Running out of money to eat healthy!!!I need advice for my g

I happen to live in an area where Aldi, Botton Dollar and Redners Market are in my circle of Saturday grocery shopping. I check the ads and go from there. If you have a produce junction near you, they are great. Today I am going to freeze fresh brussel sprouts I just bought and also some bananas. Last year I bought 15lbs of blueberries and eat some for a snack on some days.

Another thing we do is buy steam fresh veggies. I know they aren't as good as fresh but the ones with no sauce are good and at least you are getting some veggies. We buy them when they are $1.00 or less per bag.

Lastly, one thing I do is I make up a weekly menu. It is easy to stick to a list and you can plan you menu out around the weekly sales. Good luck.

Thank you for posting this-I'm looking forward to reading this thread. Eating healthy/organic is MEGA expensive to/for us. The upside is though, getting in better shape and eating better is saving money in the long-run via medical bills, etc.

Why not buy bags of frozen veggies?

Here are some of the ideas we use at home.


1. MEAL PLAN: Tons of money goes to waste when you go to the store and buy a bunch of things that don't make an entire meal. Go to the store or check ads to see what is on sale then plan meals around them. When at the store ONLY buy what you need. If you can, budget a small amount of money for fun items that you may want. (Popcorn, nuts, crackers)

2. SHOP IN THE BULK FOODS SECTION: Buy as much as you can in bulk. Not the kind of bulk like you buy at Costco, I mean the bulk foods section where they have a large bucket of oatmeal and you scoop what you need into a bag. You pay by weight of food. Do you live near a WinCo? They have low prices and a great bulk foods section. Here are items I buy in bulk: Spices (only buy what you need for each day's meal plan) Oatmeal or Cereal (I pay about .50 a week for oatmeal), flour, sugar, Pasta, and Rice, Beans.

3. BUY DRY GOODS: When you purchase dry beans and soak them over night the cost is significantly lower than if you purchase a can of beans. You can get an entire pound of beans for the price you pay for one can.

4. GET A CROCK POT - Walmart sells these for a great price.

5. MANAGERS SPECIAL PRICES: Go to the meat section and buy the about to expire meat. Put it in your freezer and then when you are ready to use it thaw it out. Not sure what to make with those random boneless country pork ribs on managers special? They can go in a crock pot all day and then be shredded for pulled pork sandwiches.

6. DON"T BUY PRE-CUT FOODS - buy a bag of carrots and cut them yourself, buy a head of lettuce (get a salad spinner if you don't have one), purchase in season foods or go to a farmers market (watch the farmers market, they are not always less money)

7. DON'T EAT OUT OR BUY STARBUCKS- It can end up costing you more if you eat lunches out and one Starbucks drink can cost you the same to feed your family.

8. COSTCO - This can be hard because sometimes you can't afford to buy a months worth of TP at once because it takes up your whole budget, but if you can try to buy canned and frozen foods from here. I buy the 10 lb cans of crushed tomatoes and then portion them out in plastic containers and freeze it until I need it.

9. TRADER JOES - Do you have a Trader Joes near you? They often sell things for a lower price but you really need to keep an eye on this.

10. SOUP - I make a big pot of soup on Sunday and then portion it out for my lunch all week.

Best of luck to you!

Sorry to hear about your troubles, We struggle financially also. I thought eating healthy would be so expensive, turned out to be where you do your shopping. I switched from Krogers to Trader Joes. Do you have a Trader Joe's close by? I'm telling you that alone cut my bill by almost half. So much healthy food in that place and less expensive then you would think. Ex: fruit filled cereal bars $1.99 for a box of 6!

PS what is a steel out?

There is a program called Share, just type in Share food program with your state and something should pop up but I'll link an example here.

http://www.goldensharefoods.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=63

These programs are not limited to anyone, so everyone can utilize this program. Each state's program differs a bit but they all offer quality foods , veggies and fruits.

If you have a Sam's club or Costco near you, join...it really saves money! I Sunflower market or Sprouts as they are becoming one soon are awesome, if you have one near you. Their veggies and fruits are a steal at times. See if you have any meat markets, they often have meat packages that you can strech for months. I know the one in my city, I got 25 pounds meat for 60 bucks.

Chicken is so versatile, you can do so much with it as is ground turkey.

Also I love my local Safeway, the meat manager told me what time they bring out market-down meat and boy do I get some great deals. As long as you cook them or freeze by their date , it's good meat. Meatless days are awesome also. Have soup and grilled cheese, nachos as someone said, potatoes, the ideas are endless. The most important thing I can say is planning your meals.

You can make your own Greek yogurt. This has become my new obsession! Greek yogurt is so yummy, high protein, calcium, low cal, but expensive if you buy it!

This web site has a great list of family recipes for feeding four or more people for a max of $10.
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/cookbooks.asp?cookbook=58000

Healthy food is worth spending some time preparing. I am a great suporter of 'home made'. It is cheaper and better for you. If you buy in season salads and vegetables they are always cheaper - do you have markets you can vist for the best prices?
Meat and fish seem to be very expensive at the moment, but you can add other things, to make them go further. I often make things like marrocan lamb stew - lamb is expensive but you can add pureed onion, tomatoes and then lentils of split peas. These are low fat and relatively high in protein and take on the flavour of what yopu are cooking so you don' even notice the lamb portion is smaller.
a roast chicken is a good meal for 3 or 4 of you, then pick the carcass and use the pieces the following day to make a chicken risotto or paella - just add rice, mushrooms, onion, tomoatoe and garlic and a small tin of sweet corn and maybe a little red pepper. and a stock cube.

Dishes like chile con carne are also good as the minced beef go a long way with tinned tomatoes and onions added. 500g of mince beef will make enough for chile for 3 or 4 people with a large bed of rice and still have some left over for topping jacket potatoes the next day.
best wishes x