STOP saying healthy food is more expensive

You don't live where I live. You don't know what foods costs here.

come live where i live and tell me eating healthy is just as cheap..

money isnt a problem for us but it is EXPENSIVE here .

People really strapped for cash don't indulge in shopping carts full of name brand sodas, TV dinners, oreos, and Twinkies. They also don't want to munch on carrots like a rabbit. They want hearty, filling meals that stick so their kids aren't asking for a snack in 2 hours.

Part of the problem is a knowledge gap. For some reason the beans and rice are getting lost, and a lot of people are making horrific financial choices they can't really afford to make. Packaged extremely cheap materials (e.g. potatoes) are often 10x as expensive as purchasing a comparable calorie volume of the base materials.

No idea where people chatting on an internet forum fall though. Cheap, expensive.. it's all relative.

This is a non-issue for me. Food is something I'm willing to spend money on. I'll make sacrifices in other areas if I have to, but I've invested too much time and money in my education and my career to say that I can't afford to eat what I want. I'll get rid of cable, Internet, phone, trips, etc., before I cut back on groceries. I do try not to be wasteful with the food I buy because wasting food is just dumb, but that's about as financially concerned as I'm going to get on the subject.

Good quote. Congrats on your 110 pd weight loss!!! :happy:

We ate fairly cheap on a variety of "healthy" styles we've cycled through. I can't say how much we spent then, but now it's around $300/month for two people (one low carb, one cleanish - nobody start a fight I said "ish").

I use meal planning loosely (what needs to be eaten next - ok that will be Tuesday). I hit Aldi's and Kroger about monthly. IF you are near an Aldi's the produce is dirt cheap - mushrooms $.59/pkg, Artisan lettuce in the box $1.99. I know they aren't "organic" but organic hasn't come to my neighborhood unless I grow it LOL I also buy nuts, eggs, cheese, pork skins (for the LC'er), etc at Aldi's.

Kroger - I hit the "managers specials" in produce and meats - pick up natural PB (Kroger brand) and otherwise just shop what's on sale. I look for meat under $2/pound first - usually that means whole chickens, chicken thighs or leg quarters, ground chuck on sale, pork (why does freakin pork keep runnin on sale - I've slowed down on it - tired of it). Then if I don't have enough meat I add a few pkgs of the more expensive stuff (English Roast is my favorite to add) I did just grab "clearance - aka mgrs special" organic celery for $1 (2 in the pkg)

I sometimes use a kroger coupon I get in the mail, and I do save coupons for stuff, but I seldom use them. Mostly they are for processed things like mixes and sodas. Since we don't eat them I just give those coupons away or donate the food to our food bank if it makes it free or close to it.
The rest of the month I shop in my own little town - the store ain't worth much but a sale here and there helps out. And an occasional road side stand (farmers all over the place here - but not many selling local - we're apparently feeding Asia - crops are cotton, corn and soybeans). There are some strawberry farms and orchards (mainly peaches) I can drive a long way to - but I don't like to travel 30-60 miles to buy a bag of peaches.

I do have an egg lady - with mostly free range chickens who meet me at the car like little store greeters - but she is sold out sometimes.

I grow my own food some - I suck at it. There is an investment, but I'm buying in slowly. You don't have to buy it all at once and it's mostly reusable stuff. It's mostly in flower pots - I'm up to about 12 pots. I could do it in the ground - and plan to eventually. Pots are easier for now. They stretch the budget some, but I couldn't live off my garden skills. .

That's just how I afford it. We don't eat breads/processed much. I am eating through a box of Quaker granola bars - free coupon for Kroger - free is always nice :laugh: They do a free coupon every Friday online.

I probably spend 10 mins/week reading the sales papers to plan my shopping - so not a big time investment. I spend some time prechopping and dividing up value packs/veggies. Probably an hour or two a week at most. The rest is just eating it. Most meals are quick or crock pot easy stuff.

What kind of meal is rice, beans, and eggs? and with teen boys?

It's calorie-dense, cheap as dirt, and easy.

And the exact diet many many people in this world live on. In fact rice and beans might be the MOST popular diet on earth

Have to disagree with you on that. It runs about $120-$180 a week for two getting groceries from Fresh Direct or Whole Foods. I don't buy any junk food, soda, or any crap like that. That's with us mostly eating home Mon-Fri. Doesn't even touch the going out during the weekend.

Not complaining about the price though. We busted our *kitten* in college for a reason.

What kind of meal is rice, beans, and eggs? and with teen boys?

It's calorie-dense, cheap as dirt, and easy.

And the exact diet many many people in this world live on. In fact rice and beans might be the MOST popular diet on earth

And totally devoid of the "fresh veggies, whole grain bread, meats, milk and cheese." the OP was talking about.

I'm with the bulk of you here, but I wanted to add a lifesaver for my fiance and I - we buy almost all of our lean proteins at Costco, plus a giant bag of broccoli, stoplight bell peppers, seasonal fruit, and organic baby romaine heads (they last longer than the larger ones, and you can use them for lettuce wraps!). I usually buy groceries at our local market (more peppers when we run out, baby carrots (the ones at Costco are always very dry), and milk and plain soymilk, and I spend maybe $30 every week and a half.

$200 for Costco + $75 groceries = $275/2 = $137.50 per person per month. Not bad for a relatively healthy diet! I would say we eat "clean" most of the time, but I'm a fan of moderation and make a mean homemade pizza (chicken + broccoli + a sprinkling of aged cheddar instead of your usual cheezy pizza = perfect)!

PS - we live in DC, but this worked for us in TX and OH before. I personally wouldn't cut my budget much more because I think eating healthy is worth the cost.

It can be more expensive depending on what you're comparing it to. I used to feed my teen boys and I those $3 all in one boxed dinners. I can't make a healthy meal for 3 people for $3. I'm glad that your grocery bill hasn't gone up but don't assume everyone shopped the same way as you.

And don't assume that everyone has the same cost of living as you. I go to school in one of the most expensive and highest cost-of-living cities in Canada, and $30 doesn't get you much in the way of produce here, and doesn't amoritize across a long period of time, whereas I could get a $5 sub at Subway and still win.

Not all of us have the luxury of investing a lot of money or time to start up (and maintain) a large vegetable garden, nor do some of us even have yards to do it in.

Congratulations on your success, seriously. I'm just saying that it can be very challenging for those of us who live under the poverty line and have to be wise in our purchases so we can stay away from food banks.