True or an excuse?

CaptainGordo

Start reading the Sunday paper and hit your food stores accordingly.

Came home from the gym this morning to find the kid eating breakfast and the wife doing her homework with the weekly "junk mail" ads. She's at Walmart right now, doing the price match thing, and will be bringing home nutritious food while saving us a bundle.

MercenaryNoetic26

I know somebody that admitted to feeding herself and her whole family McD's everyday because it was more cost effective for her. Now, that's an EXCUSE. I think it's the same. It SEEMS more expensive because you're paying for everything at once. Organic is def more expensive.

kenzietea

I spend way less on healthy food than I do eating junk food take out. I can feed three people for less than $8 if I cook - but Taco Bell will set me back close to $20.

Excuse.

This.

LuckyLeprechaun

price is relative. The things we think are "expensive" and the things we think are" cheap" are ridiculous, sometimes.

Gasoline: when it got all the way up to $4 per gallon, we were all howling at the top of our lungs. Meanwhile, back at the ranch,
Starbucks: Venti White Chocolate Mocha: $4 for 20 ounces. That is $24/gallon. We have NO problem paying that. We'll stand in line to do so, even.

We all need to decide whether we prefer health over convenience. That's the real question.

Classalete

PS: Being single and having a good job doesn't hurt much either. ;D

funny... I was thinking through your whole post that being a single father doesn't allow me the time to do that. But your point is still a good one... it can be (relatively speaking) as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.

Yeah I'm not really one to talk...I have it made man. I have no dependents, can easily account for all of my debts, earn a salary with very flexible work hours, and prepare all of my meals fresh daily.

To those with children or families they need to provide for...It's obvious I can't contribute any legitimate advice. I understand not all of us are able to find the time to plot things out are carefully as some of us more fortunate folk. ;D

sarahgilmore

this has been an interesting read, im in new zealand so prices will be a little different. if i compare takeaways to healthy eating at home - healthy eating is cheaper but if i compare crap eating at home to healthy eating at home - crap eating is way cheaper.
just to give you an idea of how prices are here -
2lt milk $5.95,
chicken breast $19 per kg
fish fillets range from $20kg - 40kg
1kg block of cheese $12
1.5 kg bag of apples $5.90
avocado $1.40 each
tomatoes are currently $3.99 per kg but 3 months ago cause of the floods in oz they were $16 per kg!!!!
2lt coke - $1.90
packet of biscuits $2.20
chips $1.50
frozen pizza $3
5 pack of noodles $1.90

it is more expensive to eat healthy, but i also think people use it as an excuse - im a single mum with two kids and we manage to eat healthy. theres some creative shopping here and there and when meat/fish is on special i buy in bulk and freeze.

Anyone that uses this as a reaon is shopping wrong

3l Home Brand milk - $5.49 - if you use powdered (kids rarely care after the first few days) it can be as low as 97c a litre.
buy chicken on special - it's currently $11.99/kg
You can buy a 500g bag of dory fillets from the frozen section (just plain) for $11.99 as well
A 4-pack of avos is $2.48

Yeah tomatos were expensive, but here's the thing - they're not essential and they were out of season. It was August.. Buy seasonal.

those noodles equate to 38c a serve. You'd probably get more nutrition from a peanut butter sandwich for 29c a serve.

biscuits $2.20 250g, 88c/100g. => Carrots 2.97 / 1.5kg, 19c/100g

chips $1.50 160g, 94c/100g => 1kg potatoes and 1tpsb vegetable oil $1.27 12c/100g

you'd be hard pressed to make a $3 frozen pizza satisfy 3 people.
6 eggs $1.75 300g mixed veg $1.00, 100g grated cheese to top $1.00 (cheese can regularly be found for $10/kg block each week) Frittata to serve 3+ (would probably do 2 meals of 1 adult and 2 small children) for a mere 75c more.

You can't actually buy a 2l of coke anymore, unless you get the 'prechilled' ones from the supermarket, that's the only way to get a 2l bottle, and they're closer to $4... A 1.5l is usually $1.99 but that's on special. And guess what? Water's free!
I don't buy this nonsense from people who go on about coke being cheaper than milk . If you'd give them coke over milk because its cheaper, you're obviously not bothered about the nutrition that the milk gives, so just give water.

Junk food is not cheaper if people can just be farked getting up and preparing stuff and stop kidding themselves.
No, peeling and chopping and cooking your own potatoes isn't as easy as just opening a foil bag, but stop kidding yourself that it's more expensive, even if you add the 22c that it will cost to run the oven for 1/2 an hour to cook them, it's still 1c cheaper for a buttload more food and nutrition.

krisrpaz

I think if you go from primarily eating out to primarily eating at home then you will save a lot of money. But if you are a coupon-clipper who normally cooks at home for a large family you are going to lose money because there are close to NO savings in purchasing healthy, fresh foods. All the coupons are for the middle aisles a/k/a empty carbs. Sometimes I can save on frozen vegetables or salad dressing. That's about it.

cemummy

You're shopping wrong

3l Home Brand milk - $5.49 - if you use powdered (kids rarely care after the first few days) it can be as low as 97c a litre.
buy chicken on special - it's currently $11.99/kg
You can buy a 500g bag of dory fillets from the frozen section (just plain) for $11.99 as well
A 4-pack of avos is $2.48

Yeah tomatos were expensive, but here's the thing - they're not essential and they were out of season. It was August.. Buy seasonal.

those noodles equate to 38c a serve. You'd probably get more nutrition from a peanut butter sandwich for 29c a serve.

biscuits $2.20 250g, 88c/100g. => Carrots 2.97 / 1.5kg, 19c/100g

chips $1.50 160g, 94c/100g => 1kg potatoes and 1tpsb vegetable oil $1.27 12c/100g

you'd be hard pressed to make a $3 frozen pizza satisfy 3 people.
6 eggs $1.75 300g mixed veg $1.00, 100g grated cheese to top $1.00 (cheese can regularly be found for $10/kg block each week) Frittata to serve 3+ (would probably do 2 meals of 1 adult and 2 small children) for a mere 75c more.

You can't actually buy a 2l of coke anymore, unless you get the 'prechilled' ones from the supermarket, that's the only way to get a 2l bottle, and they're closer to $4... A 1.5l is usually $1.99 but that's on special. And guess what? Water's free!
I don't buy this nonsense from people who go on about coke being cheaper than milk . If you'd give them coke over milk because its cheaper, you're obviously not bothered about the nutrition that the milk gives, so just give water.

Junk food is not cheaper if people can just be farked getting up and preparing stuff and stop kidding themselves.
No, peeling and chopping and cooking your own potatoes isn't as easy as just opening a foil bag, but stop kidding yourself that it's more expensive, even if you add the 22c that it will cost to run the oven for 1/2 an hour to cook them, it's still 1c cheaper for a buttload more food and nutrition.

really??? where do you shop?? i go to pack n save and these are there standard prices, and there are 2ltr bottles of coke there and all other sorts of fizzy. and there are currently no packs of avos. they also dont have 3ltr milk there????
chicken is sometimes on special for $11kg - like i said i buy bulk when it is, but the standard price for it is $20+ a kg
it is cheaper to buy junk since ive changed my family and my eating habits (that werent terrible terrible eg never drunk fizzy or had cookies, sweets etc, but did have easy meals eg pizza or high sodium things) my grocery bill has gone up roughly $20 per week, but we are all much better off for it so i make it work.

Hahham

it's different strokes for different folks her you guys. It all depends on how many mouths you have to feed, the ages of those mouths, your grocery budget, the time you have etc. etc. etc. what may seem as an excuse to you is expensive to me.
I spend WAY more now then I did before so it is expensive as compared to frozen pizza, frozen hamburgers, frozen stoufers lazanga.

sarahgilmore

Countdown.

Actually I usually use Countdown online TBH and just pick it up. It's a $4 fee but saves me another tip into town because I can get it after work on the way home, saves me time, and generally I end up with at least $4 worth of freebies/overweight meat/veg anyway.
Like I ordered a 2kg roast beef once, but because they were all precut to around 1.4-1.5kg I actually got given about 3kg. And they don't charge you more.

I find Pak N Save the most expensive place to buy, overall. Their produce only lasts a day or two, the meat is awful quality, and the only things on special are junk.
I always maintain - if you buy the cheapest option possible, regardless, Pak N Save is the way to go. if you buy middle of the road, prefer an acceptable quality but don't necessarily desire the premium things, the Countdown will give you the best deals, and if you buy premium products than you'll have a cheaper trolley overall at New World.
Pak N Save especially go through and reduce ticket prices when the consumer people are doing their tests each year.

Boardergurl

This has been very interesting.... There are lots of truths here and lots of excuses... I think it is an excuse but if you are of lower income you sometimes dont have a choice.... I am very frugal when it comes to shopping and go to 3 different stores to get the different things I get...

I think a huge factor to take into account is where you live ... I live in Canada (In alberta) depending on the season produce isn't cheap. Yes you can find meat, cheese and that kind of stuff on sale... You also have to take in account where you live and how much space you have... It costs me 18 bucks to make chicken to feed me and my husband and 16 year old son... Throw is some rice and veggies 25 a meal... Yes you can get take out at several places less then that..

I have lived in London England and groceries there can be very expensive aswell... And I have also shopped in the states and its WAY cheaper to buy groceries in the states.. I will fight that tooth and nail as I have friends who live in Vancouver and they WONT shop at the grocery stores there.. Instead they choose to drive over the boarder cause things like milk, meat and cheese are WAY cheaper...

You have to take into account many factors when it comes to this.. There is no right or wrong answer... It depends on where you live, how many people you are feeding and time of year to be honest...

When my boys go out of town I can live off spending 40 bucks a week for a whole week of healthy eating, and thats with eating subway for lunch and dinner every day...
I dont think I could feed myself produce and meat for that much to be honest

Hahham

oh and here is some food for thought. For those of you who drive to numerous stores to get everything exactly how much are you spending on gas versus how much you are saving at that particular store?? Studies have shown when you drive to numerous stores to save a penny you are spending a dime in fuel.

MissFit0101

To those of you who say that eating healthy is cheaper, did you used to eat out a lot before you started eating healthy?

I never really ate out much even when I was eating poorly, so I was already making meals at home, and for me, eating healthy has most definitely become more expensive. I'm completely okay with that, but the fact is that yes, my grocery bill is slightly higher than it once was.

I "could" make it cheaper by sacrificing some of the yummy healthier foods I really love but if I were to sacrifice much of the stuff I love to eat then I probably wouldn't continue to eat healthy.

irridia

I think the only way to tell is to take a meal that you could make yourselfrom scratch and compare it with what you would pay for a pre-made meal.

The meal that stands out in my head is Lasagna with spinach. I don't remember the exact price between the two but if you by the meat, spinach, cheese (mozerella and feta{we don't like ricotta}) sauce, and the noodles it costs more than the stouffers version w/the same ingredients... However, the frozen version has ridiculos amounts of sodium and the meat is not the standard that I buy which is 7% fat. The really healthy version would drop the pasta altogether and add in Kale or something else like long slices of zuchini.

if you drop the pasta and switch to something more veggie heavy it is then actually healthy, but this is more expensive.

Also a healthy plate (non-veggie and not for someone with an athletic build still trying to gain or even maintain muscle mass) should consist of 1/2 veggie (no starches here), 1/4 lean protien and 1/4 starch if it is even on your plate at all. All legumes are starchy, some more than others. Rice and Potatoes ar ethings no one trying to lose weight should be eating. Wheat has been shown to be inflammatory and therefore causes the glucose spike mentioned earlier. Guess what is cheapest to purchase...
grains, potatos and rice. Even oatmeal should be limited due to the carbs (I"m talking how quickly they are converted to sugar) you have to eat waay more veggies to get the amount of calories that a small amount of starches provide.

Other odd facts, frozen veggies are typically more healthy than fresh. Because fresh aren't picked at the peak of ripeness and they sit on the shelves or in transit and lose what little nutritional value they had, while frozen are typically frozen right after picking and can be harvested closer to ripeness. Canned foods, with the exception of tomatoes, are a waste of your money and your calorie alotment.

This is why people should come together and push edibles as landscaping options. It's better for us, better for the environment and could solve a lot of hunger problems within weeks of starting.

nitnole711

I know somebody that admitted to feeding herself and her whole family McD's everyday because it was more cost effective for her. Now, that's an EXCUSE. I think it's the same. It SEEMS more expensive because you're paying for everything at once. Organic is def more expensive.

The question wasn't "is eating orgnic expensive" it was "is eating healthy more expensive"... Just because you aren't eating organic doesn't mean you aren't eating healthy. If you buy everything organic, yes..its expensive. You can can eat heathly frugally.

KayteeBear

Way more. To begin with I don't eat a lot of fast food or a lot of junk food and I don't eat a lot in general so the volume doesn't change but I have to go to the store WAY more often so there's way more money spent on buying vegetables and fruits every week.

And I don't know about ya'll, but when seeing what other people list as prices for their food...was at least half of what I pay. I only have ONE grocery store in town and it's easily twice as much as other places. I went grocery shopping at my mom's when I was there (more grocery stores and better selection) and I paid $50 there but here it would've been at LEAST $80-$100.

So for me, where I live, it is way more to eat healthy. Heck, just buying the necessary things for me (milk, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables) all the time would get to be very pricey. I don't keep milk at the house all the time. I get eggs from my friends for free (they work at chicken barns) and I refuse to buy meat at the store unless absolutely necessary (my dad's farm has better meat :P) so I do get to try to keep the bill down (oh and I also make my own yogurt).

I want to plant a garden next summer hopefully so I can have lots of produce next fall. OR talk to my grandma and see if I can get some from her since she usually has a large garden...

I can try to make it cheap (right now I'm unemployed and not even spending more than $50 a MONTH on groceries so I'm not super healthy right now) but it is still more expensive than just grabbing convenience food.

And feeding my boyfriend would not be an option if I did healthy for everything. (Thank God he eats most meals elsewhere like at his dad's/work) he eats A LOT! Like he's a big guy (not like overweight big) and he can eat a lot before he's satisfied. His sister is only 5'4 and not very big but she has a bottomless pit for a stomach. She can eat a truckload before she feels half full.

mandasimba

I think what most people fail to consider is location.

Right now I live in the 'burbs with half a dozen grocery stores in 3 miles, all competing for business. Most people drive, most people can go to wherever, whenever. I can very easlily take advantage the fact that I can get nearly any fruit/veg for under $2/lb depending on the time of year.

However, I did used to live in a rough area in Chicago... I was lucky enough to have a car, but I never drove it anywhere because there was nowhere to park. The only place to shop in walking distance was gas stations. What a lot of people fail to consider is that a lot of people are poor and live in areas without great access to great grocery stores.

What do you get when the only place you can shop is a convience store? Bananas at several dollars a pound, or a frozen pizza and a couple hotdogs for the same price. If you do have a grocery store locally, often times the produce is picked over or rotten, good meat is nonexistant.

When it comes to healthy/unhealthy food, most people look at their current situation. I can buy a pound of apples for 79 cents, so why can't everybody? When in reality, a lot of people cannot afford to travel to a good store, stock up on food, even if it is on sale. They are stuck buying what they can afford at that moment in time, at a location that they can access. Also, many rely on food banks which many do not stock produce, but mostly non-perishable foods which usually consist of boxed and canned goods. Unfortunatly, that situation is not uncommon at all.

Time, also plays a huge importance. Many families are single parent, or even double parent who work 2 or more jobs, and they still can't provide enough. Even if they had the money to purchase the fresh meat and produce, they, frankly, don't have the time to cook the meals with those individual foods. You can tell your latch key 12 year old children how to cook a frozen pizza or something microwaveable, but what about steamed vegies and grilled meat? The extra hours they work feed their family, they can't quit it just to cook for their children.

I doubt anybody will read this and reflect on, they will just continue to rely on their own privileged, or even relatively privileged experience.

sweet110

Yes, and yes. All things being equal, it does cost more to eat healthy versions of the food that you currently buy that is unhealthy. Fresh produce and fresh fruit cost more.

But beans and rice are pretty cheap. And if you exchange some of those meals out for cooking at home, you can pretty much even the cost out.

So that's the crux of the problem...if you just want to exchange unhealthy for healthy, it does tend to cost more. (A sit down restaurant is more than mcdonald's, a good salad is more expensive than fried chicken). But if you change your LIFESTYLE to a healthier one (cooking versus eating out; eating less quantities of food altogether) then its probably a wash, cost wise.

So at the end of the day, its an excuse. But mostly because folks are ignorant, not because they are purposefully lying to themselves. When you listen to those nutritionists on the morning news show, they tell folks mostly about substituting this for that...(eat THIS, not THAT...buy little expensive, pre-packaged, skinless chicken breasts instead of the whole chicken). They don't tell them to change their lifestyles...because that's hard and no one wants to hear that.

There are some extreme cases that make things harder...people talk about urban wastelands, but the rural is ridiculous...you have to travel a helluva long time to get to a supermarket. And with no economies of scale, the produce tends to be wilted/disgusting and expensive. But, even in these cases, there are better options. Few people in the developed world have no choices, they just have different and more tightly constrained choices.

iuangina

I think what most people fail to consider is location.

Right now I live in the 'burbs with half a dozen grocery stores in 3 miles, all competing for business. Most people drive, most people can go to wherever, whenever. I can very easlily take advantage the fact that I can get nearly any fruit/veg for under $2/lb depending on the time of year.

However, I did used to live in a rough area in Chicago... I was lucky enough to have a car, but I never drove it anywhere because there was nowhere to park. The only place to shop in walking distance was gas stations. What a lot of people fail to consider is that a lot of people are poor and live in areas without great access to great grocery stores.

What do you get when the only place you can shop is a convience store? Bananas at several dollars a pound, or a frozen pizza and a couple hotdogs for the same price. If you do have a grocery store locally, often times the produce is picked over or rotten, good meat is nonexistant.

When it comes to healthy/unhealthy food, most people look at their current situation. I can buy a pound of apples for 79 cents, so why can't everybody? When in reality, a lot of people cannot afford to travel to a good store, stock up on food, even if it is on sale. They are stuck buying what they can afford at that moment in time, at a location that they can access. Also, many rely on food banks which many do not stock produce, but mostly non-perishable foods which usually consist of boxed and canned goods. Unfortunatly, that situation is not uncommon at all.

Time, also plays a huge importance. Many families are single parent, or even double parent who work 2 or more jobs, and they still can't provide enough. Even if they had the money to purchase the fresh meat and produce, they, frankly, don't have the time to cook the meals with those individual foods. You can tell your latch key 12 year old children how to cook a frozen pizza or something microwaveable, but what about steamed vegies and grilled meat? The extra hours they work feed their family, they can't quit it just to cook for their children.

I doubt anybody will read this and reflect on, they will just continue to rely on their own privileged, or even relatively privileged experience.

I said the same thing earlier. It did no good.

mandasimba

I said the same thing earlier. It did no good.

My apologies. I see threads like this and get so frustrated. But like I guess you said, it doesn't do much good, people will always judge others on their own situation. I wish even 5% of those who think the way they do would work with those impoverished, or even visit that area before they judge.

Check out the stats on obesity or being overweight with poverty levels and locations. Lower economic areas are more likely to have higher obesity rates, lower income areas are going to have a lot more barriers to physical activity and supermarkets. I would quote my sources but I've lost access to my good library access.