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20 Simple Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget

stronglifts.com — Unfortunately, the rising food prices make it hard to eat healthy. Your paycheck is most likely not rising as fast. Worst case you ’re student which makes it even harder. These 20 tips will help you eat healthy on a budget.

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  • 111anaconda, on 07/08/2008, -0/+9Dugg, very nice for someone with IBS on a college kids budget like myself. Gotta eat healthy.
  • wfiupublicradio, on 07/08/2008, -0/+15whoa whoa whoa, ramen isn't considered healthy!?
  • XombieRobot, on 07/08/2008, -0/+8For college kids such as myself, I would also suggest when buying in bulk:

    Cooking up all your chicken on a Sunday night, individually wrap them up and pack them the next morning for your day. One or two. This way you will always have lean protein and you will take away from the temptation of fast food.
  • HeDiggMe, on 07/08/2008, -0/+7Another thing thats worked for me is make something big on weekends and eat leftovers throughout the week.
  • damian7, on 07/08/2008, -0/+3"11. Buy Everything from 1 Place. Time is money and fuel is expensive. Stop shopping for sales going to 10 different places. Find 1 or 2 places that get you cheap prices for most foods you need and buy everything there."

    As simple as this is, I never think of this. My family buys from at least 5 different supermarkets.

    This list is actually good, better than the usual life hacker *****.
  • allaboutdatiki, on 07/09/2008, -0/+4eat local!
  • einrobstein, on 07/09/2008, -1/+3This guide seems aimed towards people trying to bulk up. Does anyone know of a similar guide that would be better for someone trying to lose weight?
    • Skorme, on 07/09/2008, -0/+2This guide is pretty rounded out. Just eliminate most of the white carbs suggested (potatoes, pasta, rice) and dodge whole fat dairy, and you will be okay.
  • Haoie, on 07/09/2008, -0/+4Ham night will now be spam night.
    Fried chicken night will now be organ meat night.
    And pork chop night will now be 'chub' night.
  • slayersher, on 07/09/2008, -2/+1lol collage food for sure :)
    • Kormiku, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1I sure love to put food in my collages.
  • LSDRunner, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Lame bonus tip
  • Warpling, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3Like the advice, I feel oddly encouraged to go prepare my meals and try making my own granola…
  • GreeneMachine, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1I don't think you "need to put the money down" in order to eat healthy. You do need to put in the time though. It costs about $11-$15 to order a healthy prepared take-out salad, $7-$10 to buy a pre-packaged salad from a healthy grocery store or create your own at a salad bar, but only a few dollars to make a nutritious salad at home (you can get 3-4 salads out of a take out budget by doing it yourself). But it sure isn't a fast solution.
  • Braeden, on 07/09/2008, -0/+4Good tips... minus the discouraging "bonus tip." Eating healthy on a budget hasn't been easy for my family, but we make it work. We manage to eat well rounded, varied meals-- organics for the particularly inorganic stuff. I think what helps us save most is our routine-- that is, the fact that we have one. It's a system we've worked out that lets us eat well while maintaining a consistent budget.

    We grocery shop exactly once a week. Every two weeks we make a meal plan, listing out the necessary ingredients. Then we take inventory of what we already have, and scratch off items from the ingredient list. We stick to the list and buy in bulk at Costco. Every week, we restock on the highly perishable stuff (and stuff that is simply too bulky to buy in bulk) at Fred Meyer. We also save on bread at the local bakery outlet. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but the most difficult part is just deciding what to have for dinner over the next two weeks, and then actually cooking it. However, doing the planning up front is the biggest payoff in grocery savings since you're at the store less frequently, and that means fewer impulse buys.
  • BeAmazing, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1In South Africa food has become so expensive I don't know how some of the poorer people actually manage to feed themselves.

    Organic is so expensive here that most people don't even consider buying it, even I buy only what truly think is important (meets, etc).

    We don't have farmer markets in abundance, I think the only one I know of is in Johannesburg so we're really limited :) But Good ideas. I found a place that sells meat in bulk, my brother and I are saving almost half of what we used to buy for that in small amounts!

    Nice tips.
  • zakatov, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Just a little discrepancy. The first point says not to buy protein from a box/can (ie tuna) and then the very next point says: buy cheap protein (ie tuna)... Tuna (in water, low sodium) is good, they should really take it off the list for the first point.
  • imLissy, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1wow that really is an awful bonus tip. Make money? Gee golly gosh, why didn't I think of that?
  • antoniamart, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1I'm going to bury this one comment of the article, "Don’t worry about the mercury: 1 can chunk light tuna per day is safe, read this. Worry more about the mercury in your teeth fillings and the mercury in vaccines." First of all there is far more mercury in fish than in vaccines, and the type of mercury in vaccines is a different type of mercury, a metabolized form that quickly leaves the body. Finally, thimerosal, the type of mercury in vaccines, was eliminated from childhood vaccines, and yet the autism rate keeps increasing. Any article that cites a you tube video as evidence for it's medical opinion is unreliable.
  • HallenbeckJoe, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Multi-vitamin caplets are NOT healthy.
  • thespi007, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1Easier solution : Search for the nearest Mc donalds and order a cheeseburger without cheese .
  • Odenized, on 07/09/2008, -0/+1This list is good for body builders, but not for the average consumer.
  • joeycerone, on 07/09/2008, -0/+3dugg simply because this list is all on one page. why can't all articles be like this?
  • equilibrator, on 07/09/2008, -0/+0Bad list.

    "2. Buy Cheap Proteins. You need 1g protein per pound of body-weight per day to build and maintain muscle. Eating whole protein with each meal also helps fat loss as protein has a higher thermic effect than other foods."

    Who wrote the this crap? 1g of protein per pound is an real high amount. The FDA set the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of protein at 60g, this is an average and does consider the size of the person or the persons special needs (like times of muscle building after significant exercise) Unless your training for the upcoming Mr. Universe competition you probably just need about 60grams. All extra protein consumed will be filtered out of your body and pissed down the drain. This is not a good idea when trying to save money and proteins tend to be the most expensive foods.

    Vegetarians manage to be the cheapest eaters by getting all essential amino acids through combinations of cheaper non meat sources. Take a look at India's cuisine.
  • meagerfindings, on 07/09/2008, -0/+0I agree that this article needs to be read with discrepancy, it does provide some useful tips though. I am going to purchase a water filter when I go back to school, having 'purified' water on hand will encourage me to drink it more often. I guess I am now officially giving up on my "no plastics" rule for drinking and eating. It was way to impractical, I broke far to many glass bottles...
  • MommaLu, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1I'd like the tips better if I didn't have to prepare the food myself.
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