Eating Healthy on a Budget

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happilyeveractive
happilyeveractive Posts: 167 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Its hard to eat healthy while keeping it on a budget! All of the healthy foods are more expensive and when you are tight on funds (all the time) this makes it hard. I'm open for any suggestions on affordable healthy food options!
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Replies

  • scinamon1
    scinamon1 Posts: 158 Member
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    As a student, I basically live on fajitas! Just half a pepper, half an onion, a carrot, Half a teaspoon of oil for the pan, quorn chicken (or normal, but I'm veggie) and 6g of spice from the packet, and you're done! Throw it all into a pan. I don't bother with the wrap bits, but put 15ml of sour cream on, and it's really healthy- about 300 calories, 20-30 carbs, 10-20 fat... Very easy too! And yummy. Sometimes I eat it 4 or 5 nights running :)
  • Carolyn_79
    Carolyn_79 Posts: 935 Member
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    Wish I had suggestions but my grocery bills are a lot higher since I started eating healthy. I do save money though by not ordering pizza etc...but I still don't think it really balances out.
  • Banrion
    Banrion Posts: 157 Member
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    Try lots of vegetables, fresh vegetables can be expensive, but frozen vegetables are good to use. Simple meals of brown rice, vegetables and a lean meat will not break a budget most of the time.
  • KimKramer
    KimKramer Posts: 44
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    Same here!!! Looking forward to see how others are doing it............
  • micheles234
    micheles234 Posts: 73 Member
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    if you have an Aldi's near you , their produce and everything is so much cheaper! they have a brand called fit and active too. they offer a lot of healthy stuff, and for a family of 4 I can usually walk out with a week's worth of groceries for around $80.
  • happilyeveractive
    happilyeveractive Posts: 167 Member
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    See I'm never one to order out or even go out to eat. I can afford to do that maybe once a month. I try to keep weekly grocery bills under $25 sadly. Gas going up doesn't help leave more money in the budget but I do my best to look for what healthy things are on sale!
  • melbellkid
    melbellkid Posts: 72
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    Try going to a bulk food store if you have one locally-I have found our bulk heath food store is awesome-and alot of the healthy stuff is cheaper than in the regular supermarket too...you can get the amount out of the bulk bins that you need so you don't have tons of something-and its cheaper since you don't have to pay for packaging...there are tons of varieties of beans, lentils, brown rice, 7 grain oatmeal mixes, bean soup mixes, etc...I can get what I need for a week for about 10.00 and then I get my produce to go with it...which I go to a local farm market for-and its usually way cheaper than the store too!
  • saverys_gal
    saverys_gal Posts: 808 Member
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    Frozen veggies and fruits are great-but always look to see what produce is in season as it's typically cheaper! If you get a good deal on some fresh produce but can't use it all, use what you can and freeze the rest! My grocery store also does discounts on meat/pork/poultry when it's a few days before it's use by date...I snatch those up because they're really cheap and I can go home and divide as necessary and freeze! Also, you can get great bulk deals at places like Sam's Club and BJs. Sometimes I hit 4 or 5 different stores throughout the course of a week...but if I know some place has got it a LOT cheaper, I'll go for it! Hope this helps!
  • fisherlassie
    fisherlassie Posts: 542 Member
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    Stay out of the middle isles. Eat real whole food. Processed food (especially "health food") is expensive.
  • 1968LisaG
    1968LisaG Posts: 17 Member
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    I am fortunate to have a Trader Joe's in my area. I never realized how much cheaper they are then my local grocery store. I buy as much as I can there and then my grocery store. One thing I started eating on weekends are luna bars. At the grocery store, they are 1.29, Rite-Aid - 1.79, and Trader Joe's - .99!!! There should be a Trader Joe's everywhere
  • yeabby
    yeabby Posts: 643 Member
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    If you're on Facebook look up my friend's page, Surviving and Thriving on Pennies. She feeds her family of 4 a mostly organic diet for about $50/week. Some of the ideas she uses are difficult if you aren't a stay at home mom but, many of them work for anyone.
  • PoeRaven
    PoeRaven Posts: 433 Member
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    Actually, fresh veggies and fruits that are in season are resonable. Add whatever lean meats are on sale, you have a budget meal!
  • grassette
    grassette Posts: 976 Member
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    Food prices vary so much according to where you live. Having a freezer really helps. We shop the lost leaders, and load up the freezer. Have a garden in the summer and freeze what we can. We have a great green grocer who stocks several grades of fruits and veggies. We cook everything from scratch and stay away from the prepared foods. And we buy beans and grains in bulk from a great little East Indian shop that has extra low prices.
  • midwifekelley2350
    midwifekelley2350 Posts: 337 Member
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    you will actually save money if you cook at home, carry leftovers for lunch and freeze things for your own frozen dinners. look at sales and plan your meals accordingly. frozen fruits are a good alternative and they don't go bad. i buy what i want at the grocery store now but when we were first married and our kids were little we were on a much tighter budget and i still managed to cook healthy for my family. i know it is a challenge but you can do it!
  • Bikini27
    Bikini27 Posts: 1,298 Member
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    Fresh is best, but if not possible frozen is a close second place.
    Watch out for added sugars and sodium and instead of buying prepackaged sides (Rice a Roni, for one) buy regular rice and add your own spices. Even the "low sodium" is insane.
    Be sure to always have high fiber and protein foods at hand. They keep you full longer. Look for almonds, granola bars that don't look like candy bars, and those 100 calorie packs can be imitated for MUCH less by buying a regular bag of chips/pretzels/etc and spending a little time making your own snack bags with zip bags.
    On top of that, portions are going to be a huge changer for you. I know, used to get all of my "meals" from the Dollar General. Hard to be healthy that way. So long as you are cooking it from step one, you know what is in it and you know how much you can eat.

    It is possible, if not a touch harder, to do this on a budget and still get all of your nutrients and make your tummy happy. It'll take some research in the beginning, but you'll get it figured out!

    Best of luck!
    Meg
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
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    if you have an Aldi's near you , their produce and everything is so much cheaper! they have a brand called fit and active too. they offer a lot of healthy stuff, and for a family of 4 I can usually walk out with a week's worth of groceries for around $80.

    Aldi is fantastic! Also cooking food in batches. At the weekend I will decide what I want to make. This weekend was a huge chilli with tonnes of cheap veg in and a home made soup. For a family of 4 we shop for around £50, sometimes less. We also go to a meat wholesalers for any meat if you can find one. We eat very well and we spend less now than when we were eating unhealthily! I find it a bit of a myth that healthy eating is more expensive. If you wanted all organic yes, but I don't go organic. I choose vegetables that are in season and on offer. Its good to have lots of recipes under your belt so that when you go shopping and see things cheap you can say to yourself oh I will make such a thing... Researching recipes is a good idea. I also buy lots of storecupboard things on offer as they always come in handy! Oh everyone eats a very similar healthy diet, no seperate meals for everyone. Its good for them to eat healthily roo, your doing them a favour. Interesting fact a kid can take 20 times of trying something before they decide if they like it, so keep trying them with your healthy foods. X
  • happilyeveractive
    happilyeveractive Posts: 167 Member
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    Thanks :)
  • sassika
    sassika Posts: 95 Member
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    Bump, will have to follow this thread as my shopping bill is soooo high.
  • crazywifewczx
    crazywifewczx Posts: 23 Member
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    BUMP
  • countdowntotarget
    countdowntotarget Posts: 108 Member
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    will be watching this !

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