Eating healthy on a tight budget = difficult

Have you tried frozen and canned veggies? May not be as ideal as fresh, but cheaper and still nutritious.

It doesn't have to be expensive to eat more healthy. Look at other more inexpensive grocery stores. I shop a lot at Aldi. My family eats a lot of pinto beans with rice with a little sausage. We incorporate a lot of frozen veggies so they don't go bad and spoil before we can eat them. We eat a lot of zucchini because it is filling and usually cheap. Some healthy options:
taco soups (use frozen veggies, beans)
minestrone
grilled chicken salads
simple pasta dishes with frozen vegetables

Frozen veggies can actually be more nutritious than fresh depending on the region you live in, because they can lose nutrients if they are picked before ripened to be fresh upon traveling to your region. Where I live, in the winter, fresh veggies are very expensive and they are TERRIBLE quality because they have to come from all over the world. I can stock up on bags of veggies for $0.99 a piece. If you eat meat, buy the cuts that are on sale. Buy in bulk. I buy our grains and legumes in the bulk section and save a load that way. We spend $70/week for three of us, and we always have money left over. Plan out all of your meals ahead of time and only purchase what you need to prepare them.

Pinterest has tons of healthy meals on a budget.
Do you have local farms that you could do a co-op at? You work and get paid in veggies?

If you are in the US, you could also check out Bountiful Basket for fresh fruits and vegetables. It's like a food coop - you contribute on Monday and then pick Friday or Saturday depending on your location. You don't know what you are going to get, but it's $15 + shipping and usually comes to be about half the price if you bought the same thing in the store.

rmduck81 wrote: »

I've been logging my eating and I'm under my calorie intake, but my weight only seems to be going up slowly. The scale is actually making me feel guilty and bad, I really want to lose the weight not pack more on
I know I should be eating a lot more veggies but they are just too expensive to buy every other day, HELP!!

Are you weighing the food you eat? Because the only way you can be gaining weight is because you are eating more calories than your body needs. Eyeballing or guesstimating food portions is really hopeless, you need to weigh. Not with measuring cups or spoons or by reading the packaging.

As a way to save money, buy in bulk, do not buy prepackaged food.

I buy the following in bulk

oatmeal
frozen berries
chick peas (make my own hummus)
greek yogourt (biggest size)
lentils and beans to add to chilis and soups
frozen veg


Maybe if your describe what you are eating people can help with money saving alternatives.

Spending more money on food won't help you lose weight. You seem to have two unrelated concerns. First with eating health, which I assume you mean as fresh (organic) veggies. Second with losing weight. Those are not related. Spending more on food won't help you lose weight.

Frozen vegetables and frozen meat are always consistently cheaper than their fresh counterparts. Just as tasty, and even easier to prepare too.

Eggs are also a good one. If you eat carbs, rice and pasta are always cheap and great to bulk up a meal.

Other than that, shop sales as much as possible.

I don't know what your budget is, but have had very tight times, our budget foods are Beans And Rice!

For protein:
Beans beans beans, lentils and peas
Eggs
Chicken if you can get it in bulk at Sam's or somewhere

For fruit/veg
Check the non-organic in the city farmer's markets, some great deals
Things that are on sale
Big bag of frozen fruit
Frozen Veg
Canned tomatoes


For oils, we don't compromise...Butter, Coconut Oil, Olive OIl, but buy in bulk and they last a long time. Also onions, we use them in everything so kind of have to buy them even if not cheap. But they aren't too expensive.

For carbs:
Rice in a big bag
Frozen corn
Pasta
Tortillas
Bread when it's buy one get one, or we do make bread, but it's not a lot cheaper to make than buy.


And a big part of eating healthy is just not eating too much, so that part is cheap.

Ninkyou wrote: »

Steamable vegetables run From $1-1.50 a bag. That's not expensive. It's super cheap and they taste great.

Seriously, my store's (Publix) name brand steam fresh bags taste better to me than the more expensive versions. I don't worry about them going bad, and they're easy to prepare.
Take some time on Wednesday's to go through the ads (most stores ad week starts then) and find out which store is going to have the best deals for you or at least what your favorite store has on sale, and keep an eye on the cost per ounce (some stores list it with the price) to start getting an idea of what is the best cost for you. Make a list, stick to your list, those add on purchases is where my bill goes from $30 to $70 (darn you hot chocolate mix, you temptress).

If you're just trying to lose weight, remember it's more about getting under calorie goal more than necessarily hitting all your macros.

Try buying you protein very early in the mornings at your favorite store when it's marked down. Be sure to use right away OR it's fine to freeze and use anytime. Just get it in the freezer quickly.

Eggs (not organic)
Chicken thighs or pork shoulder for pulled chicken or pork
Oats (bought in bulk)
Rice (in bulk)
Frozen veggies
Canned tuna
Bananas
Canned or dried beans
Ground beef (when bought in bulk, it can be as low as $2.67/lb at my local Wegmans)

When I was a broke grad student, I ate white rice with chicken, garlic, olive oil and chick peas all the time. I also ate a lot of chili.

Also, eating less costs less than eating more. Just reducing your portion sizes will be cheaper and stem your weight gain.

I totally recommend frozen vegetables.

When money allows, buy in bulk and freeze what you don't use. I buy extra fruit when it's on sale and chop and freeze extra for smoothies. I also freeze bread and bagels for later. Take advantage of the 10 for $10 sales when it comes to canned and boxed good like beans and pasta, too. Pre-plan your family's menus, buy only what you need, and don't forget the coupons!