healthy foods on a tight tight budget

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trishara
trishara Posts: 91
in Food and Nutrition
Isn't it sad that you can eat so bad for you and it's cheap, yet everyone screams to eat healthy? Maybe they should swap the prices around and see what happens? Anyway, as you can probably guess, I am on a very tight budget. So what are your suggestions for eating healthy but cheaply? Thanks everyone.

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    It doesn't have to be expensive at all to eat "healthy"...you just have to put in the work...and often change your thinking on what is "healthy". Essentially, by whole foods. Convenience foods whether labeled heathy or not are just pretty much junk either way and you get for less food for your actual dollar. Don't bother with low fat/no fat foods...completely unnecessary and they do more harm than good.

    Essentially, look at the way people ate just a couple of generations ago. They ate meat and cooked with butter and other traditional cooking oils that have been replaced by margarines and vegetable oils which cause more harm than good. Just eat real food...here's some staples in our household...

    - beans: they're dirt cheap when you buy them dry and in bulk. I make a big batch of beans for the week pretty much every saturday. There are numerous ways, from the very mundane and basic to elaborate preparation methods. Beans are very much a staple of my families diet

    - Other legumes like lentils and split peas dried and in bulk

    - Rices/Oats/Pastas and other grains

    - Potatoes

    - Staple vegetables...for fresh vegetables, we do a lot of cabbage...it's really cheap and lasts longer than many other fresh vegetables...not that it's completely necessary, we go through a couple of heads per week. Also carrots do well, as does broccoli and cauliflower. We also look to the frozen food section for other vegetables, especially when on sale..but really, cabbage is a big time staple around here.

    - Meat; ground beef, whole chickens, cheaper cuts of pork and beef that require some roasting time to be tender, etc. We'll buy boneless skinless chicken breasts, etc when on sale...but we eat a lot of whole chickens and chicken parts and just do the work of removing the skin/bones, etc on our own and pay less.

    - Full fat dairy, cheese, etc

    - Eggs...lots of eggs...ounce for ounce one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet and pretty much on the cheap side of things...we go through lots of eggs around here.

    - staple fruits in season...for us, it pretty much apples and bananas...we'll eat berries in season when they are reasonable and things like nectarines and peaches in the summer when we can get them cheaper. Apples and bananas are pretty well mass grown and pretty cheap.

    - nuts...a little bit of nuts goes a long way. While a large bag of almonds may cost a bit up front, they go a long way and last a long time.

    - butter

    I would also add that we in this society have grown accustomed to placing value on quantity rather than quality...when you start to really value that quality and the quality of nutrition you get from buying and preparing more nutrient dense meals, there really is no comparison.
  • dancephysics
    dancephysics Posts: 53
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    The thing about eating healthy on a budget is that you have to be willing to put more work in. It will almost always be cheaper to make your own meals at home than to eat at even the cheapest restaurants every day. And "healthy" prepared meals like Lean Cuisine are definitely not cheap. Switching the prices isn't going to happen. That's economics. It's totally possible (and even easy, once you get used to it) to eat healthy on a tight budget.

    Anyway, check out budgetbytes.com. The woman that runs that blog doesn't specifically post healthy/low-cal recipes, but they are almost always healthy. And she also calculates the cost per ingredient, recipe, and serving. I usually make something from that blog once every week or two.

    Also, buy in bulk for things you use often that will keep well. For example, buy a bunch of chicken when it's on sale, and freeze what you won't be using within the next few days. Number one tip: plan your meals for the week. Look at your grocery store's flyer to see what's on sale, and plan your meals around those things. This will also help keep you from throwing away food that goes bad before you can eat it.
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,568 Member
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    Not sure if you are on your own or not but just a quick hint - I find that soups and stews are very calorie friendly and they are cheap to make. I made a huge pot of chicken stew and dumplings tonight and it will last my son and I at least 3 days (he's a big eater 6'4" and 23 yrs old) If a big pot is too much for you or you get bored you can portion it out and freeze some for later in the month.

    Eggs - cheap
    dried beans & legumes - cheap
    fresh fruit and veg - watch the flyers and buy on sale
    Also use frozen veg - they are picked at their prime and frozen directly rather than picked before ripened
    lean meats are worth the bit of extra you pay - tastes better and healthier - also one chicken breast is 2 portions so really a pkg of 4 is 8 portions
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Isn't it sad that you can eat so bad for you and it's cheap, yet everyone screams to eat healthy? Maybe they should swap the prices around and see what happens? Anyway, as you can probably guess, I am on a very tight budget. So what are your suggestions for eating healthy but cheaply? Thanks everyone.

    Milk.

    Eggs.

    Rice.

    Potatoes.

    Giant bags of frozen vegetables.

    There's your staples right there - and dirt cheap, too.
  • trishara
    trishara Posts: 91
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    Thanks everyone. Very helpful. I do like to cook and eat more at home than eating out. I find it's more of a treat that way, plus with not a lot of money coming in, it's not part of any plan. But it's me and my fiancé, so I want us to both lose weight. Thank you again.
  • aquarabbit
    aquarabbit Posts: 1,622 Member
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    Definitely look up bugdgetbytes. I'd take a look at Poor Girl Eats Well and Brokeass Gormet. I recently got the book Ten Dollar Dinners and it's my favorite thing at the moment. Lots of great recipes and tips on how to shop smart. Definitely worth the $10 I spend getting the book! Something that I've found helpful as far as fresh fruits and veggies is to have a list of what's in season on the fridge by the season. That way I can plan some meals around the things that are not only at their tastiest, but their cheapest. It did take a little bit of time to learn the tricks to making things SUPER cheap, but it's second nature to me now that I've learned. It's just my husband and me, and he's bulking while I'm losing. Since the recipes are usually for 4 to 6 people, I try to make things that reheat well, that way we can have leftovers. If I can't reheat it, I cut the recipe in half. That way I'm not wasting anything.
  • bldunn21
    bldunn21 Posts: 2
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    Look for a 99 cent store in your area. I too always though it was expensive to eat healthy until my nutritionist said that she found fresh fruit and vegetables at the 99 cent store. I was very surprised by the quality and selection when I went to check out the store. Some of the items are better if you are going to use them within a couple of days but most keep for at least a week.
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
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    Dry lentils and beans bought in bulk. High protein, low fat, easy to cook and delicious.

    Buy produce on sale/in season and freeze/jar what you can't eat right away. Look into investing in a home jarring system if you don't already have one. That will save you tons of money.
  • acogg
    acogg Posts: 1,870 Member
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    I don't know if one is available where you live, but I always shop the close out bin in the meat department. I rarely buy chicken or pork from the bin, but I am all over the marked down beef. Beef that loses the red is still just fine, in fact it is better than fresh beef. Notice how many steak houses advertise aged beef? Learn what is actually healthy, not what is advertised as healthy. My father used to tell me that I should never buy advertised food because "someone" (meaning me) has to pay for all that advertising. I always keep that in the back of my mind when shopping. (Thanks, Dad!) Look up websites, blogs for coupons and tips. There are some good ones out there that can save you a ton of money. Trust me, I have been very poor in my life and there are ways of living well despite the cash.

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