Eating healthy in a budget

I don't think anyone has mentioned pork tenderloin. It's surprisingly low calorie, good protein, and especially if you get a large one on holiday special, very inexpensive. Cook a giant tenderloin, freeze what you can't eat quickly, and use it to make sandwiches, stir fry, etc.

rheddmobile wrote: »

I don't think anyone has mentioned pork tenderloin. It's surprisingly low calorie, good protein, and especially if you get a large one on holiday special, very inexpensive. Cook a giant tenderloin, freeze what you can't eat quickly, and use it to make sandwiches, stir fry, etc.

I wish it were cheap here, it's one of my favourite meats. But here it's now become one of the most expensive of the three major meat types (Beef, Pork, Chicken), and costs often double what a piece of Chicken Breast is.

Bringing dinner leftovers for lunch the next days saves about $200+ per month over butting lunch at McDonalds in weekdays.

A lot of great comments already, so I’ll spare you my list of healthy foods and just add that sometimes you have to shop around to learn where the best prices are - like I can buy Cashew Milk at Acme for $3.99 a carton or I can wait until my next trip to Walmart where I know the cartons are always $2.99.

Meanwhile, I could buy my case of diet Sunkist while at Walmart for $3.79... or I could be savvy and stock up at Shoprite when they have their 4 cases/$10 store coupon.

I don’t buy fresh veggies at any of those locations unless I am desperate because I KNOW the best veggie prices are to be had at my local farmers market. Cartons of eggs are well priced there, too - 2 cartons for $1.50 sometimes.

Beyond that, I take advantage of bargain outlets like Aldis and some local mom and pop shops. You really just need to do the legwork a couple times until you figure out what prices are consistently best at what places - then stock up appropriately.

Good luck!

Do you meal plan regularly? I plan out meals for a month at a time so I can group "like" things together. For example, if I am making something with chicken then I will plan something else with chicken for the following week, or week after, and then I will purchase bulk chicken from Costco as that's way cheaper than buying just a couple pieces at my regular grocery store.

Regular staples on my list are
- eggs
- cheese
- rolled oats
- fresh vegetables (mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, carrots)
- bananas
- apples
- berries (raspberries, blackberries, etc depending on season)
- bagged salad
- canned veggies like green beans when fresh isn't in season
- ground turkey
- chicken thighs (cheaper than breasts and not as bad calorie wise as they are sometimes made out to be)
- english muffins (I make my own egg mcmuffins without the meat portion)
- potatoes
- rice
- pasta
- pasta sauce


Since I meal plan way ahead this list will be largely dependant on what I'm planning to eat but I do eat eggs and oatmeal almost every day - it's just dinner that changes.

Do you have a costco near you? Some things - if you use them - are waaaaay cheaper there and are a much better deal. For example, I can get 2KG of Kraft smooth PB for $7 at Costco so I only buy PB like 3 times a year and I use it every week to make overnight oats. Eggs, I can get 2 dozen eggs for $4.99 at Costco - these are the large, Grade A eggs. Not organic, not free range but just eggs. 2 dozen will last me almost a month (as I eat one every day). Ground turkey is about $25 for 4lbs (individually packaged, but comes together). Chicken thighs I can get 25 pieces for about $20 - $25, depends on weight. English muffins, 4 packages of 6 pieces is $4.99 - that's another whole month worth right there. There about $3/package of 6 at the grocery store. If the items are ones you will use and/or things you can freeze you will save big time shopping at Costco. If you're single, or your family won't eat the same things you do, I would highly recommend you do not buy much produce at Costco - trust me, from experience you likely cannot eat it fast enough to make it worth while. There are a few exceptions to this: berries (when in season), pre-packaged Kale salad, and bananas . . . just my experience, so take it with a grain of salt of course.

If you can meal plan for a couple weeks at a time then you can likely figure out what you need to buy and then purchase what you need. This will help to avoid single recipe things. Try to find recipes that use similar ingredients and find ones that are simple. I eat really simple most weeks - sometimes I branch out and try new things but for the most part I just eat simple, normal food. I am single, but I spend about $50 CAD/week on groceries. More if it's a week to stock up on things like eggs or Costco items. This amount includes things like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, dish soap, feminine hygiene (which also buy from Costco if you can BIG SAVINGS there) and the like.

This is long winded, sorry but one more thing: I don't eat red meat, and I don't even eat meat every week. I have found that since I reduced my meat intake to very minimal amounts my grocery bill has gone waaaaay down. Items like lentils can "beef" up any meal. For example, on Pinterest I found a recipe to make shepherd's pie with lentils instead of meat and I love it. I know the difference, but I don't even notice it texture wise. Flavour I just use some spices to mix it up a bit.

Hopefully this helps, and good luck!

My family has a lot of allergies, and so many foods that are 'in bulk' aren't foods we can have. But if you CAN have them, and can afford them, buying in bulk can be a big price saver.

I'd also recommend checking out any 'ethnic' grocery stores near you. The Mexican grocery near us has pinto beans, rice, and corn masa at MUCH lower prices, in larger amounts, than any of the other stores around. The Asian market near us has rice, fish, and produce at much better prices than anyone else, not to mention having $2 bags of produce that are a few pounds worth of food, that will go off within a couple days so they are trying to sell quick. The Indian grocery stores often have large amounts of spices at very low prices, compared to the local supermarket. Like, a pound of something for the same price you'd get one teeny, tiny bottle of at the local market.

But as for normal items:
First, be prepared to cook a lot. It's pretty much cook a lot, or pay a lot, you know?

Second, corn masa and beans are a nutritious staple, honestly (masa, though, NOT corn meal - masa is nixtamalized, so more nutrients are available than in corn meal.). At the Mexican grocery, it's typically available cheaper than wheat is. Rice isn't as healthy, but it's filling. Brown rice is a bit better.

Third, if possible, I buy whatever is on the cheapest sale, in terms of dairy or meat or produce. And then I simply have recipes that are very versatile.

Like...
a meat and veggie stew - whatever meat or veggies are on sale go in it, and I just use herbs that I grow (or could get cheap from Indian grocery, originally) for seasoning.

Or fajitas - again, whatever meat or veggies are on sale is what we use, plus a few basic spices. Cheese if it's cheap, no cheese if it's not (tofu can sometimes make a cheese sub, if it's on sale)

Fruit plus a dip - whatever fruit is on sale plus whatever is cheap to go with it - cream cheese, peanut butter, some dip I make myself.

Stir fry with rice - whatever veggies or meats are on sale, plus soy sauce and garlic (or maybe a few other additions for a different sauce), and then serve over rice. Can make them together, or make individual dishes to eat separately.


It's not amazing recipes or anything, but with recipes that I can use with ANYTHING on sale, practically, they can be pretty affordable

OldHobo wrote: »

Someone else asked the same question a couple weeks ago and I actually made a list of choices. Instead of duplicating that effort, here is another strategy.

Don't allow yourself to buy any more than three items for human consumption from any of the numbered aisles in the store. Soap, toilet paper, and charcoal don't count; buy as much of that stuff as you want. But if you want coffee, cooking oil, canned tomatoes, and peanut butter, one of those has to wait 'til the next trip.

Everything else has to come from the produce, meat & fish, or dairy sections on the store perimeter.

what? thats just ridiculous. 1- coffee is for the safety of everyone around me AND has next to no calories. what about tea? canned tomatoes also have next to no calories. what about beans or grains/rice or legumes? peanut butter is a great source of protein, esp for vegetarians. what about flour or baking soda/powder or yeast? what about nuts and seeds? what about spices and seasonings? what about broths?

your logic is flawed.

best ways to save money. shop and cook the sales. Buy meats in bulk and separate and freeze portions when cost effective to do so. i have two turkeys in my freezer i got for $5 each before thanksgiving. Shop seasonal fruits and veggies or flash frozen. Make your weekly menu based on sales and what you have on hand. take leftovers for lunch. stay away from the junk food aisles (hard to eat crap food when its not in the house). make as much from scratch as possible (almost everything i eat/make regularly i have in the recipe builder). avoid prepackaged foods as much as possible (while it may seem cheaper, its really NOT). If you work during the week (as many of us do), prepping on the weekends or days off can be a lifesaver. I do a lot of crock pot meals i can freeze ahead of time, or make larger batches of meals and freeze for later use. in my freezer right now, i probably have 2 weeks worth of meals for myself and my son simply leftover from the holidays when i was cooking every day (soups, stews, BBQ, crock pot stuff, etc). i do breakfast for dinner once a month or so (eggs, bacon, toast). cheap and easy, especially on a day when ive forgotten to pull anything out of freezer lolol).

I spend about $75/wk for my family of 4 at aldi. I don't buy much in boxes (cereals, etc) and I buy fresh produce, eggs, dairy/almond milk, chicken, ground beef, roasts, pork chops, salmon, rice, beans, oats, etc.

- Apples (pounds and pounds of apples...I’m from WA, soooo yeah)
- Cabbage
- Broccoli
- Spaghetti squash
- Lettuce
- Tomato Paste
- Beets
- Cauliflower
- CARROTS!!
- Mushrooms
- Sweet potatoes/yams
- Oatmeal

That’s about it. I usually eat the same thing everyday. Apples and steamed vegetables.