Eating healthy on a tight budget
lexivenus
Posts: 7 Member
Hey everyone! I just looking for some advice on how I can eat as healthy as possible on a tight budget. I am moving into a new place pretty soon, so a good bit of my income is going into this new move and therefore I must be careful with my finances. I have noticed that my grocery bill is quite higher now that I have been shopping for the healthier foods, I'm looking for some ways to cut corners and still be able to maintain a healthy diet. For example, I've been thinking about substituting tofu in some of my meals as a cheaper alternative to meat or using brown rice as a staple food. Does anyone have suggestions for me? I would greatly appreciate it!
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Replies
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Even though you are making better choices, are SOME of the old unhealthy ones still part of your grocery trip? I found when my hubby and I were on an incredibly tight budget, I could still buy all healthy - just had to COMPLETELY cut anything processed or packaged. If you like hummus for example, don't buy it at the store, just buy a can of chickpeas for $0.60 and the other few ingredients and make it yourself.
Unfortunately the balance between tight budget and healthy eating is doing a lot of cooking!! I used to get teased by family for being such a "holly housewife" by making so much from scratch, what they didn't know is that I couldn't afford to pay other people to make and package what i could do on my own!!
If you're still looking for cost cutting - make sure you flyer shop for sale meats. Find a store in your area that will price match, so you don't have to go bouncing from store to store.0 -
Loads of threads on this being January, it's worth running a search. Beans, lentils, split peas, brown rice, oats, organ meats like liver, eggs, canned oily fish, frozen vegetables, dried fruit, canned tomatoes, plain Greek yoghurt. Not sure tofu is that cheap per gram of protein? Dried soya crumbles and chunks are better priced but the ones I had were not the nicest. I prefer to pad ground meat out with lentils and liver - cook them long and slow and you don't know they are there.0
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Hey everyone! I just looking for some advice on how I can eat as healthy as possible on a tight budget. I am moving into a new place pretty soon, so a good bit of my income is going into this new move and therefore I must be careful with my finances. I have noticed that my grocery bill is quite higher now that I have been shopping for the healthier foods, I'm looking for some ways to cut corners and still be able to maintain a healthy diet. For example, I've been thinking about substituting tofu in some of my meals as a cheaper alternative to meat or using brown rice as a staple food. Does anyone have suggestions for me? I would greatly appreciate it!
I don't think tofu would really be cheaper-I think it would probably be more expensive! Shop what's on sale and try to buy a little extra. Last week boneless skinless chicken was 1.49/lb here. We bought a lot and it can be used in so many ways. Don't buy convenience - little cups of yogurt, precooked meats, etc. We were doing a lot of lean lunchmeat sandwiches for lunch because hey, sandwiches are cheap, but then when I figured it out, I was able to have a huge caesar salad w/ 6 oz of chicken for less than the cost of one turkey sandwich with a slice of cheese on cheap whole wheat bread!
Beans are cheap and a good filler/stretcher. If I'm having a taco salad and want to stretch the meat, I add a serving of beans which is way cheaper than a serving of meat.
What do you typically buy/eat and I can give you more exact suggestions.0 -
Hi there - Greetings from England!
I totally agree with Deanna's comment below. buying prepacked food is easy as its calorie counted for you. I too live on a very tight budget, I am retired and my husband is disabled - so we dont have a pile of money. He also has diabetes and so I have to take nutrition very seriously for his sake. I home-make everything - even down to soups and sandwich fillers. You gain a tight rein on your calories as well as your cash. I buy 65% vegetables and fruit and only 20% protein - the rest is made up of carbs and pulses. Its been a life time lesson as I come from a long line of home cooks, and it takes effort to learn, but you will be glad that you did. Take Deanna's tips to heart and learn to shop smart, even if you do have to travel between stores - your body and your bank will thank you. I can share recipies if you'd like - tell me what you love and I'll try to help!
Lal x0 -
Deanna has great points! I too make hummus from scratch since I can put less olive oil in and make it a bit leaner. I shop ads, but haven't been price matching. Missed opportunity on that one.
I buy very affordable lean beef and then cook it in a slow cooker. I love Indian seasonings, so I have delicious inexpensive food or several days. Next, freeze the surplus. It's like money in the bank! Great healthy food that I just have to heat and eat! If there are good deals on things I like in the store, such as ahi tuna, I'll buy extra and freeze it.
I've found the eating healthy seems to cost less for me. So it can be done
Good luck.0 -
Frozen veggies! And they wont go bad!0
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If you want to get better prices on meat you could try going to a local butcher and finding out if they offer meat bundles. You'll spend more up front but most of the time the price per pound is much less than you'd pay at the market and the meat is fresher.
Also, try making enough for dinner a couple nights each week so that you have leftovers for another dinner/lunch the next day. It's a good way to stretch your meats and keep in your calorie goals (especially when you plate the leftovers into storage containers while serving the meal).0 -
Even though you are making better choices, are SOME of the old unhealthy ones still part of your grocery trip? I found when my hubby and I were on an incredibly tight budget, I could still buy all healthy - just had to COMPLETELY cut anything processed or packaged. If you like hummus for example, don't buy it at the store, just buy a can of chickpeas for $0.60 and the other few ingredients and make it yourself.
Unfortunately the balance between tight budget and healthy eating is doing a lot of cooking!! I used to get teased by family for being such a "holly housewife" by making so much from scratch, what they didn't know is that I couldn't afford to pay other people to make and package what i could do on my own!!
If you're still looking for cost cutting - make sure you flyer shop for sale meats. Find a store in your area that will price match, so you don't have to go bouncing from store to store.
What she said! My grocery bill is lower because I'm not buying any processed foods. I get a good portion of my meat and veggies frozen (they keep longer). Do all your own cooking. I prep my lunch for the next day while I cook dinner the night before to save time. Then all I do is pull out of the fridge what I'm taking with me.
Look for sneaky items, like spending cash at a vending machine at work. Simple, don't carry cash. No trips to fast food (this one is hard!). For every $1.08 you spend for a soda or a double cheese burger you can save up. I have a change jar in my bedroom. All the loose money I would spend goes in there. I deposited into my savings accounts and already have $46 since January 1st! Then I will eventually treat myself to something nice, a new top (in a smaller size I couldn't fit into) or a yummy healthy treat (strawberries and blueberries are rediculously expensive here $6 per carton).
Good luck!0 -
Now that I have two little ones in daycare (which is double my mortgage eek) I am in the same situation. I can no longer shop at market street and now go to walmart or dollar stores since that's all i can afford. :-( I've learned to watch prices, like when produce items are market down. E.G. when potatoes went from 80 cents to 50 cents. If I can manage, and don't mind making additional stops, I sometimes stop at farmers markets or vegetable stands to get a few fresh fruits & veggies and get everything else at a dollar store.
I don't know if this helps. It's a hassle but I just think I'd rather eat healthy. Good luck!0 -
I find that eating healthier is cheaper but that is because I cook everything. lol I also use coupons, price match, and shop the flyers as well. I usually make a menu for the week and go by that. It takes a little bit of planning but well worth it. So by home cooking and not buying many pre- packaged items , coupons, freezing meals, and buying frozen fruits and veggies we eat healthier for cheaper.0
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I don't think tofu would really be cheaper-I think it would probably be more expensive! Shop what's on sale and try to buy a little extra. Last week boneless skinless chicken was 1.49/lb here. We bought a lot and it can be used in so many ways. Don't buy convenience - little cups of yogurt, precooked meats, etc. We were doing a lot of lean lunchmeat sandwiches for lunch because hey, sandwiches are cheap, but then when I figured it out, I was able to have a huge caesar salad w/ 6 oz of chicken for less than the cost of one turkey sandwich with a slice of cheese on cheap whole wheat bread!
Beans are cheap and a good filler/stretcher. If I'm having a taco salad and want to stretch the meat, I add a serving of beans which is way cheaper than a serving of meat.
What do you typically buy/eat and I can give you more exact suggestions.
I agree with all the suggestions here and just wanted to say my jaw dropped at your sale price.the cheapest we can get boneless skinless chickens 4.50/lb for thighs and 5.99/lb for breasts. That IS the sale price....0 -
I've started subbing black beans for meat choices to save some money and cals. Even the canned ones are a 10th of the price of a package of meat and, at least at Safeway, the store brand goes on sale all the time. My fave is warming a can of black beans, mashing them up slightly, and using them in place of meat in mexican food like tacos and burritos. With the right seasonings I don't even miss the meat.0
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Beans, high in protein & fiber & a host of vitamins, minerals, potassium. They can be used in many ways. Stretch meals with them.
All the best & Happy New Year.
R0 -
Shop the sales, coupon as much as you can, and as another poster said, make what you can at home so you don't have to buy it pre-packaged. If you have a bread machine, you can even make your own whole wheat bread for pennies on the dollar, and you hardly have to do any work because the machine does it all. Also, if your local grocery has a customer card, be sure to get one, REGISTER IT, and use it every time you go. Kroger sends me specialized coupons based on exactly what I buy such as $3 off $15 spent in the meat department, 1 free bag of baby carrots, etc. I also recommend a Sam's Club membership. The membership itself is about $40 for the year, but they have an absolutely fabulous selection of good, fresh produce, at unbelievably cheap prices. The only catch is that it is in larger quantities so you would have to be able to use it all or turn it into something else. Examples: apples could be made into applesauce before they go bad; berries, mangoes, and pineapple can be chopped and frozen to use later for smoothies, tomatoes & peppers can be made into salsas or sauces and canned or frozen, etc.0
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Comb through the weekly grocery ads. Bags of rice, beans, frozen veggies, potatoes can be had for very cheap. Also see if there is a local meat market in your area where you can buy meat in bulk.0
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I agree, it can often be cheaper to eat healthy IF you do a lot of cooking and planning. Buying the healthy, organic, premade stuff will be more expensive than mac and cheese, but you don't need that premade stuff. Buy in bulk, in season and on sale when you can. We have a farmers market type store that sells produce that's about to go bad for $1 a bucket. We buy those on Sundays and plan our meals for the week around them. For example, last Sunday they had okra, eggplant and peppers for $1 a bucket each. Sundays I prepare all of our dinners for the week and all of them have featured okra, eggplant and/or peppers. I also made picked okra and baba ganoush to with the extra okra and eggplant to have for healthy snacks. When larger cuts of meat or roasts go on sale, buy them, prepare them, portion them and freeze them to use whenever. Keep staples around like brown rice, dry beans, lentils, oats and peanut butter. Things like granola, protein bars, and hummus can be made so much cheaper than bought premade. If you can get a really good deal on bulk fresh produce and don't think you can use it all before it goes bad, research how to preserve it to use later. We pickle, freeze and can both bulk stuff we've bought and what we can't eat from our garden.0
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If you have a Famers Market where you are chances are you can get vegetables a lot cheaper than Walmart. Now, the one near my home in Wyoming you can count on vegetables being almost twice as much as our expensive small town store.. it's a bit hard to shop there. Tofu here is about $4 a package (I believe in the 1# range), and chicken breast is $2.50 a pound normally, less on sale. So that just depends on your local prices. Meat goes a lot further, IMO... it has a lot of flavor whereas tofu just takes flavor in.. away from the overall dish.
Try not to let things go to waste, put extra meat in the freezer right away.
I buy bulk when things are really great sales.. but maybe your budget is more limited so you can't do that. I found the 10.7oz cans of cream of chicken for $0.53 a can, bought 2 cases of those (48 cans).. so I'm set for the year. Part-skim mozzarella shredded cheese was on sale so I bought a bunch and stuck all the extra in the freezer. Shredded cheese freezes great, block cheese freezes ok if you plan on cooking with it instead of slicing.. because it turns crumbly after freezing.
Cabbage is a cheap vegetable. Soups are pretty cheap to make. Can you grow a garden in your growing season? Where I live we have 54 days of frost-free growing, it's a challenge. I cover plants though, and start stuff in the house early, and can grow zucchini outside.. which we eat a lot of. Leaf lettuce grows fast. Most areas are better for growing, so maybe you can grow everything you need during the season.. which would help the budget.
I raise rabbits for meat too, they eat a lot of fresh vegetable scraps from the house and weeds from the garden and grass clippings. Or if you live in an area that allows it you could have a few chickens for eggs (a good # is 1 chicken per person in the house) they can live fine on tablescraps coming from the house.0 -
Thank you everyone for all the wonderful suggestions! Looks like I would have to start cooking a bit more , I'm just afraid that if I make a large portion and eat it throughout the week, I might get too easily bored with it seeing as I really like variety of food. @ Sassycupcake, the weekly menu sounds like a great idea, @ Lal x, I would love any recipes that you can suggest, I pretty much can eat whatever, I'm not too picky. Anyone else with any affordable recipes, I would love to hear from you.0
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Fresh veggies and fruits are usually pretty inexpensive.
Little things, like if you eat pasta, buy whole wheat instead. It's only a little bit more expensive, and way better for you if you're dieting. Also, eggs are inexpensive, super high in protein, and low in calories. I've been eating them for breakfast for a while now, and you can do a lot with them.0 -
One suggestion that I have is to shop at asian or ethnic grocery stores if you have one close by. The veggies and fruits there are half of the cost as the supermarket, at least in my area (I live outside of Washington DC).0
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I blogged on this topic today. I spend about $150 a month on groceries and a typical day is 2-3 servings of fresh fruit; 6-8 servings of fresh or frozen vegetables, and 3 (4 oz.) servings of lean protein - along with other items. You can eat healthy for cheaper than you can eat processed, fast food, of other junk.
To stretch your dollar buy dry beans (kidney, black, etc.) and reconstitute them yourself.
Good luck with your new place!0 -
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Bump :-)0
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Homeade Soups that aren't cream based are a great one. Cabbage and Hamburger Soup with Veggies is very low cal, or Chicken Noodle Soup with Zuccini ,Chicken Creole Soup....ones like that make "alot" of food so it goes a longer ways and aren't too expensive.0
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These are some of the foods on our grocery list:
-dried lentils ( you can add some to ground beef for added fiber, make curry, add to soups)
-chicken (I just buy whatever is the cheapest at the store, skin and all)
-dried beans (buy several bags of different types. Great for chili, refried beans, meatless burgers)
-apples/bananas (good for snacks or adding to meals)
-greens like romaine, cabbage, spinach
-brown rice (you can even add it as a filler to hamburger patties and meatloaf)
-whole wheat flour (make your own bread! It's so cheap and much tastier)
-frozen veggies (cheap and nutritious, add it to everything)
-canned tomatoes/tomato paste (great for making your own sauces, pizza, soups)0 -
If you are able to shop at different places, then do so is my best advice. I shop at three different stores to make sure I get the best prices I can on things. Staples in my house are pretty basic - eggs, oatmeal, chicken, tinned tuna, veggies and that's about it. For chicken, I buy whatever is cheapest, and if it's out I ask the store for a raincheck so I can go back and buy it later. I will take off the skin, take out the bone, cut it down to portion size pieces, and freeze it for later. You can get frozen veggies - they last longer, and are typically cheaper.
Meal planning really can help if you're on a tight budget too. Find out what you can make that uses the same ingredients so you don't have to buy as much, or so you can reuse the same things the next day. Just play around with food combinations, and you can find some unexpected things can work together well.
Find some short cuts that work for you - pulling apart deli chicken for multiple meals like salads, sandwiches, wraps, soups, fajitas. Canned tomatoes in a blender for sauces, or in place of salsa. Reuse left overs for other things.0 -
Egg McMuffins
Usually cost $3 alone/a la carte/ at McDonalds, currently on sale there for $2.50 each with about 300 calories
Make them at home yourself for $1.13 each with 190 calories and between 5-8g of fiber
Shopping list (just purchased at Walmart today):
Borden Dairy - Fat Free American Sharp Cheese Singles -- 16 slices @ $2.48 (15.5 cents ea)
Oscar Meyer lower sodium bacon -- 1# 16-20 slices $4.48 (28 cents ea if 16)
Thomas 100 calorie muffins -- 6 @ $2.98 (49.6 cents ea)
Crystal Farms Egg Whites (I saw a cheaper brand there too) 20 servings @ $3.98 (19.9 cents ea)
#1 cook your bacon and drain fat from pan, #2 cook egg and toast muffin. When the egg is fairly solid put your slice of cheese on so it can melt a little. #3 put them all together on the muffin.
McDonalds doesn't have advertised what their McMuffin is with egg whites only, I know you can order them that way. If you don't like processed cheese you can substitute with 1/8 cup of skim milk mozzerella cheese for 10 more calories. I think it tastes better, but my husband prefers when they are more like what mcdonalds makes. Mozzerall cheese is about the same price but I've only seen it in shredded, not in easy premeasured slices.0 -
Hey There, I completely understand your situation. You might have to sacrifice a little bit of flavor or variations but you can do very well on a limited budget. Here's how I do things when I'm on a budget!
Breakfast
-eggs (Less than $2/Dozen)
-Banana (about $0.50/Banana)
-Whole Wheat Bread ( $2.50/20 slices)
Total per meal- roughly $1.25
Lunch
-Natural Peanut Butter (around $4/jar)
-Honey ($4/jar)
-Whole Wheat Bread (see above)
-Cup of Head of Lettuce ($1 per)
Total per meal- roughly $1
Supper
-Beanie Weenies or other 300 cal of canned food ($1-2 per)
-Banana
-Lettuce
Total per meal - roughly $2s
Snacks (You pick to complete the amount of calories needed for the day)
-peanuts ($2-3 dollars/ jar)
-Banana
-Honey
Total per meal - roughly $.50
Basically my total meal cost for these days is around $5 per day. You will find that you will be able to keep things like the honey and peanuts for awhile and most of these items will last you for 4 days. I use this type of meal to eat around 2000calories per day.
If I'm running short on calories, I eat Peanuts. They are full of calories. If I get hungry but don't need a lot of calories, I eat a banana. If I have a sweet tooth, I eat the honey. Two tablespoons makes for 90 calories and a great snack.
I hope you find a meal plan that works great for you and fits in your budget.0
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