How-To: Eating Healthy on a Budget

wheird

Many people have the misconception that eating healthily has to be expensive. And while many of us debate about the meaning of "healthy foods", for the purpose of this post I will limit the definition to general whole foods as I do not eat organic, non-GMO, or gluten-free foods.


Sales! Sales! Sales!!

The key to eating relatively cheaply is to keep and eye on your weekly grocery ads. Different meats, veggies, and fruits are on sale at different times of the year, so I recommend stocking up while you can. Different preservation methods come in handy if you want to buy everything in bulk. Freezing is the easiest, with canning and dehydrating also being valid, but more involved choices.

I keep a pen and paper handy while looking at the online ads and jot down the things that are on sale and the prices. I actually just did this, so I'll include the list that I made. Keep in mind that your prices may vary from mine as different regions have different sales. I also included the price per ounce (28g) for the purpose of meal cost tracking.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast - $1.79/lb (0.11/oz)
Swai Fish Nuggets - $1.49/lb (0.09/oz)
Swai Fish Fillets - $2.29/lb (0.14/oz)
Ground Beef 80/20 - $2.89/lb (0.18/oz)

White and Red Potatoes - 3lbs/$0.99 (0.02/oz)
Long Grain Rice - $0.45/lb (0.03/oz)
Pinto Beans - $0.69/lb (0.04/oz)
Sweet Potatoes - 5lbs/$0.99 (0.01/oz)

Green Peppers - 3lbs/$0.99 (0.02/oz)
Cilantro - 4bundles/$0.99 (who the hell knows, cheap)
Brown Onion - 3lbs/$0.99 (0.02/oz)
Spinach Bunch 2/$0.99 (0.03/oz)
Avocado 2/$0.99 (Varies based on size)
Roma Tomatoes $0.89/lb (0.06/oz)

Sharp Chedder Cheese 24-32oz block - $7.99 (0.25/oz)
Crema Mexicana - 2/$4 (Not sure until I see how many tablespoons are in each, but cheap)

Frozen Mixed Veggies 32oz/$1.99 (0.06/oz)
Corn Tortillas 72ct $2.29 (0.03/tortilla)
Tomato Sauce 3can/$0.99 ($0.04/oz)

Plan Ahead!!

Meal planning can be a very effective tool in both sticking with your diet and staying within your budget. I decided to base my dinners for next week based almost entirely on what is on sale. However, I am assuming that you have spices, garlic, tomato sauce, chicken stock, and hamburger buns already. Ok, not hamburger buns, but definitely the rest. If you don't have chicken stock, then at least chicken bouillon cubes? Do you even pantry brah?

So I threw together 7 meals based on the sales. Order them the way you wish.

Fish Tacos with spanish rice and mashed pinto beans
Fish Nuggets with roasted potatoes
Fish Fillet with rice and mixed veggies
Burgers with roasted potato wedges
Grilled Chicken with rice and mixed veggies with avocado
Grilled Chicken with baked sweet potato and a spinach salad w/ tomato
Chicken Stir Fry


Meal Cost

Ok, now let's break it down by cost per meal.

Fish Tacos (8oz Swai nuggets($0.72), 2 tortillas($0.06), 2oz Roma Tomato ($0.12), 1oz cheese ($0.25), 1oz rice ($0.03), 2oz Tomato Sauce ($0.08), 2oz Brown Onion ($0.04), 44g Pinto Beans ($0.06), 2TB Crema (Pennies?)

This comes to a meal cost of about $1.36. Let's say $1.45 for the sake of factoring in the cream, two garlic cloves, and one tablespoon of canola oil. Holy **** that is cheap!!

And for the nutrient breakdown. Keep in mind that this will probably make the 1200 calorie per day crowd gasp, but for the rest of us this is easily doable.

Calories: 750
Protein: 50g
Fats: 35g
Carbs: 80g
Fiber: 20g

Which is pretty darn good considering that this is the most calorie dense of all the meals I listed.

In any event, I do hope that this helps some understand the process that makes cheap, healthy dinners possible and apply a similar method to their breakfasts and lunches.

MB_Positif

You are awesome. Thanks for sharing

PikaKnight

Would bang

MiloBloom83

Nice post. Well done.

TheSlorax

I am one broke ***** and I approve of this post. THANK YOU!

Junken_Diraffe

But will you shop for me and prepare the food? Clean up after? Pretty please? :flowerforyou:

ssaraj43

Thank you for taking the time to do this. Excellent post

Holly_Roman_Empire

Nice thread! My family and I appreciate it. :flowerforyou:

wheird

But will you shop for me and prepare the food? Clean up after? Pretty please? :flowerforyou:

Tch. Always trying to keep me barefoot and in the kitchen.

Junken_Diraffe

But will you shop for me and prepare the food? Clean up after? Pretty please? :flowerforyou:

Tch. Always trying to keep me barefoot and in the kitchen.

It's only because I care. You're safe there. Plus, you look so pretty in that apron.

PikaKnight

But will you shop for me and prepare the food? Clean up after? Pretty please? :flowerforyou:

Tch. Always trying to keep me barefoot and in the kitchen.

It's only because I care. You're safe there. Plus, you look so pretty in just an apron.

FIFY

wheird

That's it, making chili for the next week.

PikaKnight

That's it, making chili for the next week.

Yay :bigsmile:

wheird

Eggs

Another post sparked this thought and I figured I would add it. They were slightly offput by the price of eggs being $2.08/dozen. To me, this is not an unreasonable price for what they are, though I often get 20 eggs for $2.50-3.00.

Eggs are one of the most cost efficient means to get protein in your diet. A dozen large eggs at $2.08/dozen is 17 cents per egg.

Now let's look at the macros for a large egg (50g):

Calories: 72
Protein: 6.3g
Fat: 4.7g
Carbs: <1g

That is only a bit under $0.03 per gram of protein. Let's compare that to a chicken breast (50g)@$1.79/lb.

Calories: 60
Protein: 11.25g
Fat: 1.31g
Carbs: 0g

The chicken breast is just under $0.20 for a 50g piece and costs a bit under $0.02 per gram of protein. That is pretty close, and you also get almost 4x the fats with the eggs and the convenience of a simple, quick meal.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

I started using Google calendar to plan my meals. That way I know what I've shopped for and can be long and I what we've eaten recently.

SoftHeat

Please teach me your ways oh wise one.

Reading this makes me sick thinking about all of the money I waste at the grocery store.

Pinklacroix

I love meal prepping. It's cheaper plus you don't have to throw out things that have gone bad before you got around to eating them.

thatjulesgirl

Just discovered cottage cheese and WOW. What a super food... 12.5g protein for just 102 calories per 125g serve? And at the Aldi near me a 500g tub of the stuff is only $2.20....

That's pretty cheap, awesome protein IMHO

CMB1979

Why do people always want to make me cry. I live in South Korea and these prices make me miss home so much! I wish the OP could help me live cheaper.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast - $1.79/lb (0.11/oz) .............about $6.50/lb
Swai Fish Nuggets - $1.49/lb (0.09/oz) ..........unavailable
Swai Fish Fillets - $2.29/lb (0.14/oz) .............. unavailable
Ground Beef 80/20 - $2.89/lb (0.18/oz)........... about $13/lb

White and Red Potatoes - 3lbs/$0.99 (0.02/oz) ....... about $1 per potato (only white or sweet available)
Long Grain Rice - $0.45/lb (0.03/oz) ......... If you can find anything other than sushi rice it's about $5-$6/lb
Pinto Beans - $0.69/lb (0.04/oz) ................. unavailable but most dry beans are about $10/pound.
Sweet Potatoes - 5lbs/$0.99 (0.01/oz) ......... about $1 each.

Green Peppers - 3lbs/$0.99 (0.02/oz) .......................................... about $1 each.
Cilantro - 4bundles/$0.99 (who the hell knows, cheap).............about $3 for one TINY bundle (specialty stores only)
Brown Onion - 3lbs/$0.99 (0.02/oz)............................................... $2-$5 for 3lbs
Spinach Bunch 2/$0.99 (0.03/oz)...................................................$1 for 1 bunch
Avocado 2/$0.99 (Varies based on size)......................................$3.50 each
Roma Tomatoes $0.89/lb (0.06/oz).............................................$8 /lb

Sharp Chedder Cheese 24-32oz block - $7.99 (0.25/oz)........................$14 for 24 oz block (available at costco only)
Crema Mexicana - 2/$4 (Not sure until I see how many tablespoons are in each, but cheap)......... not available

Frozen Mixed Veggies 32oz/$1.99 (0.06/oz)............same size about $11
Corn Tortillas 72ct $2.29 (0.03/tortilla)................. not available (flour tortillas in specialty stores and costco for $5 for 6 tortillas)
Tomato Sauce 3can/$0.99 ($0.04/oz).................. $2 /can

wheird

Why do people always want to make me cry. I live in South Korea and these prices make me miss home so much! I wish the OP could help me live cheaper.

Yeah...South Korea is pretty far out of my knowledge base. I will just give you some ignorant advice and suggest catching a bunch of crickets. :P

CMB1979

Why do people always want to make me cry. I live in South Korea and these prices make me miss home so much! I wish the OP could help me live cheaper.

Yeah...South Korea is pretty far out of my knowledge base. I will just give you some ignorant advice and suggest catching a bunch of crickets. :P

Indeed. Send me your good vibes. Perhaps I can eat off those.

Look here if you don't believe me. This is a sale: (remember that 1 lb is about 460 grams)

http://www.homeplus.co.kr/app.exhibition.saleshop.SaleShop.ghs?comm=usr.saleshop&WT.ac=GHS_Front_13.layer-beef#tabCont1

1000 won is about $.95

wheird

Oh wow, that is pretty rough man. =/ Is your housing costs at least fairly low?

CMB1979

Oh wow, that is pretty rough man. =/ Is your housing costs at least fairly low?

My apartment is paid for by the school but it's like anywhere else - location location location.

My small studio is about $450/month but the deposit on apartments is much more... starting about $10,000 to $30,000 deposit for a small apartment if on a "key money" system.

In Seoul - apartment maybe $1200/month plus $50,000 deposit.

Otherwise, it's on a jeonse system which is why most people live at home until they get married (and often after) and then save for 10-15 years to buy a place. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeonse

CMB1979

Oh wow, that is pretty rough man. =/ Is your housing costs at least fairly low?

Electricity and gas and internet etc are maybe 50-75% less than the USA but gasoline is about $8/gallon as well as about $8/gallon for milk (but not available in a size that large>)

wheird

Oh wow, that is pretty rough man. =/ Is your housing costs at least fairly low?

My apartment is paid for by the school but it's like anywhere else - location location location.

My small studio is about $450/month but the deposit on apartments is much more... starting about $10,000 to $30,000 deposit for a small apartment if on a "key money" system.

In Seoul - apartment maybe $1200/month plus $50,000 deposit.

Otherwise, it's on a jeonse system which is why most people live at home until they get married (and often after) and then save for 10-15 years to buy a place. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeonse

Oh wow...those deposits are insane. I wouldnt be too happy having to shell out a 50k deposit.

truelove7

I really like this post. With a large family like mine, budgeting, planning and eating at home are crucial! I am ALWAYS scanning the meat isle for specials. We invested in a large freezer so I can support my meat hoarding habit.

I was proud of myself last night...we had friends over and I fed everyone lean beef tacos (2-5 each depending on how hungry they were), all the trimmings (cheese, sour cream, queso fresco, avocados, lettuce and jalapenos), chips, salsa and black bean/corn salad...all for @ $3.25 per person! That was a hearty dinner for 8 folks for under $30!

It can be done...but I have to admit it takes time, patience, and persistence to stick with your plan.

Cheeky_and_Geeky

We do something similar. I gather all the sale ads & circle what were eating that week.I get 75% of our food at Aldi's. Sooo cheap!

romancefan1983

Great Post!

We (as in I lol) started doing meal plans a month ago and I was amazed about how I'm staying under the grocery budget and actually getting more. Also, it's alot easier to plan ahead healthy meals. It's one of those things that you know you should probably do but don't understand the full benefits until you actually do it.

wheird

We do something similar. I gather all the sale ads & circle what were eating that week.I get 75% of our food at Aldi's. Sooo cheap!

Sav a Lot is similar. Bags of chicken leg quarters for 49 cents a pound? Yes please!

airdiva1

We do something similar. I gather all the sale ads & circle what were eating that week.I get 75% of our food at Aldi's. Sooo cheap!

I do also! Aldi's have some of the best pricing for veggies, fruit and some of it's meats!
Between fresh and frozen veggies, along with a bag of black,red, or pinto beans, I can eat well for two weeks.
I also love the large frozen veggies at WalMart. For around $2.40 I can buy a large frozen bag of Orka, Green Beans, Squash,etc. I then come home and bag it into one cup baggies then freeze. All I have to do is pull out what to eat that morning and use.
The same with beans. I cook a bag of beans and measure it out to one cup servings and freeze.
I buy chicken on sale.
Since my meals are now 90% veggies, I spend less on food!
I feel better and don't have those crazy cravings for fatty foods like in the past.

zooeypickles0822

what brand of cottoge cheese and what is the sugar count if you dont mind me asking please?