How much does good food cost?

mafuta2014

Heavens! I am scheduled to travel in the USA for 6 weeks in August/September...obviously I shall need to triple my travel $!!

mafuta2014

If I convert from metric to Imperial.....

A bag of 1,5kg (about 3.3 lbs) delicious crisp red apples costs about $1.60, and deboned, skinless chicken breasts (free range) about $2 a lb.

A 10lb bag of chicken about $6.

Pineapples, whole, less than $1 each, and with winter coming I can buy large bags (about 10 lbs) of fresh picked oranges for about $0.75 the bag, from fruit stall vendors.

Milk is about $2.50 a gallon. A good filet steak is about $3.50 to $4.50 a lb.

This is in South Africa. I've done the conversions and exchange conversions as best I could.

From having traveled in Europe, the UK and the USA, I have found that our restaurant food is much cheaper, relatively speaking. There does not seem to be as much markup here as there is elsewhere. So a really good, first class restaurant might charge the equivalent of $12 for a 70 oz steak with salads or seasonal veg. At the local family restaurant I pay about $7 for a half rotisserie chicken with salads. That is probably only double what I would pay for the ingredients.

So I am happy to eat in restaurants quite often, which I find makes a meaningful contribution to my lifestyle. And I don't find diet food to be more costly...except for the cutting out of bread, for which benefit I am happy to pay!

eldamiano

Hi,

I was wondering now and then why people complained about the costs of dieting..
Now a new fried wrote that he has to pay 3 dollars for an apple?!?!?

Well, I really hope it is not like this everywhere...
I live in Italy, and I lived in the UK, and the food is by no means as expensive as that...

So, my questions, out of curiosity... how much does "good" food cost where you live?
Fresh fruit and vegs, chicken and pork meat, legumes, potatoes, rice...

Do you really find that eating healthy is more expensive than not?

No it is a complete myth that healthy food is expensive and a poor excuse to add to the list of excuses that people use for not losing weight comprising metabolism, plateaus and the whatever 'third party' reasons they can think of.

asdowe13

I spend on average $125 a week for a family of 3, basically i didn't notice a price difference between my more healthy diet versus my older not as healthy diet.

ETA : Prices for a Nova Scotian

euronorris

Hi,

I was wondering now and then why people complained about the costs of dieting..
Now a new fried wrote that he has to pay 3 dollars for an apple?!?!?

Well, I really hope it is not like this everywhere...
I live in Italy, and I lived in the UK, and the food is by no means as expensive as that...

So, my questions, out of curiosity... how much does "good" food cost where you live?
Fresh fruit and vegs, chicken and pork meat, legumes, potatoes, rice...

Do you really find that eating healthy is more expensive than not?

I'm interested to know where in the UK you lived, because it is incredibly expensive. As is everything in the South East of England.

That really depends where you shop.

And how creative you are with your meals.

And if you cook from scratch.

And ensure nothing is wasted etc etc.

The_1_Who_Knocks

Whole Oats. Less than 10 cents per serving.

The_1_Who_Knocks

I live in North Carolina. I went grocery shopping yesterday, these are some of the things I bought:

1 dozen tangelos - 2 dollars
Pre-cut fresh pineapple - 2.50 for 1 lb
10 lb bag of potatoes - 3 dollars
10 lb bag of chicken - 6 dollars
1 lb of grapes - 1.39
1 gallon of milk - 2.50
1 whole cabbage - 1.50

Total : $18.89

This isn't what I'm eating all week. I have other stuff at home. I just needed to grab a few more things. But this is a lot of food. If I was the only person in my house, it would last me a week or more.

That is incredible, especially the chicken for 60 cents a pound. I am driving to where you are to shop. Where do you shop?

SezxyStef

I have been going to a local farmer's market weekly to get produce -- I know what I can get cheaper there than at my local Kroger grocery store. I have always had to budget my grocery bill, but without the "extra" crap like chips, soda, ice cream, cookies, I have been about to keep my grocery bill about the same. The thing about junk food is that it has so little nutrients, you feel like you have to eat more of it in order to feel "full." Now that I'm eating a lot more fruits, veggies, salads, and have cut out red meat almost entirely, I feel full after a meal for a few hours and I don't have as many cravings.

Another reason it might feel like it's more expensive is when you're first starting out -- you pretty much have to replace your staples and get things that you'll use instead, so your first few grocery bills might be more, until you get used to it, know how much you need for a week, and can start combining ingredients for multiple meals.

If it was a lot more expensive, I certainly couldn't be doing it.

and once you factor in the money saved from eating out and on the run all the time I bet most people will see their wallet get fatter.
When I grew up you ate out, or ordered in, on "special" ocassions. Now many people eat out, at FF places much more often.

most people here who are saying eating good food is cheap and not a good reason not to lose weight missed the title of the post...

how much does good food cost....

Not is it too expensive to lose weight.

You can lose weight eating out everyday or eating KD and hotdogs..

But healthy food depending on where you live can be expensive. Even if you watch the sales...clip coupons etc...

The only reason my family can eat healthy is because I do shop sales, and we both have good jobs...otherwise we wouldn't be eating good cuts of meat, veggies and fruit and whole grain etc.

Losing weight does not cost more...being healthy does...

from healthy food, to gym memberships to equipment like bikes, treadmills, good shoes for walking/running etc all costs and sometimes those costs do hinder people...in their search for health...not weight loss.

ETA: I make homemade pizza over ordering it in and trust me it costs more to make the pizza then it would to order in the exact same thing...ground sausage, pepperoni, bacon, cheese etc (lots of protien, veggies and cheese) costs more than the 12$ I would spend on a pizza I am ordering in....

Achrya

Hi,

I was wondering now and then why people complained about the costs of dieting..
Now a new fried wrote that he has to pay 3 dollars for an apple?!?!?

Well, I really hope it is not like this everywhere...
I live in Italy, and I lived in the UK, and the food is by no means as expensive as that...

So, my questions, out of curiosity... how much does "good" food cost where you live?
Fresh fruit and vegs, chicken and pork meat, legumes, potatoes, rice...

Do you really find that eating healthy is more expensive than not?

This is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to people who want to lose weight, go on a diet, etc when they wonder about the high price of 'healthy food.

I have yo yo'd over the years. I am not proud of it, but it has happened. I master losing weight buy eating better, eating less and exercising. It is just maintaining that has killed me. I am giving it one more go around.

When people complain and say they cannot lose weight because it is too expensive...that is complete BS.


YOu can easily lose weight, and gain more $$ in your bank account. It really goes hand in hand. People dont need to go out and buy fancy "healty" food to lose weight.

When I lose weight I make $$$$$.
I spend sooo much less on food. How? Because you eat less. MUCH, MUCH, MUCH less fast food, much less drinks. much less eating out, much, much less $$ spend when you eat less/healthier

This .. I think it balances out you are eating less so your spending less . I shop around I buy the produce pics from my local aldis this week a bag of baby carrots is 69 cents. Eggs are a pretty inexpensive protein. Some stuff like hamburger meat is more expensive lean but I eat less of it because its red meat not lean meat anyway. I feed me and 3 kids for 300 a month. We snack on things like celery carrots apples natural peanut butter greek yogurt protein bars and almonds is it 100% clean no but its a lot healthier than honey buns and oatmeal pies

Eating less? Hah. I'm eating literally all day. I eat as much as 2500 on serious workout days.

Eating less. That's funny.

castadiva

What I really notice is how often special offers are available for highly-processed/high-sugar/high trans-fat items, and how rarely equivalent offers come up for natural/raw/unprocessed items. For someone shopping on a tight budget, that can make a very big difference. I have learned to hit the supermarket on certain days at certain times to buy meat (and fish when available, though this is rarer) for freezing when it is reduced, as it's reached its' sell-by date, but that tactic is pretty hit-or-miss, and doesn't really work for fresh produce (and, as for many London house-sharers, freezer space is at an absolute premium in our small shared freezer, so buying frozen isn't an option), dairy, eggs and other staples. I can't wait for summer, when the price of berries and salad vegetables tends to drop at least a little.

castadiva

Good food costs a lot less than the healthcare required by people who eat poorly.

ok, enough joking around, even if it is true

I feed my teen daughter and myself a local organic vegan diet for about $75/week.

Long Live The NHS - I can eat burgers all I want!

Also, our healthy food is actually quite cheap here in the UK. Avocados have gone down a lot in price recently because I'm guessing they are getting transported in bigger loads. They used to be £1 ($1.6) each, today I got 4 for £1.75 ($2.20ish). Bananas are pennies. Lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, spring onions etc., normally about 50p per "pack" (so a lettuce, 4-6 tomatoes etc) Lots of Asian supermarkets popping up too so you can get a wide variety of noodles and things that are better than the standard (and disgusting) egg noodles we used to get. Fish should be cheaper because we're an island but we export like 70% of it, but a lot of the less popular fish types are cheap, like hake, trout, squid etc. Also remember I think our average wage is a bit higher, so £1 would probably equal $1 in actual buying power in some places. I bought about 2 weeks worth of fresh vegetables, cheeses, noodles and fish, as well as 4 weeks worth of frozen quorn, chicken, steak and cereal, falafel mix etc., (making around 3 weeks food total) for about £40.

Since we're talking about apples, it's £3 for 8 pink ladies (one of the most expensive) or 70p for a bag of about 7 of the cheapest.

Also if you're reading this in the UK and you're wondering how I did it - I used to think healthy food was more expensive too, but I set myself a challenge this month. I shop at ASDA (95% of it), Lidl/Aldi, markets and a local greengrocers and Asian supermarket.

Cripes - where in the UK are you?! My average weekly shop is £40 for one person in Central London - and that's being very frugal. My flatmates spend a lot more than that. Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber etc certainly aren't £0.50/pack here... 50p *might* get you one banana. No easily-accessible Lidl's/Aldis, or ASDAs in my part of town, and the time-cost is too high to spend hours running around town for indivdidual items at the cheapest price, but even then, I'd be very suprised if I could do three weeks of food for £40, unless I became vegan!

clsindc

Last month spent about $250 for my boyfriend and I, that's vegetarian and mostly organic. 1500 calories/day for me, 2500/day for my boyfriend, 30% protein. My goal for this month is $200.

The dry goods I buy at the grocery store tend to go on sale every 4-6 weeks, so I'll stock up on items to last until the next time they go on sale. Produce is pretty sad right now, so frozen is the way to go. I always check the clearance shelf in the back of the store with the dented cans, and as long as the dent is not on the lip or the seam, they're safe. I make my own protein bars for $.60 each, and they are absolutely delicious.

The most important thing is to plan your meals and not waste food. That includes throwing away leftovers and letting food rot in the fridge. Only buy what you actually need for that week, unless it is something shelf stable and on a great sale. And maybe spend some time exploring in your own cupboards--most people have enough stockpiled to live off of for a couple months.

Bernadette60614

I think you also have to look at your total budget.

We walk everywhere cause it is just more fun now that we are fitter. We don't eat out cause frankly, once your palate becomes accustomed to more whole foods and smaller portions, it just doesn't taste right. We spend less on entertainment, cause we now shop and prep food as a family. DS and I make 3 meals a week together (he's 12) and we have the best time. Clothes in a smaller sizes (at least where I am) are more deeply discounted that clothes in larger ones.

Americans weren't always hefty. If you ever look at group photos of Americans from the 40s and 50s, perhaps 20% are overweight, but maybe one person is obese. I think we did more homecooking and took more time with our food.

lsorci919

Wow this was a eye opener as to what some people have to spend to feed their family. I'm thankful I can almost always find good deals on fresh fruits, veggies and meats. To feed my husband, 3yr old daughter and I, it costs about $400/$500 a month. Honestly my grocery bill hasn't changed since I started buying more fresh and healthier foods. In fact it's pretty much the same. I actually think we save a bit of money since we don't go out as often as we used to and since I watch my portions now more closely my food lasts longer.

JustLoseItLisa

I spend sooo much less on food. How? Because you eat less. MUCH, MUCH, MUCH less fast food, much less drinks. much less eating out, much, much less $$ spend when you eat less/healthier

I agree with this!! When I'm "off" the wagon, it's not out of the norm for me to buy; cookies, ice cream, cakes, extra chips, crackers, snacky foods, sodas, juices, etc, every single week and those add up to a LOT. Those items literally LEAVE my shopping list and nothing else replaces it. Those are all extras that I shouldn't have been eating in the first place. When I was buying my ice cream and cookies, I was also buying apples, strawberries, veggies, stuff for salads, and we would also eat out several times a week! For our family of 5 personally, it's cheaper to eat healthfully, and that doesn't mean that the "healthy" foods are less expensive, just that we eat a lot loss, go out a lot less and aren't consuming all of the extra calories (food) that we don't need.

econista

We live in the midwest where food is cheaper and closer most of the time, planted a garden, joined a csa, participate in local uban food-scaping, and the local co-ops where we only shop on member days with an employee discount of 10%. We also avoid all the prepackaged vegan foods and meat substitutes (ie, junk food) in favor of whole foods.

without doing a bunch of lifestyle things to reduce the cost and integrate diet considerations into our daily activities, we could easily be spending twice that or more, like some folks do

DucklingtoSwan

Actually I do find that unfortunately a lot of the better food choices tend to be more expensive. But I stopped letting that be an excuse to not take better care of myself, and I work hard to try to keep on hand what I need and make it fit into the budget. I don't have a particularly varied diet right now, but I'm doing all right on the most affordable basics.

For me, a big issue is not just the cost of the food, it is WASTE. Fresh produce can go bad if you don't use it all immediately and that adds up. Lean meats do get pricey. I am trying to make better choices for myself but having a tall, lean husband who has never been fat in his life and is NOT about to give up his endless pasta, red meat, potatoes, pizza and chips can make that very difficult- and expensive.

SO... I am buying twice the stuff (2% for him, skim for me, sugary kid cereals for him, healthier cereal for me, hamburgers for him, turkey burgers or fish for me, you get the idea.) And for produce, I will buy fruit and salad fixings but if I'm the only one eating it, I can't always get through it all before it goes bad and has to be thrown away. Same with skim milk since I'm the only one drinking it. And if our grocery bill goes high, I immediately get blamed for buying myself "unnecessary" stuff like yogurt, or shrimp for my salad, or whole grain bread in addition to the white he insists on.

My daughter thankfully is way less picky and likes healthy and junk alike. So I try to buy and cook good choices for both of us... but we could be doing so much more. It just is so expensive, not to mention EXHAUSTING, to be buying and preparing practically two sets of groceries for everybody.

eddiesmith1

Hi,

I was wondering now and then why people complained about the costs of dieting..
Now a new fried wrote that he has to pay 3 dollars for an apple?!?!?

Well, I really hope it is not like this everywhere...
I live in Italy, and I lived in the UK, and the food is by no means as expensive as that...

So, my questions, out of curiosity... how much does "good" food cost where you live?
Fresh fruit and vegs, chicken and pork meat, legumes, potatoes, rice...

Do you really find that eating healthy is more expensive than not?

If by good you mean unprocessed foods, they are always cheaper than prepared processed foods on a per portion basis - of course many people can't cook. Having spent time in Italy, the UK and much of the rest of Europe in fact your food prices are generally higher than north America (and I live in Canada which costs more than most of the US) there are differences though in Europe people seem more willing to pay for quality food, and it's reflected in the markets (the UK less than France/Italy/Spain etc)
people in north america want to spend as little as possible on food and that drives down quality IMO. It's changing but that takes time. I'm more Value Conscious than looking for the lowest price I start by eating what's in season locally and resort to imports onl;uy when local isn't available or is too limited (winter in other words)
I'm old enough to remember eating local and seasonally as the norm, now with the big agra worldwide industry anything is available any time often at the expense of the countries and people growing it. $2 a pound chilean strawberries in mid winter are cheaper than the local strawberries at the height of the season in june here. that's just insane.

SammieMozi1990

I recently moved out to live on my own for the first time. I have learned how to grocery shop on a budget. Of course healthier food may cost more then a $1.00 cheeseburger. But i buy my fruits and veggies in bulk and they won't go bad because i use them. I also buy my meat in bulk. I think it is a choice that has to be made. You can either feel bad about the way you look or feel, or you can spend a little extra money and eat healthy. I have only been eating healthy for about 2 weeks and i have already lost 11 pounds. I have found that since i cut out bad foods and replaced them with health foods, i am actually saving money because i am not drinking soda, water is free, and i am not wasting $7-$8 a meal on fast food. When i buy the health stuff in bulk and prepare my meals, in the long run i am actually saving money. Eating healthy can be done on a budget. Im living it.

thavoice

I recently moved out to live on my own for the first time. I have learned how to grocery shop on a budget. Of course healthier food may cost more then a $1.00 cheeseburger. But i buy my fruits and veggies in bulk and they won't go bad because i use them. I also buy my meat in bulk. I think it is a choice that has to be made. You can either feel bad about the way you look or feel, or you can spend a little extra money and eat healthy. I have only been eating healthy for about 2 weeks and i have already lost 11 pounds. I have found that since i cut out bad foods and replaced them with health foods, i am actually saving money because i am not drinking soda, water is free, and i am not wasting $7-$8 a meal on fast food. When i buy the health stuff in bulk and prepare my meals, in the long run i am actually saving money. Eating healthy can be done on a budget. Im living it.

BINGO.
and that is where people will see the difference in the pocketbook.

Whenever I am finished grocery shopping and get a sticker shock I start to piece out what I actually purchased and how many meals it will consist of and it always comes out much cheaper than my old, much less healthy, way of eating.