Ok, this is part of my problem! I'm on a very strict budget right now for food shopping, which usually means that buying healthy items fall by the wayside because they tend to be more expensive...how can I stretch my money when buying healthy food, that won't break the bank! I need suggestions on what sort of things are good for you, but cheap!!

Oatmeal, yogurt, cottage cheese and fruit. Do you live near a Giant Tiger?

The biggest that I've found is to buy canned or frozen veggies. They are VERY cheap, as opposed to the fresh ones. I love fresh, but sometimes it's just not in the budget!

Honestly when you look at the cost of eating out (fast food especially) and candy and cookies versus the cost of fruits and vegetables and meats from the grocery... it really does balance out.

I agree 1000% !! Eating healthy doesn't cost more... What you could do is buy dry beans and make some chili, that can be cheap and is a healthy protein and full of fibre... Tuna is cheap, eggs on sale are cheap... If you MUST eat canned veggies by all means do so, but rince them well to get most of the sodium out. You can also get frozen veggies... or older veggies are always on sale racks in the middle of the aisles where I shop... It can be done but you have to be creative...

Ya know, I never thought about it, but MtaTJac is absolutely right. All of that junk food is outragously expensive. Thanks for putting that in perspective for me!

I find it hard to buy meat, up here in Canada I find meat REALLY expensive, for such small quanities that we won't even get two meals out of it....And it takes up over half my budget if I buy it....I'm NOT a fan of tofu, can't stand it, but know that my protein level is REALLY low. I go into a grocery store and just draw a complete blank...and I make lists and try to plan meals, but it just never works that way. I find that planning meals, with cheap products is very frustrating for me, and SO time consuming! I wish there was an easier way. The other thing is that my hubby is not really supporting my new healthy food and he brings back a whole bunch of junk food, which sits there tempting me! It's terrible!

cooking from scratch should be cheaper have you tried markets for veggies and that kind of thing?

Yeah, I've gone to farmers Markets, and find that even their prices are expensive, they charge less, but also give you smaller amounts, so by the time I buy the amount I need it works out to be what I would end up paying at a grocery store. It's ridiculous! I really have never been a fan of grocery shopping.... LOL! I wish I could be on one of those programs where the food was already made and they could just send it to my house so I wouldn't have the hassle, but those are expensive, and not sure if it would work for me diet wise....

What did you eat before you decided to lose weight? Can you give an example of say ... an ordinary supper at your house?

In a normal day:

Breakfast...never could get mysel to eat first thing in the morning...usually a piece of fruit or glass of OJ

Lunch: Usually like canned beans in Tomato sauce or sometihng processed like that...or mac and Cheese...my fav....

Dinner: Some sort of meat, with rice and veggie, or a pasta, with tomoato and meat sauce.

Don't eat deserts....I'm not a fan of spending long hours in the kitchen...even 30 minutes seems like too long... I know that I eat way too much processed stuff...that's no secret...and CARBS, especially pasta, is a huge weakness!

I usually buy whatever meat, vegetable and fruit is on sale for the current week. It means that I don't necessarily get to plan what I'm going to buy before I see the sale paper, but it works for my family. We can't be too picky, but thankfully, we (at least my husband and I) like most vegetables and meats.

We can usually find chicken on sale at least every other week for less than 39 cents a pound (thighs or legs). Boneless breast are frequently on sale for less than $1.40/lb. Depending on the time of the year, there is almost always some good veggie on sale.

Also, I don't know if there are Walmarts in your area, but they will match any advertised price of a competitor. So, some weeks I go through several store ads and then go to Wal-Mart and get it all there. I like doing that on meats, because sometimes the stuff on sale at other stores may look too fatty or like it has too much gristle, but I can go to Wal-Mart and have them match the price and their meats look good.

Wow!!!! Chicken prices are so cheap down in the states!!! Up here it is $1.99/Lb for chicken legs, and up to $3.99 for chicken breasts!!!! If it was .39 cents per Lb, I could handle that!!! Wow!!!!

Canadian_Mickey: Canned beans, they are cheap, great source of protein and fiber. Rinse them well when you cook them to get rid of some of the sodium.

Also oatmeal, not the pre-packaged stuff, but the big containers of plain oatmeal. You can add brown sugar, some raisins, or bananas.

Do you have any wholesale clubs where they sell by the bulk? Most items are much cheaper there, like cereals, produce, canned items, meats, etc.

Pasta is also cheap and you can add canned veggies or tomatoes, grate some cheese on it and you got yourself a meal.

Eating healthy doesn't have to cost a fortune.

I cook like that for supper. I eat the meat and the veggie and let my family have the carb. If I'm extra hungry I eat the rice (a half cup) or a potato.
And the canned beans or mac'n'cheese ... portion control and a handful of bagged salad.
An apple here, a boiled egg there and you're off to the races.

here's our household strategy:
-buy whatever fresh produce is on sale-- carrots and bananas are usually pretty cheap. and the generic frozen brands are often pretty cheap, too.
-rarely buy packed foods and snack foods
-asian and latino markets often have cheaper veggies and staples like rice, flour, and beans
-protein is probably one of the most expensive items. we often eat eggs, dried beans, lentils, cottage cheese, and yogurt-- all pretty cheap and nutritious. chicken is a "treat" for us. we've bought a lot of ground turkey bc it was cheap at the price club...