being serious about saving money at the grocery store. Being willing to change brands and even foregoing specific produce, like avocados, can be big money savers.

lemurcat2

Here's the breakdown: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cesan.nr0.htm. Food as a whole (not just groceries) is after transportation, as well as housing.

Interestingly, expenditures on food at home are less than 6% (as of 2017), but food away from home is another 4.5%.

rubyslipperss1

I used to ask the same thing until I started eating healthy. I buy a lot from Aldis and Walmart which helps a lot cost wise. Using the money I spent twice a month on my Taco Bell orders buys a lot of healthy food. If you have a electric pressure cooker, Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi (I have all 3) even the cheapest cuts of meat can be made tender and delicious! Of course a Crockpot works too.

TheMothership71

I mean if all you used to eat was processed food you may be a little surprised but something seems off with your total. I shop for people for a living. It’s so sad what many people call food. Celebrate the fact that you decided you were worth it. Eat REAL food. 😊

kathryn1391

I know it varies a lot on area and stuff but im UK based and shop in a discount supermarket. For me and my fiance we spend around £35 a week on groceries if you take out alcohol, but include some treats.
Every other week we will have a batch cooking week where we make a big pot of bolognese, and have the 2 nights, turn it onto a lasagne, and then add bits to make a chilli for the last night. This shop on average costs us £25 and no more if we are on our last pennies for the month.
No jar sauces are used, just fresh vegetables and we buy 5% lean mince but bulk it out with things like courgette, onion, carrots, mushrooms, tinned tomatoes and then add kidney beans and spices for a chilli.

It tastes lovely, we know exactly whats in it, and its 10 meals.

lemurcat2

TheMothership71 wrote: »

I mean if all you used to eat was processed food you may be a little surprised but something seems off with your total. I shop for people for a living. It’s so sad what many people call food. Celebrate the fact that you decided you were worth it. Eat REAL food. 😊

Seems to me that eating from ready made or highly processed options would be more expensive than eating from whole foods. (Whole foods out of season may be more expensive and being afraid of frozen or something like canned tomatoes can be an issue for price, of course.)

I suspect one of the issues with the high bill was the premade salad. (Although if eating just for one and price is not an issue, someone might prefer that to ingredients they fear will go back before they are used, depending on the variety desired.)

Katus130

Produce can be expensive and it is very much location based. Even when you try to eat seasonally, the cost can add up. The other issue that some folks are afraid to consider is the absurd amount of meat people eat. You don't need to eat it at every meal, you don't need to eat it everyday and your kids don't either. You can get a substantial amount of protein from beans, legumes, and eggs which is less expensive than most cuts of meat.

kathryn1391

Katus130 wrote: »

Produce can be expensive and it is very much location based. Even when you try to eat seasonally, the cost can add up. The other issue that some folks are afraid to consider is the absurd amount of meat people eat. You don't need to eat it at every meal, you don't need to eat it everyday and your kids don't either. You can get a substantial amount of protein from beans, legumes, and eggs which is less expensive than most cuts of meat.

100% this!! We have meat free lunches now and its made such a difference to our spending, and its forced us to be more inventive.

zeejane4

Katus130 wrote: »

Produce can be expensive and it is very much location based. Even when you try to eat seasonally, the cost can add up. The other issue that some folks are afraid to consider is the absurd amount of meat people eat. You don't need to eat it at every meal, you don't need to eat it everyday and your kids don't either. You can get a substantial amount of protein from beans, legumes, and eggs which is less expensive than most cuts of meat.

It's really going to depend though on someones dietary goals though. I'm actually increasing meat intake while cutting down/out things like beans and legumes right now. I've found this way of eating to be cheaper though, than when I was eating a mostly whole foods, plant focused diet. This is because I have an amazing outlet store 10 minutes away that has fantastic prices on meat, and then Aldi has great prices on frozen seafood.

Not everyone follows the same way of eating. Plus factor in health conditions, allergies and intolerance etc and our diets can vary quite a bit from person to person.

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