Eating healthy is expensive...

Not as expensive as fast food but yeah more expensive then kraft dinner, and chicken weiners.

first, you should quit smoking. second, i don't think it's expensive to eat healthy. before i started counting calories i would binge on food and eat huge portions, so even though the food may have been cheaper, i was buying a lot more of it. while counting calories, i eat less and spend equal to, if not less, than what i was spending before.

ETA: also, clip coupons. i'm not saying you have to go crazy or anything, but if you spend even just a half hour a week looking for coupons you can save a little bit of money.

I think for me it's actually about the same price. You have to consider how much you're saving by NOT eating fast food. Quit smoking, I did 5 weeks ago after 30 years, I feel great!

Eating healthy is nothing compared to Dining out!

i guess i need to take into consideration where i live, you're right. im in downtown Toronto, so youre right, there is always a markup up regardless of where you shop in the city.

but still...it is expensive...add to that, protien bars, shakes etc...it can really add up for the month.

You're in Canada... our crap always seems to be overpriced. And I'm in oil city where our sales tax is (i think) lowest in the country!

I'm Canadian, but married an American and live in the deep South these days. Even though I complain of prices, I always boggle at them when I visit my folks in oil city (around which I was born/raised) and everything is 50% more pricey, and not because of the exchange rate!

That's not fair at all! I don't want to move to the states just so I can eat cheaper ;(

come to the dark side- where we sometimes produce good music... and don't export them wink wink nudge nudge

I won't complain about our food being a bit pricier when we get free health care. I do love the States though. I used to jokingly say I was gonna marry an american so I could live in Florida!

i live in a small city, and i find that eating healthy is cheaper. but for different reasons. instead of a large frozen pizza (10$) ill buy two boxes of mixed salad greens for the same price. those will last me somewhere between 5-10 days depending on how much salad i want.

i eat a lot of eggs and i buy them from a farm, i get a flat of 2.5 dozen for 6 bucks. i usually buy two flats at a time so save time going back. i eat about 2 a day, unless im making hard boiled for the whites, then i'll make 5.

i buy frozen fish and chicken breast, seperate and freeze. i buy a lot at a time. (10 breasts and 10 fish appx) this costs me about 35ish for both. it lasts me about 2 weeks, give or take a day or two.

i buy peppers like you wouldn't believe. they come out to about a dollar each, and i eat one a day. so... 14 for the two week supply.
i also eat cucumbers a lot, and i spend about 10 every two weeks for them.
aside from those, which are my "daily food" i also buy a large bag of oatmeal that lasts me about 2 months, its 6 dollars, and then maybe an extra 20 on random veggies that i change up every couple weeks. i only grocerie shop twice a month.

wehn i used to buy unhealthy food, i found i was hungry more often, and i eat when im hungry. a box of kd, i could eat 2-3 a day if i didn;t care. thats 1200cals each. they are 1.25 each in price, that is 2.50 a day, assuming everyday. my salad that fills me up the same, with less cals more nutrients costs half that.

i don't buy a lot of expensive foods though on the weekly basis. i have my staples that i love, and then an x factor for anything else i want that week.

Oh, I'll play!

I can get chicken breasts for about 1.00 a pound on a good week - otherwise, it ranges from 2.49 to 2.99 a pound or so. Still a good deal, when you think about it. Leg and thigh quarters are even better, they're always 1.49 a pound max. Fruit depends - here recently, we've had a huge peach sale going on (about 1 to 2 dollars a pound-ish). Apples run between 1.50 and 2.50 a pound depending on what kind. Pears fluctuate wildly, between say 1 dollar and 4 dollars a pound - not sure of what the rationale is for the pricing roller coaster. Mushrooms don't always go on sale (4 dollars a pound on a bad week - ouch), but when they do, it's usually 2.50 a pound or so. And the Dole bagged salads are always on sale here, so I'll grab a couple if I don't feel particularly like cutting up a head of lettuce (2.50) that week.

I do think it's based on locality. I'm in the metro Baltimore/D.C. area, which you would THINK would be pricy (and it can be for some items), but we actually have pretty decent prices on fruit, veg and meat here compared to other areas of the country. That is, if you can get to them. 75% of my area have no supermarkets less than a mile away - a "food desert" is what I think people call it.

My husband and I do fairly well - we spend about 400 a month for the two of us, but we also don't have any kids and therefore more "disposable" income for things like protein bars, etc. We also buy a few other "speciality" items we like, such as al fresco chicken sausages (which are DELICIOUS, but expensive at 5 bucks a package, ugh!).