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

I eat a lot of the same foods to keep my budget in check. I found staples that I like or at least can live with that help me meet my calorie goals. Some of my faves are low sodium v8, boiled eggs, baby carrots, whole grain/seed crackers, laughing cow cheese, salmon and tuna packets, lunch meat, 100 calorie sandwich buns, Progresso light soups, egg white breakfast sandwiches. Frozen veggies are also a life saver. I also find not trying to focus on salads keep the budget in check because I'm not trying to buy too much produce, especially out of season. Plus, I don't really enjoy eating salads.

I preplan and prelog almost everything I eat so that I have a high degree of confidence I am meeting my calorie goals for weight loss. This also helps me have a very predictable grocery bill.

Another strategy is repurposing dinner into lunches the next day and cooking in bulk, such as soups, in my crock pot. Homemade soups can be made very cheaply (again, i use a lot of frozen veggies here to save time AND money) and they stretch a long way. A big batch of soup will be lunches for a week. Then I switch it up the next week and do sandwiches and fresh veggies.

So far it seems to be working. I eat out a LOT less than I was, so I am sure I have saved HUNDREDS of dollars just putting some forethought into what I am going to be eating. Now, I eat with confidence, I get to clear my plate every meal without feeling guilty, and I'm losing weight.

cashidy wrote: »

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.

To healthy up your Ramen a bit - add some frozen mixed veggies when you're boiling the water and just before you add the noodles stir in an egg (for protein). Yum yum yum! And doesn't add a lot of extra cost.

I find fresh produce and non-prepackaged foods to actually be cheaper, so I feel like it's a bit of a cop out to say eating healthier is more expensive. For example, you can buy a head of lettuce for $.99, or you can buy a package of oreos for $2.99.

As for me, I do use coupons and shop sales weekly. I also look for marked down meat. Target even runs decent deals on ground beef. For example 93% ground beef is $5.49 a lbs but is on sale for buy 1 get 1 50% off. Sometimes they're marked down further because they expire in a few days.

It only takes a few minutes to browse a store ad to see what's on sale and nowadays there's a lot of websites and blogs that do sale/coupon matchups.

(Regular, large) Carrots are cheap. Apples can be cheap. Eggs are pretty cheap. Cans of beans, cheap. Onions, cabbage, ect. My 'splurge' is a large bag of frozen blueberries. $10 for the bag but I only eat 1/2 cup at a time (mixed with oatmeal, cheap, or yogurt, cheaper in tubs). That $10 bag is going to last quite a while.

ETA: Cutting way back on meat is probably money saving tip #1. I know some people don't but not eating beef and pork every day can save a lot. I still love bacon but I'm cooking it by the slice instead of by the pound.

Also, drink water. I add as little Crystal Light as possible to stretch it but a little squeeze bottle is cheaper than always drinking sodas, (chocolate) milk, juices, ect. Measuring out your coffee creamer can also save a lot of money. Even buying a box of tea bags is going to save money if you were previously drinking a lot of calories. Green tea can replace the caffeine if you decide you can't take your coffee with less creamer/sugar.

Ok - Yes, eating healthy will actually be more expensive than living off free food and Ramen (but that is pretty much the extreme of eating as cheaply as possible). Eggs are really cheap. Chicken (when you are not buying boneless, skinless breasts - which are a P.I.T.A. to not make into shoe leather anyway) also very cheap. Frozen/canned veggies & beans also fairly cheap (especially store brand from a cheaper grocery chain like PriceRite/Aldi/Save-a-lot/...). As someone else mentioned, these are also items that can be mixed into ramen to make for a more nutritious, balanced diet. Apples (assuming some breed grows in your region, and some breed or other of apple seems to grow just about everywhere) will also be fairly inexpensive.

Frozen store brand veggies. Store brand eggs. Bulk rice. Raw chicken. Canned beans. Plain oatmeal. Store brand large container yogurt. Raw whole potatoes, carrots, cabbage, onions, apples. Other in season fruits and veggies (depending on where you live). Canned tuna and salmon.

Set aside two hours one day a week to grocery shop and then prep as much as you can when you get home.

Add to that the cheap convenience foods in smaller portions, and you'll be eating a pretty darn healthy diet.

I will add to this that most people who say they don't have time, need to give some serious thought to their priorities. We are often oblivious to how much time we waste or spend on things that aren't really important to us. There are people working two jobs and raising three kids who manage to work out and eat healthy most days. When I have one of those days where I don't get enough steps and I eat crap all day because I felt so busy, I'll look back at the day and realize I spent enough time on random crap that I could have done better if I tried. If it's important to you, you'll find a way. Good luck :drinker:

xmichaelyx wrote: »

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).

^^This^^ I hear people complain a lot about not being able to afford healthy foods. It is hard for me to understand their logic when I am able to spend less at the grocery store and purchase "real" foods (fruits, veggies, meat, etc) for my family (including 2 teens) vs when I buy buy boxed junk. If you buy "real" food and stick to portion control, then you can make your money go further.

My kids eat grilled chicken and carrots & hummus for lunch. It costs less (>$20) for me to buy 2 packs of chicken, a large bag of carrots, a container of hummus, & water vs them buying food at school (~$25/week) or taking a typical school lunch-sandwich (both different meat/cheeses), chips, cookies, soda/juice etc (>$25). (PS, this is their choice too!)
I pre-prep all my meals for the week on Sunday. It probably takes me 2 hours.
I do not buy pre-cut. You can save money that way.
Pre-plan. Make use of all that you buy so you aren't wasting food. If you purchase lettuce for 1 meal and use half of it, make sure you can use it in another meal, etc.
I also stay away from anything boxed, even if it is labeled as healthy, organic, gluten free, etc. Just because they say they are "Health" food, they aren't. They are also more expensive vs their "non-healthy" counterpart.
Yes organic for some items can be better for you, if you can't afford it, buy the regular. Don't think you have to buy organic to eat healthy.

frannieshack wrote: »

I do not want to insult anyone, but I think a lot of people are just plain lazy.

That, and people just not having any confidence in their cooking ability. Just getting a handle on the basics can go a long way. I would say learning how to saute onions (in a measured, minimal amount of oil) is step #1. You can build so much on top of that. Saute some mushrooms too! Just the smell of those two together is amazing. You can make a soup base, you can make a stir fry, ect. This morning I added asparagus and 3 eggs. Bam, I had a <400 calorie breakfast and was full before I finished the bowl.