Affordable healthy eating

Leisa42

Ok here is my dilemma, money. I work every day, very hard, along with my husband, but we are on a non-negotable strick budget. A trip to the grocery store is misery for me in normal circumstances, trying to feed a family of five, stretching every dime. Now that I am avoiding the unhealthy isles, I am finding it difficult to make it work. Lets face it, the ever so riseing cost at the grocery is what has turned America the fattest country in the world. Compare a pack of bologna and cheese and cheesy curls to fresh chicken breast and fresh vegatables for a salad? Raman noodles, frozen pizza, hot dogs, fat filled tv dinners, they are fat filled high calorie, but cheap compared to the healthy stuff. I made a deliciouse dinner one night, bacon wrapped shrimp (from hungry girl 200 under 200) squash caserole, baked zucinni, and stir fried snap beans. I could have fed us all three meals for what that cost. I would love to have a garden but not possible. Any suggestions?

TinaS88

Bump!

dxing

Cut back on something else? See how you can re-allocate your monthly funds.

Try buying food in bulk as well. Costco or Sams Club is key.

bparsont

Maybe you need to restructure the strick budget and put food first and everything else after. I don't know what your budget is but there has got to be something that can be downgraded and give more money to the food list. Everyone has their priorities, mine would be to not buy so much clothing, shoes, non-food items and put that towards FOOD. Just a thought, :flowerforyou:

runner328

We have two farmer's markets in my town plus a couple of flea markets but both have produce much cheaper. Discount stores have whole grains like brown rice, oatmeal, cereal etc.

HolleeERL

Sometimes the wholesale stores will help (Sam's Costco, etc) I don't do this in particular, but I have a few friends who do: Find a friend or two who like some of the same produce items that you like, buy in bulk, and split the groceries and the cost.

One thing I do with my romaine lettuce is buy the whole head and cut it up myself. A litle prepared bag costs around $3-$4 but a bag of romaine heads (comes three to a pack) costs under $3 and you get more lettuce when it's all cut up. You get so much more for your money and it lasts longer.

Just a couple of suggestions.

natskedat

If it's possible:

Buy some staples in bulk from a store like Costco or Smart & Final. You can grate cheese and portion out fish and chicken for easy-to-grab bags.
Boil dried beans (1 lb. of dried beans yields 7-9 cups (about 5 cans) cooked!). 1 lb. of dried beans = $1. 5 cans of beans = $5-6.
Purchase meats that are on sale only! Sometimes the grocery store mailer has additional club card savings, too.
Clip coupons, but only for healthy items and items you would normally buy.
Sometimes shopping on a certain day of the week is best (my grocery store has great deals on Fridays).
Pick a plant and grow your own. Having a small herb garden or a tomato plant can save a few nickels and dimes.
Try for a Meatless Monday. Investigate vegetarian cooking. Use beans, barley, and spices. Delicious, filling, nutritious, and cheap!
Make as much from scratch as you can manage.

HolleeERL

Boil dried beans (1 lb. of dried beans yields 7-9 cups (about 5 cans) cooked!). 1 lb. of dried beans = $1. 5 cans of beans = $5-6.

Make as much from scratch as you can manage.

YES!

Heatherbelle_87

Ok seriously avoid the seafood! Its the most expensive protein out there!

Buy chicken breasts in bulk & on sale. Albertsons puts there's on sale for between $1.19/lb and $1.70/lb every 2-3 weeks. Invest in a vacuum sealer to make it last longer otherwise freezer bags and SQUISH all that air out! Even if you have to do a little of your own fat triming its a negligable amount of time compared to the extra $1-2 per lb. ALWAYS try to cook an extra 2-3 servings (or up to 5 since you have a family of 5!) Rice is cheap, especially in bulk, and there are plenty of inexpensive ways to flavor it! beans, dry or canned (watch the sodium). And you can always buy the non-perishables in higher amounts when you start getting the wiggle room in your budget. MAKE everyone learn to eat leftovers! they can be reheated well and you can even learn timing to freezeand reheat in those divided plastic containers so you dont have tons of sizes cluttering your cupboard and you have portion control. SALES ADS ARE YOUR FRIEND! all of ours come free in the mail. For cheap produce buy what on sale/in season and look into a farmers market. Here Sprouts has the absolute best produce prices. Produce for a household of 6 (4 adults 2 toddlers) only costs me $25/wk. and we eat fresh fruits or veggies at EVERY meal and snacks in between (primarily a gluten free house) the (gluten) bread I buy for me is $2.50/loaf and even when others invade it its not expensive for all 6 of us. t takes some doing at first but when you have the extra $10 in another section of your budget spend it on food, once you get ahead its beyond easier to find wiggle room in your food budget for the splurges like seafood. Also try store brands for alot of your foods. There are certain things we only buy name brand in our house, but most is off-brand/store brand.

Im not an extreme couponer, Im a sales shopper. I typically get $800 worth of groceries for between $350-500/mo. and the $500 months are when we buy alot of red meat because we have the extra money.

Heatherbelle_87

If it's possible:

Buy some staples in bulk from a store like Costco or Smart & Final. You can grate cheese and portion out fish and chicken for easy-to-grab bags.
Boil dried beans (1 lb. of dried beans yields 7-9 cups (about 5 cans) cooked!). 1 lb. of dried beans = $1. 5 cans of beans = $5-6.
Purchase meats that are on sale only! Sometimes the grocery store mailer has additional club card savings, too.
Clip coupons, but only for healthy items and items you would normally buy.
Sometimes shopping on a certain day of the week is best (my grocery store has great deals on Fridays).
Pick a plant and grow your own. Having a small herb garden or a tomato plant can save a few nickels and dimes.
Try for a Meatless Monday. Investigate vegetarian cooking. Use beans, barley, and spices. Delicious, filling, nutritious, and cheap!
Make as much from scratch as you can manage.

Mushrooms are a great additive to ALOT of meals, low-sodium canned varieties or fresh, and are a great, lasting filler!

And remember alot of cheeses can be frozen so if you can buy it in bulk it will go further without going bad (and now Im back to the vacuum sealer thing I said earlier)