Budget???

stock up when you see sales!! whenever our local Safeway has the chicken legs/breast/thighs/tenderloins on sale (boneless ones) for 1.99 a pound, i stock up. someone mentioned coupons, it helps as well! and also ground turkey is a great alternative to the other meat. i usually buy a bunch when they are on sale for a good price. buy the romaine lettuce heads instead of the already shredded one. and plant your own tomatoes and herbs. helps a lot. I'm 22 and have a mini garden LOL

One word...Coupons!! I do find that most coupons are for unhealthy processed crap, but use them for things like soap, cleaning supplies etc. Then you can use your savings for healthy food. I've saved over $4,000 in 4 months for my family of 7.
They aren't for everyone but that's what works for me

Great minds think alike!!! You would be amazed at how much money this will save you. Good luck!!

I've never understood the whole "eating healthy costs more". Maybe that's the case for people who won't or don't cook, but I find that vegetables, chicken, brown rice, beans, the staples of my healthy meals, are all relatively cheap. Prepared foods and freezer items, even the unhealthy ones, are more expensive than cooking foods yourself.

A staple of my diet is chicken and vegetables. I take a single boneless skinless breast (about half a pound each, about $2 a breast), slice it into strips, and sear it in my nonstick pan until browned. Then I'll pour in about half a cup of water or chicken broth (about $1 for a liter of broth) and bring to boil then reduce to a high simmer. Then I'll toss in some vegetables ($1-2 a meal) cut into bite sized pieces or slices on top of the chicken in order of hardness, sprinkle with a small bit of salt, cover and let steam until done.

If there is a lot of liquid left in the bottom of the pan when nearing completion, take the cover off to let steam escape and the liquid to reduce to a tasty sauce. Toss the works around in the pan to pick up the little bit of liquid left.

This meal costs about $3, takes about 10 minutes to create and makes 1-3 plates worth, depending on how many vegetables you add and how hungry you are.

Best of all, a whole batch of it is usually around 300 calories, depending on the vegetables you use (I stick with carrots and broccoli usually, because its what I have in the fridge), so you can eat an entire batch for supper if you're hungry, and you won't bust the bank.

I'm a big guy (6'6", 280lb) with a muscular build, so being able to eat until I'm full and satisfied is a great thing to come home to after work.

I kind of wandered off point. Eating healthy is generally cheaper than eating prepackaged foods, especially ones claiming to be light or low fat, which generally just make up for one evil with another.

someone mentioned rice...be careful with that one...depending on the rice 1/2 a cup can be almost 200 calories....we are on a limited budget, I have found that fish is cheaper than red meat...and chicken is pretty cheap too...ground turkey is awesome on a diet and tons cheaper than ground beef!...canned tuna is my lunch time friend...cheap and awesome for you...on a bed of lettuce it is satifying and tasty...i cut up a stalk of celery and put in it for crunch...and if you are tuna lover..try a tablspoon of sweet relish mixed into your salad with it...its yummy :0)

I guess it's different everywhere. Ground turkey and chicken are about 1.5x the price of lean ground beef locally, but even at $6/lb, it still doesn't make for an expensive meal, given that a pound feeds my whole family, if prepared with vegetables.

Coupons, coupons, coupons! Buying big bags of frozen chicken and just thawing what you need. Discount stores like Aldi's are great for things that don't need to be name brand or you don't have coupons for, I've also found their produce is usually a lot cheaper than chain grocery stores. When I do go to the chain stores, I buy the store brand on basic things if I can (soups, condiments, cheeses, deli meats, etc) unless I have coupons that make the brand name cheaper.

I've found that watching what I eat, I'm no longer going to the cafeteria at work and spending $50+ per pay period, so I've been putting that extra $100 toward groceries.
I do the bulk of my shopping at Aldi's. I get everything that I can there...cheaper than doing it all at Walmart.
Some of my staples that I get at Aldi's are:
Milk
Eggs
Aldi brand Cheerios
Oats
shredded cheese
non fat yogurt
canned mushrooms, diced tomatoes, stewed tomotoes etc.
tuna
whole grain pasta's
frozen fruit-strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mango, raspberries, mixed berries etc.
lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, fresh mushrooms, spinach
ground turkey(not in stock right now due to recall)
turkey sausage/kielbasa
chicken breasts
fresh fruits, if good
pork chops

By the time I'm done there, the only things I really need is bread(I like to get light bread), cream of mushroom/chicken soups(aldi doesn't have the reduced fat) and a few other things...
HTH