Healthy Eating for Cheap
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jerzeygirl619
Posts: 17 Member
Why is healthy food so much more expensive than junk food? Fresh food does not come with coupons. Any suggestions on how to keep my grocery bill down while still eating healthy?
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Replies
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Actually I do get coupons from my rewards card at King Soopers (Kroger). Not much $1.50 off $10 produce but every bit helps.0
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Our Walmart matches any food store price on any item. I search online weekly ads for other local store sales & print the ads to bring in to have matched. That goes for any item whatsoever including meats, produce & is extremely cost saving with buy 1 get 1 free deals. Also helps to cut coupons if you can & to buy a little more up front for family size or reduced priced sale items for cheaper costs & then split the packaged meat yourself & store in frozen ziplock bags for when needed. I also keep an eye on produce that I buy that is going to spoil before it does like fresh fruits & peel & freeze them to use later in smoothies.
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Look for bulk produce suppliers in you area. We have one that delivers-- for 20$ last week I got 2 eggplants, 2 zucchini, 4 beets, 2 pints of blueberries, a pound of green beans, 2 heads of lettuce, a pint of grape tomatoes and 6 ears of corn. That is with delivery included!
Frozen veggies are also a very good option. I also do some canned. I use unsalted canned corn in veggie tacos along with canned black beans. Canned tomatoes are a great option for sauces.
Buying the items to make pizza dough (I make mine 100% whole wheat for added nutritional value) can save a ton of money. YOu have to invest in the yeast adn flour, but then you can make a ton and they freeze well, great for quick meals.
whole grain rice and pasta are very cheap and so versatile. Greens are some of your cheapest veggies but they just take a little work.
In the meat department, you just always have to watch for sales and not be afraid to buy in bulk and break down the packages to smaller portions and freeze.0 -
Look for a Farmers Market in your area. In my area, I can find one either Saturday Morning or Friday Early Evenings. The produce is usually cheaper and fresh. If you don't have a Farmers Market, check with neighbors who have gardens and they may sell you produce and may even give you their extra.0
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Look for bulk produce suppliers in you area. We have one that delivers-- for 20$ last week I got 2 eggplants, 2 zucchini, 4 beets, 2 pints of blueberries, a pound of green beans, 2 heads of lettuce, a pint of grape tomatoes and 6 ears of corn. That is with delivery included!
I am jealous of those prices!0 -
the delivery place is great but its take what you get kinda thing, but we love all kinds of produce so it works for us. in philly, we had a place you could go and they bought in bulk and passed savings on to you. You had to deal with lines and huge boxes to puta ll your stuff in, but it was worth it.0
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I believe that's why we have an obesity epidemic in this country; far too easy to eat things off the .99 cent menu at the fast food places, coupled with our general lack of personal responsibility. It takes much more time and resources to plan out and eat healthier food.
But, you can't put a price on health, so the final decision we need to be making is obvious.0 -
We have an Aldi in our are the produce is very cheap and lasts. I can buy all the stuff for a salad and it will last me a whole week at work for less than $5.00 little more if I buy cheese.0
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I came to post a very similar question. I'm glad to see it isn't just me.
I ask around a lot to find deals on locally grown produce. There is a website where you can search for pick your own farms in your area. I try to buy what I can in bulk that can be frozen. Look for farmers markets that run weekly. If you go towards the end you can make on offer on whatever is left and they will likely take it to keep from carrying the stuff home. Look for produce stands too in your area. They are sometimes cheaper than farmers market prices. You can find them by just asking around on social media usually.
http://www.pickyourown.org/0 -
Five finger discount.0
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It's actually easy to eat healthy on the cheap. Buy in bulk when possible for things you can freeze or that have a long shelf life and pay attention to sales.
Chicken breast: $2/lb
Head of lettuce: $1
Sweet potatoes: $1/lb
In season fruit: $1/lb
In season veggies: $1/lb
Dry beans/rice: $1/lb (makes A LOT)
Peanut butter: $3/jar
Milk: $3/gallon
Eggs: $1.50/dozen
FF plain yogurt: $2/pint
Prepackaged, ready to eat food is more expensive that fresh food all day long. You can easily eat well for less than $50/week.0 -
There is a great blog I follow moneysavingmom.com and she post good ideas on menu planning and saving on healthy eating.
Example: She posted about a printable coupon which can be used towards a sale coming up at Walgreens. Turkey bacon for $0.29! Yes please!0 -
I personally do not see how eating healthy is more expensive. We actually spend less now that we eat fresh produce and lean meats then we did eating frozen and processed foods. The key is proper planning and shopping.
You don't need to shop at places like Whole Foods. We buy all our groceries from WalMart. Great quality for the prices! We also only buy in season or on sale produce. Sure, we love strawberries but we do not buy them at their regular price of $4. We buy bagged apples which are much cheaper then the single ones. We do not buy pre-washed/prepared salads because they are more expensive. We do not buy pre-shredded cheese for the same reason.
Stock up on meat and non-perishables when they are on sale. Portion and freeze meat. Make meals where you can stretch ingredients. Stir frys are great for that! You don't need a whole piece of chicken or steak per person and adding rice stretches out your budget. Buy dried beans, not canned. Eat vegetarian now and again to save on meat costs. Don't buy lunch meats... bake a chicken breast or turkey breast and thinly slice.
Make what you can yourself to save money!
Meal plan and shop smart and it will be cheaper.0 -
Use rice as a staple instead of bread. It doesn't really get cheaper than a giant bag of rice.0
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In the summer, I buy as much produce as I can from farmer's markets. Cucumbers 2 for $1, things like that. Where I live, we have three grocery stores, so I look through their online sales flyers and plan my meals by what is on sale. For instance, blueberries are on sale 2 pints for $4 at one store, whereas the others have pints for $4-$5. It takes a bit of extra effort but well worth it. When chicken goes on sale, I will pick up more and freeze it.0
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I find its cheap to buy carbohydrate that is healthy (vegetables basically) but the protein is very expensive. Not that there is a lot of protein in junk food, but damn I find I always end up scrimping by using less of the protein stuff just because it costs more.I think it's a fallacy and a popular myth, but it's not true at all. I find eating good food to be much less expensive than junk food. It's been shown in many different ways, but it has to do with the way you are thinking about the issue. When you buy food, you are buying meals, in some cases, some of those meals may last several days. When you look at buying one meal at Mc D's, that seems cheaper, but it's far more expensive if you were to eat all your meals there.
one meal's worth of rice = £0.10
one meal's worth of beef £5
one meal's worth of tuna = £1.50
(cheapest source) one meal's worth of eggs £0.40
I can only eat so many eggs before I get tired of them.0 -
It's actually easy to eat healthy on the cheap. Buy in bulk when possible for things you can freeze or that have a long shelf life and pay attention to sales.
Chicken breast: $2/lb
Head of lettuce: $1
Sweet potatoes: $1/lb
In season fruit: $1/lb
In season veggies: $1/lb
Dry beans/rice: $1/lb (makes A LOT)
Peanut butter: $3/jar
Milk: $3/gallon
Eggs: $1.50/dozen
FF plain yogurt: $2/pint
Prepackaged, ready to eat food is more expensive that fresh food all day long. You can easily eat well for less than $50/week.
Um, yeah, double those prices (except for the eggs - they're $2/dozen) and you'll be close to what they are here.0 -
It's actually easy to eat healthy on the cheap. Buy in bulk when possible for things you can freeze or that have a long shelf life and pay attention to sales.
Chicken breast: $2/lb
Head of lettuce: $1
Sweet potatoes: $1/lb
In season fruit: $1/lb
In season veggies: $1/lb
Dry beans/rice: $1/lb (makes A LOT)
Peanut butter: $3/jar
Milk: $3/gallon
Eggs: $1.50/dozen
FF plain yogurt: $2/pint
Prepackaged, ready to eat food is more expensive that fresh food all day long. You can easily eat well for less than $50/week.
Everything that you mentioned is way more expensive where I am for example
a dozen eggs - $4.50 - $5.50
A gallon of milk - $5.50
I wish it was that cheap:(0
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