Hard to eat healthy when you don't have $$$$$

cashidy · January 2017

And when you don't have money, you hardly ever have time.

What do you guys do?

janejellyroll · January 2017

I check out the sales and build my meals around frozen vegetables and affordable starches/grains (potatoes, pasta, oats, rice), cook dried beans in the Crockpot and freeze them to use over a period of time.

xmichaelyx · January 2017

Unless you live in Alaska, produce and other "healthy" foods are much cheaper than fast food. People who say otherwise either a) shop at ridiculously priced places like Whole Foods, or b) have never bought their own groceries. And if you're near a city, you can go to ethnic markets for cheap meat. Otherwise, look for sales and buy in bulk.

As far as time, I work around this by cook mountains of food once a month or so in the crockpot, packaging it individually, freezing it, and then thawing as needed. There's a good subreddit for this: https://www.reddit.com/r/MealPrepSunday/

Finally, I've saved a small fortune by buying a freezer chest ($100 on Craigslist).

nicruns · January 2017

I google for strategies-- read stuff like this: http://greatist.com/health/44-healthy-foods-under-1
Shop sales & price match. & focus on what I need and enjoy (I eat a lot of canned beans prepped in different cheap ways-- salads, chili, etc.)

Chef_Barbell · January 2017

I shop at stores like Aldi's, Costco and BJ's. I use websites like budgetbytes.com
I live in NYC and thankfully we have a lot of ethnic supermarkets with awesome affordable produce and meats.

happysherri · January 2017

Some inexpensive items -
frozen veggies
cans of tuna
buy the chicken with the bone in and skin - it's cheaper but then you will have to trim the fat and remove the skin yourself
large bag of brown rice or quinoa
bag of apples

Fortunately I have plenty of time to meal prep and work out. I have no excuses. My kids are older, my job is Mon-Fri and I normally get off by 4:30pm. I make dinner most every night. I have time to snack at my desk. My suggestion would be when you do have some time meal prep as much as you can and freeze some of it or put it in the fridge so you can just warm it up. *You can do it!

StaciMarie1974 · January 2017

YOu were eating before, when you were not trying to lose weight - yes? If so, since you need to eat less now, it should not really be a problem.

cashidy wrote: »

And when you don't have money, you hardly ever have time.

What do you guys do?

xandrapn6 · January 2017

I like to buy as much frozen vegetables and things from my local bent and dent store. If you can find one of those it can help save money. And anyone that says fast food isn't cheaper than healthy grocery store foods has clearly never seen the $1 menu lol. It's all about finding the right places to buy from at the right time, and trying to coupon efficiently.

try2again · January 2017

I never understand what people were eating before when they ask this question. Pop & junk food were always what drove up my grocery bill, not beans, lean meats (what's on sale), eggs & seasonal fruits & veggies (or frozen).

firef1y72 · January 2017

Buy in bulk/season/reduced (sell by date). Bulk meals out with lots of veg, beans etc.
I don't know about elsewhere in the world but here in the UK, if you can get to a farm shop you can buy a huge bag of spuds for around a fiver. If the 56lb is too much for you then ask a neighbour/relative if they want to go halves. Although you can't freeze raw potato you can freeze part cooked roasties and baked potato or fully cooked mash.
Find out when your supermarket reduces short date items such as meat, buy cheap, portion up and freeze.
When cooking a meal, double up and cook enough for a couple of portions to go in the freezer.
To give an idea of just how cheap a healthy meal can be, this was my dinner yesterday:
Whole Sea bass (200g) :48p (reduced from >£3) : cooked in foil 20min
Mashed potatoes (200g) : 20p (from 56lb bag bought from farm shop for £5) + milk + butter : batch cooked 4min in microwave
Carrots (50g) : 5p (from value bag) - boiled 10min
Brussel sprouts (50g) : 10p - boiled 10min

So that's what 73p for a healthy, tasty and filling meal cooked in 20 minutes.

rainbowbow · January 2017

I'm sorry, not only is this not true, it's being used as an excuse unjustly.

I absolutely guarantee you can lose weight regardless of budget or time.

3rdof7sisters · January 2017

It is actually cheaper for me.
Buy in bulk, buy sale items, cook large quantities and divide into individual containers and freeze for later meals, no eating out at restaurants or fast food.
Many of us have extremely busy lives, with a lot of demands on our time.
If you want it bad enough, you can do this, and it will benefit our families as well as ourselves.

ladyreva78 · January 2017

I lived on apples, rice, canned tuna and frozen veggies when I was a student.

Buy bulk when it's on sale.
Batch cook, portion and freeze.

I actually ate a lot better when I had no money than now that I do have money. Junk food can be really expensive and doesn't really have that much staying power.

I had little time as a full time student working part time to make ends meet and I have no excuse on time now that I'm a full time employee on a 9-5 job.

crzycatlady1 · January 2017

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

YOu were eating before, when you were not trying to lose weight - yes? If so, since you need to eat less now, it should not really be a problem.

This. You should actually be saving money because you're eating less now.

RachelElser · January 2017

It's hard when you don't have the money or the time to research healthy inexpensive options. Do you have a dollar tree near you? Our has a nice frozen section with frozen veggie steamers. Fresh is more expensive, not only in price but because you have to use gas to drive to the store once a week- canned beans last all month, fresh beans do not.
So, I guess my advice is if you can't do fresh, canned or frozen veggies and fruit is still better then chips.

Muscleflex79 · January 2017

crzycatlady1 wrote: »

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

YOu were eating before, when you were not trying to lose weight - yes? If so, since you need to eat less now, it should not really be a problem.

This. You should actually be saving money because you're eating less now.

exactly. if the only thing you do is eat less than exactly what you were eating before - you will lose weight AND save money. period.

aubreyjordan · January 2017

Aldi. I also check out sales ads for Publix and shop BOGO (but there are times it is STILL cheaper at Aldi to two than it is to get a BOGO). I stock up when there is a good sale on things that can be frozen or have a long shelf life.

cashidy · January 2017

crzycatlady1 wrote: »

StaciMarie1974 wrote: »

YOu were eating before, when you were not trying to lose weight - yes? If so, since you need to eat less now, it should not really be a problem.

This. You should actually be saving money because you're eating less now.

Well, I was eating more because I eat at work, any events we have to save money, then I eat ramen and cheap unhealthy terrible food. So I was eating more calories but crappier food.

UK92 · January 2017

Here's what I do to cut the cost of food shopping

Buy supermarket own brand products (this is how I cut down most of my expenses).
Frozen instead of fresh, this also reduces the amount of waste. I buy most of my meats, fruits and vegetables frozen.
Don't buy anything labelled organic, unless there's an offer and buying it would save money.
Look for reduced items that can be frozen.

Invest in a slow cooker if you want to save time, they're fairly inexpensive and so convenient. Most meals take a few minutes to prep, throw everything in and it'll be ready in a few hours with almost no effort. Freeze any leftovers.

I love freezing stuff.

L1zardQueen · January 2017

I lost a ton of weight eating ramen, when I had no money that's what I ate. Thank goodness I still love ramen.

deannalfisher · January 2017

i'll base my weeks dinner around a single type of protein (i.e. chicken) - because its easier/cheaper to buy that than to buy multiple types of meat for different meals

the veggie steamers are great - my store often has then available as 3/$5 or similar

rice can be bought in bulk; beans in bulk - soak them for filling meals

crockpot/instapot for making in bulk and freezing (i.e. I'm doing turkey chili and rice for lunch next week that i'll make over the weekend)

Hard to eat healthy when you don't have $$$$$

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