healthy food on a budget

Turkry lunchmeat and whole grain bread. It will last you all week. High fiber cereal and low fat milk. Get whatever greens are on sale that week.

Winco....they are awesome!

Is there a Trader Joe's near you? They have good prices. Check Target too. Another good place for fresh produce are independent, small mom-and-pop type produce markets.

My stores always have buy one get two free on chicken breasts and tenderloins ..so watch the sales i cook all my own sandwich meat but i agree i bet i spend 100 bucks a week for myself and my daughter !

You sure are not alone here. It is really hard to do. I have been buying alot of lettuce and lo cal salad dressing and so happy fresh fruit season is here. I just get a back of chicken tenders, whatever fruit is on sale and a small veggie tray, a bag of talapia and find recipes that use these items. I also admit to buying alot of Michaelina's light gourmet entrees which i know are loaded with sodium etc... but they cost a buck and its better then starving or going to mcdonalds which isn't cheap either on any level. I live alone so its harder to get items for just one sometimes. We can do it though, We will do it!!!

I search for sales usually Walmart is good and I always search for coupons. It's tough but keep doing what you can.

Get the Sunday Ads, or look them up for the stores that are near you. Buy the Fruits and Vegetables that are on sale and in season. Look for meats on sale and buy in bulk, and freeze what you are not using right away.

I struggle with this, too... Especially when my boyfriend isn't really eating healthy, and I am. He'll eat it if I fix it, but he likes junk food, too, so it throws off my budget when I know some of the healthy items I buy will go bad. I just stocked up on fruit produce with a promise he'll help eat it. I hate seeing fruit go bad!

Seconding the buy frozen Bird's Eye veggies. I LOVE those.

Meal planning for leftovers is hit or miss for me. I try to do it, but something always "comes up" during the week, and I end up not making dinner for a night. When I can stick with it, it's awesome to have healthy leftovers to take to work with you the next day!

Farmers markets can be a good place to find cheap fruits and veggies. You'll find the freshest stuff earlier in the day.

We spend WAAAAAYYY too much on groceries and I hate it, so I understand what you mean. One thing that's helped me is having a couple of staple foods that I always have that aren't so expensive to kind of use as fillers. I keep tons of dry beans in the house...you can get those for something like 89 cents for a bag...and I cook a lot to throw in salads, soups, wraps, etc. So...that's cheap. Also, I found I was throwing out produce because I was buying a whole bushel of broccoli or whatever, using part of it, and then forgetting about the rest. So, when I can, I make use of the grocery store salad bar for pre-cut, smaller amounts of vegetables. For about $5, I can get some cut broccoli and onions for soup, peppers and mushrooms to put in my eggs, and snow peas, peppers, and whatever else for a stir fry. Sometimes I'll even throw in some banana peppers, olives, and whatever else to put on mini-pizzas. That's saved a fair amount of money, and lets me get a variety of vegetables in amounts that I can actually use before they go bad. Always we keep a huge tub of spinach in the house...those are relatively inexpensive and can be used for anything. And definitely load up your freezer and look for things on sale. I am becoming a pro at looking for that orange "manager's special" sticker on meat at Kroger. Eating healthy on a budget CAN be done...you just have to be a little creative about mixing and matching a few inexpensive items to make different dishes. Good luck!