Eating healthy costs

DawnieB1977

Although I can maintain my diet pretty well atm, I have been noticing that eating healthy comes with a very heavy price tag here in England. Prices of good food is nearly trough the roof whilst junk food is dirt cheap... And they wonder why the UK is having so many people who struggle with obesity!

I think the cost of food shopping in England is expensive whatever you buy! I have 2 young kids and the cost of milk alone is extortionate. I've never eaten unhealthily but I can imagine ready meals and pizzas and things are just as expensive as eating veggies and chicken for example. We're having jacket potatoes and tuna and salad for dinner this evening, that's a pretty cheap meal.

When I make something like shepherd's pie I usually put loads of veg in it and it lasts the 4 of us a couple of days.

I'd rather spend a little bit extra on healthy food anyway.

DawnieB1977

Eating healthy is not expensive because it benefits your health while processed food such as chips do not benefit you, instead they slowly burden your body. So what's more expensive? It would be the processed food. Think of all the medical bills you won't have to pay if you ate healthy and stayed active.

We get free health care in the UK! Well, our taxes pay for the NHS, but it's free at point of service. However, I agree that unhealthy food will not benefit you at all. I feel horrible if I eat something unhealthy.

VonTinka

I'm from the Uk it does cost a lot for healthier food....you can't get cheap fruit ect it's very frustrating.

chellec23

I'm in the US and I agree that it is costlier to buy all healthy things than to get less healthier and pre-packaged food. For example, ground beef is cheaper than ground turkey. Pasta is cheap, but not healthy. If I substitute quinoa for pasta, it does cost more. Plus vegetables. I buy frozen broccoli florets a lot ($1.38/bag) because we love broccoli. I use 1-4 bags when I cook depending on what I'm cooking and how much leftovers I want to end up with. Ramen noodles are dirt cheap but unhealthy. Can you name something healthy that can feed you as much as ramen for the same price? I can't think of anything so if anyone knows anything please tell me! (Other than dried beans!)

Your dinner (for 4) = 2 pkg ramen style noodles + 2 bags broccoli. I don't know what they cost there because I couldn't tell where you live by your profile. Here they are about $.40 / pkg. Total cost for 1 meal @ $4.00 ( rounding to account for extras & drinks etc.) Still $20 for 5 nights dinner assuming you eat exactly the same thing.

1 dozen eggs $2.00
1 kg potatoes $2.09 (roughly 2.2 lbs = 8-10 potatoes)
5 lb flour $3.00
===================
@ $7

With those 3 ingredients you can make:
-perogies
-spaghetti, lasagne noodles, any other type of pasta you want
-gnocchi
-eggs of every type for dinner snacks etc..
-mashed potato, hash browns, baked, roasted..etc..

You can feed a family of 4 dinner very easily for a week on 20$ and have leftovers to spare for lunches too. The challenge is actually cooking at home and not using packaged food. Pasta is NOT expensive at all if you take the time to make it at home. You don't need anything special at all .. 1/2 cup flour + 1 egg will give you enough dough for a huge portion. Just roll it out flat with a rolling pin, fold it like a jelly roll, cut into strips and you have spaghetti. You can invest in a pasta machine that will do the rolling and cutting for you for about 40$ but I made pasta by hand for years before I ever got one.

Perogies are just mashed potato, flour and egg. Fill with more potato, maybe some onion or bacon or whatever you have on hand.

Food is not expensive but most people do not want to take the time to make it. If you take one day on the weekend and cook your meals then freeze them for the week you can save hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year. Yes it takes some time - this is why 'convenience foods' are so popular and expensive! But it isn't the food that costs..its the TIME that most people do not want to take to make it.

I wasn't meaning that I put ramen and broccoli together. I was just using ramen as an example of something that is dirt cheap. When we were hardcore budgeting and eating ramen, I was only buying probably 2 bags of broccoli a week and adding it to the pasta roni stuff. Now that we are eating healthier I am buying more broccoli and either mixing it into the recipes or using it as a side on its own.
Pasta isn't very healthy...it is all carbohydrate. Same thing with the potato products you mentioned. To me, that's falling back into our bad eating habits. I am trying to use more (healthier) vegetables and lean protein, not pasta and potatoes. And eggs are high in cholesterol...since my boyfriend is already on a medication for that I'd prefer not to worsen the problem by feeding him eggs. Believe me, he'd love to eat tons of eggs, and we would both love to eat tons of pasta.....that's why we're so overweight!

For those of you who mentioned cornmeal and barley, thank you for your suggestions as well.

chellec23

I agree. For a person of ordinary income, it's expensive to eat in a healthy manner, that's one reason why many ordinary and income-challenged people are overweight and obese: Because bad food is tasty, cheap, convenient, and more fun. BigFood manipulates the taste to make the food especially appetizing. To reduce the cost of better food, I'm sure it helps to belong to food coops, etc., but that requires organization and commitment.

Still, you have to do what you have to do to eat better. I'm trying to make incremental changes.

Thank you!!!!! This is exactly what I've been saying for years!!

ForABetterMe89

But if you want those burgers to be healthy you have to pay more for leaner hamburger, better buns and good veggies! Lean hamburger in Illinois is about $6.00 lb.

On the east coast 93/7 Ground Beef is around $3.50/lb

I live on the east coast and it's nearly $6.50/lb where I live/

hsnider29

But if you want those burgers to be healthy you have to pay more for leaner hamburger, better buns and good veggies! Lean hamburger in Illinois is about $6.00 lb.

On the east coast 93/7 Ground Beef is around $3.50/lb

I live on the east coast and it's nearly $6.50/lb where I live/

I live in Florida and it is around $5.99/lb here. Lean ground turkey is about the same. I save money by buying my ground turkey at Costco.

andiechick

I found that buying bags of frozen veg has saved me money plus you don't have to worry about it's freshness before you cook, handy when you are not able to just pop out to the shops every other day. I do my main shop at asda getting it delivered every week for frozen/store cupboard stuff then usually pop to Sainsburys (which is my closest and gets me my exercise) to stock up on meat usually on their 3 for £10 offer. Fromt this I usually get a double pack of bacon, a ham joint which I boil for soup then use for sandwiches and a pack of casserole steak or a whole chicken. Although I like my 'brands' I also compare with the store's own and find that as well as being cheaper, they're sometimes better for you, for example I bought some yoghurts for my kids and Sainsbury's basics had far less sugar and other crap in them than the big brands.

My main expense comes from buying fruit, it is ridiculously expensive. I try and shop at the market, but its not always possible to get there, and with 4 of us to feed/cater for, I could easily spend best part of my bill on this stuff, especially with my 6yr old who would eat it morning, noon and night.

Can't wait to spend a live in the states over the summer, just to get a comparison of how cheap it is to live

hsnider29

For a family of four eating healthier does cost me a little more each week. We don't eat much pasta so most dinners consist of meat, vegetable or salad and maybe a potato, rice or quinoa. I hardly buy packaged foods and try to buy produce from a market that has good prices. I shop in bulk at Costco a couple of times a month. We never have eaten out much so I don't save money there.

Even with all the things I do to save money it does end up costing a little more. We have adjusted and I feel better about feeding my kids healthier foods. We never ate really unhealthy we seriously lacked portion control. I think if you can afford to eat healthy it is an investment in your future. I wish the government made it cheaper for people to eat produce than processed junk food.

paintlisapurple

Did you know that there are certain vegetables that you can regrow after you've used the majority of the veg? Celery, garlic, onion, ginger and potatoes are some of them...Google this subject and you will get an amazing amount of information on how to regrow these items. It might help with the cost of being able to add nutritious items to the table. (Fresh ginger and fresh garlic are through the roof everywhere. So costly!)
:flowerforyou:

santje00

It'll also pay off in the long run with lower insurance bills and medical costs

True! Also been growing my own veggies and spices, but still. When you walk around in the supermarket and see what you spend on healthier food it is shocking. We are a family of five, so I do know what I'm talking about. As Andie pointed out, frozen veg might be cheaper as well (which I been buying out of season), but you have to pay in flavor. Personally I enjoy the taste of fresh onion over frozen. All I'm saying is, if you want to eat healthy you need to spend a lot of time in finding cheap but good choices, rather then picking up bags of cheap fried stuff.

Mock_Turtle

I'm uk based.

I buy my meat from the butchers - this weekend I got 14 chicken breasts for £20 which I was really pleased with. You can grab a bargain on fruit and veg on market stalls with the "£1 a bowl" option. I also but cheap beef cuts and make my own mice / burgers / meatballs.

This. You absolutely want to find a good butcher shop and become friends with the people who run the place.

I'm only guessing but I'd have to think that you could find great butcher shops all over the UK.

EmmaKarney

wow thats loads

Seriously? It's less than £3.20 a day per person. That's less than an overpriced coffee from Starbucks.

ETA. Looked at your diary. I'd say it's less than you spend at macdonalds every day.

BAM!

Buying decent healthy food is my top priority after mortgage and utility bills.

Honestly, what is more important than eating well?

santje00

Well, me posting this topic was not about the fact that eating healthy is more beneficial for you, that is a fact and everyone should eat as healthy as possible for a long healthy life. What I was trying to point out is that healthy food shopping is one of the pitfalls of people on a diet or people trying to change their lifestyle