Clean eating on a budget???

When you say Clean Eating....what do you mean? There's a few different definitions for that...

I try to stick to the outside aisle of the grocery store. Meats, vegetables, fruits, dairy. There are so many selections it's mind boggling but something you have to be willing to do is try things you've never tried before. Good luck!!

My best chances for that is going to a discount/cheap grocery store. PriceRight in my area great prices on fresh fruit, veggies and herbs.

This is a total pain in the butt, and I have to really force myself to do it, but I look through the produce section and find what's on sale/in season, then I buy a lot of it and chop, freeze, and date. It saves me a lot of time later when I want to throw together a veggie pasta dish or something. Of course you can't do that with everything, but it helps!

Last summer my family bought a CSA share from a local organic farm and split it with another family. CSA's can be expensive so it was really affordable to split it with another family. We still got a ton of stuff! This forced us out of our comfort zone and we tried a lot of new things. We would pick up the veggies/herbs/fruits and they gave us a newsletter which had recipes that included all of the ingredients we had just received. I also would google recipes during work that included the veggies we had received and wrote them down or printed. It was super fun.

I also wait for the whole grain pasta's and such to go on sale and buy up a lot at that time. It keeps for a long time, and beans too, you can buy bulk, but we use a lot of organic canned beans and rinse them really well to reduce the sodium. Also, try stores like Big Lots... I often find a lot of really cheap organic and gourmet food there (pasta, rice, beans, etc.).

It's a crime that eating healthy should be expensive... it should be the opposite!

I'm far too lazy to do real clean eating, but frozen veggies are always an option. They don't have the sodium of canned, are sometimes cheaper than fresh, and last a long, long time.

I also buy from the discount bin and freeze my own.

I have the same problem, I find it's rather expensive and I'm always headed to the store. But when it comes to meat like chicken breast, if I find a great sale on it, I will try to stock up and freeze it. Though I prefer to grill fresh chicken breast but you gotta do what ya gotta do I guess.

This is a total pain in the butt, and I have to really force myself to do it, but I look through the produce section and find what's on sale/in season, then I buy a lot of it and chop, freeze, and date. It saves me a lot of time later when I want to throw together a veggie pasta dish or something. Of course you can't do that with everything, but it helps!

I also wait for the whole grain pasta's and such to go on sale and buy up a lot at that time. It keeps for a long time, and beans too, you can buy bulk, but we use a lot of organic canned beans and rinse them really well to reduce the sodium.

It's a crime that eating healthy should be expensive... it should be the opposite!

That's exactly what my husband and I do too!! My girlfriends and I recently started going to teh farmers market. We buy fruit by the box and then split it 3 ways. Cheap, cheap, cheap!!

The other thing I'm going to start doing is gathering up my Store flyers and taking them to Walmart for price matching!! Every little penny helps!

Ok, I shop weekly regardless of my own needs. I run an in-home child care, plus we are a family of 5, so grocery shopping is one of my top weekly chores. So I don't mind going to the store often. Actually, I rather enjoy being in charge of the foods I bring into my home. I take pride in that. It's a budgeted item that I don't mind spending on.

I buy what's on sale in the fresh produce section. Going weekly, I know what the regular prices are and I can be a pretty savvy shopper that way. I am not an "organic" fiend, but I will buy organic if it's priced right. My favorite store right now is our local Hy Vee store. I'm not sure what is in your area. Depending on your climate, farmer's markets are a great way to get good fresh produce and eggs. I'm not a "greenie" and don't shop farmer's markets because they are trendy, but rather I enjoy the fresh foods and helping our local economy. But like I said it depends a bit on climate--our farmer's market doesn't open until July.

Another tip is to plan meals. Instead of just buying to have stuff on hand, buy with an intent to use. I get the emails from healthy living dot com and they have some great (and not so great) recipe ideas. I like to try something new each week.

I guess my biggest tip is simply to think of shopping and cooking as a part of this process and take pride in that! Make it a source of happiness instead of frustration. I can almost skip the frozen food aisles anymore...I do buy some frozen fruits though (berries, cherries, peaches out of season, that kind of thing).

Locally, our Kwik Trip gas stations have the best prices on milk, bananas, butter, eggs, onions and potatoes. I feel like a dork needing a cart at the gas station, but hey, it works for my family!

Have you looked if they offer bountiful baskets in your area? Thats great...You order a basket of fruits and vegtables a week and get a huge discount. www.bountifulbaskets.org

I shop store circulars to find the best price for stuff. I have the 4 stores around here circulars and I make a list of fresh produce and where they are the cheapest at. You can also do that with chicken/fish/turkey/etc.. I find at one store a pound of apples is $1.46/lb but at another they are on sale for $0.77/lb... Big difference.

Coupon. I know there is not alot coupons for produce but if you save money on your toiletries and other staple items in your house, you can roll that money you saved into buying fresh fruits and vegtables. IT will all even out.. I am a Stay at home mom so I got to watch my budget.