Is It Possible on a Very Low Budget??

When my husband and I were in grad school, we were living on no more than $12K per year. This cookbook was a great help: 150 Vegan Favorites: Fresh, Easy, and Incredibly Delicious Recipes You Can Enjoy Every Day by Jay Solomon. It's available from Amazon.com for $11.21. (and no, we're not vegan) The recipes are easy, don't require any expensive or hard to find ingredients and are tasty. Also helped us stay trim--vegan cooking is generally very low-fat. And definitely try Aldi for cheap canned goods, etc.

It is definitely possible :) I am also a stay at home mom right now with a four and a half month old daughter... of course I don't ALWAYS eat healthy (I love chocolate) but for the most part we are a very healthy family. Fruits and veggies can be more expensive in the grocery store, but if you search around you should be able to find a farmers market that is much cheaper. There are millions of great recipes online for anything you can think of, so just type in some of the ingredients you have and you will find something. Salads are a great way to use up lots of veggies... and you can add different meats or seafood... nuts... cheeses... berries... so they aren't always the same kind of salad. Using a homemade balsamic vinaigrette will be healthier than a heavy dressing like ranch or french. If you drink juice, buy the 100% juices and I find target is usually cheaper than the grocery store for juice, cereal and most snack foods. And if there are things you use in bulk (diapers, toilet paper, paper towels, even chicken breast) you could get them at BJ's or Sams Club and save. (If you aren't a member to any of those places try to go with a family member/friend who is). Most grocery stores have a weekly paper with all of their deals, and coupons will save you a little here and there also. And when you do make a good healthy meal, freeze the left overs and have it again :) If you have time you could plan out a rough menu for the week... (it doesn't have to be exact)and that way you will use up everything you buy.

We get some of our food from Angel Food Ministries. It is a program to help people get food for low amounts. Here is their website: http://www.angelfoodministries.com/. We go to a church in Ellwood City (http://www.ellwoodcityangelfood.com/), but there are more churches in our area that does this. You order the food once a month, normally in the beginning of the month. Pick up is at the end of the month. It is good food. We have been doing this for about a year. We took a few months off & now we are back.

We also get some food from Aldi's & Sams Club. We get our food for work at Sams. Buying in bulk helps us. I am also getting into eating healthy. Strawberries I get at Sams most of the time.

I just started to lose weight. I am seeing a dietician to help me. If you need any support with that, let me know.

Im not a really big healthy eater but just from reading up on a lot of stuff, it is as simple as eating the food chart. Try not to load up on carbs(breads, pastas, etc) Eat lots of veggies and Fruits, cut out soda, drink lots and lots of water. Just actually pay attention to what you are eating. I dont think you have to neccisarily by the "diet" products. Watch how much butter you are putting on everything. I also read that the healthiest way to eat is actually 6 small meals throughout the day rather then the typical breakfast lunch and dinner. Maybe do a yogurt and peice of fruit in the morning, some nuts for a snack a little later, A salad for lunch, and so on and so forth. If that is to unrealistic for you to do. Watch the portions you are putting on your plate. Make them smaller. If you are still hungry wait a half hour before you get more, by the time the half hour is up, you may not be hungry anymore. Then of course you have to exercise. Cardio is the BEST calorie burner. There is a line of dvd's called "walk away the pounds" i think the womands name who does them is leslie sanson or something like that. She is GREAT!!! It is only a half hour. Nothing crazy about it. It pretty much consists of walking in place right in your living room. It is equivilant to walking 2 miles. I would highly recomend this. And please dont feel bad, my son is 9 1/2 months old and i still have 10 pounds of my baby fat left!!

I use lots of fresh vegetables and I try to buy my meat when it is on sale. I also shop discount grocery stores. I love Aldi. Check out their website for one near you. www.aldi.com click on US. They sell their own brand and we have pretty much switched almost everything in our house to their brand without noticing the change. They sell produce that is cheap and good. I used to spend 500 a month for the 4 of us now I sepnd about 250.

I also use allrecipes.com to find helpful hints for cooking and new ideas.

I love shopping at farmer's markets. It generates money within the community (always a plus), and is also a lot cheaper than Giant Eagle or whatnot. Plus, I like knowing where my food comes from.

I also think it can be difficult to eat healthy foods on a budget. For example, I've noticed the the price of produce can be high. I also think that we have been buying quick and easy processed food for so long that preparing healthy foods seems to take longer (washing fruit, cutting it, etc). But to cut down costs, I am learning to shop for produce that is in season, shop according to what is on sale, use coupons, and try store brands. I use a lot of frozen veggies. To make meals more healthy I do things like add extra veggies or whole grain pasta, use less butter, cut fat from meat before cooking, serve salad dressing on the side. For my husband's lunch, rather than buy small bags of pretzels, chips, crackers, etc I buy larger bags and pack smaller portions in sandwich bags. If I make canned soup, I skim any fat off the top and maybe add extra frozen vegetables or brown rice. Hope these ideas help.

Hi A.... eating vegetarian can be an inexpensive and healthy way to eat. Finding local farm stands can be very cheap and also then you are eating locally, no middle man increasing the cost. Cooking stir fry's, pastas, with veggies and beans, veggie chilli's, quesidillas. There are many vegetarian websites with recipes. Cooking with basics, beans, rice, pasta and veggies is a great start! Good luck!

A. I am so with you on this one. We have been doing WW but it to eat healthy is soo expensive I said to my hubby no wonder people are over weight who can afford to eat all the healthy food. I would love to see what advice you get on this one.

A., I am in the same boat as you! I only work 2 or 3 days a month, when my husband is off, so we don't need daycare for our 11 month old son. When I do work, it is at Whole Foods Market, in Shadyside, so I definitely know how expensive these foods are. Having a one income household is not easy, but definitely worth it! I am a pastry chef, but do have some traning in culinary arts. You just have to have some knowledge about foods and even making small changes makes a big difference. Try whole grain pastas, breads, etc. The pasta has a little different texture, but after you put marinara sauce on it, you can't even tell the difference. Also, just cutting things out, like soda and chips will help. Drinking water is great, because a lot of sugars and calories come from juices or kool aid. When I do have juice or kool aid, I either water it down a bit (it's usually too sweet for me anyhow) or load my glass up with ice. I have some heart healthy recipes that I can share, if you would like, I can email them to you...just let me know! I also am carrying some baby weight. Too bad you are so far away, I'm trying to get out and walk...we could walk together!

You have a lot of good advice here. I'll add another tip - soups. Low sodium soups or soup that you make fresh can help significantly. allrecipes.com has an awesome cold blueberry soup that is divine! Great for picnics too. Studies have shown that low sodium soup (most canned soups aren't low sodium unless marked) fills you up and keeps you satisfied better because of the liquid/solid combination so you'll cut calories and stay full longer. If you don't want to use it as a meal, use it as an appetizer and you'll eat less of the higher cost food as the entree.

Water, water, and more water, has been the key to my weight loss in the past.

Best of luck,
K.

it should be cheaper! Giving up frying food for one will help, drinking only water.. and that comes from u'r tap!! i lost all my weight by grilling chicken in homemade marinades.. adding no salt to anything.. giving up all pototoes and rice, white bread... u can do it by just taking out u'r sodium! It does not cost extra to eat healthy!

Of course it is possible! You need to study all the weekly grocery sale ads and compare them. Also find a place like Produce Junction for your fruits and veggies. Produce Junction is located in Phoenixville and Exton, PA. I also heard there is a place in Spring City called Green Grocer or something like that and they have the same sorts of products.

Cutting coupons is helpful as well.

Good luck.

A.,

Anything is possible on any budget, as long as you know how to do it. I have four kids, and do my best to make sure that they eat healthy foods. My oldest is a 14yo boy, so most of the dishes that I make would feed a family of 4 with leftovers. The biggest staple of our diet is rice, real white or brown, not Minute Rice. Since fresh veggies are so expensive, I buy mostly frozen... unless I can find a good deal at the local farmer's market. I also grow container gardens for tomatos, zucchini, yellow squash, and herbs. Apples and oranges (I buy the 5lb bag of mixed fruit) and bananas are the fruits we eat most... unless there's a sale or the farmer's market has it cheap. Most stores have their generic juice... apple or white grape is wonderful, because for a twist, you can mix a gallon of juice with 2 packets of Kool-Aid. Leave out the sugar, and forget about soda pop. I have tons of other tips... if you (or anyone else reading this)want to email me please feel free.

M.

two words, weight watchers!!!!

Hi A., It depends on what you are considering healthy. If you are wanting to diet, then yes it can get expensive. If you are just wanting to eating healthier, then it is more habit than anything. Fresh fruits and vegetables, cut out sugary juices and all sodas, stay away from snacks, etc. Eating healthier can actually be cheaper. Stop buying sodas, juices, chips, processed snacks and you save a lot of money. Aldi's is great and they have gotten better over the years. There are still things you can't buy there or that don't taste as good as other brands, but you can get A LOT from there for A LOT less. Shop the grocery sales too! This will save a lot of money, especially on meats. I rarely buy things unless they are sale somewhere (: Dieting can be more expensive, but again can be doable if you shop around. I have lived on a tight budget most of my life and the big thing is habit and be smart about what you choose to spend your money on. Do you have a garden? Do you freeze fresh vegetables, so you don't have to buy them in the winter? Make large meals and freeze leftovers. There are lot of tricks. Good luck to you. A lot of us other SAHM are right there with you!