How to eat healthy on a tight budget?

Kalynx

I eat the same things all the time and stock up when there are sales. everybody makes fun of me because I buy produce sometimes 3x/week to supplement my stockpile of basics.

lol I call myself a food hoarder - for some reason it really bugs me not having almost everything I might want in the house. I've never had to go without earlier in life..so I guess I'm just weird. but if its a great deal and it will last a long time in the cupboard or fresh meat on sale I can freeze why not get more when its on sale so you're set for a month or so if you have the available funds and the storage space. Also when I do one big shopping trip every 3 or 4 weeks I cut way down on impulse buying so that saves a little.

I don't think I saw this one yet - but cheese is something you can buy on sale and lasts a long time you can even freeze it if you need to.

I agree with the others - pick a few recipes you want to try or think you will like and go for it. After you're done cooking and enjoyed the first meal go ahead and store it in meal size containers so they are easy to heat and eat and grab and go if you pack a lunch. If you start to get sick of it after a few days throw it in the freezer and pull it out in a few weeks when you feel lazy or want something different.

Anytime my store has fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.98 a lb (usually once a month) I get a lot and freeze it right away. Maybe 8 or 9 lbs - how much I might eat in a month.

Much more economical to make a batch of chicken breasts baked in the oven stuffed with cheddar and frozen chopped broccoli..for the price of a bag of shredded cheese, a frozen bag of broc. and 3 lbs of chicken breasts thats 5 or six meals that are really tasty, healthy, and cheaper than 5 or 6 fast food meals!

Something else I watch for are the 'gas mile items' ...like buy a box of a certain brand of pasta and get 20 cents off a gallon of gas up to 15 gallons..time to stock up on pasta! last time I got 4 boxes and got $12 off my next fill up at store associated gas station. LOL when my cat's brand of cat food is a mile item man I stock up!!! one time I got like $2.63 off per gallon for 15 gallons of gas..woohoo!!

babyworms

Frozen vegetables. No waste and always good quality!! AND you can bulk buy when they're on special!

WonderWomanDawn

i look through store ads and base my shopping on that when it come to buying produce and my meats..plus i shop at Aldi sometimes but mostly i hit the local WalMart since they are usually cheaper and they match the prices of other stores if i can find something cheaper somewhere else. I am teaching my kids my way of shopping so they can make their money stretch when they are on their own.

ZombieSlayer

Much more economical to make a batch of chicken breasts baked in the oven stuffed with cheddar and frozen chopped broccoli..for the price of a bag of shredded cheese, a frozen bag of broc. and 3 lbs of chicken breasts thats 5 or six meals that are really tasty, healthy, and cheaper than 5 or 6 fast food meals!

Man... now I'm hungry for stuffed chicken breasts and that's not what I have out of the freezer!

Maxylicious

Haha im glad im not the only one with this problem. I tried to switch to cauliflower-rice instead of my usual brown rice to help me cut down on carbs, but my local store (weis) has just 1 cauliflower head at $3.50 which is more expensive than a 2lb bag of brown rice worth 20servings! I guess i'm still stuck with those carbs for now....:(

LesIsMoreXX

I have a vegetarian diet so that saves me loads on groceries. Also, I like to buy frozen fruits [ for smoothies ] and frozen vegetables.
I eat a lot of dairy products as well and I find them to be fair priced and very filling.

fitforlife34

So glad that you posted this. I noticed it too! Because with vegetables if you don't eat them fast they go bad. I spend like $200 a month o n food eating healthy, just for myself! it's crazy. im going to read the replies.

I'm going to be real here, I'm pretty broke lol. And I know I'm not the only one on a budget! I was watching some of the movie Food Inc today, and in one part they were talking about how cheap bad food is, and how much more expensive good food is! It's a conspiracy! Hahaha, anyway, I would really just love if I could get some tips on how to eat healthy without spending what I don't have.

fitforlife34

wish i had one of those. a few of the farmer's markets, including Pike Place Market in Seattle are very high priced. But they look super fresh and high quality!

Aldi has really h elped me in my weight loss. They have some good veggies and dairy items that are half the cost than the big super markets. I don't know if you have one in your area. Also, I know protein is expensive, but just have lost of protein and veggies in the house. once you stop buying the junk for snacking, it might even it out. Farmers markets also have a lot of stuff we use on a daily basis for super cheap. I spent $10 on a bunch of stuff this past weekend. It's worth seeking them out!

fitforlife34

I hear ya! It's quite expensive to eat healthy. I live on an island in the Atlantic, so getting fresh fruit and veggies is more expensive than most places. For example... a mango-$2, 8 oz bag of spinach-$5, 4 colored peppers-$6 milk-$4 for 2litres(a half gallon)
yet, a 2 litre of pop is under $1. I just make trips to the grocery store early in the morning and buy the salads that they pack from the salad bar from the night before. Check all the flyers for the weekly sales, and watch all the clearance bins. Good luck my friend. Keep trying

Sounds like some of the stores here in Seattle. lol

cavewoman15

one thing i completely cut from my grocery list is lunch meat. it's $6-8 a pound. that's how much shrimp costs! we were buying 1.5-2 pounds per week. we started buying boneless chicken breasts - stocking up when they are on sale for $2 a pound. we make crock pot chicken recipes every week. saves us $10 a week and is much more delicious. we also buy pork loins when they are on sale for $2 pound and cut them into pork chops.

norabeth

I make a menu for two weeks for me and my husband
I shop at aldi
Buy frozen veggies and frozen fish(fresh is better) but frozen is cheaper
I make sure that 1 ingredient can be used in more than 1 meal.
Buy fruit when it is in season.

The dinner I make tonight is lunch at work tomorrow.
Crock pots are great.
Freezing leftovers
Cooking from scratch helps
Growing your own veggies and/or herbs. I just started an herb garden this year. Going to try veggies next year

mshealy

bump

Heatherzilla92

I don't know about where you live, but here if you get to the markets just before closing time they'll be selling out anything that wont keep until the markets next open for almost nothing. I've managed to get entire trays/boxes of fruit/vegetables for only a few dollars. It usually means you'll have to cook a few meals all at once and freeze them so things don't spoil but it's worth the effort.

Other than that, dried beans/lentils are really cheap if you buy them in bulk. Some beans and things can take a while to cook but you can cook them up and freeze them so it's convenient.

I've been a vegan for the past few years and I swear it's cheaper than buying meat, as long as you're not replacing it with processed mock meats and pre-prepared things.

Tofu is also pretty cheap if you don't hate the texture. I like to crumble it up and use it in recipes like you would use ricotta cheese.

doubglass

brown rice, chicken, beans, tilapia

iwantahealthierme13

shop store and no name brands rather than brand names... they're cheaper and for a lot of foods you shouldn't be able to tell the difference.

shop sales

use coupons/free samples (facebook is a great resource for coupon and free sample pages), watch for in-store tearpads and look in magazines or on product websites for other offers, you can also join coupon trading sites.

stack coupons on top of sales

the food bank (if you don't mind going there, I don't use it but I know a lot of people who do)

fresh fruit and veggie basket programs in your area

paulcer

Beans and brown rice is one of my favorite diet dishes. It can be made low fat/high flavor.

It's yummy and healthy and the calorie to satisfaction ratio is great. And really, it cant be more than 40 cents per serving even if you flavor the pot with a piece of bacon.

Good luck!

gwylie00

Peanut butter is an excellent source of protein and it is cheap!!!

cbenzerga

I plan my grocery shopping around the sale papers for the week. Crock Pot meals are great too.

Jezebel9

If you have a yard or a roof, you can grow so many things. If you have space inside, you can grow many things. It is difficult to eat healthy cheaply. It really isn't easy. Because the best (IMO) is organic, local, free range, grass fed and non-gmo. And those things are more expensive. GMO's have been accused of causing obesity... so even if you are eating fruits and veggies- most, if they are not organic, are gmo.
I wish you the best. I know it is not easy.

snowgrrl83

Carb: oatmeal in bulk! good for breakfast. Multigrain sliced bread.
Fats: Peanut Butter. Healthy fats if its the natural kind, and cheap!
Protein: Beans and peanut butter.
Veggies: Carrots, anything on sale!
Fruits: Anything on sale (apples are always cheap).
Milk products: milk (stay away from cheese which can be pricy!)
Meats: Generally, whatever is on sale. Canned tuna isn't too expensive... But you can go vegetarian for a while and go with beans and PB to get that protein.

Basically, stay away from packaged stuff and you'll keep your cost down and eat healthier. Fresh is the way to go and look for the sales!

You could live off bean soup and oatmeal for a long long time...oh and PB sandwiches too!

ActuarialChef

Bump *

HannahDiaz25

The menu thing works great as long as you stick to it! I sometimes find myself to tired to want to cook sometimes and then we order out and ruin our budget and diets for the week!
I have started just cooking seasoned grilled chicken with brown rice and putting them into containers in the freezer. This is great for those days you dont have anything for lunch/dinner. Its healthy and cheap and keeps you from eating junk food that costs more then it should. If you are smart and plan well healthy eating can be cheaper than frozen packaged meals and corn dogs LOL.

veggiemuncher12

check out bountifulbaskets.org. .. You can get great fruits & veggies for cheap.. you can also do "add ons".. not sure what they have for your neck of the woods but I've seen bread, granola, olive oil, etc.. Please check it out!