Possible to eat healthy on 30-40 dollars a week?

my tip: if you look closely at the prices on the shelves at the store they have the price/ unit in the corner. this allows you to compare prices per weight without a calculator and therefore get the most food for the least $

omfg, anorexics + cheap = death

find a farmers market...you can buy all the produce you need for a week for about 10-15 dollars and that will be a LOT of food.

need help wrote:

folks, go get a better paying job, then you won't have to be such an anal frugal head. i dated a frugal guy. we went to chipotle for our aniversary, I dumped him a day later.

You sound like quite the catch. I bet you love television, too.

Use the coupons on stuff that's already on sale, when you can. I sometimes get stuff 75 percent or more off that way. Also, most stores will take coupons AFTER they've expired. They don't even look. So don't throw the good ones away. I've used ones a year or more old.

No its just i believe i deserve a guy who will spend some money on me, I'm worth that much at least. Guys need to learn that girls like to be taken care of and have things bought for them that arn't always cheap. There is no way I will settle for a guy without at least a mercedes or BMW-i dont care what hes like if he can't afford those things. So if hes worried about the price of bagels I'm not interested.

I bet you could go under $50 a week and eat all organic/whole wheat food if you shopped super smart. Buy things that will last a while in bulk when they are on sale and have a coupon, stuff like that

I stole the following post on clean eating on a budget from a fitness/bodybuilding forum, but it applies very much to runners as well. Enjoy.

Eating Clean on a Budget (originally posted by Pandora at CF4W board)

- Buy ethnic foods from ethnic stores. You will get a much better deal on almost all items. Also, check the ethnic foods section in your grocery store... beans and brown rice etc are often cheaper than in the main aisles. I can get a huge bag of brown rice in the ethnic foods section of my regular grocery store that is double the standard in the next aisle! For the same general price.

- Buy a wholesale club such as Sam’s, Costco, BJ’s (not sure if Europe or others have an equivalent) and buy in bulk on high cost items (meats!!). At my grocery store, 1 package of 2 lbs of chicken is nearly $9! At Sam’s I can get 6lbs of chicken breasts for $11! Huge savings. Also, 6 cans of solid white tuna for about $5, as opposed to $1.39-$1.69 per can in the store.

At Grocery Stores

- Stock up on “buy one get one free” meats and freeze them.

- Let you carbs come from several main sources and buy large packages of store brand. My primary carbs are brown rice, oats, and dried beans. It may seem boring, but I spice my dishes up in so many ways I am never bored.. and I always have them on hand and they are cheap!

- Dried beans are much cheaper than canned, so buy lots of them. (Lentils, too!)

- Avoid buying box single meals. They are processed, overpriced, and wasteful. Ex: One 5.7 ounce box of cous cous for one meal is $1.99. Yesterday I bought a container of 31.7 ounces of cous cous for $3.99. Major savings.

- Plan, plan, plan! Each week plan your meals. Make them simple, and w. few ingredients. Be sure you reuse the ingredients in many of your meals, so you use all that you buy. Buy exactly what you need. But, while you are at the store, keep an eye out for great deals on staples!

- Choose your protein sources carefully to lower costs and remain versatile. Avoid too many prepackaged soy products like Gardenburgers etc. At $3.79 a box of 4.. they’re pricey and not all that high in protein. Buy cottage cheese only if you will be using it and know you will be. $2.50-$2.99 for 4 servings (1 container) is a lot to toss out the window if you do it repeatedly. Buy chicken and meats on sale (I find buy one get one free sales all the time... or buy in bulk). Keep in mind what a serving of protein actually is.. 6 ounces of tuna is not really necessary at a time… eat what you need, put the rest in a Tupperware and use later that day (obviously, refrigerate) or in a couple of days.

- Avoid processed and boxed foods (chicken helper etc.. yuck). Wasteful, bad for you, expensive.

- Buy plain, no sugar added tomato sauce instead of fancy ones. The premium sauces go for about $3 a jar. I buy Hunts no sugar added for $0.85 a can (it’s a large can... and serving-wise, it goes a long way).

- Make extensive use of spices and extracts!! Be creative!

- Buy eggs in 2.5 dozen containers. I get these for $1.60 at my local grocery store. 1 dozen is about $1.. so obviously this is a better deal. White for white it is also cheaper than buying a carton of egg beaters.

- To eat clean on a budget you must be a relative creature of habit when it comes to food. I tend to eat certain meals a lot. I make a new plan monthly.. and eat the same thing each week for about 4 weeks… lots of variety because I am creative with it, I don’t get bored because I change it up monthly, and it really keeps costs down low… I make several options for each meal and just choose one when it is time to eat… I often have so much variety I can’t decide what to eat, but my main ingredients are all basically the same staples.

- Stay well-stocked on fibrous frozen veggies. Studies show they are as healthy, possibly more so, than fresh since they are flash frozen when they are at their peak. Buy store brand and look for sales. This is a great way to round out any meal.

- Buy store brand for oats, dried beans etc. They taste they same and can be up to 50% cheaper!

- Certain items you only have to re-stock on periodically: Splenda, sugar-free syrup etc.

- I buy canned diced tomatoes. They do not go bad and at about $1.15 for a 30 oz can, you can’t go wrong. They are much cheaper than fresh and are convenient. I use them in so many recipes and dishes. I do buy fresh, but only when I know I am using them since they go bad quickly and are expensive.

- On the subject of fresh fruits and veggies: I basically stick to the cheap ones. I buy frozen berries, however. Cheap fruits are bananas, apples, grapefruit, oranges, etc. Same for fresh veggies. I buy the cheap ones that last a while: onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, lettuce, greens. Look for fruit canned in their own juices, too. They have no added sugar and can be rinsed when you use them. I buy the store brand and on sale only. I do not use them much, but when I do it is nice to have them on hand.. and not rotten. J For example: I keep mandarin oranges canned in pure pear juice. I rinse them when I open them. They are great on top of spinach greens with a little red onion and drizzled with a mix of 1 tsp orange all-fruit & 1 tsp olive oil.

- Once you buy your staples, you basically just shop weekly for special items you may wish to prepare, sale items, perishables such as milk, bread, and veggies, and staple items you have run out of or are about to run out of.

- On staple such as oats, brown rice etc, I will buy double if there is a good sale.

- Use coupons. Between store sales and coupons, yesterday I saved $40 on my $160 grocery bill (that was for 2 weeks food for three people). My total for 2 weeks groceries was $120!!

- When buying dairy etc., if it will last a while, buy large containers. If not, buy just the amount you need. Try store brands.

- Plan your meals to use all that you buy. Make your grocery lists from your meals plans.. then stick to the meal plan.

- I make tons of soups, stews etc. that are cost effective and last days. Be creative here! You can often use up all of leftover ingredients by inventing a new soup of some sort. I usually freeze some, too.

- When cash is tight is IS ok to exclude meats! You WILL get enough protein if you eat effectively. You can supplement with a good protein powder, canned tuna etc.

- Do not shop hungry! And resist impulse buying. If it is not on the list, leave it where it is.

- We all eat different things, but this may help give you an idea of how I do this:

Staples I always have on hand:

Oats, brown rice, dried beans, canned diced tomatoes, salt free rice cakes, extracts, spices, cocoa powder, Splenda, chicken bouillon cubes, green tea, sugar-free Jell-O (I buy Jell-O on sale and stock up.. I have about 50 in my pantry now. No kidding), frozen chicken breasts, whey and soy protein powder, smoked salmon (not really expensive, I buy it on sale and freeze it), canned tuna, canned chicken, canned salmon. (I always stock up on “buy one get one free" sales on these items).

Perishables etc I keep in stock by buying every couple of weeks or so:

Smart Balance spread (has healthy fats in it, not unhealthy), olive oil (I buy large.. extra virgin olive oil.. and it lasts forever!), Silk soymilk- unsweetened (lasts a long time so I stock up when I see this on sale, too), onions, garlic, sweet potatoes, portabella mushrooms (I use these in everything, it seems... great for you), natty pb, Nature’s Own brand high fiber bread (this is high protein, high fiber, low carb, low cal and tastes awesome! I keep it in the fridge so it lasts a long time)

Hope that helps a little or gives you some ideas. I've gotten really good at this, as I've been a single mom (until recently ) for almost 8 years.. money has always been pretty tight. That said, I have always managed tomake nearly all meals from scratch, with little time involved, and at low cost.

Interesting. In Canada I've actually been finding that the days of cheaper produce at the Farmer's markets are long gone. Granted the market stuff is usually fresher and tastier (and the sellers probably now realize this is their ticket to higher prices), but in my experience not at all cheaper. Again, good to know your prices.

theOTHERwhitemeat wrote:

find a farmers market...you can buy all the produce you need for a week for about 10-15 dollars and that will be a LOT of food.

stolen wrote:

- Buy a wholesale club such as Sam’s, Costco, BJ’s (not sure if Europe or others have an equivalent) and buy in bulk on high cost items (meats!!). At my grocery store, 1 package of 2 lbs of chicken is nearly $9! At Sam’s I can get 6lbs of chicken breasts for $11! Huge savings. Also, 6 cans of solid white tuna for about $5, as opposed to $1.39-$1.69 per can in the store.

Watch out, a lot of this cheap meat is pumped full of salt water to increase the weight. Up to 12% is water! Check the packaging for this (it should be listed)

yeah, I used to work at the farmers markets in bc, and the produce is way pricier because only the yuppies and rich mid-age hippies shop there...

also b/c we're not exploited as bad as plantation workers

Happiness is not determined by material wealth. Hopefully you'll find that out sooner or later.

Eating tofu regularly increases your chance of being homosexual by 20%.

add edamame beans, miso paste (to make soup), which are very nutritious, and relatively cheap at asian food stores.

BUY.

Rice.

cereal.

bread.

and basics for cooking.

Hunt or grow your own meat.

Milk your own cow.

Grow your own veges and fruit.

Eat wild game.

Preserve your own fruit.

Make your own jam,pickles,etc.

Catch your own fish.

Brew your own Beer.

Do your own cooking.

Its called life skills.

You do not learn them at university.

And it is not for city folks.

And get some poultry as well

I know a way to get free food.

Go dumpster diving in you local grocery store dumpster. I know it sounds gross but you can find a lot of good food wrapped up in nice sanitary plastic bags, protected from the muck and maggots. Many times they will throw out baked goods that are still good to eat, or bruised fruit. Bakery dumpsters are good places too. They usually throw away their bread that is only one to two days old! I don't know about you but I still eat bread that is older than two days old. Other good options: pizza joints (watch out for meat toppings), Sandwich shops, or any of your other favorite food places. Just remember, wash all the food you get, if it smells bad don't eat it, if it looks bad just cut off the ugly parts or don't eat it, and enjoy the FREE nutrition!

I know a way to get free food.

Go dumpster diving in you local grocery store dumpster. I know it sounds gross but you can find a lot of good food wrapped up in nice sanitary plastic bags, protected from the muck and maggots. Many times they will throw out baked goods that are still good to eat, or bruised fruit. Bakery dumpsters are good places too. They usually throw away their bread that is only one to two days old! I don't know about you but I still eat bread that is older than two days old. Other good options: pizza joints (watch out for meat toppings), Sandwich shops, or any of your other favorite food places. Just remember, wash all the food you get, if it smells bad don't eat it, if it looks bad just cut off the ugly parts or don't eat it, and enjoy the FREE nutrition!

Person Man wrote:

It's definitely possible. It's not easy, but it's possible. Be a smart shopper--buy stuff when it's on sale (check the grocery flyers in the newspaper or online). Even better, buy staples at a discount grocery store like Aldi. For nonperishables, it doesn't get much better than Aldi.

Go to Aldi. You can eat for $25 a week there, easy.