How to eat healthy on a tight budget?

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  • norabeth
    norabeth Posts: 176 Member
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    I make a menu for two weeks for me and my husband
    I shop at aldi
    Buy frozen veggies and frozen fish(fresh is better) but frozen is cheaper
    I make sure that 1 ingredient can be used in more than 1 meal.
    Buy fruit when it is in season.

    The dinner I make tonight is lunch at work tomorrow.
    Crock pots are great.
    Freezing leftovers
    Cooking from scratch helps
    Growing your own veggies and/or herbs. I just started an herb garden this year. Going to try veggies next year :smile:
  • mshealy
    mshealy Posts: 36
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    bump
  • Heatherzilla92
    Heatherzilla92 Posts: 5
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    I don't know about where you live, but here if you get to the markets just before closing time they'll be selling out anything that wont keep until the markets next open for almost nothing. I've managed to get entire trays/boxes of fruit/vegetables for only a few dollars. It usually means you'll have to cook a few meals all at once and freeze them so things don't spoil but it's worth the effort.

    Other than that, dried beans/lentils are really cheap if you buy them in bulk. Some beans and things can take a while to cook but you can cook them up and freeze them so it's convenient.

    I've been a vegan for the past few years and I swear it's cheaper than buying meat, as long as you're not replacing it with processed mock meats and pre-prepared things.

    Tofu is also pretty cheap if you don't hate the texture. I like to crumble it up and use it in recipes like you would use ricotta cheese.
  • doubglass
    doubglass Posts: 314 Member
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    brown rice, chicken, beans, tilapia
  • iwantahealthierme13
    iwantahealthierme13 Posts: 337 Member
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    shop store and no name brands rather than brand names... they're cheaper and for a lot of foods you shouldn't be able to tell the difference.

    shop sales

    use coupons/free samples (facebook is a great resource for coupon and free sample pages), watch for in-store tearpads and look in magazines or on product websites for other offers, you can also join coupon trading sites.

    stack coupons on top of sales

    the food bank (if you don't mind going there, I don't use it but I know a lot of people who do)

    fresh fruit and veggie basket programs in your area
  • paulcer
    paulcer Posts: 167 Member
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    Beans and brown rice is one of my favorite diet dishes. It can be made low fat/high flavor.

    It's yummy and healthy and the calorie to satisfaction ratio is great. And really, it cant be more than 40 cents per serving even if you flavor the pot with a piece of bacon.

    Good luck!
  • gwylie00
    gwylie00 Posts: 1
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    Peanut butter is an excellent source of protein and it is cheap!!!
  • cbenzerga
    cbenzerga Posts: 65 Member
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    I plan my grocery shopping around the sale papers for the week. Crock Pot meals are great too.
  • Jezebel9
    Jezebel9 Posts: 396 Member
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    If you have a yard or a roof, you can grow so many things. If you have space inside, you can grow many things. It is difficult to eat healthy cheaply. It really isn't easy. Because the best (IMO) is organic, local, free range, grass fed and non-gmo. And those things are more expensive. GMO's have been accused of causing obesity... so even if you are eating fruits and veggies- most, if they are not organic, are gmo.
    I wish you the best. I know it is not easy.
  • snowgrrl83
    snowgrrl83 Posts: 242 Member
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    Carb: oatmeal in bulk! good for breakfast. Multigrain sliced bread.
    Fats: Peanut Butter. Healthy fats if its the natural kind, and cheap!
    Protein: Beans and peanut butter.
    Veggies: Carrots, anything on sale!
    Fruits: Anything on sale (apples are always cheap).
    Milk products: milk (stay away from cheese which can be pricy!)
    Meats: Generally, whatever is on sale. Canned tuna isn't too expensive... But you can go vegetarian for a while and go with beans and PB to get that protein.

    Basically, stay away from packaged stuff and you'll keep your cost down and eat healthier. Fresh is the way to go and look for the sales!

    You could live off bean soup and oatmeal for a long long time...oh and PB sandwiches too!
  • ActuarialChef
    ActuarialChef Posts: 1,413 Member
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    Bump *
  • HannahDiaz25
    HannahDiaz25 Posts: 104
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    The menu thing works great as long as you stick to it! I sometimes find myself to tired to want to cook sometimes and then we order out and ruin our budget and diets for the week!
    I have started just cooking seasoned grilled chicken with brown rice and putting them into containers in the freezer. This is great for those days you dont have anything for lunch/dinner. Its healthy and cheap and keeps you from eating junk food that costs more then it should. If you are smart and plan well healthy eating can be cheaper than frozen packaged meals and corn dogs LOL.
    :wink:
  • veggiemuncher12
    veggiemuncher12 Posts: 93 Member
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    check out bountifulbaskets.org. .. You can get great fruits & veggies for cheap.. you can also do "add ons".. not sure what they have for your neck of the woods but I've seen bread, granola, olive oil, etc.. Please check it out!

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