Healthy eating on a budget?

- 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.