Hard to get heathy with little money!

Ground beef, chicken and eggs are cost friendly. Cans of tuna, seasonal vegetables and fruits. Frozen vegetables are great too because they have a much longer shelf life. Cherry pick from the sales, look online. Whole Foods aka whole paycheck, think about buying bulk if you have a costco, places like that. Now, I'm not sure what kinds of food you and the kids like to eat and I'm going out on a limb here, there are places that help with grocery needs if you get in a bind. Don't hesitate to go there. Farmers market/food banks. Much love to you and the kids.

I have chickens and eat lots of eggs on my Keto diet. They are very cheap to maintain

You may or may not have this type of store where you are, but we would be sad without our local grocery outlet. The food they sell can vary a lot from visit to visit, and it's a bit of an investment of time to learn what they do well and what may be less successful, but we routinely get inexpensive eggs, canned beans, tortillas, household products, and decent veg for much less cost. And special items we use in our diets that are pretty pricey elsewhere, like goat cheese, olive oil, frozen shrimp, protein powder, nutrition bars cost much less than they'd be in a full on grocery store.

Rice, greens like kale or chard or spinach, eggs, and whatever cheese you can afford make a great tasty casserole without much prep. Pasta and tomato sauce, second the notion! Rice with extra veg like carrot, pepper, potato even sweet potato, and some canned chile for flavor is awesome as a main course. Beans are pretty easy to make from dried, and much cheaper that way. You can drop a poached or over easy egg on anything, and it gets better and more nutritious. Frozen vegetables are fine, you don't have to get fresh. Canned tomatoes are fine.

If part of the issue is you have money to feed the kids what they like and eat, OR feed yourself what's healthy and lower cal, but not both ... I totally get it. You could try adjusting recipes for less of the calorie dense stuff. You could try cooking a healthier alternative meal once a week so they have a chance to adjust their palates, or engage them in the cooking so they're a bit invested? Or you can buy a 1 pound tub of healthy robust salad greens, spinach or kale or whatever, and routinely eat your half-portion of mac and cheese or whatever your kids like on a giant handful of greens...

Try meals you can skew both ways, like homemade english muffin pizzas ... the kids get sauce and extra extra cheese, you get sauce and broccoli and a sprinkle of cheese, everyone's happy...

Best of luck, I hope you have great success!

I have 3 kids still at home, 3 are moved out. And its always a tight budget for many years. I stick to proteins, and veggies. If you stay away from the processed foods ( snack foods - chips, granola bars ect) and stick to the basics it can be done on a tight budget. Once you find your groove it will be a piece of cake! Good luck!

I walk to and from the shops - on the way there is a small farmer's market; they haven't got much of a selection but the prices are about half of the supermarket. Then they always have some left - over bits and pieces which they sell for very little money. We just adjust our daily meal plan and include that "special vegetables of the day". One supermarket offers a 50 % discount for all vegetables where the sell - by - date expires the next day. And yes, we have cut down on meat which is currently expensive where we live (Cape Town). Since it is winter here right now, we also prepare a big pot of vegetable soup once in a while. I find using spices (Hungarian/Curries/ Chinese/ Far Eastern etc) and lots of fresh herbs gives us a lot of taste variety.

Fab5353 wrote: »

So I find it less money for me about 70 a week. So vegetables r the least expensive. Then u can always cut up a whole chicken. It's not hard.

This^

It's often the convenience we pay for. Dry beans, whole oats, long grain rice.

Whole chickens or chicken parts bone in, skin on...vegetables in season or frozen...same for fruit. Bulk beans and rice and oats and other grains. Look for sales on meat...buy less popular cuts like flank steak, pork chops, etc.

It costs less for me as well.
Serving per serving, cooking your own meals is a lot cheaper than either eating out or using pre made convenience foods. Also, you control the sodium and sugar content. Cook big batches and freeze in individual portions for future meals. Bulk foods, rice, beans, oatmeal, wheat berries, farro, etc. are cheaper. Buy fresh fruits and veggies at farmers markets when they are in season. There are a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables you can freeze. Eggs are affordable.

You say eating healthy is expensive, but it really is not. When you compare the cost of serving sizes from eating out, versus what you could cook with the same amount of money, it is way cheaper to feed a family when you cook it yourself. Also, convenience foods and prepackaged items are expensive, and many times they have added sugars and/or sodium. Learn to shop sales and stock up on things, you will quickly realize that you can really save money by cooking for your family.