Low Budget Nutrition
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wendle81
Posts: 10
Hi all.
Do you think healthier food is more costly in comparison to other less healthy foods or is this an excuse/illusion?
What are your favorite low-cost, high-nutritious foods?
Do you think healthier food is more costly in comparison to other less healthy foods or is this an excuse/illusion?
What are your favorite low-cost, high-nutritious foods?
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Replies
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I think they can be, but as long as you are willing to put in a bit of effort then eating healthy is no more expensive than eating rubbish.
If for example I wanted to feed my family of 5 a microwave meal each, although they are only a quid each it would work out at a fiver. For that same fiver I can pick up a pack of quorn mince, some potatoes, some onion and other veggies and make a big cottage pie. And I would then have veggies left over for another meal which would reduce the cost of the next meal.
I think if you are willing to try new stuff, shop around a bit and put the effort in then eating healthy is no more expensive than just eating processed foods all the time.0 -
To eat healthy is definitely more expensive. $1 will get you 2 tacos a Jack N Box, value hambuger at McDonalds, even a burrito or griller at Taco Bell. Take that same $1 to the grocery store. You come out with a banana or if you are lucky, a large orange. It sucks.0
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I've been visiting the butchers every 2 days for the past month and have decided that I can't anymore as its costing me £4-6 every trip. Not that meat is the be all and end all.
There are lots of cheap meals you can knock up just search online and you'll find them.0 -
I think they can be, but as long as you are willing to put in a bit of effort then eating healthy is no more expensive than eating rubbish.
If for example I wanted to feed my family of 5 a microwave meal each, although they are only a quid each it would work out at a fiver. For that same fiver I can pick up a pack of quorn mince, some potatoes, some onion and other veggies and make a big cottage pie. And I would then have veggies left over for another meal which would reduce the cost of the next meal.
I think if you are willing to try new stuff, shop around a bit and put the effort in then eating healthy is no more expensive than just eating processed foods all the time.
This assumes, of course, that you are not working two jobs, looking after a home and a family and are not too exhausted to do all the preparation, etc. to make the cottage pie by the time you eventually get home. Oh ... and that you would rather spend time in the kitchen working rather than spend that precious time relaxing with your family.0 -
Definitely cheaper to eat food cooked from scratch.
I'd say it's probably more expensive if you're trying to eat lots of protein though as meat is quite costly...
But potatoes, rice, pasta, noodles, tinned tomatoes, onions, garlic, plus a few extra veggies, a bit of cheese, herbs and spices etc and you have a cheap load of shopping which will make a lot of meals.
I eat about 85% homes cooked from scratch food and my monthly shop for me and my husband and 6 month old comes to around £200, and that's including formula milk, nappies, household stuff and cat food! I don't think I could eat McDonalds or any kind of takeaway or frozen microwave meals for that amount 3 meals a day!!
I'm in the UK though and I get the impression that it might be a different story in the US...0 -
"This assumes, of course, that you are not working two jobs, looking after a home and a family and are not too exhausted to do all the preparation, etc. to make the cottage pie by the time you eventually get home. Oh ... and that you would rather spend time in the kitchen working rather than spend that precious time relaxing with your family."
You can relax with your family while cooking I reckon! And chopping up some veg and putting something in the oven doesn't really take that long. Pasta takes about 12 minutes to cook, noodles take about 3 minutes, chopping an onion takes about 1 minute...
Not to say that working two jobs isn't hard work! If I was doing that I don't think I could be bothered to cook all the time. But regardless of what is convenient to you - I would still say it's cheaper to cook from scratch.0 -
I think it's about the same or a bit cheaper cooking from scratch, but it does depends on the protein source of the meal. The cost of meat can rack up if you aren't organised or don't have the space to buy and freeze in bulk.
There is also a significant time cost to cooking from scratch, including all the prep and cleanup. I cook most nights but sometimes I will get fast food or a ready meal if I don't feel up to the effort of cooking.
You don't have to go fully one way or the other.0 -
I think it varies.
I love fruit. I get cherries, blueberries, bananas, honey melons and apples every week, and I would say they cost a lot more than buying processed sugary crap would.
As for veg, well, it depends where it comes from, how it was grown, etc. Overall though, I would say veg is pretty cheap (even cheaper to buy your own)
I'll give you a nice, cheap (vegetarian) meal.
Chop up 5 potatoes, 6 carrots and throw in some cauliflower and broccoli (fresh or frozen) add 2 veg stock cubes, a teaspoon of Marmite (I think it's vegemite? In the US) add a dollop of brown sauce and a packet of minestrone soup mix, and a handful of Quorn mince!
Throw it all together, bring to boil in the pan, then leave to simmer. There is 180 calories per bowl, it's cheap, healthy, meat free and filling.0 -
There's no short and simple answer to this. It depends on what you are eating, where you live, and what your 'starting point' is.
If you want to eat a lot of meat, and some of the more exotic fruits and veg, that can easily be more expensive than fast food or microwave meals. On the other hand, you can make some very nutritious meals for next to nothing if you use simple staples like beans, lentils, tinned tomatoes etc.
Some places are better than others for fresh foods. I've heard people rave about their local farmer's market being incredibly cheap - ours is pretty expensive. On the other hand, I have four supermarkets in easy reach which all have a decent selection of fruit and veg quite cheaply. If you don't drive you might be stuck with whatever is available at your nearest store, which may or may not make it easy to buy cheap healthy food.
Then the starting point. If I had to drastically cut my food budget because I lost my job, I'd have to put some thought in but I'm confident I could still feed us healthy foods. BUT - I can cook, I'm already confident in the kitchen. I already have lots of kitchen equipment - graters, pans, sharp knives, a steamer, loaf tins, a slow cooker and so on. So I have lots of flexibility. I also have a store of things like spices, which are expensive but last a long time. If I had never been in the habit of cooking from scratch, I wouldn't have that advantage. I might not be able to find four pounds in the budget for spices this week. I might not have a good knife to chop up my chicken breast. And if I don't know how to cook, it might well take me two hours to make a meal that would take an experienced cook half an hour to make. If I'm already working and struggling to make ends meet, that's the kind of obstacle that can put someone off making a challenging lifestyle change.
Even shopping is a skill that needs to be learned. It can be tricky to plan a week's meals with no waste and no running out of anything. It can take practice to spot which offers are really bargains and which are not so good. If you've never had to do that, you can end up wasting a lot of money while you learn.
People often suggest batch cooking and buying in bulk to save money. Which it does, in a sense. Per portion meals are much cheaper. But if you are on a really strict budget, you might not be able to make that initial large purchase. It may be cheaper portion by portion to buy 5lbs of ground beef at once, but if I don't have enough to buy that big pack, I'm stuck buying a little bit at a time with higher prices. Likewise people suggest shopping around, but that's not an option if you don't drive or can't afford the fuel or don't have much time after work.
So... eating healthy food CAN be much much cheaper than eating fast food or ready meals. But often people find themselves already in a rut of eating fast food and on a tight budget it can be hard to break out of it. Some people may use it as an excuse, others I do believe have a point. It's not that it's more expensive in the long run, it's that it is often so difficult to get started.0 -
It all depends on what you are prepared to eat and how you make your budget fit around your chosen eating pattern.
If you're looking at anything like a paleo/primal diet - or looking to cut out the bulking carbs that can fill so much of your plate - then without a doubt it can become an expensive way to eat. When I was not concerned about nutrition and I had very little money I would make quick and easy pasta sauces and throw them over a mound of pasta - I ate well but it's one of the reasons I'm where I am today. Potatoes, rice, pasta - the things we use cheaply to fill our plates and our bellies - they just don't fit how I want to eat right now.
You have to learn to shop smart and get as much bang for your buck as possible. I meal plan, I bulk buy meat when it is on offer and I batch cook and freeze. Whatever veg is on offer is the veg that I will base my meals around for that week - and of course there is lots of veg/salad on my plate. For casserole/slow cooker (crock top) type dishes I buy bags of frozen chicken breasts because they are considerably cheaper than fresh. Would I buy free range happy chicken breasts if I could? Sure. Would I buy the finest grass fed beef? Of course. But I can't and so like everyone else I make choices.0 -
I'm down to under £4.00 / £5.00 per day.
This is the cheapest I've ever had my diet, granted it's at a cut and only 1782 cals but gotta love it being so cheap haha.
I suppose the reason why mine works out so cheap is that I get my complex carbs from Oats/brown rice, my protein I mainly get from Whey (unflavoured), healthy fats from nuts & Olive Oil.
Suits me for my cut anyway. I'd imagine the price will sky-rocket when I bulk lmao, most the money was spent on chicken (Meat is the only reason why cost goes up for me).
All I have to do now is stick to it, its everything i need but i have found myself eating a little extra when i really shouldn't, TODAY i will not cheat
I wouldn't get one meal + Drink at a fast food place for this much.0 -
I think they can be, but as long as you are willing to put in a bit of effort then eating healthy is no more expensive than eating rubbish.
If for example I wanted to feed my family of 5 a microwave meal each, although they are only a quid each it would work out at a fiver. For that same fiver I can pick up a pack of quorn mince, some potatoes, some onion and other veggies and make a big cottage pie. And I would then have veggies left over for another meal which would reduce the cost of the next meal.
I think if you are willing to try new stuff, shop around a bit and put the effort in then eating healthy is no more expensive than just eating processed foods all the time.
I agree with this. I think a lot of the "keeping healthy food cheap" thing revolves around the ability, and more importantly, willingness to cook, than anything else.
I cook from scratch most days and we don't necessarily scrimp on the products we buy (for example, I won't buy the super cheap canned tuna because I don't think it's as good), but we plan our menu so that we waste as little fresh produce as possible. Our total grocery shopping for the two of us is about £35-£50 per week, a total that includes all other household supplies and cat care too.
When I think that our standard McDonald's order for 2 is over £10 for just one meal, our healthier food seems outrageously cheap.
I think a lot of the expense of healthy eating comes from buying healthy snacks- fruit is eyewateringly expensive right now.0 -
I think you can do it on a low budget if you shop around and make some hard decisions and bargain hunt!
I look for fresh fruit every night on the way home for the 'budget' section in the supermarket with a short date on it to use the next day and keep in lots of dried staples like cous cous, lentils etc to bulk out dinners with they don't cost too much. I also prepare to ditch some of my usual fruit and veg for whatever is in season as this is usually cheaper, not to mention fresher and with a better carbon footprint.
The worst on the budget is fresh, good meat but thankfully I like a lot of affordable healthy protien stuff like eggs, cottage cheese etc.0 -
We are a family of five - both parents work, and I am a full time student as well - thank goodness my 17 year old babysits... at a discounted rate! When I returned to school we knew we had to cut costs so we started shaving things down, now we feed all of us a mixture of some convenience foods, frozen veggies, canned (without salt and organic when not a ton more expensive) veggies and fruits, farmers market bargains (often end of day cast-offs) and a few things we grow ourselves. We have a small garden that isn't the most beautifully kept, but it provides us with green beans, tomatoes, onions, squash, a few herbs, some various southern US variety of peas, etc...
We plan ahead as much as possible, use the slow cooker which saves time and money, tag team the cooking - whoever gets home first starts things, and our oldest helps some too. I am gluten intolerant so I have to have a few specialty gluten free flours, or premade breads and things for the days that I need them and they sometimes cost a lot more. So, now I don't eat them daily. We do have some amount of produce go to waste, which I compost and use to feed the garden, but it still saddens me when I purchase too many grapes and half the bag goes bad. We purchase what is on sale, comparison shop in the weekly flyers, and only get what we need to fill out our planned meals - in that way we save more than we used to in meals, about $200 per month less. Good food is nothing to frown at, when we can't afford something, my kids have learned that we just can't afford it. I let them have sugary cereal once in a while, or chicken nuggets, or whatever they want that is affordable, but usually they are pretty happy to eat as we do. Often our family might eat something like the following:
Breakfast: Toast or muffin with peanutbutter, oatmeal with fruit and/ or eggs
AM snack: fruit or yogurt
Lunch: Sandwiches, wraps, pasta, soup, salad
PM snack: veggies and dip or leftovers
Supper: Tilapia, Burger, Roast, Chicken Breast, with 2-3 kinds of steamed veggies &/or salad
Dessert: Frozen yogurt, occasional baked treats.
We stick to the basics and don't have a lot of variety in the method, only the variety depending on whats on sale - one week the grapes are cheap, next time it's cantaloupe, then the cherries and berries and peppers - and when summer is over we purchase seasonal items and frozen pepper/onion blends for stir fry, etc... We also cook a lot on the weekends when we are home and use the leftovers for snacks and sometimes lunches or even dinners for a few days. We will eat a chicken leg quarter when the chicken breasts are rediculously high, we just remove the skin first before we cook it. etc, etc, etc...0 -
Well - Organic meat and fish is incredibly pricey - no two ways about it. And free range isn't much better. I only eat ethically farmed meat and fish is possible which means that
a) Its expensive
b) Ready meals and fast food is an almost complete no-go.
On the other hand, I do have budget constraints - so here are my top tips.
1) Buy your fish and meat when its on offer then freeze it. It can easily half the price.
2) Change the portions in meals by substituting beans and lentils (canned is cheep, dried is very cheep) - for example lamb goes really well with chickpeas, or more kidney beans in your chilli, bean sprouts in your chicken stir-fry, poi lentils with salmon etc. Not only does this significantly reduce the cost but its also a good way to reduce the calorie content without loosing out on flavour or protein.
3) Take your own lunch to work - A ham salad roll (using tesco's finest ham for example) costs less than a pound (ham ~ 8 slices for £3, nice granary roll - 8 for £2, bag of salad £1 - making the rolls ~ £0.62 each - and much nicer than a McDonald's £1 burger. Oh - and a jar of pickle or mustard goes a long way if you want to add some zing. (By the way - regarding ham and ethics - British port farms have a very high welfare standard to start with - the quality in other countries varies so I try and stick with UK ham. I'm also lucky to have an excellent deli in my town which sources its ham locally from a farm I know has excellent out door reared pork - its a little more expensive - probably closer to £0.50 per slice than £0.37 but I think its worth it when I have the opportunity to shop there.
4) Fresh fruit and veg is very expensive these days. Shop based on seasonality and price rather than starting with a meal in mind and you will literally half the costs. The best chef I know (he runs an excellent local gastro-pub) stands by the principle of 'if it grows together, it goes together' - so you shouldn't loose out doing this at all. Also - frozen veg is cheap and is just as good for you!
Finally - in response to the comment about spending time with family / time over a stove - I 9 out of 10 of the meals I cook take no more than 10 minutes to prepare (they may take longer to cook - for example I do slow cook casseroles which I put on in the morning and eat after work). Also - its easy to make much better quality versions of ready meals and freeze them yourself - it doesn't take very long - and most importantly I got my own love of cooking from many happy hours spent preparing meals with my mum (who worked full time) and who could turn just about any household chore into fun family time.0 -
I think they can be, but as long as you are willing to put in a bit of effort then eating healthy is no more expensive than eating rubbish.
If for example I wanted to feed my family of 5 a microwave meal each, although they are only a quid each it would work out at a fiver. For that same fiver I can pick up a pack of quorn mince, some potatoes, some onion and other veggies and make a big cottage pie. And I would then have veggies left over for another meal which would reduce the cost of the next meal.
I think if you are willing to try new stuff, shop around a bit and put the effort in then eating healthy is no more expensive than just eating processed foods all the time.
This assumes, of course, that you are not working two jobs, looking after a home and a family and are not too exhausted to do all the preparation, etc. to make the cottage pie by the time you eventually get home. Oh ... and that you would rather spend time in the kitchen working rather than spend that precious time relaxing with your family.
Well I don't work two jobs, but I have one job that I work for 40 hours a week, spend approx 8 hours a week on the road to and from said job, look after my home and family, but I still find time to cook a decent meal most nights (and work out).
Don't get me wrong, some times I absolutely cannot be bothered and there are plenty of times the kids will have chicken nuggets and I'll throw some pre-packed breaded chicken in the oven.
But most nights my kids are in the kitchen chatting to me or helping as I cook tea. A cottage pie takes about 20 - 30 minutes to prepare and then is in the oven. I'll also cook things on a weekend when I have more free time and freeze them so I can just re-heat during the week.
Cooking healthy meals from scratch doesn't take away from my prescious family time at all. Like I said above, I don't always cook meals from scratch but that is down to me feeling lazy and I'm not gonna make up other excuses to say its anything else other than lazyness.0 -
it depends I guess on the country you live it. Australia is expensive however our meats are cheaper than eg Canada. It also depends on where you shop. Most chain stores like Coles and Woolies sale veggies and fruit at a much higher price than at the markets or some other fruit/veg shops. My veggies and fruit for the week come under $20 and I get a lot out of the $20. I eat 2-3 servings of fruit a day plus veggies account for 75% of my lunch and dinner.
I also found that shopping at a good and reasonably priced butcher is cheaper. I am not a big meat eater so meat and fish might cost me about $12-15 a week max. (extra lean beef mince/turkey mince/chicken breast/high end fish-Australian)
If you look at one of the frozen meals, they usually run (if not on sale) between $6-8 for dinner, my dinner (fish or meat with veggies) is under $5 and includes dessert.
I cook from scratch mostly.
I buy organic a lot too but because it is just me, I can afford it.
I pre-plan my meals to some extend for the week. I make a list of what I will need and I stick to it. I never waste any food.0 -
I think they can be, but as long as you are willing to put in a bit of effort then eating healthy is no more expensive than eating rubbish.
If for example I wanted to feed my family of 5 a microwave meal each, although they are only a quid each it would work out at a fiver. For that same fiver I can pick up a pack of quorn mince, some potatoes, some onion and other veggies and make a big cottage pie. And I would then have veggies left over for another meal which would reduce the cost of the next meal.
I think if you are willing to try new stuff, shop around a bit and put the effort in then eating healthy is no more expensive than just eating processed foods all the time.
This assumes, of course, that you are not working two jobs, looking after a home and a family and are not too exhausted to do all the preparation, etc. to make the cottage pie by the time you eventually get home. Oh ... and that you would rather spend time in the kitchen working rather than spend that precious time relaxing with your family.
I don't have children, but I do look after a home and have worked two jobs with back to back shifts. It's true I didn't want to come in and stand up on a hard tile floor for 30 minutes, but I enjoyed coming in and winding down while making something delicious, almost like a reward at the end of the day.
On my late nights, I would cook what I call a "quick and easy", which might be something like roasted fish with pasta and rice. You might spend 10 minutes preparing it, chuck it in the oven and the pasta in the pot and you can literally sit down and forget about it until you're ready to serve.
Cooking doesn't have to be isolating either- my husband will come in and help cook, or sit in the kitchen and talk to me.0 -
Hi all.
Do you think healthier food is more costly in comparison to other less healthy foods or is this an excuse/illusion?
What are your favorite low-cost, high-nutritious foods?
I'm now eating a whole foods, plant based diet and it's way cheaper than what I was eating before-not even comparable.
Fresh fruits and veggies-right now it's growing season and I can get bags of fresh produce from our farmer's market, road side stands and then a local orchard stand. Prices are cheaper than the grocery store and I can still find deals-yesterday I bought the 'seconds' peaches from the orchard stand-they were the ones that had gotten a bit smooshed and were $2 for a large bucket of them I'm using them in my smoothies and then cutting them up for fruit salads for my kids. I'm also learning to eat what's in season and try new things! And I'm really using U Pick farms this year-for instance I picked a bunch of blueberries earlier this week and only paid $1.50 a pound! They're all now in my freezer and I'll use them for my green smoothies
Beans-I do still buy these canned, because they're easy and still pretty cheap. I can get cans of organic refried black beans for $1.29, as well as other kinds of canned organic beans. Someday I'll look into making my own, but right now it's not a priority for me.
Whole grains (rice, oats etc). This stuff is cheap, especially if you buy the generic store brand. I've even found old fashioned oats at the Dollar store
Nuts, seeds etc. I buy these when they go on sale and use them sparingly (one of the only things I actually measure out a serving size).
That's pretty much what I eat-the few misc. things I buy like olives and raisins, I always get on sale or the generic store brand. I'm fortunate to have a Meijer, that has a an organic store brand and I'm able to get some organic things, for cheaper than the brand name, conventional versions.
My grocery budget is around $30 a week for me-my diary is open if you want to take a look at what I eat 0 -
from a total cost of ownership perspective you have to weigh in the cost of health care. low cost may not be cheaper in the long run when you factor in health. plus, I'm not sure what you define as 'high quality'.0
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