But eating right is so expensive...

It's only more expensive if you buy into organic produce, whole wheat pasta, 'healthy' TV dinners, and other fad stuff that really has no effect on anything.

If you just shy away from junk like cookies, chips, etc. and stay away from eating out, then eating healthy is significantly cheaper for you. My entire dinner tonight cost me less than $3.50/serving and comes in at under 650 calories.

Organic is a fad? Lol. I'll be sure to let my naturopath know that and my father in laws John Hopkins oncologist know that.

Lol naturopath and organic foods

But I do wonder how everyone is spending so little money a week, I suppose quality doesn't count for much

What do you mean by "quality"?

Things in which there is a significant difference in taste, dry aged beef vs non dry aged, high end balsamics and olive oils, various cheeses etc etc

Those are mostly personal preferences. Like people who say light beer is low quality beer. It's just a preference. Many people like the taste of light beer.

But when money is tight, personal preference is almost always to fill the tummy without emtying the wallet, no matter what the palate might want.

It really depends on where you live to me I live in an area where there's a marcs ,aldi's and save a lot if anybody is familiar with those stores. The food at those stores is mainly cheap and they have good produce and a lot of healthy products. I also use coupons when I can and catch sales.I do have to agree with others who said that they would pay more to eat healthy than be overweight. But its based on what you can personally do.

I live in a low-to-moderate income area and most of the people who shop in our local grocery store are obese-morbidly obese; in their carts (because I am such a shopping-cart-snob now) are sodas, chips, cookies, frozen pizzas, ramen noodles, canned meats/pastas and very little fresh produce/healthier items. and their carts are usually full to overflowing.

I do wonder if the above observation can be applied to every income group.

Kudos to you and your family for making the change , eating well is an education to pass onto your children,

The problem with junk food is that it leaves you feeling hungry in a very short time and the need to eat more. So eating junk can be expensive.

In countries where they supply free medical for everyone, that is taxpayer funded, governments are now stepping in and taxing the sugary/fat junk food. like they do with tobacco products. I can see this coming to many countries with free medical. It is time to tax junk food like tobacco, both drain the system with sick people.

Sometimes I think I'm spending more money because I go shopping so often but in reality, I'm preparing all my food from scratch. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. A lot of my colleagues buy food at work so whilst my food shop bill is higher, I don't spend money on fast food or takeaways and I'm sure preparing a sandwich myself is cheaper than their £4 a go pre-packaged ones.

I have found my grocery bills have dropped because I am eating way more fresh veggies and fresh fruit. I fill up on these.
My bread and meat bills have gone down. When I buy a steak I cut it in two , half for one night and half for the next, same with 1/2 lb of fresh salmon which I divide up for two nights. Lean ground beef with tomato sauce goes a long way with whole wheat pasta.

I no longer buy packaged cereals, they are way to expensive for what I am getting product wise.
I buy whole oats the 15 minute kind. It is much healthier and saves $$$ and keeps me full for a longer period of time.

OP, I get your point. I know that not everyone has access to healthier foods, so this message obviously wasn't for them. I think that you were just trying to motivate others who do have access to/funds to buy healthier foods. Gosh. People argue over anything on this site.

The problem here from my perspective is people can reduce their risks for all of the diseases mentioned by the OP by spending less money, no matter what they're eating.

The .99 cent store chain :bigsmile: has fruits and veggies!

Just some grist for your mill, next time you think eating well costs too much. I carry this information around with me for when I'm feeling whiny about my grocery bill.

Estimated lifetime cost of diabetes for an individual diagnosed at age 30, including out-of-pocket medical costs and lost productivity: $305,000. (American Diabetes Association)
Estimated lifetime cost of a heart attack: $700,000 to $1 milion, depending on the severity. (American Heart Association)
Average cost of one year of treatment for a woman with colorectal cancer: $51,327. (National Institutes of Health)

Average increase to my weekly grocery bill so the three of us can eat decent food: $30. If I spent that every week until I turned 100, that would be $103,080. Probably worth it, eh?

Don't take me wrong but healthy lifestyle does not guarantee that you will not get sick ever.
It's just that I see people saying that they eat healthy to live long and healthy life. It surely increases your chances but it's not surefire way to last 'till 100th birthday

BTW. My post was meant to be in reply to jwdieter's original post.

Don't take me wrong but healthy lifestyle does not guarantee that you will not get sick ever.
It's just that I see people saying that they eat healthy to live long and healthy life. It surely increases your chances but it's not surefire way to last 'till 100th birthday

Quite true. But diet and exercise are what we have within our control.

$5 buys me 4 0z of wild fresh salmon $5 buys me lean ground beef for my tomato meat sauce $5 buys me a chicken breast

I just do not see the $$$ value in a pizza.

$5 buys me 4 0z of wild fresh salmon $5 buys me lean ground beef for my tomato meat sauce $5 buys me a chicken breast

I just do not see the $$$ value in a pizza.

1 whole pizza is more of a meal than any of the things you listed

$5 for 4oz of salmon? It's double that where I live. And you can get a whole pizza for $4. But we do get most of our healthcare covered for free so I suppose I cannot complain.

OP, I get your point. I know that not everyone has access to healthier foods, so this message obviously wasn't for them. I think that you were just trying to motivate others who do have access to/funds to buy healthier foods. Gosh. People argue over anything on this site.

I think my concern is that it discourages people from trying to eat healthy if they think it has to be more expensive. It really doesn't. That's why I like everyone's tips on eating healthy for cheaper (frozen veggies, soup and crockpot meals, etc). Go to frugal living sites and you'll get even more suggestions!

1 whole pizza is more of a meal than any of the things you listed

The items listed probably have more protein than the pizza, which is generally the expensive thing. YOu could buy 3 dollars worth of protein, plus factor in the cost of staples and make your own more nutritious pizza for the same 5 bucks probably.

I do think those 5 dollar pizza's are a great deal, though. Beats taco bell.

I make a good salary, and still find my food bill a bit ridiculous. But I made the conscious choice to go organic and the sticker shock is one of the results. When I was broke in college, I could have eaten better, but not by any stretch of the imagination like I do now. I used to go in the grocery store and play a game. I'd take in 10 dollars, buy 10 of the 10 for 10 items and see if I couldn't eat off that for at least 2 days. Guess what is 10 for 10? Carbs, processed stuff, junk, and sugary food.

My local grocery (Kroger) often puts frozen or canned vegetables on the 10 for 10 sale. Carbs are good for us. That's why they are a macronutrient, because it's good to eat a lot of them.

My local store (Meijer) had 10 for 10 a couple weeks ago for greek yogurt and cartons of raspberries. I stocked up and froze a ton of raspberries to last me through this winter. Not to mention I also got an additional $10 off my next grocery bill with a coupon because I'd spent enough on other produce throughout the month of August. They also had 10 for 10 on frozen veggies.

They have greek yogurt on sale 10 for 10 again this week. I haven't checked the ads for what else is 10 for 10 but there's another coupon off your whole basket for Fri-Sat so I will be making a trip Fri night.

You absolutely can find reasonably priced foods. It's all about figuring out the sales cycles, finding coupons, and buying produce that is in season. Keep a price book so you can time your purchases to when stores generally have sales and take the time to coupon. I only spend about an hour a week couponing and keeping track of my grocery bills and it has paid off so much.

$5 buys me 4 0z of wild fresh salmon $5 buys me lean ground beef for my tomato meat sauce $5 buys me a chicken breast

I just do not see the $$$ value in a pizza.

1 whole pizza is more of a meal than any of the things you listed

This ^^ $5 Hot & Ready pizza has carbs, protein and fat, in pretty decent proportions. Add $1.50 in chopped veggies and you have a well balanced meal for two (or three if two of them are small children).

Just getting 4 oz of salmon for that amount is the just the beginnings of a meal for one. I'm not knocking the salmon. I love salmon. Just saying it's not as good a deal as the pizza.

For me it is about quality not quantity, I have fresh homemade salads and wild rice with salmon. The salmon fills me up plus I am getting the omega 3 in my diet. The Meat sauce can go for 4 meals, A large chicken breast can go for two meals.

So? Nothing wrong with having all that and the occasional pizza.

Whole chickens are often less than $1/lb (of course, you're going to be tossing the carcass, so it's not entirely a fair comparison, but still...)

Why toss the carcass..........do like our frugal ancestors did; use it to make soup!