How to eat healthy on a tight budget?

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  • catattack13
    catattack13 Posts: 117
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    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
    SGRhapsodos Posts: 47
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    Go to a local meat market. I get whole chicken breasts there for 2.99/lb and drumsticks for .99/lb!!!!!
  • Nicolette_Karls
    Nicolette_Karls Posts: 88
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    *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
    LisaKunz Posts: 73 Member
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    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
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
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    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
    glenbabe Posts: 303 Member
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    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
    catattack13 Posts: 117
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    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 :p
  • jenniferijulia
    jenniferijulia Posts: 19 Member
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    Bump!
  • JamCubeChi
    JamCubeChi Posts: 378 Member
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    Bump!
  • sjmitchner
    sjmitchner Posts: 121 Member
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    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
  • Kalynx
    Kalynx Posts: 707 Member
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    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.

    lol I call myself a food hoarder - for some reason it really bugs me not having almost everything I might want in the house. I've never had to go without earlier in life..so I guess I'm just weird. but if its a great deal and it will last a long time in the cupboard or fresh meat on sale I can freeze why not get more when its on sale so you're set for a month or so if you have the available funds and the storage space. Also when I do one big shopping trip every 3 or 4 weeks I cut way down on impulse buying so that saves a little.

    I don't think I saw this one yet - but cheese is something you can buy on sale and lasts a long time you can even freeze it if you need to.

    I agree with the others - pick a few recipes you want to try or think you will like and go for it. After you're done cooking and enjoyed the first meal go ahead and store it in meal size containers so they are easy to heat and eat and grab and go if you pack a lunch. If you start to get sick of it after a few days throw it in the freezer and pull it out in a few weeks when you feel lazy or want something different.

    Anytime my store has fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.98 a lb (usually once a month) I get a lot and freeze it right away. Maybe 8 or 9 lbs - how much I might eat in a month.

    Much more economical to make a batch of chicken breasts baked in the oven stuffed with cheddar and frozen chopped broccoli..for the price of a bag of shredded cheese, a frozen bag of broc. and 3 lbs of chicken breasts thats 5 or six meals that are really tasty, healthy, and cheaper than 5 or 6 fast food meals!

    Something else I watch for are the 'gas mile items' ...like buy a box of a certain brand of pasta and get 20 cents off a gallon of gas up to 15 gallons..time to stock up on pasta! last time I got 4 boxes and got $12 off my next fill up at store associated gas station. LOL when my cat's brand of cat food is a mile item man I stock up!!! one time I got like $2.63 off per gallon for 15 gallons of gas..woohoo!!
  • babyworms
    babyworms Posts: 1,304 Member
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    Frozen vegetables. No waste and always good quality!! AND you can bulk buy when they're on special!
  • WonderWomanDawn
    WonderWomanDawn Posts: 13
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    i look through store ads and base my shopping on that when it come to buying produce and my meats..plus i shop at Aldi sometimes but mostly i hit the local WalMart since they are usually cheaper and they match the prices of other stores if i can find something cheaper somewhere else. I am teaching my kids my way of shopping so they can make their money stretch when they are on their own.
  • ZombieSlayer
    ZombieSlayer Posts: 369 Member
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    Much more economical to make a batch of chicken breasts baked in the oven stuffed with cheddar and frozen chopped broccoli..for the price of a bag of shredded cheese, a frozen bag of broc. and 3 lbs of chicken breasts thats 5 or six meals that are really tasty, healthy, and cheaper than 5 or 6 fast food meals!

    Man... now I'm hungry for stuffed chicken breasts and that's not what I have out of the freezer!
  • Maxylicious
    Maxylicious Posts: 226 Member
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    Haha im glad im not the only one with this problem. I tried to switch to cauliflower-rice instead of my usual brown rice to help me cut down on carbs, but my local store (weis) has just 1 cauliflower head at $3.50 which is more expensive than a 2lb bag of brown rice worth 20servings! I guess i'm still stuck with those carbs for now....:(
  • LesIsMoreXX
    LesIsMoreXX Posts: 169
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    I have a vegetarian diet so that saves me loads on groceries. Also, I like to buy frozen fruits [ for smoothies :D ] and frozen vegetables.
    I eat a lot of dairy products as well and I find them to be fair priced and very filling.
  • fitforlife34
    fitforlife34 Posts: 331 Member
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    So glad that you posted this. I noticed it too! Because with vegetables if you don't eat them fast they go bad. I spend like $200 a month o n food eating healthy, just for myself! it's crazy. im going to read the replies.





    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.
  • fitforlife34
    fitforlife34 Posts: 331 Member
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    wish i had one of those. a few of the farmer's markets, including Pike Place Market in Seattle are very high priced. But they look super fresh and high quality!
    Aldi has really h elped me in my weight loss. They have some good veggies and dairy items that are half the cost than the big super markets. I don't know if you have one in your area. Also, I know protein is expensive, but just have lost of protein and veggies in the house. once you stop buying the junk for snacking, it might even it out. Farmers markets also have a lot of stuff we use on a daily basis for super cheap. I spent $10 on a bunch of stuff this past weekend. It's worth seeking them out!
  • fitforlife34
    fitforlife34 Posts: 331 Member
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    I hear ya! It's quite expensive to eat healthy. I live on an island in the Atlantic, so getting fresh fruit and veggies is more expensive than most places. For example... a mango-$2, 8 oz bag of spinach-$5, 4 colored peppers-$6 milk-$4 for 2litres(a half gallon)
    yet, a 2 litre of pop is under $1. I just make trips to the grocery store early in the morning and buy the salads that they pack from the salad bar from the night before. Check all the flyers for the weekly sales, and watch all the clearance bins. Good luck my friend. Keep trying



    Sounds like some of the stores here in Seattle. lol
  • cavewoman15
    cavewoman15 Posts: 278 Member
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    one thing i completely cut from my grocery list is lunch meat. it's $6-8 a pound. that's how much shrimp costs! we were buying 1.5-2 pounds per week. we started buying boneless chicken breasts - stocking up when they are on sale for $2 a pound. we make crock pot chicken recipes every week. saves us $10 a week and is much more delicious. we also buy pork loins when they are on sale for $2 pound and cut them into pork chops.

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