How to eat healthy on a budget?!

baked sweet potato with topping of your choice (i use tuna and sweetcorn)

Sweet corn, tomatoes, pretty much anything that is in season should hopefully be less expensive.

I'm not sure where you live but perhaps going to a cheaper store like Aldi's or Save-A-Lot? They have healthy stuff just like regular grocery stores, but much cheaper.

I've never understood why people think you can't eat healthily on a budget. For a start - no bought takeaways etc saves a fortune. Chicken is cheap. Fresh salmon is cheap. apples are cheap. low fat budget yoghurt is cheap. Buy plain oatmeal as cereal instead of prepared cereals. rice. potatoes. frozen vegies. Personally I don't do recipes, just the plain cheap meals, cereal for breakfast, a simple sandwich and fruit for lunch and grilled meat and veges for dinner. Oh and baked beans are a cheap staple too.

Thanks guys! Def going to try sweet potato, havent had one of these yet... and tortilla, thats a good one!
I live in the UK, and shop in Tesco... I tried to plan my meals for the week, and its so much easier to eat unhealthy stuff! I need to cook twice, for me and hubby, as he wont eat anything if there's a slight risk it might be healthy... Grilled chicken and fresh veg are quite expensive these days... I dont want to slip back into old habits and have spag bol for dinner 3 times a week! :grumble:

UGH! HUSBANDS!!!!

although they do not pack quite the same nutrients, frozen and canned vegetables are still low calorie and still better for you than fast food. As far as sweet potatoes, i highly recommend doing oven roasted sweet potatoes, especially if you have never had them, they can be a little overpowering at first but to do oven roasted, wash them peel and cube them, boil them for a few minutes until fork tender, then put on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray, then season-i use salt pepper and rosemary but you can use whatever seasonings you want. bake-they are amazing. Not sure about where you are but here i can buy a bag of mixed fruit, apples and oranges for significantly cheaper than buying them individually.

Boiled eggs are cheap, good protein. Easy to boil several, refrigerate, and have ready to go.

try going shopping at tesco`s after 5pm as they usually reduce a lot of the food by then thats close to its sell by date which is a con anyway, you can pick up plenty of fresh fruit and veg at a quarter of the price, its what we do and have probably saved a fortune over the years, as for tuna being cheap?? someone is having a laugh!

-baked potato with "I can't believe its not butter" SPRAY
-tuna with mustard, pepper, & pickle juice wrapped in lettuce leaves

Filling and cheap : )

You can also make you own black bean burgers

if you have a morrisons near you try them for fresh meats and fish, their fish is really good value and the meat is on a par with other places but they often do different cuts or pre marinaded pieces for a bit of a difference, plus they also do a lot of the fruit and veg loose rather than pre packed i used to always shop at tesco but have started to switch to morrisons and asda is getting a look in now as well

I'm not sure where you live but perhaps going to a cheaper store like Aldi's or Save-A-Lot? They have healthy stuff just like regular grocery stores, but much cheaper.

Amen to that! Our Save A Lot closed recently (so sad), but love them and Aldi! I can leave Aldi with an overflowing cart (including meat) for $100.00!

Quorn! Its really good for you, low in calories and saturated fat! Also its not very exspensive...

I have a friend who will buy a whole chicken, and then she cuts into into the portion sizes needed for different meals and freezes the portions. She uses what is left for making stock and soups. I'm vegetarian, so i have never tried it, but it is said to be much cheaper than buying individual bits of chicken.

My main tips for eating on a budget:
- Cook vast quantities and freeze a few portions for later
- Check out the supermarkets late in the evening for reduced price veg
- Make a (weekly) meal plan, so you know exactly how much you need to buy and then use that as your shopping list and stick to it!
- Try to use the supermarkets own brand where possible. It is trial and error to find out which of these are just as good, and which are not, but i was pleasantly surprised how much cheaper it made my shopping.
- Compare the price per gram on everything. Sometime the packet of 6 tomatoes are more expensive than buying 6 tomatoes loose and vice versa.
- Some things are easier to make from scratch, but not actually cheaper. A simple calculation will tell you the cost of the ingredients combined. I will make bread and muffins from scratch but biscuits can be bought more cheaply than i could make them


If you are really keen and you have a few meals you eat regularly then calculate the cost of those meals and see if you can substitute in cheaper ingredients or smaller amounts of some ingredients.