Making Healthy Choices on a Budget- I want to hear from you!

stevemcknight

I have some experience here - I believe in eating whole foods. It's cheaper and so much better for you. Don't believe the old school myths that fat is bad for you, or eating cholesterol in eggs will make your LDL levels skyrocket. It's just untrue and has been proven as such. That being said. Cheap food on a budget:

Eggs - you just can't beat it. Don't skip the yolk. It's where the good stuff is. Honestly, I don't think there is a cheaper and healthier meal than eggs.

Baby Spinach - you can buy this in a huge box from Sam's Club and use it for the base of any salad. Skip the lettuce, it's basically wasted money - nothing good in it but water.

Frozen Broccoli - cheap and lasts forever. Wait until it goes on sale and buy a freezer full!

Frozen Skinless/Boneless Chicken Breast - pure protein here - basically no fat, no carbs, just muscle building protein and it lasts forever too. I buy them for usually close to $1 per breast. That's cheap food.

Frozen Hamburger Patties - I go high fat here for the extra fat in my diet. The 75% lean patties at Sam's are about $.50 each and grill up in 3 minutes.

Skip - corn, fruit and anything in a box. I know - the boxes have cheap stuff. It's not worth it - really, you'll be so much happier otherwise.

Eating out - I tour with a band all the time, fast food, sadly is a way of life. There are some cheap, healthy ideas you can add.

McDonalds: "Grilled Chicken Patty" - not on the menu - but they can ring it up. Check out these stats:
120 calories, 22g Protein, 2g Fat, 2g Carbs - it comes seasoned in a box and is very good - I will typically eat 3-4 in a sitting.

McDouble - hold the bun, ketchup. For $1 each - it's just meat and cheese and pretty damn good for you surprisingly. About an equal fat to protein ratio.

You can eat out pretty healthy - but a couple rules to remember, you never have to order off the menu. Decide what you want, and order it made that way. Most restaurants can make what you really want and you'll be happier.

SassyStef

I feel your pain! I am a stay-at-home mom of 3. Feeding 5 on 1 income gets crazy sometimes, just gotta make sacrifices where you can. We do mostly organic produce and everything else as clean as possible. That being said, I also buy second hand clothing whenever I can, it's way cheaper! It's just one place I have found that I can spend less to be able to afford better quality groceries. One big thing that helps me is planning the next weeks meals before I go to the store and then sticking to my plan. It REALLY cuts down on wasting and helps with portion control. Good luck!

totally love the thrift stores!!! I shop at them for our clothes too!! I have bought a pair of jeans for more than 3 bucks in a year or so lol and I get name brand too....I find my daughters clothes for 99 cents and under

MyNameIsNotBob

I make a huge batch of soup each week. We eat it for a couple days, and then I freeze the rest in individual portions. (Those ziploc containers with twist-on lids are the perfect size for this.) After a month or so, you'll have all sorts of individual soups to heat up for lunches. I also make double recipes of lasagna, chicken pot pie, or other casseroles, cook one and freeze one for later. I even have mini pie dishes to make individual pot pies for freezing.

You have to experiment to find things that freeze well... I've had good luck with chicken noodle soup, chicken and dumplings, chili, spaghetti sauce, bean soup, clam chowder, lasagna, pot pies, quiche... the beef stew didn't freeze so well because the potatoes were huge and then got mealy in the freezer. Live and learn.

Anyway, you save $$ by buying larger quantities of the ingredients like cheese, etc., because you're spending less per ounce or whatever... and then you have more food ready to go for convenient eating later on. (Way better for you than the frozen meals like Lean Cuisines... def. less sugar and sodium.)

Conversely, I actually find that I save $$ by buying smaller portions of fresh produce. When I buy one or two bananas, we eat them. If I buy 7, 4 of them go bad. When I want a salad, I go to the store and buy the salad stuff. This means that I don't ever really have a "grocery day," I just go when I need some produce and then pick up whatever else I need. I don't find that I spend more $$ because I'm at the store more often. If anything, I get better at just popping in to get what I need. Admittedly, this only works because I live close to the grocery store. Other places I've lived, the weekly shopping trip was a logistical necessity... but one that I found cost me lots in terms of rotten produce that I couldn't eat fast enough.

abra526

We never buy our meat at Aldi's but we do buy a lot of fruit like apples, bananas and oranges because it's so much cheaper. In the summer we do shop at our local farmer's market, and at least here, you can get some fantastic deals, and it's nice to know you're helping out the local farmers.

jeyoung03

bumppp