[MindiV]

We spend a TON more money now eating healthier than we used to eating bad stuff...but we live in a small town, where grocery shopping for the items they don't order in larger amounts (the healthy items) is WAY expensive. I can't get a pound of chicken breasts for less than $7...fresh produce is also expensive, as is the frozen. A single meal of grilled chicken breasts with veggies could easily cost us $20 a night.

But when we HAD a Sonic (it closed) my husband and I could eat there for less than $10 or $12, total...

[Onederchic]

Originally Posted by seagirl

It seems to be due to lack of education, or thinking that "healthy" means all organic, fancy boxed things rather than just whole foods.

Trader Joe's has fantastically healthy stuff that is so cheap. Whole wheat couscous, fish, veggies, cheese, cereals, etc.

I think if someone wants to lose weight or eat better they will find a way. And if they don't, or they are scared, then they will find an excuse.

Well said and I agree.

[jendiet]

As a single mom for 8 years struggling with weight issues, I can testify to eating healthier is more expensive. If you think of eating healthier as eating diet foods.

Diet foods ARE expensive. Produce is ridiculous if not on sale.

A bag of cheeze puffs: 99 cents
A bag of apples: $3.99
A 2 gallon bucket of icecream $5.29
A 6 pack of low fat yogurt $4.99
regular meat $1.99 lb
lean meat $2.49-$2.99 lb
white bread: 99 cents
whole wheat bread: $2.49

veggie are NOT dirt cheap unless you have a garden. We have a garden and have been eating squash, cucumber, tomatoes, green beans from my garden. Which has cut down my grocery bill tremendously. A 4 pack of tomatoes is $3.99 where I am.

I grew up with 5 siblings and we went without food alot. Our staples were 2 things someone else mentioned. Mac & cheese and Ramen noodles, don't forget the hot dogs needed to cut up into the Mac & cheese. These ARE dirt cheap compared to stir fry kits and other healthier choices.

The thing is people want to feel like they are eating something. They don't want to feel deprived. So they buy into the I must have diet foods to diet scam. I hate diet foods. Your friend sounds a little uneducated in nutrition. That is all. I am sure if you showed her how to count calories and that she did not have to eat diet foods to lose weight, she would really benefit from it and maybe change her mind. Also, since I started eating for me and not 2 of me...I cut down on my expenses alot--like someone else mentioned.

fast food is only part of the story for people who think eating healthy is expensive. It is what they can stock in their fridges and cabinets that holds them back.

[ValRock]

Originally Posted by MindiV

We spend a TON more money now eating healthier than we used to eating bad stuff...but we live in a small town, where grocery shopping for the items they don't order in larger amounts (the healthy items) is WAY expensive. I can't get a pound of chicken breasts for less than $7...fresh produce is also expensive, as is the frozen. A single meal of grilled chicken breasts with veggies could easily cost us $20 a night.

But when we HAD a Sonic (it closed) my husband and I could eat there for less than $10 or $12, total...

Holy crud, $7 a lb for chicken breasts?! I don't buy them if they're more than $1.99 a lb here, usually a lot less! That's nuts.

[ValRock]

I guess I'm quick to forget what it's like living in a high cost of living area... I just moved from the DC area to central valley California and don't remember ever paying such high prices for staples like meat/produce/dairy... I feel bad for those of you who have to pay that! I just bought a 6 pack of ligh n fit yogurt for $1.99.

I have taken her shopping with me and she's been at my house while I make dinner etc... and she still feels the way she does. She sees that I don't eat "diet food". I dunno... I guess it's just a matter of being ready to stop making excuses.

[midwife]

My favorite dirt cheap meal is 2 eggs with canned refried beans and frozen, microwaved spinach. Less than $2 a serving around here. Dried beans would be even cheaper. A big tub of store brand quick cook oats is pretty cheap too. I buy store brand frozen veggies and fruits.

[jendiet]

Well, Val, i think your friendship will be the BIGGEST influence on her and cooking healthy for her too because you will show her how good it tastes.

And you are right, part of it is her making excuses!

[Onederchic]

Well, for me, a weeks worth of groceries comes to around 35-40 bucks. I think that is pretty cheap

[MindiV]

Originally Posted by ValRock

I guess I'm quick to forget what it's like living in a high cost of living area... I just moved from the DC area to central valley California and don't remember ever paying such high prices for staples like meat/produce/dairy... I feel bad for those of you who have to pay that! I just bought a 6 pack of ligh n fit yogurt for $1.99.

I have taken her shopping with me and she's been at my house while I make dinner etc... and she still feels the way she does. She sees that I don't eat "diet food". I dunno... I guess it's just a matter of being ready to stop making excuses.

$1.99 for a 6 pack?! I can't get them here for less than 80 cents EACH!

I do agree, though, that there ARE things that we could've cut out of our budgets, places we wasted money before, to eat better sooner than we did....

[HotWings]

I agree about it being an excuse.. although according to these posts there are definitely some areas with high healthy food costs!

I think that people not only want the convenience of cheap, unhealthy stuff.. but also that if they went to healthy foods on a tight budget, they might have to give up something else (cable tv, less talking on the cell phone, etc). People, in general, are not fans of giving up anything they like. Personally, if I had to give up satellite tv or a fast internet connection.. that would be completely unacceptable.

[jelder227]

Amen to the cheap, easy or healthy! My family does eat healthy foods, and I'm extremely budget conscious, so I try for the cheap as well.

Somebody mentioned planning though - and I think that's the factor that makes it possible to do all three. By planning meals to fit around my schedule and ensuring that I only have to shop once a week, it's not that difficult to cook every day, and I spend a lot less than some people that eat the cheap "junk". I frequently put meals on the table for under $7 or $8 for the three of us, and have leftovers for lunches!

After a year of preaching about meal planning, one of the girls I work with finally tried it, and she was so excited. She told me she went and did the shopping for her family for the week for $60, they stuck to the menu, it was simple, and they ate healthier foods! Finally, someone got it . . .

[kaplods]

When anyone tells me they can't eat healthy on a budget, or that losing weight can't be done inexpensively, I recommend one website and several books.

Hillbillyhouswife.com

The Tightwad Gazette and Miserly Moms books, and Good Cheap Food.

There are tons more, so I suggest they look for the books on amazon.com and pay attention to the "Customers who looked at this also bought" and "you may also like" lists that are also on the book page on amazon.


I agree that it's not always "just an excuse." A lot of people (whether they want to diet or not) do not understand how much money they can save at the grocery store without having to live on only rice and beans, or spend every second of spare time IN the grocery store or at the stove.

Many people don't know how to cook (and have no interest in learning), how to comparison shop, or how to find the best deals. They go into the grocery store, grab what they think they want and what looks good. They don't watch the sales before choosing what they're going to buy or which stores they're going to shop.

Whether or not you're wanting to lose weight or eat healthy, that kind of shopping is much more expensive than strategic shopping.

I like mandalinn's theory of cheap, healthy, and fast/easy - you can find two of the three, but virtually never all three (and on those rare occasions that you can find all three, stock up if you can).

I've been on super-tight, "how can you live on that" budgets ($25 for the month for hubby and I). On that kind of budget, it can be extremely difficult to eat low-cal/healthy, but I'm doubting that's the budget that most people are complaining about.

Even on super-tight budgets it can be done, but not by randomly picking a grocery store and shopping there, you've got to use the grocery store flyers to check out sales before you go, find discount food stores Aldi's, Walmart, health food stores (cheaper for some things like tvp and some bulk foods, and also sprouting mixes to make your own salad sprouts), oriental grocery stores (you have to comparison shop here also), budget bakeries ('day old' bread stores, be careful here and only buy the whole grain breads and cereals), and overstock stores (like Big Lots, there are also often privately owned stores like this).

You've got to be willing to become a bargain-hunter. It doesn't have to take tons of time and organization, but it does take most people out of their comfort zone. When I tell people that I start my shopping by studying all of the grocery store flyers that come in the mail, and that in the more expensive grocery stores I only go in for the loss-leader items and don't buy anything else, they think I'm crazy to spend so much time on shopping (a loss-leader is an item that the store is selling at a loss with the hopes of getting you in the door to spend a lot of money on their regularly priced items).

[sharongracepjs]

Careful planning is what makes the difference for me. I'm shopping and cooking only for myself, and one-portion cooking doesn't come easily after growing up in a family of nine, so I have to be very organized, almost obsessive about planning meals to use the ingredients I have, planning how to buy the bare minimum to get the most out of what's at home until I can afford another grocery trip, planning out how to use up all the meat and vegetables before they spoil, packing up portions of each night's dinner for a couple days of lunches. Being disciplined about the last has helped greatly with the need or temptation to run out and buy lunch, which does lead to savings. However, there are days when the money and the groceries have both run out and i have to scrounge based on whatever junk is in the pantry. Those are the times when I long for the simple fat days of ramen and roses

[caryesings]

I'm going to agree with both sides. My grocery bill has increased significantly the healthier it gets. I've lived in the South now 7 years and still go into sticker shock of how expensive produce is here compared to Midwest. And fish/chicken as primary protein instead of beef/pork doubled what I spent in that category.

However, I feel the investment in my health is more important than money in my wallet at this stage of life. But back when I was paycheck-to-paycheck? Nope, then the ramen noodles won. However it wasn't my frugal diet back then that put on my weight.

[Stella]

I always thought that healthy eating was cheaper than eating unhealthily.

Since I changed my diet however I find that I spend more. The reason is that my diet was very carb-heavy which I had to change. I now have veggies with fish instead of veggie pasta and eggs instead of rolls etc. Carbs are incredibly cheap, but I was eating them way too much and sacrificed protein for them.

Anyway, when I consider what crazy money I used to spend on diets which did not work and watching myself shrinking now makes it all worthwhile! Plus I won`t need to spend money later in order to deal with my own ill health...

Stella