Clean eating on a budget???

laurabeth02

I love the idea of eating clean, but I find myself eating the same foods everyday because they are somewhat affordable/easy to throw together. When I try to look for new things in the store I feel almost overwhelmed with all the choices. So, how do you eat clean on a budget? Feel free to add me as a friend so I can get some ideas from your food diaries, or you can post your favorite 'clean' recipes here. :happy: Cheers to healthy eating!

Jillk1023

intresting subject gonna bump it so i can come back and read later

healthyjen342

When you say Clean Eating....what do you mean? There's a few different definitions for that...

laurabeth02

Mainly I would just like to minimize processed foods.

saychzzz

I try to stick to the outside aisle of the grocery store. Meats, vegetables, fruits, dairy. There are so many selections it's mind boggling but something you have to be willing to do is try things you've never tried before. Good luck!!

sisterlilbunny

I'm tagging into this for updates as well. I know I'm trying (keyword) to buy lean meats, fresh fruits/veggies and whole wheat stuff but man when you're limited and need the food to last a month? We do cook as much as possible but sadly a lot of that ends up being "kits" towards the end of the month (i.e. hamburger helper modified) which I know isn't good.

laurabeth02

Right, when I buy fresh fruits, veggies, meats, whole grain, and all natural dairy products I feel like I am in the store every week! Soo frustrating!

sisterlilbunny

Heh it kindof reminds me of that Simpson's episode where they go organic and pay 800 dollars only to have the food start wilting right away. ;D

I know people have recommended me some great websites for cheap meals but if ya can't afford the stuff to begin with, it's frustrating.

Daveydesigns

My best chances for that is going to a discount/cheap grocery store. PriceRight in my area great prices on fresh fruit, veggies and herbs.

healthyjen342

ahhh....may I suggest a store like Aldi or Save-a-Lot? The produce doesnt look pretty, but it's just as good (in my area at least)..and much cheaper...Also, I go to the Farmer's Market often too...Their produce is locally grown and much cheaper...

hilsidney

This is a total pain in the butt, and I have to really force myself to do it, but I look through the produce section and find what's on sale/in season, then I buy a lot of it and chop, freeze, and date. It saves me a lot of time later when I want to throw together a veggie pasta dish or something. Of course you can't do that with everything, but it helps!

Last summer my family bought a CSA share from a local organic farm and split it with another family. CSA's can be expensive so it was really affordable to split it with another family. We still got a ton of stuff! This forced us out of our comfort zone and we tried a lot of new things. We would pick up the veggies/herbs/fruits and they gave us a newsletter which had recipes that included all of the ingredients we had just received. I also would google recipes during work that included the veggies we had received and wrote them down or printed. It was super fun.

I also wait for the whole grain pasta's and such to go on sale and buy up a lot at that time. It keeps for a long time, and beans too, you can buy bulk, but we use a lot of organic canned beans and rinse them really well to reduce the sodium. Also, try stores like Big Lots... I often find a lot of really cheap organic and gourmet food there (pasta, rice, beans, etc.).

It's a crime that eating healthy should be expensive... it should be the opposite!

therealangd

I tend to buy a lot of frozen fruits and veggies as well as fresh. And I buy as much as I can in bulk. Costco is great for that.

I'm also really not that food fussy, so I tend to eat the same thing everyday.

LorinaLynn

I'm far too lazy to do real clean eating, but frozen veggies are always an option. They don't have the sodium of canned, are sometimes cheaper than fresh, and last a long, long time.

I also buy from the discount bin and freeze my own.

dls06

I love the idea of eating clean, but I find myself eating the same foods everyday because they are somewhat affordable/easy to throw together. When I try to look for new things in the store I feel almost overwhelmed with all the choices. So, how do you eat clean on a budget? Feel free to add me as a friend so I can get some ideas from your food diaries, or you can post your favorite 'clean' recipes here. :happy: Cheers to healthy eating!

I live in Philadelphia and we have a store called Food Basics. They have very low prices on Fruits and Vegetables, Breads, Cheese and Milk and frozen veggies. I love it! I don't purchase my meat there however. For meats I go to Sams club because I can usually get meats at lower prices.
If I go to one of the other major grocery stores I spend 3-4 times more for the same things. See if you have a store like that. If not see if you have a open market in the area with local produce.

bethany41h

I have the same problem, I find it's rather expensive and I'm always headed to the store. But when it comes to meat like chicken breast, if I find a great sale on it, I will try to stock up and freeze it. Though I prefer to grill fresh chicken breast but you gotta do what ya gotta do I guess.

dls06

Right, when I buy fresh fruits, veggies, meats, whole grain, and all natural dairy products I feel like I am in the store every week! Soo frustrating!

That's healthy eating. You need to go to the store more often. But if you want to eat fresh and healthy?

DeniseGdz

This is a total pain in the butt, and I have to really force myself to do it, but I look through the produce section and find what's on sale/in season, then I buy a lot of it and chop, freeze, and date. It saves me a lot of time later when I want to throw together a veggie pasta dish or something. Of course you can't do that with everything, but it helps!

I also wait for the whole grain pasta's and such to go on sale and buy up a lot at that time. It keeps for a long time, and beans too, you can buy bulk, but we use a lot of organic canned beans and rinse them really well to reduce the sodium.

It's a crime that eating healthy should be expensive... it should be the opposite!

That's exactly what my husband and I do too!! My girlfriends and I recently started going to teh farmers market. We buy fruit by the box and then split it 3 ways. Cheap, cheap, cheap!!

The other thing I'm going to start doing is gathering up my Store flyers and taking them to Walmart for price matching!! Every little penny helps!

Dtho5159

I live 2 streets away from my Kroger so I typically buy enough produce to get by for 2-3 days and go back and get more, that way it doesn't go bad before I get to eat it. I buy my dairy, bread, meats etc in one trip but I learned with produce, you really can't do that and expect it to last all week so I make a few trips. I usually have other things I need to go out for so I do it then.

up2me2lose20

Ok, I shop weekly regardless of my own needs. I run an in-home child care, plus we are a family of 5, so grocery shopping is one of my top weekly chores. So I don't mind going to the store often. Actually, I rather enjoy being in charge of the foods I bring into my home. I take pride in that. It's a budgeted item that I don't mind spending on.

I buy what's on sale in the fresh produce section. Going weekly, I know what the regular prices are and I can be a pretty savvy shopper that way. I am not an "organic" fiend, but I will buy organic if it's priced right. My favorite store right now is our local Hy Vee store. I'm not sure what is in your area. Depending on your climate, farmer's markets are a great way to get good fresh produce and eggs. I'm not a "greenie" and don't shop farmer's markets because they are trendy, but rather I enjoy the fresh foods and helping our local economy. But like I said it depends a bit on climate--our farmer's market doesn't open until July.

Another tip is to plan meals. Instead of just buying to have stuff on hand, buy with an intent to use. I get the emails from healthy living dot com and they have some great (and not so great) recipe ideas. I like to try something new each week.

I guess my biggest tip is simply to think of shopping and cooking as a part of this process and take pride in that! Make it a source of happiness instead of frustration. I can almost skip the frozen food aisles anymore...I do buy some frozen fruits though (berries, cherries, peaches out of season, that kind of thing).

Locally, our Kwik Trip gas stations have the best prices on milk, bananas, butter, eggs, onions and potatoes. I feel like a dork needing a cart at the gas station, but hey, it works for my family!

AnnieeR

Completely agree with the suggestions to shop weekly and plan meals so that you don't end up with stuff you don't need! I don't really think you can eat clean without shopping pretty frequently - the idea is to get rid of processed food but that's the sort of thing that lasts forever (which is disturbing in its own right!) I buy fruit, veg, dairy and bread weekly and stock up on meat at Costco once a month and freeze it.

LindseyC87

Have you looked if they offer bountiful baskets in your area? Thats great...You order a basket of fruits and vegtables a week and get a huge discount. www.bountifulbaskets.org

I shop store circulars to find the best price for stuff. I have the 4 stores around here circulars and I make a list of fresh produce and where they are the cheapest at. You can also do that with chicken/fish/turkey/etc.. I find at one store a pound of apples is $1.46/lb but at another they are on sale for $0.77/lb... Big difference.

Coupon. I know there is not alot coupons for produce but if you save money on your toiletries and other staple items in your house, you can roll that money you saved into buying fresh fruits and vegtables. IT will all even out.. I am a Stay at home mom so I got to watch my budget.

Hootsmamma

bump

smileyface45

bump

TrishDoller

I'm a proponent of menu planning and weekly shopping, as well. I tend to be as thrifty as possible in the middle aisles, buying store brands or sale items, so I can splurge on the fresh produce and meat. Even then, though, I buy sale fruit, heads of lettuce (instead of bagged salad mix), and if meat is on special, I'll buy an extra package to freeze.

Grokette

I love the idea of eating clean, but I find myself eating the same foods everyday because they are somewhat affordable/easy to throw together. When I try to look for new things in the store I feel almost overwhelmed with all the choices. So, how do you eat clean on a budget? Feel free to add me as a friend so I can get some ideas from your food diaries, or you can post your favorite 'clean' recipes here. :happy: Cheers to healthy eating!

Now that I am on a strict budget due to being unemployed, we only buy fruits and veggies that are on sale every week. Mostly this is buying what is in season and local.

The only exception is we buy bananas for my husband because they help with lowering his blood pressure along with eating everything else natural.

The ONLY processed food my husband eats is Organic Vanilla bean sandwich cookies and he take a serving of these cookies everyday in his snack pack to work. His snack pack this week includes: baby carrots, brocolli, greek yogurt with blueberries, banana, plum and his serving of cookies.

My husband eats 3 eggs cooked in coconut oil and nitrate free bacon (that we get from a local farmer) every morning for breakfast, takes his snack pack to work with him to munch on during the day and then we eat protein, fat and green veggies for supper.

Nuts4play

bumping this so I can come back to it

Thexplodingirl

File this under "don't knock it till you try it", make fun of me if you will... Though of course i've only done it twice..

I live in salinas, ca "the salad bowl of the world", much preferred to the "murder per capita capital of the world" but I digress...
It's not uncommon to find boxes upon boxes of produce on the side of a road, victim of an over confident truck driver.
I'm just sayin

maremare312

I try to eat a base of beans and grains (rice, quinoa, corn tortillas mostly to be gluten free) and add in lots of veggies and just a little meat. I shop at a cheap grocery store where you bag your own groceries, I don't how anyone on a budget can afford to shop at Whole Foods.

lipt8611

plan your meals/food list based on what's on sale- if grapes aren't on sale, don't buy! I also recommend buying bags of fruits- like bags of apples or oranges, because the price per fruit is much cheaper. i find i am much more likely to eat the fruit when i have a lot of it and don't want it to go to waste!
buy a whole watermelon on sale and cut it yourself- SAVE YOUR MONEY and do not buy pre-cut fruit!
cut your coupons and use them to stock up on frozen veggies- just make sure to read the labels, some of those frozen vegs are NOT a good choice- way higher in calories and fat than they need to be! (just saw yesterday the honey glazed carrots are like 90 calories per serving, what a waste! make them yourself!)

i'm a freak about saving money in the grocery store- it's my responsibility in our house!