Impossible to eat healthy when in debt

Just keep your bias and opinions to yourself.

I feel that we either pay the increase in food cost now, or we pay the much larger increase in maintaining the symptoms of our diseases later.....and feel much worse for it. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

I bet there are lots of you reading this thread going "that's me" and feeling guilty by my attitude towards this mentality. The truth is though, it is her (your) mentality that is causing the obesity in America to sky rocket (along with the bonus checks of Fast Food owners).

Nope, just reading the rants of a troll and smh that people are biting.

This^^^^^
There will be no solution for these people that we can help with. At first I just thought this was a troll post but now have my doubts. Troll or no the OP can talk to strangers on the web and blame his wife (who is a member of this site and in his "friends" list. I asume she knows about this thread) but that won't solve the issues either. My guess is her story about why she doesn't trust him with money would reveal an interesting counter argument.

The reality is.....this is a waste of time for all involved.

Please carry on.

If you have your household finances, diet, and meals planned and everyone will authoritarianly follow your order, then yes this is a waste of your time. But if you respect your spouse and you aren't getting respect in return, there is something in this thread for everyone in that situation. Not everyone lives a "no nonesense, no drama" life. When people are allowed to think for themselves (something I encourage) then there will always be conflict.

If you don't like what this thread is offering, skip it.

As long as they keep me out of it, I don't care if the thread lives or dies. Just keep your bias and opinions to yourself.

My secrets to making healthy meals on a grad-student budget:

1. Huge pots of soup, chili, or beans (black eyed peas or mexi-style black beans are AMAZING). Leftovers for days, and super satisfying.
2. Plant-based diet. 1 pound of chickpeas or lentils is cheaper than 1 pound of meat (not to mention the lower carbon footprint). Buy beans and legumes in bulk. Sure, you have to think ahead and soak them, but it's a much cheaper alternative to meat or canned beans.

Might I suggest trying to win your wife over with some long-term financial planning? Since processed foods are more likely to lead to metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes), ask her to factor the cost of insulin and blood pressure medication into your long-term budget. Maybe she'll think twice about letting you buy some kale and quinoa instead of hamburger helper.

I am so tired of people saying they can't eat healthy on a budget. If you make a meal of healthy ingredients it costs much less than if you eat crap. It's been proven over and over again. It looks more expensive, but when you break it down...one half onion = $.15, two garlic clove =$.02, one half pound chicken thighs = $4, one can tomatoes =$1, couple sprinkles dried basil =$.02, can of chickpeas = $1.5. Whole meal = $6.69 I'm not sure how that is expensive. It might look expensive to buy a whole thing of dried basil or load up the spice rack, so do it a few at a time. It's not difficult. This is just someone who doesn't want to eat healthy and is using money to avoid it.
Sorry, don't mean to be an *kitten*, but I've been having this argument with people for years now.

This thread stopped being about you when you posted a question that affects a lot of people. There are some great tips on this thread, and you can pick and choose those that apply to you.

But when I see your attitude, it's your wife that gets my sympathy.

With $80/week, you can set up a great stockpile of good foods that you have to cook from scratch. If you were to have great meals on the table when she comes home from work, she would not feel the need to put the family in the car to go shell out another few dollars at Macdonalds.

Instead she comes home to an empty table and a pouting husband whose sense of self-entitlement is over the top.

Change the script. Have a good tasty meal ready when she comes home. Max out the $80. Share the info on the food budget with her. If you do a good job as cook and communicator, who is to say that she won't give you another $20?

As far as your delicate stomach is concerned, there is a no-gluten group on MFP where you could get great advice.

As for the rest, folks these were some great tips, and I am sure that we have all learned how to better spend our food dollar from this exercise.

Great reply minus the assumption that I don't have dinner on the table when she comes home and more or less implying that I'm a lazy dead beat. Why is it SOME women can't speak to a man without personal bias or perpetuating stereotypes?

I cook every meal that the family eats and have for over a month now. It is ready at or before the time that everyone expects. The reason she wants fast food is because of her addiction/cravings and because she sincerely thinks $1 burgers for everyone is cheaper than a home cooked meal. Of course she isn't concerned about malnutrition, stunted growth, hormonal imbalances, diabetes, ADHD flares, arthritis, or high blood pressure like I am.

My wife is also very "idealistic" which is a fancy way of saying she has "unreasonable expectations". If she is going to have a home cooked meal, she doesn't want chicken, rice, beans, or pork; she wants ribs, steak, premium cut beef sirloin, and premium "game"! In her mind, a meal at home should be just as luxurious and should taste like a meal that came from a 5 star restaurant.

I'm sorry that I'm not choosing to "be a man" and take your passive aggressive remark on the chin but this is the sexist bias that needs to be corrected. Saying "Instead she comes home to an empty table and a pouting husband whose sense of self-entitlement is over the top" implies some personal issues with men because not once in this thread did I even closely insinuate that meals aren't cooked by the time she gets home, so where the hell did this come from if it wasn't from personal issues with your own husband or with the stereotypical male? Perhaps you should get to know the stranger you're talking about before you make false accusations. I treat my wife like a princess in every single aspect of our life EXCEPT money; so before you call someone a selfish and "self entitled jerk" I want you to carefully interrogate your subject to get the information you seek before you make ASSUMPTIONS.

And yes, I understand that this thread is probably being viewed by a lot of people who are not commenting and it is helping them with getting ideas on how to survive on a low budget. But the point here isn't survival. The point I was trying to make is living a higher quality of life than just "surviving". Surviving on a budget is absolutely do-able and I never said that people couldn't "survive" on $80/week. Hell, I could feed my entire family of 4 on $30/week!!! But you and I both know how miserable we all would be and how macronutrient deficient we all would be eating that poor. And it's not JUST about hitting your macros, it's about hitting your macros with quality foods! While I could easily stuff my non-gluten allergy child with $0.49 white bread for a week, the nutritional quality of that $0.49 bread is absolutely the pits! No trace of bran, no fortified vitamins, not even real sugar! The food is absolutely garbage and should have never been invented.

So the point again of this thread is the argument between my wife and I that not enough money is going towards our debt because food costs are so high. So because clearing the debt was more important than eating, she stole my money for food and paid our debt off... And while I bet I could find food that would accommodate the new budget, it's going to reduce the cognitive, physical, and emotional function of the entire family eating less quality foods and more empty calories to fill our calories up. I respect her conservative and republican-minded upbringing to pay off debts and follow the "safe path" to her goals in life (which is to be debt free); but she is not respecting my liberal and democratic-minded upbringing to taking care of the people we are responsible for and doing things whatever way that we need to in order to get the needs of each person met. You could say that my marriage is a very "Yin-Yang" arrangement where we argue most of the time since our priorities are often in opposite directions; but this is a good way to keep each other "in check" when we are being too "idealistic" about our own beliefs and goals.

Excuse me, but you are making assumptions of your own, like you are the only one who has ever lived in your situation. Not so! Without divulging the details of my personal life, I can say that I speak from long,long experience.

So, you have been cooking for just over a month, with the meals on the table when she comes home. Good for you. Keep it up. And there is no reason why you cannot cook better than you can eat out. When men get into cooking, they don't cook like a mom, but like a chef. Go to the public library and get your self some cook books. Try Indian cooking. Once you begin cooking rice with cinamon sticks and cardamon pods or mustard seeds, you wife will rediscover rice. And with proper technique, cheaper cuts of meat can be real flavorful. Your wife's idealistic expectations of eating better at home than in a restaurant can be met if you put your mind to it.