Impossible to eat healthy when in debt

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  • miss_erynn
    miss_erynn Posts: 140 Member
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    I'm with ya there, sista!
    Most weeks, I don't spend more than $30.00/wk! There is usually one week in the month when I spend about $50-60, and that's when I buy my bulk foods like seeds, grains, etc.
    Like everyone else has said, try bulk food stores (Bulk Barn), and LOOK AT THE FLYERS EVERY WEEK FOR SALES! You don't need to buy all your groceries at one store just because you're going there............... that's usually when you end up overspending.
  • janesmith1
    janesmith1 Posts: 1,511 Member
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    Beans. We live in a really expensive part of the world and reduced our monthly food bill from $1200 to $420 one month due to eating a lot of beans.

    Wheat is not something that has "no nutritional value".
    http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/baked-products/4872/2

    To eat cheap you probably do need to put bread back in, unless you have celiac disease, and you did not mention that you suffer from that.

    Making cheap ground beef and putting pasta in it like a Hamburger Helper with spices and whole foods would help.

    Many nights we eat vegetarian out of frugality rather than by choice. Right now we're going through another really tight period so we've planned pasta with homemade pesto sauce. I bought a big bag of pine nuts from costco recently specifically for this.

    We're growing basil in the backyard in a container, you can grow it easily inside if you do not have a backyard. After we have eaten pesto for a few days (and we grind our own parmesan by buying the parm in bulk from costco & running it through the blender when we eat so we have fresh parmesan) we'll be back to beans.

    I have been growing tomatoes and peppers in the backyard, both the spicy and non-spicy kind. I'll freeze them.
  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
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    Yes, Celiac is a problem in the family (me). Unfortunately, this has added extra strain to the family's diet/budget.
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
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    Dude. What?

    It's not that expensive to eat healthy where I live. It would be cheaper to get the veggies and fish then it would be to go to the fast food.

    I feel bad for you that where you live healthy food is so expensive. I would sit down with your wife and some grocery fliers and figure out what can be done.
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
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    Makes NO sense. At all. Would you guys rather have debt from hospital bills and other things relating to health? Like diabetes test strips and insulin, which isn't completely covered by most insurances? They're EXPENSIVE. Spend the extra money on healthier foods, IMO.
  • KaidaKantri
    KaidaKantri Posts: 401
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    Would she want to be in debt again later in life when she has health problems because of her eating habits? Pay the debt off as you can, and worry about nutrition now. If you spend all your money on debt now, and don't worry about nutrition, then most likely you'll be in debt again later too due to hospital/doctor bills
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
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    Dude. What?

    It's not that expensive to eat healthy where I live. It would be cheaper to get the veggies and fish then it would be to go to the fast food.

    I feel bad for you that where you live healthy food is so expensive. I would sit down with your wife and some grocery fliers and figure out what can be done.

    Fresh produce is kind of expensive here too. Especially during winter. Spring/summer it's not too bad, but there's really no room for excuses.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    Solution: Make healthy food for yourself and the kids. Make a box of Hamburger Helper for your wife. Place the leftovers in individual containers for her to reheat each day.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,287 Member
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    I"m sorry but eating well is not going to make you poor and eating poorly is not going to make you rich. silly. If I stopped buying veggies and only bought top ramen and hamburger helper I would not even come close to saving enough to go on an "exotic vacation" this is just weird.
  • nicholjenny
    nicholjenny Posts: 74 Member
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    My neighbors and I all grow veggies in our backyards during the gardening season. We all share what is left over. I have recently learned how to can so that I can preserve some of the harvest for later on. You have to make some investment up front with jars, etc., but you know what you have and that it is healthy. I also shop at the farmer's market and buy most meats on sale and use a deep freezer. The internet and TV is full of tips for eating healthy on a budget!
  • OnTheWayToPerfection
    OnTheWayToPerfection Posts: 115 Member
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    Don't get me wrong, I get food before the debt collectors get their $$$$; but it's hard to convince my wife that who is the controller of our finances (yet I'm the grocery shopper and the cook). Her goal is to be debt free, my goal is to be disease free; they seem to be conflicting with each other. The way I see it, I either need to take over the finances (since I'm the one spending the money anyways) or I just need to accept the fact that instead of feeding my family of 4 a $15 meal of fish, quinoa, veggies, and salsa I'll have to suck it up and replace it with a $4 meal of $1 menu burgers...

    Seriously, where are the priorities? Anyone else find themselves fighting to feed their family a nutritious meal because their significant other would rather pay off their debt.

    ***POST EDITED BY STAFF for violation of guideline number 16**
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines


    Grown your a garden. Portion out food. Hey, maybe even give up to internet for a while. That's $60 extra a month.
  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
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    Dude. What?

    It's not that expensive to eat healthy where I live. It would be cheaper to get the veggies and fish then it would be to go to the fast food.

    I feel bad for you that where you live healthy food is so expensive. I would sit down with your wife and some grocery fliers and figure out what can be done.

    Fresh produce is kind of expensive here too. Especially during winter. Spring/summer it's not too bad, but there's really no room for excuses.

    Crops don't grow well in Michigan. We do have our local farmers markets, but the weather here is so inconsistent. We had a rainless spring/summer, snowless winter, and the "dog days of Augest" came in July (highest temp 112F). Take into consideration that we are land locked, overpopulated, and too focused on cars and you have an agriculture nightmare... And living close to Detroit isn't much better since Fast Food places are EVERYWHERE!

    Unfortunately, convenient fast food over waiting an hour for food to be cooked is more appealing when you could care less about how fat you are (everyone here is fat - Michigan is one of the highest overweight states last I saw).

    Le sigh... All I want is to be healthy and pass down good morals; is it really that much to ask for?
  • Bentley2718
    Bentley2718 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    I don't think that a healthy diet is at all incompatible with saving money/living cheaply. Dried beans are exceptionally cheap, and a healthy source of protein and fiber. Brown rice is often a little more expensive than white, but if you buy a big bag it will last you a long time and it's pretty much the cheapest source of high quality carbs. Frozen vegetables can also be purchased cheaply, if you get just plain frozen veggies, they are very healthy. For fruit you can have seasonal items that are on sale, as well as frozen berries and the like (again, just make sure they're unsweetened). If you entirely forgo meat, or save it for an occasional treat, you can eat quite cheaply. Oatmeal makes a great, healthy breakfast, and is inexpensive. I grew up eating this way, not because my mother was a health nut, but because she was a single mother.
  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
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    Don't get me wrong, I get food before the debt collectors get their $$$$; but it's hard to convince my wife that who is the controller of our finances (yet I'm the grocery shopper and the cook). Her goal is to be debt free, my goal is to be disease free; they seem to be conflicting with each other. The way I see it, I either need to take over the finances (since I'm the one spending the money anyways) or I just need to accept the fact that instead of feeding my family of 4 a $15 meal of fish, quinoa, veggies, and salsa I'll have to suck it up and replace it with a $4 meal of $1 menu burgers...

    Seriously, where are the priorities? Anyone else find themselves fighting to feed their family a nutritious meal because their significant other would rather pay off their debt.

    ***POST EDITED BY STAFF for violation of guideline number 16**
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines


    Grown your a garden. Portion out food. Hey, maybe even give up to internet for a while. That's $60 extra a month.

    LMAO, I would give up the internet and be fine.... Not my wife or kids though. Their whole lives are technology based. And I do mean THEIR WHOLE LIVES.
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
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    Le sigh... All I want is to be healthy and pass down good morals; is it really that much to ask for?

    No. But you're asking the wrong people. We really can't do anything for you. This is something you need to work out with your wife.
  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
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    I"m sorry but eating well is not going to make you poor and eating poorly is not going to make you rich. silly. If I stopped buying veggies and only bought top ramen and hamburger helper I would not even come close to saving enough to go on an "exotic vacation" this is just weird.

    Her parents didn't teach her economics. She understands business economics, but family economics don't work the same way.
  • EccentricDad
    EccentricDad Posts: 875 Member
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    Le sigh... All I want is to be healthy and pass down good morals; is it really that much to ask for?

    No. But you're asking the wrong people. We really can't do anything for you. This is something you need to work out with your wife.

    Yeah I know... Just venting I guess. I can't control her, but she is being childish with her decision to eat out over eat at home... Plus, she limits my grocery buying capabilities to make double/triple payments on her debt causing us to have to eat on a REALLY tight budget... Again, le sigh.
  • missytrishy
    missytrishy Posts: 203 Member
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    :huh: Ok... being a fiscally conservative family, that is trying to dig ourselves out of debt as well... I don't seen any reason why your family can't eat healthy... I don't think it has to do with politics as it does with just point of view... as a registered Republican (though not a practicing one) I have always believed that one must eat right and exercise in order to reduce the risks of health problems (now practicing what I preach is a different story otherwise I would not be here)... thus, I agree with you... however, it is kinda hard to swallow paying for quinoa... which I can't seem to do myself, but that's more of my frugal upbringing rather than my political upbringing.... But in our house we always have fresh produce, lean cuts of meat (even fish... though I stink at cooking it) and the like... though I will admit, I'm not too keen on paying the exorbitent prices for organic either, but I do when there isn't that great of a price difference.

    My fight comes when my husband would rather have hamburger helper from a box, than a homemade version with real cheese. :grumble:


    All 4 of us in the family have dietary intolerances too so it's not like we are eating this way to be fiscally irresponsible; we are eating this way because this is the diet that our body does not manifest any cognitive or physical symptoms for!

    My wife too would rather have random ground beef in a processed box mixture (containing gluten which I have issue with and no nutritional value) than a homemade meal (full of nutrition and not gluten!). She would rather spend her money on exotic trips around the world than healthy food so she and her kids can be healthy (oh and her husband can be alive too).

    I think you might have more of a marriage problem then a grocery problem. Marriages are give and take and it seems like you might be pretty stressed about how your marriage is sitting right now. She should be considering your feelings as well not just her own. Being debt free will be amazing, but at the cost of your marriage?:flowerforyou:
  • Fitburd
    Fitburd Posts: 92 Member
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    http://www.dailyspark.com/images/vre_buy1.jpg

    I disagree entirely. I spend less now that the whole family eats healthy. Hubby has ditched his sugary snacks and the kids are eating more fresh food and less processed. There is always fruit in the bowl on the table for the kids to snack on. Whereas before I bought lots of fruit and veg and it went off and the waste was high, I now prepare and freeze my veg when I get it home, and when the fruit is looking a little worse for wear I make something for the kids from it.

    The truth is it take more time to save money when eating healthily, preparation time goes up and if your a busy household that's a difficult compromise to make,
  • dimoul
    dimoul Posts: 137 Member
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    frozen vegetables in the gigantic bag $5?
    boneless skinless chicken breasts 48 oz $10?
    quinoa is overrated. brown rice $2?

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