Healthy eating on a budget?

Check out www.brokeandhealthy.com she has great recipes and breaks down the cost of each dish.

Is such a thing possible? With the economy so crappy and gas prices making it cost more to drive to work, how can one lose weight/eat healthy without losing your home?:grumble:

I had the same though this morning. I do know veggies and fresh foods, not packaged, are the healthiest and your grocery bill will be smaller. I've been told before that if you do your shopping on the outside isles (inside the store of course) that is where "fresh" foods are.

If you have the space, try to grow some of your own vegetables. Smaller portions: increasing vegetable portions and smaller meat portions... this will help lower the grocery bill.

I spend MAXIMUM $150 a month for 2 of us and it's all healthy. About $40 of that is Diet Pepsi (for him mostly).

Geez! That is awesome! I spend that in a week for the two of us. It sucks.

bump

I grab up every coupon I can, and printer ink is like 10 cheaper at amazon.com than at wallmart to print coupons off the internet. I buy large packages of meat which are usually cheaper per pound and break them down into baggies of 3-4 oz's.

This is what I do:

Use coupons: I order coupons in multiples for things I can stock up on at www.thecouponclippers.com . Then I wait till the item goes on sale (I got the hang of when Kroger usually puts things on sale so I keep an eye out) and stock up when the coupon makes the item cheap/free

I contact the companies of the items I use and compliment them. Flat out gush over how much we love their products etc etc and more times than not, they send me coupons in the mail, some for free items and some for cents off but if its in my cupboard, I use it regularly and any savings is awesome.

I stock up when things go on sale. For example, Kroger had Tilapia on sale last week for $3.99/lb so I bought 2 lb. This will last me at least 2 months. I do the same with chicken, ground turkey etc.

I purchase produce in bulk when its reasonable and freeze it. We also go strawberry picking at a local farm once a year and really stock up and it gets us thru a good 6 months or so

I always look for managers specials. For example, my Kroger has a couple bins that they put stuff that they mark 1/2 off or more. I looked in there and saw my kids favorite cereal and picked up 4 boxes. For a cost of $8 instead of $12, we now have a months worth of cereal for them. Those little things add up.

I also look for closeouts. More times than not, they changed the size of the product or the packaging so they have to rid of the old style first. I often find canned veggies, canned beans, frozen items on closeout and stock up. Even better if you have a coupon to match it.

Another place I love love love is Aldi's. One just opened near me in FEB and Ive been in 7th heaven. They don't carry many name brands but most of what Ive bought of their brands are awesome and very reasonable!! Whole wheat bread is just over $1 a loaf, they have a TON of their brand "fit and active" 100 calorie pack cookies, crackers etc. They have their brand fat free cool whip, ice cream sandwiches etc all cheaper than the regular stores.

I typically go 2 times a week and spend a good hour or more scoping the aisles for deals. My Kroger is just down the road so its handy for me to get to. Ive been stockpiling for 3 and a half years now and we've been able to afford for me to continue to stay home with my kids becuz of it. Its also nice to know you don't have to worry about running out of things if you have a good supply on hand. I don't go crazy like on that extreme couponing show but I do stockpile as much as I know we'd use in say a years time and slowly stock more as we eat it.

wow.. we spend about 170 wk on 2.5 people

great post! Thanks for the sites everyone!

Bump to read later! Great question.

- Cook and bake as much from scratch as possible, and do your best to avoid processed/packaged foods. The more steps a food product takes to get into your kitchen, the more expensive it's likely to be. The more you can learn to do yourself, the less you'll spend!
- Baking your own bread is healthier and much tastier than any cheap bread you can buy at the store. Yeast can get expensive, but you can buy it in bulk, store it in the fridge/freezer for a few months, and just let what you need warm to room temperature when you're ready to use it.
- You could get a 15oz can of beans+water for about a buck, or you can spend the same amount on a bag of dry beans to make a whole pot!
- Buy rolled oats in bulk instead of packets of instant oatmeal, or toast the oats with a few more ingredients to make granola.
- Stock up on produce when it's in season, then freeze or can what you can't use right away. You'll have fresh-tasting fruits and veggies all year long!
- Buy whole or bone-in chicken instead of boneless skinless pieces, and remove the bones and skin yourself. Usually several bucks cheaper per pound!
- Freeze baggies of bones from the meat that you buy, shells and heads from shrimp, and scraps from veggies. When you have enough saved, make your own delicious stock for soup!
- Buy big tubs of yogurt instead of single serve cups.
- For protein, go meatless often! Eggs, dry beans, and peanut butter are pretty cheap! Asian markets also often sell bulk tofu for about $1/1lb block.
- Some stores (like Earthfare and Whole Foods, but there are plenty others!) sell herbs and spices in the bulk section. Rather than spending $5-10 for a little bottle of an exotic spice I might not use that often, I've spent 50 cents on just a little baggie to get me through a recipe or two.
- Ditch drinks, except for water and milk, and coffee or tea if you need the caffeine. Avoid sodas and juice--you're basically just paying for water!

Besides saving you money, foods that you prepare at home are also guaranteed to have only as much sugar, fat, and sodium as you yourself decide to put in them.

I've found that some stores will package up the leftover meat from the meat counter and discount it the next day... at my local grocery store it's usually $1.49/lb for hamburger the next day, until it's gone.

Stock up on things when they're on sale! Seriously, it helps a lot! My husband and I love pasta, so when I can find healthy pasta for $1 or less I buy bags of it. Otherwise it can be like $3 a box.

Coupons and plan your meals around whats on sale! I have 4 people and a daycare with 10 kids to feed, I do it on no more then 150 a week last week it was 100!! I love to save money it feels so good. Eat foods that are in season!! And use those left overs! I know it can get old eating the same thing a few times in a row but it will save $$$$

Some ways to minimize the cost of eating healthy that I use include:

Frozen veggies by the bag, or the local farmer's market. Fresh at the store costs too much.
Buying grains and beans in bulk at the local store instead of packaged.
Buying chicken (rarely do anymore) when it's on sale and freezing it after putting into properly meal-portioned bags.
Eating more vegetarian meals, around here at least meat is very pricey.
Switched from cereal to quaker oats with raisins and cinamon
Simple meals like can of kidney beans and some salsa mixed together tastes great, cheap and simple to make too.

Consider each "prepared" item you get and consider if you can make it yourself cheaper, healthier, or both. Try to cut out nutritionally void foods like sodas and snacks that provide no value and keep you hooked on the sweet tooth. I used to drink around 2L of soda a day and ate junk every day as well. After a couple days of getting the caffiene out of my system and staying full on fiber-rich foods, I never feel hungry and have very few cravings for junk. It also cut my food bill by 1/3-1/2 and I've lost about 35 pounds(according to calipers, all fat) over 6 months eating healthier.