Eating Healthy is too expensive!!!!

Leola2011

It makes a difference what you consider "healthy". Sure, it's cheaper to buy a gigantic slab of ground beef that is 70% fat than it is to buy 5 pounds of 93% fat ground beef. That's just the way it is. But if you're looking to get items that are specifically found in health food stores that are just as processed and packed with sodium as "regular" food, you really aren't doing yourself any favors.

It might help if you start preparing your food as if you were feeding more people. That way, you have plenty of leftovers for lunch and quick bites between errands. I've found that preparation is paramount!

Also, there are TONS of healthy homemade recipes that you can prepare in under 20 minutes that are tastier than the convenience alternative. I love making my own pizza, for example.

I feed a family of 8 (9 when everyone is in the same place) and spend a small fortune on groceries. But I've learned that oatmeal and cream of wheat (not the packets) is far more thrifty than cold cereal and milk. And healthier! Frozen veggies don't have the sodium that canned veggies do, and a crock pot should be a mandatory appliance in every home!

And here's something that a lot of parents don't want to hear. Sometimes we do ourselves undue damage by being overscheduled. We want the kids in all sorts of extracurricular activities because we think it'll make them more well-rounded and enriched. But being overscheduled is not good for the family unit and sometimes it's better to say 'no' to some things if it means being able to say 'yes' to family face time and better emotional/physical health.

CakeFit21

So, on September 20, 2005 my father had massive stroke following quadruple bypass surgery. For 25 years he didn't listen while the doctors begged him, (after multiple cardiac "incidents") to eat healthier and exercise more. When he finally "left" the hospital 25 days later his hospital bills totaled more than $350,000 dollars. Although, to me that number is meaningless. He actually paid the ultimate price for unhealthy, lazy eating, he paid with his LIFE.

I mean this with the utmost love and compassion-- get it together. Your family needs you to eat healthy. They need to eat healthy too. Please read all of the helpful comments here and make a plan. MFP is here to help you. You CAN do it if you make it a priority.

FitMissVicky

For me it's the time crunch more than the money, but I totally get the frustration, especially if you have wee ones with their own desires and preferences that might conflict with your desire to eat healthier. But remember that teaching them healthy eating habits will only benefit them in the long run, and maybe they won't need to struggle as much as we do to change our poor eating habits.

Ultimately it is cheaper to make meals from scratch than to buy ready-made and overly-processed stuff. And better for you. and probably less loaded with sodium and preservatives.

some suggestions
1) breakfast cereal is expensive and probably not very good for you anyway as even the "healthy" ones are loaded with sugar and sodium. Toast and cheese, fruit and yogurt, eggs and nuts are good healthy choices that don't take a lot of time to make

2) your crockpot is your friend. Double recipes so you can freeze half.

3) Menu planning and making stuff the night before can help the time crunch and the lure to the quick-but-unhealthy options

4) always keep healthy snack options on hand, especially for the kids. Keep cut carrots and celery in water in the fridge, nuts, soynuts or pumpkin seeds for protein hit, greek yogurt

CrazyDaisysMommy

I just had to laugh. After I left my last comment I was thinking about my childhood. We grew up pretty poor, and my mother struggled to manage the family meals. I was always so embarrassed when friends would come over because we never had any "good food," like frozen pizzas or McDonalds or twinkies...We always had apples and bananas in the fruit basket on the table, and sometimes oranges. We always had a salad with dinner that was usually lettuce and tomatoes. We always had vegetables on our plates--she always bought frozen, but we ate them anyway. Mom and Dad shopped the sales, bought chicken in bulk and froze a lot of it. She would take it pieces out of the freezer in the morning, and then throw them in the oven when she got home from work. Mom would make a meatloaf if there was a sale on ground beef and that would last a couple of days. Mom always made very simple meals and a couple nights a week were left over nights where the meal was comprised of leftovers from other days. I'm going to have to call my Mom and give her some kudos for all her hard work!

ennaejay

Stick with us, listen to all the good advice you've gotten, and keep ranting while you're working at it -- but keep working at it! Take care of yourself so you can keep taking care the loved ones around you.

Prepare ahead of time. Buy in bulk when possible. Have a small pantry or chest freezer for canned/dried/frozen goods that you can quickly pull together simple, hearty dishes. Make lists. I have lists of inexpensive but nutritious foods that we eat on a regular basis. We stretch our meats (think using your ground beef in a huge pot of chili, instead of making a 4-lb meatloaf), or using your chicken in a chicken pot-pie or chicken pie with lots of vegetables in a whole-wheat, milk, and butter sauce (think a cheap-o homemade cream-of-chicken soup instead of a dollar a can!). You CAN do this, you just need a little encouragement and a "try, try again" mentality.

Eating healthy is NOT too expensive, but it does take a lot of work. It doesn't come overnight, but it DOES come. Have a calendar, make a menu of things to cook, and then make a ****load all at once so you have leftovers for another night, save yourself some time and energy! You don't have to be a slave to your budget or your kitchen, but with a little forethought and patience with yourself, you can make it happen.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I make a lot of soups and stews and such to stretch my healthy dollar. I find the exact opposite because now we go through less of the expensive proteins and more veggies while making sure our proteins have a high impact.

dumb_blondes_rock

so ummm....my dad and i are REALLY poor.....like kind of almost dirt poor lol.....we have about 100 dollars a month to go shopping with, sometimes 150.....what i do is look at ALL the sales newspapers that come in the mail to see when chicken and meat is going to be on sale....i stock up and spend about 60 dollars on meat alone, because our family is a typical american family that HAS to have meat with dinner. When i get home, i measure out the meat to a 5-6 ounce serving......if you eat the correct serving amounts, youd be suprised at how much it saves you. My dad and i used to eat a whole breast each, now we share one. I take a bag of meat out in the morning before i go to work and let them sit out all day to thaw(trust me. it won't go bad)

Next i spend a few bucks on the staple items needed....canned beans, tomatos sauce, cheeses, bologna or hotdogs, egg substitutes, etc. I buy these things at the cheap discount grocery store. Also corn tortillas are healthy for you, because its a whole grain....so we have grilled tacos a lot....a big huge bag of corn tortillas will cost you like 2.89

So after i buy the things i need i keep the rest of the money to buy veggies and fruits to last the week, maybe a week and a half....but i go to the grocery store once a week, to get the veggies so they won't spoil in the fridge, Trust me, it seems inconvenient, but when you are only going to one section and you know what you are getting, you can go in and out really fast.

At dinner, we always have at least one veggie, most times two, and a grilled something......to grill a chicken breast or a steak on the stovetop takes about 15 mins TOPS, and while those are cooking you can be cooking the beans and veggies at the same time. So after the meat is done, i let it rest and clean up all the dishes that ive used, which isn't too much....by the time im done doing that, the meat has rested enough that its now time to eat.....all within 20-30 mins......EVERYONE has 20-30 mins that they can cook.....think of the tv you watch, or how much time you spend on the internet.,.....you can cut some time away from those things to cook a healthy dinner.

Lesliecs

So, on September 20, 2005 my father had massive stroke following quadruple bypass surgery. For 25 years he didn't listen while the doctors begged him, (after multiple cardiac "incidents") to eat healthier and exercise more. When he finally "left" the hospital 25 days later his hospital bills totaled more than $350,000 dollars. Although, to me that number is meaningless. He actually paid the ultimate price for unhealthy, lazy eating, he paid with his LIFE.

I mean this with the utmost love and compassion-- get it together. Your family needs you to eat healthy. They need to eat healthy too. Please read all of the helpful comments here and make a plan. MFP is here to help you. You CAN do it if you make it a priority.

That is it in a nutshell..... we think it can't happen to us, but it can and it does.

bmqbonnie

It's not, really. Buying fresh ingredients for a bunch of meals is much cheaper than buying a bunch of processed ready to go stuff, in the long run. Your grocery bill on a given day may be higher but they will last you much longer. Beans, rice, chicken, eggs, etc aren't expensive. Buy what you can in bulk.

Leola2011

Sometimes it's about retraining your taste buds. Convenience foods are loaded with salt and sugar, which is why so many people prefer them over healthier options.

tresmom08

Thanks to all of you that offered POSITVE feedback. I will let my husband read your tips and ideas and sit down with him to make a plan. I was just feeling a little overwhelmed and frustrated...but I have to get it together for my family because they are depending on me.

live2dream

What's more important that your life fuel? Healthy food is my #1 priority of what I spend my money on. As others said, pay now or pay later with bad health, pain & suffering, medical bills. etc...

And we can blame a lot of the prices on government subsidies in the U.S. to unhealthy food corporations. They lobby with cash to the gov't, FDA, etc to make unhealthy food created with artificial chemicals more inexpensive and legal to sell. And even moreso, the reason it's cheap is because it's CHEAP, some 'food' so far removed from nature and created in a lab that of course it's inexpensive to make, but at what price to our health?

Edited to say:
I totally understand the part about not having time.... I am struggling big time trying to find time to chop up fresh veggies, etc... it does get frustrating. But I just try to think that it's worth it.

live2dream

Thanks to all of you that offered POSITVE feedback. I will let my husband read your tips and ideas and sit down with him to make a plan. I was just feeling a little overwhelmed and frustrated...but I have to get it together for my family because they are depending on me.

Good luck to you! Don't be overwhelmed. There are a lot of options out there...

MB_Positif

So, on September 20, 2005 my father had massive stroke following quadruple bypass surgery. For 25 years he didn't listen while the doctors begged him, (after multiple cardiac "incidents") to eat healthier and exercise more. When he finally "left" the hospital 25 days later his hospital bills totaled more than $350,000 dollars. Although, to me that number is meaningless. He actually paid the ultimate price for unhealthy, lazy eating, he paid with his LIFE.

I mean this with the utmost love and compassion-- get it together. Your family needs you to eat healthy. They need to eat healthy too. Please read all of the helpful comments here and make a plan. MFP is here to help you. You CAN do it if you make it a priority.

This. All of this.

Jade_Butterfly

Well I look at it like this, a little more money now for no hospitalization or multiple doctor visits in the future..In the end it would be cheaper to just eat healhty. I know it's pricey, but it benefits, trust me I see it all the time.

^^^^ This. . . . It will cost a lot more in medical bills if you end up with life long medical problems. . I watched my dad go through a whole list of medical problems and medications because he wouldn't change his fitness and dietary habits before it was too late. . . but after he had a heart attack. . the heart was damaged and then there was only so much they could do. . And that was just one of the things. .

So what I am saying is I am glad to see that you are on the road to health even though it may have taken your grocery bill up a bit. . . Fresh veggies and fruits are relatively cheap though if you watch for sales. .

Ruchell

Weight Watchers has a magazine with 15-minute healthy, low cal meals.

As for scheduling:

FLYlady.net

You got this!

I am SUCH a FlyBaby!

sharifit53

Family of 4, used to eat 2 hamburgers each, at $3 per pound that's 8 hamburgers 2 pounds $6 plus 1 pkg buns $2.50 = $8.50 for our main course.

Now eat 1 hamburger each, that's $3 + $1.25. I now have $4.25 to spend on a pound of strawberries and a package of frozen vegetables.

Now I have a 3 course meal at the price of one. I'm not finding it more expensive, really... the tough part can be saying "no" to all the other things they want you to buy along with. I have found that if I don't reserve budget money for ice cream or other nonessentials, I'm ok budgetwise.

Lauren8239

Two words......STIR FRY.

You can throw anything in it that is nutritious. The veg, noodles, bits of meat.......all can be done in different ways and is healthy and filling.

gp79

Use the low cost oil/air filters, put the wrong transmission oil in your car, don't bother with a front end alignment or replace your belt, your car is going to last 1/3 of what it could if you spend a little time performing....

*preventative maintenance*

You could look at it the opposite way and say eating unhealthy is cheap. They need to lure you to the darkside somehow.

LycosNyctereutes

I agree that eating healthy CAN be more expensive than not, if you're eating the dirt cheapest food you can buy- like ramen noodles. But fresh produce is so much cheaper than frozen or even canned. And tastes so much better. Especially if you grow it yourself or get it from a farmer's market. To anyone that's never tried home grown instead of industrial grown veggies, you will not believe your mouth! The difference is huge. And it can be cheaper, depending on where you live, no drought, etc.
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but so many of you swear by crock-pots. My mom used one for a few years when they first got popular (when I was a kid) and the darn thing caught on fire while everyone was gone to work and school and we almost lost our house. I have never left one (or anything else) unattended in my own home. Do you guys use some kind of surge protector or something? How do you ensure that it won't catch on fire while you're gone?

dad106

I agree that eating healthy CAN be more expensive than not, if you're eating the dirt cheapest food you can buy- like ramen noodles. But fresh produce is so much cheaper than frozen or even canned. And tastes so much better. Especially if you grow it yourself or get it from a farmer's market. To anyone that's never tried home grown instead of industrial grown veggies, you will not believe your mouth! The difference is huge. And it can be cheaper, depending on where you live, no drought, etc.
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but so many of you swear by crock-pots. My mom used one for a few years when they first got popular (when I was a kid) and the darn thing caught on fire while everyone was gone to work and school and we almost lost our house. I have never left one (or anything else) unattended in my own home. Do you guys use some kind of surge protector or something? How do you ensure that it won't catch on fire while you're gone?

Uh, most crock pots now a day's have an automatic shut off feature.. so if it gets too hot, then it just shuts it's self off.

Also, my dad is retired and doesn't go anywhere.. so he's a pretty good crock-pot watcher

JennsLosing

Frozen vegetables! They're healthy, pretty inexpensive and they last...no throwing anything out. I have 3 kids....so I totally get the whole budgeting thing. Frozen vegetables are my best friend.

mine too!

tresmom08

I agree that eating healthy CAN be more expensive than not, if you're eating the dirt cheapest food you can buy- like ramen noodles. But fresh produce is so much cheaper than frozen or even canned. And tastes so much better. Especially if you grow it yourself or get it from a farmer's market. To anyone that's never tried home grown instead of industrial grown veggies, you will not believe your mouth! The difference is huge. And it can be cheaper, depending on where you live, no drought, etc.
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but so many of you swear by crock-pots. My mom used one for a few years when they first got popular (when I was a kid) and the darn thing caught on fire while everyone was gone to work and school and we almost lost our house. I have never left one (or anything else) unattended in my own home. Do you guys use some kind of surge protector or something? How do you ensure that it won't catch on fire while you're gone?

Good question....I'm so paranoid about that myself.

TrekkerCynthia

I get my produce at Hispanic and Asian markets, so much cheaper there. Learn to make casseroles using ingredients like beans, rice, quinoa, whatever grains you prefer. These can be frozen in single size servings. It's time for you to change your children's palate as well, eventually they will rather have real food than fake, and think what you are doing for their health.

becalee26

I have a 5 ingredient cookbook that is my bible for my family of 4! I do find that now that my grocery bill is about 30 more a week that I've been buying more fruit and veggies. I am trying to cut back on other things to make the difference It does suck some weeks since we do live paycheck to paycheck with very little to spare.

Wingmistress

AND......it's WAY cheaper buying GOBS of frozen veggies than GOBS of crap like pizza rolls and junk.

Agreed. Since I'm cutting out the crap and opting for healthier choices (for me and my children), my bill isn't any different and they are satisfied. You just need to do a little homework for rewards later. In the end, you won't be spending anymore and you and your kids will be healthier for it

mandasimba

I get my produce at Hispanic and Asian markets, so much cheaper there. Learn to make casseroles using ingredients like beans, rice, quinoa, whatever grains you prefer. These can be frozen in single size servings. It's time for you to change your children's palate as well, eventually they will rather have real food than fake, and think what you are doing for their health.

I agree! I find that the big chain stores around here are crazy overpriced, so unless you find a really good sale and coupon, it is pointless shopping there (this week they are advertising $1.99/lb for peaches and other fruit... how is that a good deal!) but definatly try and find some ethnic grocery stores, I've also had great luck with super cheap produce and meats. The meats are the same brands and often I find the produce to be even fresher and tastier!

Hellbent_Heidi

I agree with everyone about the farmers markets (local growers) or frozen veggies. A lot of fresh things can be easily frozen, so do some google searching, and load up when you find a deal.

Last fall, I found huge green and red peppers at the farmers market, like 5 or 6 for $2. I bought a whole load of them, chopped them up and froze them (did them on a cookie sheet first, so they didn't get all stuck together). We grabbed a few out at a time and threw them in chili, quesidillas, etc...all winter long. I freeze sweet corn (cut off the cob and roasted), and we can and freeze tomatoes from our garden.

Whole wheat pasta, brown rice and beans are always inexpensive filler items that will help make a meal. Also, watch for sales and when you find deals on meat, freeze that too!

tmaksparkie

Ok I don't mean to sound like a sour puss but I feed my family of 4(including a teenager) and my husband really eats for 2 and 6 daycare kids and my father in law, yes that's 11 people and my weekly groceries are $150-200 dollars. To me it is always an excuse and I say that because their is always a way to do it, maybe cutting out something else, we cut out our satellite, share garbage service with a neighbor and cut out all processed food because price per ounce clean real food is cheaper. I know how you feel but I really just have to brush it off we are busy people these days. Here is what I do every week. I run a daycare from 6am-5:30pm I have children 6-8of them and 3 under 2yrs. We have preschool time, then some free play outside then I feed all of them 2 meals and a snack, then I make my own lunch and snack for me and my father in law, included in one day 3 loads Laundry, 2 loads dishes, 6-10diapers, then my kids get home from school help with homework activities at school whatever, in between their somewhere scrub toilet and floor from the day, make supper for 5 people get another load of dishes in, and off to the gym(5 nights a week) get home and maybe get to bed by 10:30pm. And get up at 5am and do it all again. Saturday I spend at trainings for daycare and have all the shopping to do for a week worth of supplies and food, and Sunday I spend cleaning the house and disinfecting toys to be ready for the week. So yes we are all busy so gather up your pride as a mom and put it in your pocket and move on. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!

theginnyray

My mom used one for a few years when they first got popular (when I was a kid) and the darn thing caught on fire while everyone was gone to work and school and we almost lost our house. I have never left one (or anything else) unattended in my own home. Do you guys use some kind of surge protector or something? How do you ensure that it won't catch on fire while you're gone?

That is terrible! I would assume that they are built different now. Did it have a timer? I've heard of toasters catching on fire, but never a crockpot! :ohwell:
One option would be to use it only when you are home - like overnights, evenings or weekends, rather than during the day.