Eating Healthy is too expensive!!!!

Frozen vegetables! They're healthy, pretty inexpensive and they last...no throwing anything out. I have 3 kids....so I totally get the whole budgeting thing. Frozen vegetables are my best friend.

AND......it's WAY cheaper buying GOBS of frozen veggies than GOBS of crap like pizza rolls and junk.

Your vent is completely understandable. We all go through times like this - and that's when I remind myself that eating healthy now and exercising is going to be the reason why I won't need a walker/oxygen/hospital later on.

It is worth it! Just sometimes overwhelming. You gotta take some time to plan and prepare ahead of time and work it into the crazy schedule and it'll become habit.

Quit whining. Instead, figure out a solution. What are you buying that is so expensive? I eat all organic, whole foods, nothing processed, and I spend between $85-$125 a month to feed two people and a cat that gets all homemade food. Buy local, it's cheaper. Don't buy "health" diet-foods...they really aren't that great for you and they're expensive. Stick to local fruits and vegetables...even frozen veggies, bulk grains and beans and lean meats...find one day a week to give yourself time to prep meals. It's possible, you just have to spend some time reconfiguring. We're all busy people with a lot going on in our lives...the less time we spend complaining about it will give you more time to do something about it instead.

Feels better to get a little venting in!! I get where you are coming from. It's a bit overwhelming at times and I keep thinking it'll be better when this or that is done but it never seems to be better. Keep plugging along, you can do it! You are worth the investment of time and money put towards a healthy you!

Frozen vegetables
And beans!
And do you have a fresh vege store near you? - some vegie-market places sell really cheap veges (although, in Summer I go for salads - keep well in the fridge and no cooking at all

Good luck! I remember a life with young children ... hectically busy!

Weight Watchers has a magazine with 15-minute healthy, low cal meals.

As for scheduling:

FLYlady.net

You got this!

Try coupons (if you have the time) They help me out a lot.

i always make home cooked meals. if you think about it, frozen meals aren't that cheap at all. when you cook yourself you have enough to last a whole week if you make it in large quantities. so if you multipy the cost of the frozen food by how many people eating and how many days a week you eat, it will come out more expensive. and it's soooo much healthier!

I completely understand... between football for my oldest kid, work, church, and attempting to stay up on the house work there is no time for cooking! If you have more than 1 kid, which I have two, the price for groceries and everything else is outrageous. What I do is when I am able to finally cook a meal, I make sure to make enough for 2 meals. That way we can eat it that day and have leftovers for the next. My husband would rather have a home cooked meal any day so he does not complain about leftovers at all. Then when time does not premit cooking and we have to go out to eat, I make sure to eat light.

Hello there! When I FIRST started this I was scared like you are per the money and even now I don't have a job and at the store yesterday Hubby was like, Lace, this WHOLE list is for YOU, brie, goat cheese, nuts, ect, it can get expensive! I have been trying to keep my diet on the Eat Clean Diet. So, what I have been doing, is picking out a few things I want to try, and doing it that way, I just love the magazines and cookbooks and want to try everything, but we have a budget! Another thing I do, is gradually, I have about 5 different flours but then came with time, so do it slowly, pick a few meals and go that route, and slowly add your staples. When you compare to so many other things, The Eat Clean diet is really inexpensive, use farmers markets, costco, or grow, we have several tomato plants and they recently have been doing amazing and I don't have to shop for those! Just my three cents but really, do what is on sale, build slowly and you can do this, granted, the sad part of life is to eat unhealthy is cheaper, sadly it is but you can make changes even if you have to do it a bit at a time.... Lace:happy:

Try to buy in bulk(IE Chicken breasts, ground turkey/beef etc) You can freeze them for a few months, and then only cook what you need.

Also a crock pot is awesome.. throw some meat, frozen/fresh veggies in there and some seasoning and then let it cook all day. By the time dinner rolls around, you got a meal and you didn't need to spend hours cooking it.

Third tip, make extra and then just re-heat the left overs. My mom and I will cook like 4 chicken breasts or pork chops at one time, and then just eat half or all of one when we get hungry. Takes like 30 seconds to zap in the microwave, and if you've got frozen veggies then you also have a side.

Also, i don't know if you have a walmart super center by you but you can find whole grain bread for about half of what it would cost at the normal grocery store. Same goes for greek yogurt and sometimes frozen veggies.. a lot cheaper there.

http://www.daveywaveyfitness.com/nutrition/the-thousand-dollar-menu-why-fast-food-isnt-really-cheap/

Also, take a look at where you're shopping. I recently learned that shopping at a farmer's market can be much cheaper than your average grocery store, and the quality of the produce is MUCH better. I'm a fan of Sprouts (it's a 20 minute drive, versus the Fresh and Easy around the Corner, Pavillions around the corner, or Wal-Mart a few blocks down, but it's SO worth it).

I feel that way sometimes, but if you're strategic, you can do it on the cheap and save yourself some time. My husband recently bought 8 different types of seasoned can beans to see which ones he likes. We make a big pot of rice and mix it with seasoned beans. so for $1-$2 we get a couple of meals out of a low fat, high protein dish. Then to mix it up, one day, I'll dice up some left over chicken and heat it together. Another day, I'll mix it with some scrambled eggs, cook up some frozen spinach, add a dollup of sour cream, and YUM!. I always have a side of chopped tomatoes with salt and pepper on them. My husband likes to grill up some veggies to mix in. I'm also a huge sweet potato fan: bake a bunch and have them hot or dice up the leftovers into a salad. Again, yum!

Deep breath. It will get easier as you get more accustomed to shopping for a healthier menu. I didn't notice where you live so I don't know what your options are but I can share what works for me.

I shop for two adults, one whom is an incredibly picky eater used to the McFlubbers and Taco He!! meals. I spend $25 biweekly on fresh veggies, fruit and lunchmeat at my local farm market. I always buy whatever is in season at the time and if that means I need to learn how to use a new ingredient that's all the better. I just enriched my life. I supplement my meals with whatever is on sale that week at the local grocery store, same thing goes here regarding new ingredients. I focus on buying beans, healthy grains and low fat dairy. I have stopped buying prepackaged snacks & cereals unless I have a coupon for that item. In general, my rule is that is if it's not good for me and my hubby I must wait for a coupon to buy it. I make double portions of nearly everything and re-purpose all leftovers to resemble a new meal for my picky eater or my own lunch. Soups are incredibly nutritious and filling; I make refrigerator stew (my great-grandmother named this one) weekly and freeze the leftovers for quick defrost meals.

I realize that not all people are cooks so this suggestion may not work for you. When I plan on having pasta for dinner, I have the process of mixing, resting, rolling and cutting homemade whole wheat pasta dough down. I can get it done while the pot of water boils. This takes a bit of practice but once you get it down it's totally worth the effort and the benefit is that it takes less to to cook than the dried stuff from the box with all the preservatives.