Budget vs. diet need possible solutions

You can eat healthy on a budget. Frozen veggies and some fruits are great. Last much longer than fresh and frozen are cheaper. For example a bunch of broccoli here is usually $2.50 but a bag of frozen is $1.50. Of course sales are a big help and there are coupons for a lot of healthy foods including frozen veggies. Buying dry beans is more affordable and healthier to due to lower sodium.

I try to plan my meals around what is on sale and what is in season, I use alot of frozen veggies and frozen berries, because they can be cheaper. I've also learned to scour the coupon websites, which really helps to stretch the budget.I tend to bring meals to work and snacks, which keeps on track calorie wise too.

I recently wrote the following article on shopping healthy & meal planning on a budget

I will have you know that I love to grocery shop the way other girls love to buy shoes and dresses.

How many of you believe that a full grocery cart, full cupboards, or a full fridge equal satisfying meals?

When Andy & I were a young married couple, our grocery trips involved going to the store and loading up our cart with whatever looked good or was on sale.
Unfortunately, a full cart of groceries does not a meal make!
I would stare blankly into the cupboards wondering what could I possibly make with ramen and peanut butter?
It wasn’t until we came up with a more precise plan of attack that we started buying groceries that made sense for the week. A year or two ago, Andy’s sister suggested we get a large dry erase calendar to help organize ourselves. Ever since then it has been a tremendous help to our shopping and our budget.
By planning our meals for the week, we knew exactly what ingredients we needed to buy, and how much we were going to spend. It not only helped fatten our wallets, but it also helped trim our waistlines because we weren’t buying unnecessary goodies.

THE GAME PLAN

Plan out your meals in advance so you’re not caught by surprise later in the week.

Make sure you plan meals that you and your family like, so you don’t come to a day & think “Ew.”, and wind up eating out because you either don’t have sufficient ingredients, or can’t think of something else to eat.

Minimize shopping to once or twice per week to avoid overspending

Avoid shopping on an empty stomach. Hunger can often trigger unnecessary food purchases

Stick to only purchasing meal ingredients and basic necessities to minimize spending and unnecessary snacking.

Try to purchase locally produced items. It will help cut your grocery bill down and stimulate the economy. Bountiful Baskets is a great example of this, as you can typically get $50 worth of produce for half the price. CSA Farm Shares are also a wonderful option. Andy & I are getting our first CSA beef and pork share for $175. It will feed us for a month. We are really excited, because we typically spend twice that every two weeks.

Once you have your meals planned out and have made a grocery list, run through your weekly circular ads to check for sales. Write down the stores that have the ingredients you need on sale. After that, you can look up coupons online to save even more money. Unleash your inner shopping ninja!

And always remember to check The Primal Junk Foodie Blog for the recipe of the day, or click "Recipes for Disaster" at the top to find other great, quick, and tasty meals!

Do you have a farmer's market nearby? Produce is a lot cheaper there and you can sometimes get milk and eggs too.

Stuff like beans are super healthy and very cheap.

What types of things are you eating now?

I am lucky my fiance gets paid on weekly basis so we only have to worry about getting enough groceries for a week at a time. But it's still a struggle because we are a budget as well. So I'll try to answer your question as best I can.

1) BULK!!! If you can get rice, pasta etc at a bulk food store the prices are usually cheaper than at the grocery store and you can get enough to last a long time and most bulk store will have brown rice, whole wheat or brown rice pastas as well as some beans, lentil and other grains like coucous, quinoa so you can keep a variety on hand. Also if you can afford a membership to Costco they will have some stuff like milk, low fat/0 fat yogurt and stuff like that at a cheaper price than if you bought it at the grocery store. Again, some stuff will be in large packages so it will last for longer.

2) Plan your work, work your plan. Get a white board and stick it on the fridge, pick 5 - 7 meals that the whole family will enjoy and write them on the board, look through your flyers to see what's on sale for the week and plan your meals around the sales. You may end up having chicken 3 times but if it's on cheap there are tons of ways that you can work with it and not get bored.

3) If you can afford to do it, stock up on meats, frozen fruits/veggies at the start of month and then you only have to go once a week, or once a paycheck to get milk, fresh fruits/veggies and bread.

Also, figure out how much you can afford to spend each pay check on food. Put in it in a jar and label it "Grocery Money". Then write down somewhere how much you have per week, try and plan to go grocery shopping either friday night or saturday since most sales start on Fridays and you'll have a better chance of finding the sale items in stock. Take half your money, your grocery list and head to the store, don't stray from the list!!!!! Pay for what you bought, if there's left over GREAT! Buy something special or save it for next week. Those a just a few of things I've found work for myself and that I've also picked up watching shows about debt and budgeting etc.

If you want to chat more feel free to add me! Sorry for the long response, hope it helps!!

Buy what is in season and on sale. Check the store circulars before you go and make a list. Pre-packaged foods are more expensive then doing it yourself. Check for healthy recipes on a budget. I found this link if you are interested but there are many more.
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_budget_friendly_recipes

I second the spices and you can often pick them up inexpensively at Dollar stores /pound shops. I also can, have for years, and its an easy and cheap way to put up produce from farmer's markets. I also make my own stock and pasta sauce and can them as well. Then I have pints on hand without the additives and sodium of tins. I usually spend one day every 4-6 months canning so its worth those few days to have healthier foods on the pantry shelves.

I think you can eat healthy on a budget! Buy produce that is in season - it's cheaper. Also, frozen veggies are really inexpensive. Use less meat, use more rice, pasta and beans. I make tons of soups, stews and stir-fries that allow me to use less of the expensive stuff (like meat) and more less expensive stuff. Buy store brands of everything. Stock up when you see a good sale.

My husband and I spend about $50-$60 a week on groceries and eat lots of delicious, home-cooked food!

Do you have any recipes that you would like to share with me? I am trying to get our weekly groceries down to about $50 a week. It is at about $100-$120 a week now. Not a good thing!