Why is eating healthy so freaking expensive?!?

[Anonymous]

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!

[Anonymous]

East seasonally. Limit your meat. Shop sales. Buy what you eat and eat what you buy -- consume/repurpose leftovers, find a recipe for impulse purchases, use stuff before it goes bad.

[Anonymous]

How the hell did you do that? I'm seriously curious, because we have 3 adults eating Primal for about $500 a month......

Off the top of my head: buy only what is in season, look for the smaller bagged fruit: little apples, pears, clementines, etc. since most kids don't eat a whole one. Buy larger cuts of meat and less expensive ones, the precut little chicken pieces are woefully overpriced. Buy frozen fish. It doesn't go bad and it is surprisingly good....also handy, since it keeps. Make your own bread. It is fun and dirt cheap. No, you don't need a bread machine.

Use normal ingredients, not gourmet stuff.

[Anonymous]

Increase the amount of beans you eat and the cost will go down.

[Anonymous]

Root vegetables. Potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, don't add butter/cream/cheese/oil/fats.

They fill you up for cheap.

If your diet allows for it, add grains. Rice, etc. in 25-50lb bags is very cheap.

Basically, eat like Indians and/or Koreans (banchan). Lots of vegetables, but they're marinated/seasoned/spiced/etc. on cheap.

[Anonymous]

One recipe needs to cover 2 meals. So instead of making 5 meals for the 5 work days, we make 3 meals. We shop at WF and TF for a family of 3 and found that this has reduced our grocery bill to $1100 from $1900. (And we pack 90% of our lunches). We eat beans or lentils for a few of those meals. We also go to Costco a few times a year. Our bill is still high--don't get me wrong--but there is no way around it, if you want to eat well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Increase the amount of beans you eat and the cost will go down.

Totally agree with above. I made a big thing of lentils last weekend and then made black beans earlier this week. I eat them for lunch or dinner with rice and or veggies and its very filling.
Frozen veggies retain their nutrients better than fresh ones, so don't feel bad buying them. We also buy frozen fruit for smoothies or to add to other items. A lot depends on what you're making and whether you are used to cooking homemade food. If this is relatively new, you might be spending a lot of spices/seasonings that someone who cooks a lot (like me) already has.

[Anonymous]

The farmers markets by me cost more, not less. Where I grew up (Richmond) there are little outdoor vegetable stands all over and they are affordable and super delicious. Wish we had that here. When my mom visits (in season) she brings me large quantities of tomatoes, cucumber, cantelope, peaches, etc. Love it!

Can't really help you. We eat a ton of fresh produce (non organic) but I do rely a lot on store bought marinades, Annie's Mac and cheese, fruit cups for packed lunches etc. While I know it's not ideal, my kids are little and I'm busy.

[Anonymous]

Part of the sudden increase may be you stocked up on things that will last awhile.

Fresh produce can also be very costly if you don't watch the price of things. In the summer, its pretty cheap, but in the winter you have to be careful or you will pay $6 for one pepper. Fruit is another thing. It shows the price per pound, but its easy to get a few pounds of...say..cherries and suddenly the cost is $15. You want to try to stay in season or shop sales.

Meat can also really be expensive, if you are going for pre-cut items. For awhile I was buying the lesser prepared chicken and cutting it up, but I found I hated it and wasted so much food it wasn't worth it (by the time I cut the skin and bones out, there wasn't much left). So now I go for skinless, boneless breasts and just use less. At times, I've even found the Perdue individual breast chicken to be worth it, if I know I am mainly cooking for me and my son, because I can stop myself from cooking too much (versus cooking a full pound of meat and throwing half of it out).

Are you also possibly throwing out a lot of food? It can take awhile to figure out how much fresh food to buy without it going bad.

Some healthy inexpensive food: beans, rice, couscous, and pasta (if you are not trying to avoid gluten).

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

I have a huge pot of soup going right now. It has chard, turnips, potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, pork, and onions in it. Even with everything being organic I think the ingredients cost less than $15.00 (chicken broth was a couple of bucks) and the four of us will each get about three meals from it. Same thing with the chili and rice I made two days ago.

We started the Virgin Diet and have eliminated corn, soy, sugar, dairy, eggs, gluten, and peanuts. It's not only improved our eating habits (shrunk our waist lines) but it's also lowered our grocery bill from nearly $1000 a month to $500.

[Anonymous]

OP, do you want to post what you are eating? The internets might be able to come up with more specific suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Holy crap! We are 4 people and our grocery bill is approx $150-175 week and I'm not very careful AT ALL. And all my meat and animal products are local or organic.

We do eat a lot of lentils and beans and brown rice. Meat is usually a favoring not the main deal. We never eat frozen or canned veggies and fruit.

We also eat a ton of greens (collards, chard, and kale).

I have no idea what you are doing at the store. I find eating unhealthy very very expensive. Our whole family went to Subway this weekend and it was $32! I would say i can quote easily cook a healthy dinner for 4 for $10 total.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks, everyone! I rarely throw food out, although occasionally some veggies might go bad before I get to them. I really prefer fresh vegetables to frozen, but I'm going to think about how I can incorporate the frozen into some dishes. I'm definitely going to look for more recipes with beans. I buy a lot of chicken and fresh fish, and that tends to drive up my bill. We haven't eaten out at all this month and we all take our lunch every day. That's also probably added to the expenses for the month. Again, I really appreciate all of the tips!

[Anonymous]

No advice, just empathy. I always tell myself that it is cheaper than medical care.