Healthy eating, more expensive than junk?

[Caz]

I posted this somewhere else but thought I'd post it here too, just if anyone is interested.

You hear it so many times, people saying that they can't afford to eat healthy, it's too expensive. I've even heard it on a dieting site, someone saying that healthy eating is too expensive because a bag of apples is 3/4 times the price of a bag of chips/crisps. Nevermind the fact that the $1 bag of chips she talked about is gone in one sitting whereas that $3.50 bag of apples lasts maybe 5 or 6 snacks.

Usually I buy all my shopping in bits and pieces throughout the week but today I sat down and planned out my meals for the entire week - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then I wrote a shopping list so that I'd make sure I got absolutely everything I needed for the week. I partly did this as I'm a trainee teacher and I start my school placement again this week which means I'm pretty busy so don't want to have to keep popping in the shop but also, I wanted to see what it costs me for an entire week. To give you an idea of what I bought, here's my meal plan for the week.

Breakfast is cereal or fruit smoothies, weekend poached eggs.
Lunch is cous cous salad with tinned tuna or sliced up chicken, humus and veg or soup.
Dinners are chickpea curry, chicken fajitas, sausages and roasted vegetables, battered fish with sweet potato chips twice this week, chicken stir fry and burgers with sweet potato chips/fries. Plus veg like peas, carrots etc.

Snacks are yoghurts and fruit. I've also got some nut bits already. I didn't have to buy the cous cous as I've got a pack but that's £1-2 and lasts me about a month.

So I went shopping and bought everything that I needed for all of that, plus there'll still be some left over (like a pack of 8 sausages when I only need 4, or 4 bits of chicken when I only need 2, 4 tins of tuna when I only need 3, 8 sweet potatoes when I only need 3 etc) that I can freeze or keep for next week. I spent a grand total of £23.50, that's £3.36 a day. I can't even go to McDonalds and buy ONE meal for that. I think this shows just how wrong those people are, how wrong I used to be! Healthy eating is not only far better for you but with planning, it's even cheaper.

 

[foodiegal]

I plan my meals really carefully now that I'm dieting and anything that is leftover is eaten, usually as a lunch.
I think eating healthy only gets expensive if you plan badly, buy too much and end up throwing 50% of your shopping out.
We spend maybe, 100 quid a week to feed 3 of us. But that is tons of fresh fruit and veg and 3 proper meals everyday from scratch. I also freeze batches of sauces and soups which cuts down the cost for other weeks.

 

[dahlia]

I agree shopping once a week is far better and to plan your meals healthy eating is cheaper when you plan it and less waste.

 

[Laura H]

Even a snack of a carrot cut into carrot sticks costs pennies.

 

[SkinniMinnie]

I do think that eating healthily is more expensive but it's worth the bit of extra time. And the extra effort of preparing a heathy meal instead of getting a takeaway or popping a ready-made meal in the microwave.

 

[lucysmommy]

I find if I shop about you can get good bargains

Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins

 

[smithj]

Until I read this, It came to my mind that whenever I attempt to serve healthy foods on the table, I actually spend more.

 

[paulabeard]

It is definately more expensive to eat healthy with my family of 5, for a start you cant buy salad, fruit & veg that lasts all week so have to keep popping in to get more, lean meats are 2-3 times the price of cheaper meats. I have to admit sometimes it bugs me that it is more expensive but obviously i want the best for my family and try to eat as healthy as we can, but sometimes when money is tight i know i could definately get more for my money on rubbish its very frustrating xx

 

[Caz]

Well I manage to buy salad, fruit and veg that lasts all week but even if you have to keep popping in to buy more, that doesn't make it any more expensive does it? The be good to yourself type meats are more expensive but to be honest, I don't think that they're necessary. I don't buy them and I still manage to stay within 1200-1350 calories a day. Stuff like that is advertised as something that you HAVE to have if you're trying to lose weight or be healthy but think you can do that just as well on non diet foods personally. I don't think there's anything that costs me more meal wise eating healthily and it cuts out extra stuff like crisps, chocolate etc. so saves money there as well.

 

[paulabeard]

maybe we had better just agree to disagree lol xx

 

[Caz]

I wasn't disagreeing with you, I was giving my experience and asked a question but fine.

 

[Muis]

I find that I save money with not getting take-aways, but we spnd more on variety now that I am on a diet. I never spend so much on very lean mince. The fat free yogurts are also more expensive. In January 2012 the one 0% greek yogurt was 70p. Now it is £1.04. I do not buy them, but to eat healthy is getting more expensive by the month. Frozen veg and fruit, raw pulses is the best buys.

 

[paulabeard]

sorry i didnt realise that you had asked a question!
The reason it costs more when you have to keep popping back in to top it up is because i find the dates on salad and fruit very short and also we need to keep topping up the fruit bowl every 3 days or so so yes it costs more because instead of buying something once a week i have to keep going in 2-3 times a week and fresh fruit is very expensive, strawberries, grapes etc. Thats all i meant xx

 

[Muis]

I also think it is never cheaper when you buy for a family. Children still need the occasional snack!

 

[dietqueen82]

I agree on both sides children are hard to please so as a mum you sometimes have to buy 2 different lots of shopping because their are some things that my kids just won't eat or one will one won't.. Salad is expensive... My son will only eat apples oranges and berries where my daughter will have a go at anything... It's good cos my kids will eat some things and are eating better... But sometimes I'd rather give them food I know they'll eat I'm lucky because I've got a good veg shop about 20 mins from me that do really cheap seasonal fruit.. it's always best to make more and keep for other days.. And when it comes to meat cheaper cuts are always fattiest... You jus gotta shop around and do the best you can afford... Last week I got tons of stuff for about £40 a family of 4 I'm super poor at the minute

 

[Caz]

sorry i didnt realise that you had asked a question!
The reason it costs more when you have to keep popping back in to top it up is because i find the dates on salad and fruit very short and also we need to keep topping up the fruit bowl every 3 days or so so yes it costs more because instead of buying something once a week i have to keep going in 2-3 times a week and fresh fruit is very expensive, strawberries, grapes etc. Thats all i meant xx

What I meant though was even if you bought it to last the whole week, surely you'd be buying the same amount anyway so it would cost the same? I agree that strawberries, grapes, blueberries and fruit like that are fairly expensive, especially if there's 5 of you. It's ridiculous really but think it depends on the time of year. I know they're seasonal fruit so if you buy them out of season they're expensive but then don't think they're particularly cheap in season either! I don't buy them every week usually only if they're on offer, I actually never buy grapes because they're such high sugar, but sainsburys do frozen strawberries, blueberries, cherries etc. which are a lot cheaper, might be worth looking at? Depends what you use them for, I've never tried just defrosting it and eating them but I've used them in porridges, smoothies, muffins etc and they work really well. I always look at what fruit is on offer and get that so it usually varies between apples, oranges and satsumas/clementines as they're the cheaper fruits anyway.

Can you not buy the cheaper meats and cut the fatty bits off? I know you can't always if it's through the meat rather than on the edge or something.

 

[paulabeard]

I'v never really thought about buying frozen fruit if im honest, the kids take it in their lunchboxes as well im not sure what that would be like? maybe i should try it.

I do try and buy meats and trim all the fat off, but i always worry that it has more fat running through it and as im doing slimming world im never sure if im sticking to the plan doing it that way? I sometimes buy the frozen lean mince but have to buy 2 bags to do all 5 of us so im not really saving anything there. I tend to get everything i need from Tescos rather than shopping around, lazyness on my behalf really, maybe i should try looking around abit first xx

 

[Caz]

I didn't think about it until I started having smoothies for breakfast, then it was just too expensive to buy fresh so I bought frozen. Not sure what it would be like in a lunchbox either. But maybe you could blitz it up with some yoghurt or something for them instead? I don't know. Sainsbury's fruit is 3 for £5 for 400-500g bags so it's pretty good. Otherwise, do you have a local market? They're usually a LOT cheaper for fruit than the supermarket I find but it's being able to get to them that can be difficult.

I wouldn't worry too much about the meat, as long as you're cutting off what you can then it shouldn't be too bad.

 

[paulabeard]

Yeah i have a market right near me that sells fruit every wednesday, i may go and check it out tomorrow xx

 

[Malteaster]

Aldi frozen fruit is lovely, especially the Black Forest fruits. They also have certain fruit and veg on offer every week for 69p. I bought a bag of carrots there for 39p and they lasted really well.

I also freeze leftover celery and leeks, and use to add to soup.

I am going to get my act together and grow salad leaves this year.