Why is healthy food so expensive?

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Replies

  • quiltlovinlisa
    quiltlovinlisa Posts: 1,710 Member
    Soups, stews, chilies, stir-fries, can use less meat when stocked full of veggies. Burritos, fajitas, enchiladas are family faves. I save money for case-lot sales, where I buy my canned goods at a fraction of the price. Making stock from carcasses is a great suggestion.

    I tend to spend about $500 a month on groceries and household expenses. It's difficult but doable. I should mention I feed a family of seven on that.
  • BerttiBott
    BerttiBott Posts: 22 Member
    Is it? Where I live individually packaged processed food items like TV dinners are usually $3-6 each and unprocessed bulk goods like nuts, carrots, oats, lentils, salad, milk, apples, etc are in the 50 cents-$2 range...Meat, cheese, sweets, and alcohol are very steep so I tend to avoid those altogether. It also costs more than a week's worth of groceries ($30) to order just one pizza when delivery charges are accounted for.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    Dry beans, frozen vegetables, canned vegetables, pasta, rice, fresh produce and meat/fish that is on sale. Usually eggs, though the prices here have skyrocketed. Buying from a farmer's market is often cheaper than the grocery. Plan meals around food prices, rather than buying food to fit a plan whether it's on sale or not. Clip coupons. Buy generic brands instead of name brands.

    If possible, grow your own vegetables. So many vegetables can be grown in small spaces or containers.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    I'm eating 4500 cals a day and don't spend anywhere near that much. Buy chicken, wild rice, and fruits and veggies in bulk. Same with nuts and seeds. Spend a lot at once and have it last longer
  • pdxwine
    pdxwine Posts: 389 Member
    I am amazed by some of the grocery budgets. How are some of you spending so little?

    My budget (for just me) is $450 a month. I tend to go over most months. I do include paper products and foil and such, in my grocery budget.

    From June through November, I purchase my produce at a local urban farm. I buy most of my meat at a butcher shop. They have really good prices and their portions are large, so they cover more than one meal. For instance, the chicken breast I cooked tonight weighed in at 11 ounces. I portion it in to 3 ounce servings, once cooked.
  • cuevas_ingrid
    cuevas_ingrid Posts: 3 Member
    newengland11 wrote: »
    Hi guys! I'm new here, just had a baby 5 months ago and trying to lose the weight. I'm down 4lbs, got another 36lbs to go. But in struggling a bit on healthy foods. I'm not in the most stable of financial situations right now, so I can't really afford spending $300+ every two weeks on groceries. I have about $170 I can spend towards food a month. Can you guys give me some foods that are healthy that are budget friendly? Thanks!

    I helped my son loose weight. I haven't because I haven't been motivated. He was , because he was afraid of diabetes. Doctor said he was border line. He lost by eating one starch a day only. He could other things but had to choose which starch he was interest in eating. Lunch he had a granola which are not expensive. Breakfast oatmeal with diet sugar. Sugar after it's cooked. It taste better when preps with milk. These were a few of the things he would eat. He lost forty two pounds in a month and a half. I wish I could Beas disciplined. All the best!
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    pdxwine wrote: »
    I am amazed by some of the grocery budgets. How are some of you spending so little?

    My budget (for just me) is $450 a month. I tend to go over most months. I do include paper products and foil and such, in my grocery budget.

    From June through November, I purchase my produce at a local urban farm. I buy most of my meat at a butcher shop. They have really good prices and their portions are large, so they cover more than one meal. For instance, the chicken breast I cooked tonight weighed in at 11 ounces. I portion it in to 3 ounce servings, once cooked.

    I spend about $250/mo for a family of 3. Aldi, Asian groceries, and pricerite are the only places I shop unless I need something at TJ or very rarely stop and shop. We buy bulk meats, but also eat A LOT of soup, stews, chili, etc bulked up with more non starchy veg. 1lb of meat is usually 8 servings for us, and we freeze pretty much everything. No throwing food out, just batch cooking and frozen portions. We always repurpose leftovers and rarely throw food away.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    pdxwine wrote: »
    I am amazed by some of the grocery budgets. How are some of you spending so little?

    My budget (for just me) is $450 a month. I tend to go over most months. I do include paper products and foil and such, in my grocery budget.

    From June through November, I purchase my produce at a local urban farm. I buy most of my meat at a butcher shop. They have really good prices and their portions are large, so they cover more than one meal. For instance, the chicken breast I cooked tonight weighed in at 11 ounces. I portion it in to 3 ounce servings, once cooked.

    For me, a "good price" for humanely raised meat is under $2 a pound, so that means a lot of bone in chicken thighs or whole chickens on sale. When I tried (and succeeded) to live on $200/month for groceries alone, I only bought red meat once per month when I was wanting to boost iron.

    Now I'm cooking for people who want more red meat, so am delighted when I find grass fed hamburger for $4.49 per pound, although I am somewhat skeptical of the brand. I also buy from a local butcher who belongs to our food coop, and he charges about $9/# for single pounds, and less when we split a whole cow.
  • cmtigger
    cmtigger Posts: 1,450 Member
    pdxwine wrote: »
    I am amazed by some of the grocery budgets. How are some of you spending so little?

    My budget (for just me) is $450 a month. I tend to go over most months. I do include paper products and foil and such, in my grocery budget.

    From June through November, I purchase my produce at a local urban farm. I buy most of my meat at a butcher shop. They have really good prices and their portions are large, so they cover more than one meal. For instance, the chicken breast I cooked tonight weighed in at 11 ounces. I portion it in to 3 ounce servings, once cooked.

    I usually spend less than $300 a month for just me. I don't count feed cost for my chickens into that, but I sell enough eggs to offset their cost. In the summer I grow most of my own veggies (that is part of my grocery budget), and I stock up on non perishables when they are on sale.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    pdxwine wrote: »
    I am amazed by some of the grocery budgets. How are some of you spending so little?

    My budget (for just me) is $450 a month. I tend to go over most months. I do include paper products and foil and such, in my grocery budget.

    From June through November, I purchase my produce at a local urban farm. I buy most of my meat at a butcher shop. They have really good prices and their portions are large, so they cover more than one meal. For instance, the chicken breast I cooked tonight weighed in at 11 ounces. I portion it in to 3 ounce servings, once cooked.

    Depends a lot on where you live. I spend $140 in average in a week for 4 of us, and that includes a bunch of kids snacks (but I guess my husband buys lunch most days, so there's that, even though we have perfectly fine leftovers... sorry out of topic, lol).

    I basically stock up on things when they are on sale and go to 2-3 different stores depending on what I need (kid snacks, cleaning supplies, paper products, pasta and sauce etc). I buy bread on sale. I mostly buy frozen veggies when they are $1 a bag because it's just cheaper than fresh (even from the farmer's market). I buy fruit in season. I don't buy prepared food. The only things I pay full price are big tubs of plain Greek yogurt, chicken sausage (that's still only about $5-6 a package), and ground turkey ($2.99 a pound where I go). I won't spend more than $2.99 a pound on chicken breasts. I get pork and steak at BOGO free so it's never more than $6 a pound for the steak and $3 a pound for the pork chops.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
    Think eating healthy is expensive?
    imgur.com/a/JbgdX#qurnj19
  • FHMatch
    FHMatch Posts: 4 Member
    Eating healthy doesn't have to be expensive. Buy whatever fresh vegetables and fruits are on sale. Dried beans, lentils, etc. are pretty cheap as is whole grain rice. Buy meat when you can get it at a good price. Have a plan so that you don't buy more than you need. This will prevent you from wasting money and/or food. It will also stop you from having nothing to eat when you're hungry so you end up having no choice but to buy something expensive.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    pdxwine wrote: »
    I am amazed by some of the grocery budgets. How are some of you spending so little?

    My budget (for just me) is $450 a month. I tend to go over most months. I do include paper products and foil and such, in my grocery budget.

    From June through November, I purchase my produce at a local urban farm. I buy most of my meat at a butcher shop. They have really good prices and their portions are large, so they cover more than one meal. For instance, the chicken breast I cooked tonight weighed in at 11 ounces. I portion it in to 3 ounce servings, once cooked.

    We budget around $600 for groceries each month for a family with 2 adults and 1 teenager so around $200 per person- but it includes food for a cat and dog and non food items as well so actually a bit less just on food.

    I plan meals. We shop at the regular grocery store. We don't buy organic stuff. We buy store brands. I have a big pot of soup once a week usually with leftovers for days. We consume leftovers. We eat meatless meals a few times a week. We eat chicken thighs instead of just boneless skinless chicken breasts. We don't buy a lot of drinks. Most of our food is prepared at home. We live in Kansas.
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