Why is eating healthy so freaking expensive?!?

[Anonymous]

We eat a primarily vegetatin diet, with a decent amount of organically and lots of in season produce. For 3, my weekly expenses almost never top $150. Sometimes I just spend $50 a week if we have staples in stock.

[Anonymous]

Definetly throw in one bean meal a week. I'd love to also do lentils, but so far, my lentil dishes have been very bland.

Another thing I noticed, is when I tried to follow some recipe plan - like from the Scramble, our grocery bill soared. I finally realized that often the recipes would have one ingredient that was ridiculoulsy expensive. And often not needed. So I would learn to either take it out (say if it was a red pepper in a stir fry, I'd get carrots instead) or have a back-up recipe in case one of the ingredients was expensive that week.

I also love fresh veggies. I use frozen for side dishes for my son, but I don't use for main meals, as I can really tell the difference.

Fish is super expensive. But healthy. So hard to get around that. Maybe consider frozen fish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overall we tend to eat healthy, but I found myself buying more processed food last year. I'm back on track this month with primarily leans meats, dairy, and tons of fruits and vegetables. However, our grocery bill for three people was $1300 for the month! I don't shop at Whole Foods, and I don't buy all organic. I can't freaking believe I spent that much just on regular food. How do you eat fresh, healthy food on a budget? I'm ready for the farmer's markets to gear back up, but until then I need some advice!

OP, honestly that bill doesn't seem all that high to me for the DC area, especially if you are buying convenience fresh foods (precut and washed lettuce, green beans etc.)

Of course everyone's going to come on here and say "I only spend $150 a week" or whatever, but I bet you anything they are not the norm for this area.

And you never know unless people detail EXACTLY what they are spending money on, what they are including in their grocery bill. Some people literally mean the receipt for their shopping trips to Safeway, Giant etc. but that includes personal toiletries, plastic wrap, household cleaning supplies, and/or beer. Some people have every family member buy lunch at work or school. For others the grocery bill covers only food; they stock up on cleaning items elsewhere.

Certainly there are ways to save on healthy foods. Any produce in the middle of winter is going to be pretty expensive. One great way to save money on food is to have "eat out the fridge" night once a night where you just try to use up leftovers. A very cheap winter salad I love to make is winter coleslaw: napa cabbage or whatever is on sale, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, a little olive oil, some grated carrot or cilantro. We've had it several nights this week and I'm still not tired of it.

[Anonymous]

I buy frozen preportioned fish and thaw it in the microwave or frig depending on when I'm going to eat it. That way you can hit a sale and stock up. Also if you roast a whole chicken, it will make two or three meals. Ditto stuff like chili.

Frozen veggies don't rot, so get about half a weeks worth of fresh and the rest frozen.

Bake bread. Make pancakes or waffles if you eat grains and freeze them spread out, then put them in a bag and pop in the toaster. Ditto French toast.

We---3 adults---eat paleo. Not much fruit, mostly meat and veggies. Coffee, tea, no soda. Three meals a day from home as well.

[Anonymous]

I do not see how $1300 is "normal" for this area for 3 people. I can't even fathom how one spends nearly 300 at the grocery store in a week. I only do this if I'm entertaining.

My DH and I work FT and pack lunch about 2xs a week each and we pack lunch daily for the kids. We all eat breakfast at home in the morning and dine out about once a week for dinner.

We are not frugal by any means, we spend $150-175/week on groceries. This includes the pre-chopped veggies for stir fry and a TON of veggies and fruit for the Vitamix smoothies. I'm a pretty advanced chef, so my meals are not that simple, often include fresh herbs and a wide array of ingredients.

Granted, we are not huge drinkers and we mainly drink water, except the kids drink milk. We dont eat a ton of fish and really only buy a big thing of fresh wild salmon at Costco when they have it. Maybe the big spenders are spending nearly $100 on fish a week?

We do however, have two boys and they are starting to eat an enormous amount of food and are now buying 2 gallons of milk.

I will admit that I look at what other people are buying at the grocery store and I will say that I see carts fill to the brim with convenience food and "high end" processed foods. I'm sure their bills are through the roof. If you look in my cart, the extent of my convenience foods are cans upon cans of Goya beans and Chunk Light Tuna, mayo, Granola, Lara Bars, and boxes of Cheddar Bunnies.

[Anonymous]

Frozen vegetables are just as healthy as fresh. In fact, they can often be healthier because they were picked ripe and in season instead of transported half-way around the world and ripened by gas.

[Anonymous]

OP, do you have cable TV? An expensive phone plan? Do you splurge on great clothes? Yes, of course, decent food is more expensive than cheap crap. How you spend your money is all about priorities.

[Anonymous]

To answer your question, OP, corn subsidies. Corn subsidies have kept the price of processed crap ridiculously low, and it's given us a false sense of how much things should cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think $1300/month for 3 people to eat healthy food is pretty good.

On what planet?? We are healthy eaters, family of 4 and there is NO WAY our bill is even close to that. Maybe MAYBE $800 a month. We eat organic, free range eggs. Organic milk. lots of fruit. OP are you sure that's what its costing you?
do you drink a lot of juices maybe?

[Anonymous]

Buy what is in season. Right now, that's kale, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. Step away from the asparagus! You'll enjoy it more when it's in season in the spring.

[Anonymous]

ok - not to be snarky - but we eat healthy (certain fruits and veggies organic, always organic poultry, not much red meat and some fish, lots of beans) and for a family of five we spend about $900 per month on food. We drink a gallon of milk a day, so I don't always get the organic. And we make 3 meals a day at home and out of necessity don't order out or go out to dinner (I would LOVE for that to change). I shop TJs and Safeway and rarely WF. No sodas, but I do buy healthy snacks for the kids (all school aged). I guess I could spend twice that if I were splashing out on gourmet items, but 1300 for three is reasonable? seriously?

[Anonymous]

We are two adults, spending less then $500 a month.

Before shopping we meal plan for 1-2 weeks then make a list. We have pasta, rice, oatmeal, butter, condiments, etc and only buy those as needed (tends to be once a month or less).

For each shop we buy combination of fresh and frozen veggies, milk, fruit, yogurt, cheese, cereal, beef, chicken and whatever else we need for our meals. We end up spending around $150 per shop, more if stocking up on rice or pasta or buying toiletries.

We eat gluten free too, so generally the bread and pasta we buy is MORE expensive then what everybody else buys. We also tend to buy organic meats (but not Whole Foods, we shop at Wegmans for everything but the pasta we eat, we get that from Amazon or Mom's).

How did you get to $1300?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not see how $1300 is "normal" for this area for 3 people. I can't even fathom how one spends nearly 300 at the grocery store in a week. I only do this if I'm entertaining.

It certainly isn't frugal or even sensible, but for two-income families where both parents are high earners, and aren't buying beans in the can and having sensible tuna fish sandwiches for lunch, I think it is not an uncommon amount to spend.

Especially if they are buying gourmet foods, imported cheeses, and of course wine and beer. Of course it is cheaper to buy bricks of cheddar and to buy your meat in a bulk "family pack" and re package to freeze in more sensible servings. But some people just don't do that.

$1300/month is on the high end, but I don't think it is that out of line for what well off people in this area spend at the grocery store each month.

OP, what are you spending your money on? Do you buy generic cold cereals and bulk meats; blocks of cheese? Cans of beans to make casseroles and your own hummus? Big bags of frozen peas and green beans? Potatoes in sacks of 10 pounds?

[Anonymous]

Two words: dried beans

Healthy easy and cheap!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer your question, OP, corn subsidies. Corn subsidies have kept the price of processed crap ridiculously low, and it's given us a false sense of how much things should cost.

I came in here to say the same thing. Try new recipes, eat in season, eat minimal meat, more beans and tofu and eggs for protein. Portion control Anne fewer processed foods too.