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MyFitnessPal Community

How to eat healthy on a tight budget?

Kikers123

I'm going to be real here, I'm pretty broke lol. And I know I'm not the only one on a budget! I was watching some of the movie Food Inc today, and in one part they were talking about how cheap bad food is, and how much more expensive good food is! It's a conspiracy! Hahaha, anyway, I would really just love if I could get some tips on how to eat healthy without spending what I don't have.

Replies

meghan1789

Those are some really good points for saving money and I would like to add a couple tips of my own that are slightly different.

Okay, so I know it sounds contradictory, but be careful about shopping at big box stores like Walmart (I don't know what else you have in the States), especially when buying produce. I have found that saving money is not as much about what you buy, but what you throw out.

It may seem like a really good price or it's on sale or whatever, but I have found that fresh foods at these types of store do not last very long (or at least certainly not as long as more quality places) and then I end up throwing them out and all that money goes to waste, even if it was cheap. Here's a few of my tips:

- Buy quality foods that will stay fresh longer so they don't go to waste

- Always check the best before date and try to find the latest date you can.

- This is a tip I learned from living in England. Only buy what you need for the next couple days. I found that people in England tended to have smaller fridges because they didn't go to the store once a week or two weeks and tried to stock up on everything on sale. Instead, they only buy what they need and that way, they don't have to throw something out that they bought but never used. It's proven that the UK has significantly less waste per person than North America.

- Ask yourself two questions, "Do I really need it?" and "What am I going to do with it?". If you can't answer these questions, don't buy it! Always have a plan for what you are buying and don't just buy it because it's on sale.

So in summary, be aware of not only what you are buying, but what you are throwing out. Because every rotten egg or moudly piece of bread you throw out is more money down the drain!

Hope that helps!

countrygirlatheart0717

I keep a memo in my phone of "cheap healthy foods" that I took from a Shape magazine article. Here's what's on it:

Brown rice
Multigrain pasta
Whole wheat tortillas
Frozen veggies
Bagged salad
Canned refried beans
Jarred marinara sauce
Eggs, egg substitutes
Frozen edamame
Asparagus
Bananas
Broccoli
Green beans
Black beans
Kale
Canned tuna

As others have mentioned, try to buy what is in season and on sale. You can always get produce on sale and freeze it for later use. Also, I am vegetarian, and things like beans, eggs, nuts and nut butters are much less expensive than meat, so that helps! Never underestimate the power of coupons, too.

Thank you! I stole this list from you it's now in my phone and I will use it when I shop!

BobbyDaniel

If you are near a Krogers look for their "Manager's Specials", these are items that are nearly dated and are marked down. I scope out the produce and natural/organic section looking for those little orange & yellow tags.

mellabyte

http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/freezer-cooking-slow-cooker-meals.html

...is a good idea, freezer packed slow cooker meals. You can health them up with whatever cheap finds that you can find in bulk (or @ farmers markets) to your tastes or preferences, or at least use the above as an idea starter for what you could do.

A crockpot is definitely a good investment for the busy person on a budget. It's saved my butt a couple of times.

dawnkilmurray

I was worried about that when I first started eating properly back in January. I am on a very tight budget and have found that I am spending less than I was.

I have thought alot about this and have found that a box of ceral, Almond Milk, Cheese sticks etc lasts alot longer when you eat the portions you are supposed to. I never realized a box of cereal has 2 weeks worth of daily servings. I thought they were supposed to last a few days!!!

2shoes123

I started making home-made yogurt after realizing that I was spending over $20 a week for Chobani at $1/each. We have a family of 6 (which includes three teenage boys). Yogurt making has become my hobby - crazy! A half gallon of milk yields a half gallon of yogurt. It is very cheap compared to prepared yogurt. I buy frozen fruit and make smoothies.

smor27

I have been using a lot of coupons... Not that I am extreme like on tv but I do my fair share. Getting other items cheaper so I have more money for the better healthier foods.

tmandras

you HAVE to meal plan. "healthy food" isn't expensive as long as you meal plan, and make your own food. I make a lot of crock pot recipes because I can prepare the night before, and cooks while i'm at work (and i always have leftovers for the rest of the week!).

pick out maybe 2 recipes you'd like to try (hopefully some of them share the same ingredients), and see how it works. skinnytaste.com is a great site, you just have to put in the effort to do the cooking.

I agree! I make sure to look at the meat markdown section in my grocery stores for deals too, even if it expires that day...take it home & cook it right away! Aldi is great for veggies too!

6566tess

bump

zandrellia

You've got some great suggestions so far. I'd thought I would throw in some others:

1) Look into a food ministry. Some churches and other non-profit organizations can offer good foods at discounted prices. Depending on where you live, it could save you a lot in the long run to go through one of these organizations. (I know in certain food deserts the places and options that people above have offered are not as easy to get to and you may live in such an area.) Most of the boxes of food they offer contain enough food for a family of four - but if you're single or have less people in your family you can stretch that food out to last longer.

2) Even if you can't get to a food ministry, if you go to church it can never hurt to ask your church for help. That is what church is for, a community to help each other and do well in serving the people of that faith. I know that when I was a child and our family was on hard times our church brought us food and other supplies to help make ends meet - when we did well, we paid it forward to other church members. You never know what might be available in your community, so ask around.

3) If you are low income and receive food stamps and/or WIC you may already qualify for vouchers to use at a local farmer's market. I bought many fresh, locally grown foods with these vouchers when I was a single mother and we got to try a lot of foods that we might have never ate before if I hadn't received those vouchers. (You have to either be told or ask for them specifically, though, so ask!) Remember that farmer's markets are not like retailers and you can haggle down the price of nearly anything there! Most of the local farms are just looking to make enough to get a small profit and not have any waste. I once received 4 pounds of blackberries from a farmer for a $3 voucher because he was trying to get rid of them before they went bad. Most farmers are very considerate and will work with you on the prices.

4) Consider growing your own foods! Even if you live in an apartment or have limited space you can have what is called a "patio garden" where you grow things in pots. Gardening is healthy for you in many ways. It's stress relief, outdoor time, calorie burning, good food resulting activity! It can seem expensive on the outset but consider this: A single tomato plant costs around $5, a pot and some soil and you're looking at around $12. On-the-vine organic tomatoes can run around $3 at a typical grocery, if not more. One tomato plant can produce as many as 50 tomatoes within a good summer. If you can those for future use you can save yourself a fortune! (Stewed tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato sauce... so many uses!) If you have your own home and have a small patch of land, I'd really suggest getting into gardening! Start small and work your way up into a full garden. Your body and your budget will love you for it.

5) Work down the prices of foods in one trip! Get together the price listings from local groceries and plan your meals based on what is on sale in those. Wal-Mart has a policy where if you bring the sales ad and the food you buy from there of the same brand or equivalent is more expensive, they will change the price and charge you the lower price from the competitor just to keep your business. Again, though, you have to ask!

tobafa

I eat lots of canned chicken and eggs (boiled/scrambled). Pretty cheap snacks.

nucreeman

A lot of good advice. I would say trying googling receipe ideas for some of these items. You can make all kinds of quiches with some veggies and a few eggs, tofu is actually not that bad and is a little over a $1.00 a pack, eggplant makes a meal, brown rice
can be filling. once you get recipe ideas you can reinvent these items so it won't seem like your eating the same things over and
over again. Good luck

maddmaddie

Buy frozen vegetables while on sale. Clip coupons. Buy in the bulk (oatmeal, dry beans, etc.) I used to always go over friends house and help them with leftovers but of course, that wasn't always healthy.

LovelyNFit

Interesting read

Ravenesque_

have to contribute

"healthy foods" are very expensive.

Foods that are healthy are not.

I priced up a Quorn shepards pie ready meal, one they toted for being healthy on the packaging, with making the same recipe my self. I could make double for half the price!!!

Keep your head switched on, keep your eyes peeled, and never ever shop on an empty stomach.

molliewitt

have to contribute

"healthy foods" are very expensive.

Foods that are healthy are not.

I priced up a Quorn shepards pie ready meal, one they toted for being healthy on the packaging, with making the same recipe my self. I could make double for half the price!!!

Keep your head switched on, keep your eyes peeled, and never ever shop on an empty stomach.

I agree. If you go down the "health food" lane at the supermarket, everything is overpriced. Their brown rice is twice what the brown rice on the regular lane costs, so I am not wasting my money. Learn to cook. Learn to love your crock pot! Odds are, if you can make it using fresh ingredients, then it is better for you than something frozen (and needless to say, cheaper as well).

Keep your eye on the prize!

MsMargie1116

Those are some really good points for saving money and I would like to add a couple tips of my own that are slightly different.

Okay, so I know it sounds contradictory, but be careful about shopping at big box stores like Walmart (I don't know what else you have in the States), especially when buying produce. I have found that saving money is not as much about what you buy, but what you throw out.

It may seem like a really good price or it's on sale or whatever, but I have found that fresh foods at these types of store do not last very long (or at least certainly not as long as more quality places) and then I end up throwing them out and all that money goes to waste, even if it was cheap. Here's a few of my tips:

- Buy quality foods that will stay fresh longer so they don't go to waste

- Always check the best before date and try to find the latest date you can.

- This is a tip I learned from living in England. Only buy what you need for the next couple days. I found that people in England tended to have smaller fridges because they didn't go to the store once a week or two weeks and tried to stock up on everything on sale. Instead, they only buy what they need and that way, they don't have to throw something out that they bought but never used. It's proven that the UK has significantly less waste per person than North America.

- Ask yourself two questions, "Do I really need it?" and "What am I going to do with it?". If you can't answer these questions, don't buy it! Always have a plan for what you are buying and don't just buy it because it's on sale.

So in summary, be aware of not only what you are buying, but what you are throwing out. Because every rotten egg or moudly piece of bread you throw out is more money down the drain!

Hope that helps!

^^^^ Great points!!!!

tinkermommc

A co-op for fruits and veggies. I use bountiful baskets and you get a huge amount of fruits and veggies for your $15. And if you split it with someone then you're only at $7.50!

sportsbear46

Some healthy things to stretch your food dollar:

Beans
Eggs
Pasta
Brown Rice
Frozen Veggies and Fruits (Look for sales and stock up)

Visit your local Farmer's Market for fresh veggies and fruits. I also recently found if you eat fish, your local fish market will probably be less expensive than the supermarket.

Hope that helps. Generally, anything you have to cook yourself will likely be less expensive that something ready to eat.

^^^^ This :happy:

Kikers123

Seriously thanks so much for all the tips everyone! Headed out to go shopping now!

catattack13

I eat the same things all the time and stock up when there are sales. everybody makes fun of me because I buy produce sometimes 3x/week to supplement my stockpile of basics.

SGRhapsodos

Go to a local meat market. I get whole chicken breasts there for 2.99/lb and drumsticks for .99/lb!!!!!

Nicolette_Karls

*bump*

Also, I don't know what your situation is, but gardening is well worth it. Packs of seeds are generally pretty cheap, and learning to can veggies makes them last longer. I'm in college, so I can't do it all year, but my parents have a garden back home and I love having something fresh and healthy to snack on!

LisaKunz

I was under the impression that eating healthy was more expensive, too. I could get lunch from McD's dollar menu for $3! But I've found that as I'm really watching my portions, those "expensive" bags of baby carrots and snap peas last a long time! I can put together a healthy pasta salad for less than a Subway sub costs. Cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast costs less than 3 donuts. A handful of almonds in the afternoon costs less than a candy bar from the vending machine. And, now that I've lost a decent amount of weight, I'm off both my cholesterol meds and blood pressure meds...another monthly savings (super high deductible, so I was paying for them each month). I look for the sales on meats, and buy many generic things. But sometimes, when the taste really matters, I experiment. Chobani yogurt is more expensive than generic, but I'll actually eat it and have come to LIKE it, so that's more of a bargain overall than pop-tarts (which leave me hungry an hour later).

joejccva71

I eat the same things all the time and stock up when there are sales. everybody makes fun of me because I buy produce sometimes 3x/week to supplement my stockpile of basics.

I'd like to put this on the record that I am not one of these people. ;-)

glenbabe

I disagree about healthy foods being more expensive....when you cut out all the trash and the grocery list is just healthy options it works out about the same....and I mean totally cut all trash

catattack13

I eat the same things all the time and stock up when there are sales. everybody makes fun of me because I buy produce sometimes 3x/week to supplement my stockpile of basics.

I'd like to put this on the record that I am not one of these people. ;-)

you quite specifically are one of those people

jenniferijulia

Bump!

JamCubeChi

Bump!

sjmitchner

Coupons are great, my husband checks every on-line site, I go through the paper coupons. Sometimes you can go to websites for specific brands and get coupons. Also I tend to stock up when things are on sale: Green peppers are 85 cents great I'm getting 6-you can freeze lots of produce/meat for use later. I have a head of cabbage left over from St. Patrick's-still good. We also grow our own veggies during the warmer months. You can plant almost everything in a container if you don't have space for a garden (even watermelon) What we can't eat fast enough, we can (low salt recipes) or dry. It may also be possible to cut things you don't need out of your list. We no longer buy chips, soda, candy, frozen pizzas, ect. If you're stuck on name brand items, consider the store brand, sometimes (not always) it will taste just as good. We always eat before we go to the store and have a shopping list, if it isn't on the list it doesn't come home. The exception being anything on store markdown that isn't junk. We always compare the unit price on foods, because the lowest price isn't always the best value. Our store allows us to double coupons that are 50 cents or under, and will sometimes stack online coupons (on our rewards card) with paper coupons. To make the shopping more fun (cause this takes some effort) we always check the receipt to see how much we've saved. We average about 35%.

Oh and we plan a menu and cook then freeze meals.

Might also try to track down this cookbook or one like it:

More-With-Less by Doris Janzen Longacre