Healthy foods ARE more expensive.

Ejourneys

My results are far different. I keep track of my household expenses and my spreadsheet is updated through the end of November. I still need to do December and won't until the month is over.

I started buying healthier foods for myself at the beginning of September, which means I've spent three full months swapping in fresh fruits and vegetables, yogurt, and other healthier foods (like certain canned and frozen vegetables and vegetable drinks) for what by and large had been processed foods and sweets.

I took my average grocery expense for the first eight months of the year (pre-change; add the 8 months and divide by 8) and the average for the past three months (post-change; add the 3 months and divide by 3). My average grocery expense post-change comes to 41% less than it had been before.

That's close to half off my grocery bill from changes in my food habits alone. I also buy groceries for a second person, whose eating habits remain the same as before.

Part of the decrease comes from the fact that I am just plain eating less food than I used to. Switching from processed to fresh foods also removed many of my food cravings, so I don't feel as hungry as I used to.

chio_04

Hey, I live in Las Vegas. Try hispanic stores like Cardenas, El Super, or La bonita. Always look at the ads before going to the store, some stuff is much cheaper in one store versus another, if you're willing to drive around. I shop there, and get great stuff for lower prices. Also look into buying in-season fruits and veggies, they will be cheaper than the rest.

keem88

farmer's market. produce is usually cheaper if you buy local.
as far as organics if that is something you are looking into, it is not necessary to purchase things that have a strong peel organic (like bananas, onions, avocados, etc).
buy fruits and veggies that are in season, they are cheaper.
i usually get avocados for a dollar each at shoprite.
compare flyers for stores before you go out and purchase to find the best deals
if possible, if you have a yard or anything, grow your own produce as well

ashumeow

lol... vegetables are so cheaper. Whereas, fruits gets cheaper depending upon the seasons. My budget was very less this month.
Since, i live near sea side, some of my people even get large fishes at cheaper rate. Chicken and prawns are at moderate rate. Mutton, pork and beef are very costly here. I don't know the exact price since i am a veggie. =P

RobynLB

Rice and beans? Cents a pound.

Someone mentioned hispanic markets. Great tip! Actually, any place white people don't shop will have produce at least half priced a regular chain grocery store. It's ridiculous. And the selection is way better for produce! Try asian markets, persian markets, and hispanic markets. All excellent whole food cheap cheap cheap.

goddessofsewing

Look to see if Bountiful Baskets (bountifulbaskets.org) is in your area. There are lots of locations in NV. It's $15 whenever you order and comes with 5 kinds of fruits and 5 kinds of vegetables. You don't know what you're going to get week to week, but that's part of the fun to me. Last week I got cauliflower, two yellow squash, spinach, 5 lbs of red potatoes, a green pepper, 3 apples, bananas, grapes, 2 grapefruit, and a pineapple. They're taking the next two weeks off for Christmas and New Years, but it's a good option for me the rest of the year.

clrrrr

frozen fruits and veggies are cheaper and are just as nutritious, if not more so..they are frozen at peak quality, fresh from the field, whereas fresh stuff that's out of season in your area is often shipped in from thousands of miles away and has therefore been sitting around and wasting away for awhile.
also some healthy items like eggs, yogurt, beans, lentils, quinoa, etc. are super super cheap. and you usually get multiple meals out of any one unit of buying something so it often evens out ultimately (i.e. one pack of chicken breasts makes about 4-6 servings of chicken, so it might cost $7, but each meal will only have max 2 dollars worth of chicken in it)...plus a lot of the stuff that makes up the bulk of frozen dinners is super cheap to buy for yourself and assemble, like rice and pasta and the aforementioned frozen veggies. the actual amount of meat can end up being really tiny.
also, for meat (and produce that holds up under freezing), go to a warehouse store (e.g. Costco) and buy in BULK and then freeze stuff. I have a giant bag of chicken in my freezer that could probably make me at least 8 meals for like half the cost of buying in the grocery store, and it will last for as long as I need it to.
also, if you really want to go the extra mile, you can try talking to your grocery (I've only known this to work with a locally owned co-op, but you can certainly try with a chain store) about striking a deal where they give you the produce that they've deemed unsellable. they throw TONS of stuff away every day if it's bruised or nearing overripeness. I have a cousin who used to work produce and he would always end up bringing home entire cases of mangos and stuff every day because they were just giving them away in the back. drove my aunt crazy, but who doesn't want free mangos? well, I don't, because I don't like mangos. but I gather that most people do

mrskatie80

I dunno that I agree that TV dinners are cheaper than cooking at home.....
Not here in Australia anyway!

Lean Cuisine meals are $5 - $8 each (rough numbers people.....for all those about to jump down my throat and tell me they have seen them at $4.99). For an average family you have 2 adults and 2 children.
So let's call that $20 - $32 for frozen dinners. Right?

Now let's make a chicken and avocado salad that will feed four easily.
$1.99 for an entire lettuce
$8.50 for 3 chicken breasts
$1.50 for a whole avocado
$2.00 for marinated goats feta
$0.60 for a tomato
$0.10 for dressing

We're at under $15.00 in total. If you have two people - halve it!! Buy less chicken and the lettuce and 1/2 avocado will keep in the fridge!
I make spaghetti bolognaise with grated/diced veggies through it for less than $10 and that feeds our family of 5 AND my husband's lunch the next day!! $1.50 per serve!
Just plan, plan, PLAN!

Shop sensibly, buy in season and in bulk and it doesn't have to cost a fortune!

Shadowknight137

Eggs are pretty cheap, and potatoes are too - two bucks for a kilo of white potatoes and (unfortunately) six bucks for a kilo of sweet potatoes.
Offal is REALLY cheap, too. Animal heart/liver/kidney/brains/etc are dirt cheap and taste amazing, provided you have the guts to try them.

EDIT: Wow. I see what I did there. O.O

stepheatscake

A dozen of home-range eggs is average $4/doz and you can get at least 5 breakfasts out of that. Not bad. Try making your own bread - way cheaper. Same with homemade pasta.

Also, if you eat when you're hungry and stop when you're content you'll be amazed at what a little amount you actually can get by on. Watch your portion sizes!! I bet you could cut your portion in half- - that's huge savings~

Colorfan

Just gotta know what to buy.

Avocados are expensive anywhere you go. Gotta stick to the cheap stuff! Lettuce, beans, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, etc. Beef is especially expensive, but not always "healthy." Check out chicken. I can typically get like 5 chicken breasts for about 7 bucks.

Fruit will be expensive depending on if its in season or not. Same with veggies. Also if its regional. Mangos, for example, arent grown in the US, theyre imported, so theyre more expensive than say apples from Washington. You should always try to buy whats in season and local.

In the end, like everything else you buy at the store, you gotta keep an eye out for sales and specials. You cant always buy what you want to buy and expect the best price. Sometimes you just need to buy whats in season and work your meals around that.

nz_deevaa

Are those fruit and vege in season where you are?

I'm in Australia and it's summer, so Avocados and mangos are in season, so they are cheap.

Buy what's in season, it'll be cheaper.

taunto

I think you have to be creative with produce. Mangos are not in season so you will definitely have a hard time finding tasty and cheap mangos. Look for seasonal fruits and veggies and use them. Besides, its more fun this way.

Like others said, look for farmers market too. During summer you will see small stalls all over the country where you can buy super cheap fruits and veggies. Take advantage of that!

As for healthy foods being expensive. First, you have to define "healthy foods". Many on this site do not consider ANY foods unhealthy (includes McD's, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut) however judging by your post, I think its safe to assume you're referring to home cooked foods as healthy. When I used to eat out often, I could easily spend $20 in a day for food. A trip to a burger joint could EASILY run me close to $10 and assuming 2 times a day meal, its $20. Wen I cook at home, I can eat all kinds of meats, breads, fruits and veggies for that price and it'll last me at least 3 days including breakfast. I never really ate TV dinners because those just taste gross

Hope some of the posts helped. Good luck

funkycamper

Odd, my grocery bill has gone down since I started doing most of my shopping from the perimeter of the store and less down the aisles. The only aisle I usually go down is the frozen where I do get frozen mixed veggies (like Asian mixes) for stir-fries and frozen berries and such. Buying fresh, in season, on-sale stuff saves me a lot, too.

Frozen prepared foods, cereals, and other prepared foods, including frozen, are ridiculously expensive, imho.

geekyjock76

I live in Allen, TX and mainly shop at Sprouts Farmers Market, Market Street and Asia World Market. Asian markets generally are the cheapest all-year-round but the other farmers markets have weekly bargains on all sorts of food items, too.

vtmoon

I heard there is a store in NY that sells 1000 dollar gold sprinkled icecream, if that was my first stop in my life trying to get icecream would that make my statement "icecream IS more expensive than other deserts" true? As you can see lack of research on my end led me to that conclusion. There is a lot of good advice given out in this thread about where and what and when to shop for "healthy food". From my personal experience cooking at home made my cost go down but results may vary, but regardless I think it is worth it for you if you start to factor in future medical bills that will be avoided by eating better.

vsettani

Healthy food is more expensive than processed food for the most part, but the money you save now eating processed foods you will pay later in medical expenses. 
Buy as much fresh foods as your budget allows, preferably organic, like salad greens, in-season fruit and vegetables.
Can or jar (low sodium): Tomatoes, beans, pasta sauces, tuna, salmon, sardines
Frozen: Off-season vegetables and fruits, chicken, lean meats.
And since you are eating less to lose weight anyways, you are already saving money.

meshashesha2012

join a produce delivery program. those are pretty good deal and you get stuff, locally raised and in season

speaking of in season, why are you buying mangoes off season? :laugh: if you're tying to buy a mango or avocado out of season then you deserve to pay an arm and a leg.

yourenotmine

I would try farmers markets. All organic and locally grown, usually fairly priced. I live in Washington BTW

not sure or never heard of farmers markets and what they are. I'll google it, thanks. I live in Nevada here lol

They have them in Nevada. Definitely google it and also see if there are any health food stores in your area - like Whole Foods, etc.

Whole Foods is incredibly expensive.

Whole Foods IS quite expensive. In my opinion. it's worth it, but I don't spend money on much of anything besides food. I agree that a produce co-op would be cheaper, and everything is in season. Sometimes they'll deliver you something like 6 pounds of lettuce, but, hey, you get to test out every recipe using that particular item. If you have Trader Joe's in your area, that's worth checking out too.

Also, is it possible you were looking at organic food? That is more on average, even though I find that it tastes better and often lasts longer. If you truly can't afford organic, if it were me, I would skip that and still get the produce. Just make sure you wash very thoroughly any veg/fruit skin you plan to eat. (I also wash things like avocados, since you cut through the skin and into the fruit, but I think most people don't.)

Also, if you buy bulk rice, beans, peas, nuts, etc, they're much, much less expensive.

caroleannlight

I find I am spending more on food now as trying to increase my protein ( I don't eat meat but eat fish) . Fish and vegetables is more expensive than pasta / potatoes etc that I used to fill up on but the portion sizes that I need to feel full on these foods are very calorific. Please note I am not low carbing but find that moderate carbs is working better for me as when I increase carbs I get food cravings YRMV.

However - I am worth it and so are you! Some great tips have been shared I hope they help you and good luck and get creative. Check out the recipe section on here for some yummy suggestions.