Stock up on frozen fruits and vegetables. They seem to go on sale at least once a month in my area. In the summertime I match sales with coupons and stock the freezer so I can eat smoothies all year long.
I try to eat healthy on a budget... I opt for more fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, and less meat. I cook with minimal oil. And I don't buy junk food like cookies or dessert. I do splurge though when I do eat out...
I didn't jump on the Obamania bandwagon when Barack offered me all that dough from his stash. No matter how much he offered me, I wasn't trading in my '95 Buick Roadmaster. I spent $1,200 on a complete tune-up instead. Now my old clunker gets 22 mpg instead of 18 mpg like is used to get and I don't have any car payments.
Over the past year I have lost 80lbs through hard work and a change in lifestyle.
There are many ways that I have achieved this without increasing my food budget, and actually have lowered from approx $750 a month (family of 4) to now over $500.
Main ways, are to cook everything... and occasionally splurdge once a month on eating out.
Watching what we are eating and of course buying off brand, and utilizing coupons.
No wasting of foods and shopping maybe once a week for the groceries.
I've been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. Left to my own devices, pasta is really my staple. I never get tired of it - but it doesn't give me any nutrients whatsoever. My BMI is really awful, so I've been exercising more (I decided to pay for a gym membership to force myself to go - going for "a walk" never worked out, but this is!) and I've been trying to eat less processed foods to follow a more minimalist diet and get back to the goodness of nature. I don't necessarily want to go organic, but I would like to make more simple meals (caprese salads, soup and bread and cheese, granola and plain yogurt, things like that) just to get back to basics and learn to appreciate food as it is, not smothered in something. Overloading myself with fries and grease and soda is great and satisfying, and I still like it, but now I look at it and I regret putting it into my body. The whole "you are what you eat" factor. It's still a work in progress, but I rather like living to improve. :)
We do several things:
1.) Shop for veggies at the Asian supermarket. They are cheaper, and tastier than Wal Mart stuff.
2.) We eat mainly chicken now. Red meat is a luxury, but that's okay. It saves money (and probably our health in the long run).
3.) We make a lot of food and freeze the leftovers for lunch in the coming weeks. I think that saves money and is healthier.
4.) We try very hard not to waste. it's like throwing money away.
EAT AT HOME!!! I can't stress this enough. Make recipes from scratch. It wastes time, gas and money eating out. You know what you put into your own meals. Blogs, recipe sites and friends are a constant source for healthy recipes. My biggest learning experience is finding the right store(s) and farmer markets. My grocery store has a section I constantly check that has veggies, fruits on clearance. ripe bananas by the bag are pennies a pound. I usually slice the bananas and freeze them for smoothies as well as strawberries. I found potatoes for $1 a 10 lb bag and used them right away to make freezer mashed potatoes. I make a bunch in advance so I never have to think of what to make for a side dish for dinner. It pays to visit your farmers market. Fresh food from the farmers market is cheaper than the regular market. Know what you need and don't overbuy. Freeze what you know you can't use right away. Also dinners do not need to be a four course meal. Fresh tomatoes and pasta make a great meal. Add a little garlic for more flavor.
IF YOU AIR DRY CLOTHES RUN THROUGH EXTRA SPIN AND HANG UP IN HOUSE OVERNIGHT IF ANYTHING IS NOT COMPLETELY DRY HANG OUTSIDE UNTIL DRY DO NOT LEAVE IT ON THE LINE TO BAKE ALL DAY AND CLOTHES WON'T FADE FROM THE SUN.
We try to cook from scratch as often as is possible in our busy lives. This means some planning ahead - to use dried beans for instance - but is cheaper and often comes with less sodium and BPA. :)
I just heard Clark Howard on the radio and his rule of thumb is if buying new then run the wheels off the vehicle makes sense. If buying used then purchase a 2 to 3 year old vehicle and run it for four years. This I'm sure is looking at the cost of ownership only; $cost per mile to own a vehicle. But if your looking at the financial aspect only it sounds like good advice.
A lot of grocery stores will bundle produce at a reduced price if it's on its way out, but still good if you use it right away.
I either use the fruit/veggies right away, or cut up the fruit and freeze it for smoothies later (using a stick blender and combining with homemade yogurt and a little soft tofu)!
Blow a Whistle when they call.....I guarantee they will not call you again.
I keep a whistle next to the phone. When I see on the caller ID a number I don't know. I pick up the whistle, then answer the phone. If you get a recorded message that says click a number, click it and if you get a live person. BLOW THE WHISTLE.... And when the recording says call a number, I call it and BLOW THE WHISTLE when I get a liver person.....
My family has just begun working on establishing a budget for healthier eating. the first thing we are doing is cutting way back on the processed and sugar-laden items we have been in the habit of buying in the past. This frees up money to be used on more fruits & veggies and organic products. I use coupons as much as I can and try to buy only items that are on sale. My motto is "If it's not on sale, we don't need it." I am trying to do as much prep work as possible on the weekends, like cutting up veggies for stirfrys, boiling eggs, pasta and rice to be used for the week, etc. It's a slow process, but it's definitely worth it to be healthier. Thank you for the giveaway.
Still, in addition to cooking from scratch in bulk, using coupons and sales and "double/triple coupons", I think a case needs to be made for... subscribing to a healthy food magazine, one that is majority vegetarian or health-conscious (Eating Well, Clean Eating, Cooking Light and/or Vegetarian Times). Many of these magazines can be purchased with airline miles, or part of a promotion deal with amazon. On top of this, many of these magazines have coupons of health-conscious products as well...
Anyway, collect these magazines, and sort them by season. put into special color-coded binders according to the types of produce that are in season--green for Spring, orange for Autumn, Blue for Winter, etc. Use these recipes to find those which best use the freshest, healthiest ingredients that are at the lowest-cost.
We don't eat out. ever. We cook at home, in season, and try to stretch the meat. We do at least one bean meal a week, buy at ethnic stores, and shop the sales with coupons. I believe in stockpiling. We also have a garden that should start producing soon, so that will cut our fresh produce costs significantly.
It's funny... critiques of this article come in 2 forms.
1. Buyer's agents/real estate agents in general are not crooks. There always some bad apples, but they put your interests above their own.
2. The listing agent will do everything they can to screw an unsuspecting buyer without his own agent. You are a FOOL to buy a house without a buyers agent to represent you (with all those greedy/immoral listing agents out there)
You can't have it both ways. Either real estate agents are people you can trust or they aren't. I don't buy this BS that you can trust the lsiting agent if you are the seller, and you can trust the buyers agent if you are the buyer. What seems much more likely is that everyone is working for their own interest.
Real estate agents have a reputation for being crooks for a reason. Not ALL real estate agents are crooks, but MANY of them are.
I combine store sales with coupons each and every time I shop. If it is a great sale, I stock up with enough that will last me until the next sale is due for that item. In addition, I only buy fruits that are in season as I refuse to pay $3.99 for a little plastic container of raspberries. I always subscribe to the store savings programs. I also clean/cut my own fruit and vegetables.
For meal planning, I like to get a lot of mileage out of one item. For instance, I will buy a turkey breast and cook it for a big Sunday meal. I then make hot turkey sandwiches the next day and I also make a giant pot of turkey noodle soup from the carcass. If I buy a ham, I prepare the ham for one dinner, then make a big pot of pea soup with the leftover meat and bone, along with saving some extra ham to make sandwiches, calzones, etc. So usually, meat will be the main course for the first night, and then the meat is kind of the 'supporting actor' for subsequent meals. I also cook at home as much as possible and if I don't have something planned already, it may just be pancakes and eggs that night for dinner with a fruit salad. I always try to have something on hand that I could serve in case of emergency. You just have to be creative!
Shop at farmers markets and try to eat seasonally. Whenever possible, I try to store the local seasonal food to last me through the colder parts of the year.
I've been diagnosed as insulin resistant. Not yet diabetic, but veering nervously close. So, I've been dieting both for weight loss and to lower my risk, at the same time I'm looking at actual nutrition. In that light, I've discovered that barley is cheaper per pound than rice. It's ALSO higher in fiber and lower on the glycemic index. I also reserve every bit of leftover and crumb and add it either to a soup or to a salad. Recently a friend took me out for a very expensive dinner and we shared a "chopped" kitchen salad. Basically, it was an assortment of seasonal veggies with iceberg lettuce, but all of it was truly chopped and tossed. I started making these at home and I not only find the iceberg more palatable, but it also stretches the finer lettuces, AND I use less dressing for some reason. Finally, I can't say enough about Greek yogurt. I use either the 0% or 2% fat. It's good protein and calcium. And it easily converts into a dessert (with a drizzle of honey) and can be used in any recipe you would otherwise use mayo. It makes egg and tuna salads much creamier. It's literally become my secret ingredient. I've also re-discovered celery. I chop it into salads, slice it and dip it into peanut butter as a snack, and when it's down to the inner greens, I make cream of celery soup. I use all the parts.
I eat healthy on a budget by sticking with whole foods whenever possible (apples rather than applesauce, etc.) because it's not only better for you but often much less expensive. I'd rather eat real produce and such rather than processed "diet" foods that often aren't as good for you as you'd think. I'm also trying to cut back on my junk food consumption which helps save money as well as calories.
We are part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Delivery, every two weeks we get a large box of fruits and vegetables which helps us eat organic, local, and seasonal, as well as promoting us to try new things we wouldn't normally try. It would cost us a lot more to go to the grocery store or farmer's market to buy the same items and it feels like a gift at our doorstep!
Stock up on frozen fruits and vegetables. They seem to go on sale at least once a month in my area. In the summertime I match sales with coupons and stock the freezer so I can eat smoothies all year long.
I try to eat healthy on a budget... I opt for more fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, and less meat. I cook with minimal oil. And I don't buy junk food like cookies or dessert. I do splurge though when I do eat out...
Burt's Bee's medicated lip balm stick: secretly CLOVE flavored tingliness
reusable grocery bags with cute designs that can double as purse
jamaican ginger beer
I didn't jump on the Obamania bandwagon when Barack offered me all that dough from his stash. No matter how much he offered me, I wasn't trading in my '95 Buick Roadmaster. I spent $1,200 on a complete tune-up instead. Now my old clunker gets 22 mpg instead of 18 mpg like is used to get and I don't have any car payments.
Over the past year I have lost 80lbs through hard work and a change in lifestyle.
There are many ways that I have achieved this without increasing my food budget, and actually have lowered from approx $750 a month (family of 4) to now over $500.
Main ways, are to cook everything... and occasionally splurdge once a month on eating out.
Watching what we are eating and of course buying off brand, and utilizing coupons.
No wasting of foods and shopping maybe once a week for the groceries.
*all of this done on a very low carb diet
PS: My "progress blog" is at http://youwerewhatyouate.blogspot.com/ :)
I've been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. Left to my own devices, pasta is really my staple. I never get tired of it - but it doesn't give me any nutrients whatsoever. My BMI is really awful, so I've been exercising more (I decided to pay for a gym membership to force myself to go - going for "a walk" never worked out, but this is!) and I've been trying to eat less processed foods to follow a more minimalist diet and get back to the goodness of nature. I don't necessarily want to go organic, but I would like to make more simple meals (caprese salads, soup and bread and cheese, granola and plain yogurt, things like that) just to get back to basics and learn to appreciate food as it is, not smothered in something. Overloading myself with fries and grease and soda is great and satisfying, and I still like it, but now I look at it and I regret putting it into my body. The whole "you are what you eat" factor. It's still a work in progress, but I rather like living to improve. :)
sorry, but those $2 mexican meals look absolutely revolting. A for effort, F for execution.
We do several things:
1.) Shop for veggies at the Asian supermarket. They are cheaper, and tastier than Wal Mart stuff.
2.) We eat mainly chicken now. Red meat is a luxury, but that's okay. It saves money (and probably our health in the long run).
3.) We make a lot of food and freeze the leftovers for lunch in the coming weeks. I think that saves money and is healthier.
4.) We try very hard not to waste. it's like throwing money away.
EAT AT HOME!!! I can't stress this enough. Make recipes from scratch. It wastes time, gas and money eating out. You know what you put into your own meals. Blogs, recipe sites and friends are a constant source for healthy recipes. My biggest learning experience is finding the right store(s) and farmer markets. My grocery store has a section I constantly check that has veggies, fruits on clearance. ripe bananas by the bag are pennies a pound. I usually slice the bananas and freeze them for smoothies as well as strawberries. I found potatoes for $1 a 10 lb bag and used them right away to make freezer mashed potatoes. I make a bunch in advance so I never have to think of what to make for a side dish for dinner. It pays to visit your farmers market. Fresh food from the farmers market is cheaper than the regular market. Know what you need and don't overbuy. Freeze what you know you can't use right away. Also dinners do not need to be a four course meal. Fresh tomatoes and pasta make a great meal. Add a little garlic for more flavor.
IF YOU AIR DRY CLOTHES RUN THROUGH EXTRA SPIN AND HANG UP IN HOUSE OVERNIGHT IF ANYTHING IS NOT COMPLETELY DRY HANG OUTSIDE UNTIL DRY DO NOT LEAVE IT ON THE LINE TO BAKE ALL DAY AND CLOTHES WON'T FADE FROM THE SUN.
We try to cook from scratch as often as is possible in our busy lives. This means some planning ahead - to use dried beans for instance - but is cheaper and often comes with less sodium and BPA. :)
I just heard Clark Howard on the radio and his rule of thumb is if buying new then run the wheels off the vehicle makes sense. If buying used then purchase a 2 to 3 year old vehicle and run it for four years. This I'm sure is looking at the cost of ownership only; $cost per mile to own a vehicle. But if your looking at the financial aspect only it sounds like good advice.
A lot of grocery stores will bundle produce at a reduced price if it's on its way out, but still good if you use it right away.
I either use the fruit/veggies right away, or cut up the fruit and freeze it for smoothies later (using a stick blender and combining with homemade yogurt and a little soft tofu)!
Blow a Whistle when they call.....I guarantee they will not call you again.
I keep a whistle next to the phone. When I see on the caller ID a number I don't know. I pick up the whistle, then answer the phone. If you get a recorded message that says click a number, click it and if you get a live person. BLOW THE WHISTLE.... And when the recording says call a number, I call it and BLOW THE WHISTLE when I get a liver person.....
My family has just begun working on establishing a budget for healthier eating. the first thing we are doing is cutting way back on the processed and sugar-laden items we have been in the habit of buying in the past. This frees up money to be used on more fruits & veggies and organic products. I use coupons as much as I can and try to buy only items that are on sale. My motto is "If it's not on sale, we don't need it." I am trying to do as much prep work as possible on the weekends, like cutting up veggies for stirfrys, boiling eggs, pasta and rice to be used for the week, etc. It's a slow process, but it's definitely worth it to be healthier. Thank you for the giveaway.
koinonia572001@yahoo.com
I don't tweet. Tweeting's for the birds. ROTL!!!
Still, in addition to cooking from scratch in bulk, using coupons and sales and "double/triple coupons", I think a case needs to be made for... subscribing to a healthy food magazine, one that is majority vegetarian or health-conscious (Eating Well, Clean Eating, Cooking Light and/or Vegetarian Times). Many of these magazines can be purchased with airline miles, or part of a promotion deal with amazon. On top of this, many of these magazines have coupons of health-conscious products as well...
Anyway, collect these magazines, and sort them by season. put into special color-coded binders according to the types of produce that are in season--green for Spring, orange for Autumn, Blue for Winter, etc. Use these recipes to find those which best use the freshest, healthiest ingredients that are at the lowest-cost.
We don't eat out. ever. We cook at home, in season, and try to stretch the meat. We do at least one bean meal a week, buy at ethnic stores, and shop the sales with coupons. I believe in stockpiling. We also have a garden that should start producing soon, so that will cut our fresh produce costs significantly.
It's funny... critiques of this article come in 2 forms.
1. Buyer's agents/real estate agents in general are not crooks. There always some bad apples, but they put your interests above their own.
2. The listing agent will do everything they can to screw an unsuspecting buyer without his own agent. You are a FOOL to buy a house without a buyers agent to represent you (with all those greedy/immoral listing agents out there)
You can't have it both ways. Either real estate agents are people you can trust or they aren't. I don't buy this BS that you can trust the lsiting agent if you are the seller, and you can trust the buyers agent if you are the buyer. What seems much more likely is that everyone is working for their own interest.
Real estate agents have a reputation for being crooks for a reason. Not ALL real estate agents are crooks, but MANY of them are.
I combine store sales with coupons each and every time I shop. If it is a great sale, I stock up with enough that will last me until the next sale is due for that item. In addition, I only buy fruits that are in season as I refuse to pay $3.99 for a little plastic container of raspberries. I always subscribe to the store savings programs. I also clean/cut my own fruit and vegetables.
For meal planning, I like to get a lot of mileage out of one item. For instance, I will buy a turkey breast and cook it for a big Sunday meal. I then make hot turkey sandwiches the next day and I also make a giant pot of turkey noodle soup from the carcass. If I buy a ham, I prepare the ham for one dinner, then make a big pot of pea soup with the leftover meat and bone, along with saving some extra ham to make sandwiches, calzones, etc. So usually, meat will be the main course for the first night, and then the meat is kind of the 'supporting actor' for subsequent meals. I also cook at home as much as possible and if I don't have something planned already, it may just be pancakes and eggs that night for dinner with a fruit salad. I always try to have something on hand that I could serve in case of emergency. You just have to be creative!
what a joke. did nothing
Shop at farmers markets and try to eat seasonally. Whenever possible, I try to store the local seasonal food to last me through the colder parts of the year.
I've been diagnosed as insulin resistant. Not yet diabetic, but veering nervously close. So, I've been dieting both for weight loss and to lower my risk, at the same time I'm looking at actual nutrition. In that light, I've discovered that barley is cheaper per pound than rice. It's ALSO higher in fiber and lower on the glycemic index. I also reserve every bit of leftover and crumb and add it either to a soup or to a salad. Recently a friend took me out for a very expensive dinner and we shared a "chopped" kitchen salad. Basically, it was an assortment of seasonal veggies with iceberg lettuce, but all of it was truly chopped and tossed. I started making these at home and I not only find the iceberg more palatable, but it also stretches the finer lettuces, AND I use less dressing for some reason. Finally, I can't say enough about Greek yogurt. I use either the 0% or 2% fat. It's good protein and calcium. And it easily converts into a dessert (with a drizzle of honey) and can be used in any recipe you would otherwise use mayo. It makes egg and tuna salads much creamier. It's literally become my secret ingredient. I've also re-discovered celery. I chop it into salads, slice it and dip it into peanut butter as a snack, and when it's down to the inner greens, I make cream of celery soup. I use all the parts.
I eat healthy on a budget by sticking with whole foods whenever possible (apples rather than applesauce, etc.) because it's not only better for you but often much less expensive. I'd rather eat real produce and such rather than processed "diet" foods that often aren't as good for you as you'd think. I'm also trying to cut back on my junk food consumption which helps save money as well as calories.
We are part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Delivery, every two weeks we get a large box of fruits and vegetables which helps us eat organic, local, and seasonal, as well as promoting us to try new things we wouldn't normally try. It would cost us a lot more to go to the grocery store or farmer's market to buy the same items and it feels like a gift at our doorstep!