Do budgets and healthy eating go together?

louise30_2

My eating habbits are rubbish! I have bought rubbish food lately because it's cheap. If I buy fruit and veg I always seem to throw it in the composter at the end of the week.

My question is: Can you do very healthy eating/living on a budget? And if so how?

I got thinking about this when I managed to make broccoli soup with a 40p piece of broccoli a stock cube and a garlic clove - and it was delicious!!!!

I'm doing a 10km run in September and need a healthier lifestyle!

Mercuryrising

Personally, I've got the same dillema. By far the cheapest way of me having an evening meal would be for pasta and jar sauce or beans and toasts. You can have something substantial for 40p a meal (and that is using the normal range at the Supermarket not the value one). I splash out for lunch and have a whopping £1.50 budget in the canteen at work for that!

With regard to fresh fish and meat - I can forget that for the time being. Vegetables - if they're any good will cost more money. And they will not fill you up in the same way as carbs do. I personally couldn't just have brocolli soup on its own.

lynzpower

Absolutely you can do it. The only things I buy processed now are biscuits which I eat so fast I cant be bothered to make from scratch and other stuff like mini cheddars, yoghurts, crisps, that jsut cant be made at home. Oh and puff pastry- never have managed to make that myself!

Anything home made is healthy as it doesnt contain preservatives for a start.
I think the key is menu planning. We spend 100 month between me & OH, and we eat really really well, lots of organic produce and veg from markets as well, and we really have a cracking diet now, better than we did when we *had money* Hardly ever have any waste whatsoever.

Im really chuffed with how its all going to be honest.

rsykes2000

I reckon 15 quid could last a single person for a week no problems and they would eat healthily, obviously a lot of the meals would be vegetarian as veg are cheaper than meat. If I am buying veg, I don't buy pre-packed, I get the pick your own, as it is not only cheaper, but you can buy the quantities you require. Beans on toast as suggested above is a great high-fibre healthy meal that costs a pittance -personally I get beans from Lidl as they are 17p a can and actually quite nice, I add some chilli flakes to give it a bit of a kick as well. A good veg stew to last 3 evenings could be made for no more than 4 quid - potatoes, carrots, broccoli, swede, parsnips, green beans, lentils or other pulses and stock cubes / herbs (obv the costs vary according to what veg is in season).

**purpleprincess**

I think you can do healthy eating/living on a budget as I do it myself personally.

The key for me is making meals from scratch instead of buying them. Eg I made my own hummus and it was sooooo nice and cost loads less than buying the stuff and I knew what was going in mine. I also cook a lot of meals in bulk and freeze portions so that I have a kind of a "ready meal" when I get in from work. I also do the same with rice, cook a load, portion it up and freeze it. Just make sure that it's cooked through and piping hot. Same with lasagnes, bakes etc etc etc the list goes on! Only buy what you need, I myself buy frozen veg as this is more convenient and less wasteful than buying fresh (used to chuck loads out).

Last night I had sausages, veg and potatoes with gravy, was yummy and cheap!!

Get on over to the old style board for some ideas, there are LOADS over there!!

If you need any ideas feel free to PM me.

**purpleprincess**

lynzpower wrote:

Absolutely you can do it. The only things I buy processed now are biscuits which I eat so fast I cant be bothered to make from scratch and other stuff like mini cheddars, yoghurts, crisps, that jsut cant be made at home. Oh and puff pastry- never have managed to make that myself!

Anything home made is healthy as it doesnt contain preservatives for a start.
I think the key is menu planning. We spend 100 month between me & OH, and we eat really really well, lots of organic produce and veg from markets as well, and we really have a cracking diet now, better than we did when we *had money* Hardly ever have any waste whatsoever.

Im really chuffed with how its all going to be honest.

ditto!! Eat much healthier now than I did before! And on less money!

domestic_goddess

I am interested to see the replies on this one as i have just gone part time at work so i now have the time but not the money to cook home made stuff. Howevwe i have a fussy husband, a picky three year old and a happy one year old so i have difficulty knowing what to cook and i often ending up doing three diff ready meals to suit everyone. I would have no clue on how to make a stew or casserole from scratch but am now trying to learn!

Mercuryrising

lynzpower does your £100 a month include lunches at work? I live on my own and I'm budgeting £100 a month for ALL food and household (which would only be about a fiver for the latter)? So you seem to do really well.

I suppose I'm from the no bother generation but it would be a good thing to learn to cook and now is a good time as I can't afford to socialise much.

Anyone know of any good recipe books for budgeting?

melancholly

come play on the OS board for lots of ideas on meal planning and healthy meals. there are lots of indexed recipes that i've found really useful...

lswwong

I found this article from yesterday's edition of The Times:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2742-2181642,00.html

It is about eating well on a limited budget. I am still reading through it (paper version at home) but feel that this is an above average interesting article as the author has managed to cook from some classic recipes e.g. Jane Grigson's.

I once read "making the best use out of inexpensive and/or seasonal ingredients is the true test of gastronomy" - this was quoted in the intro to Bernie Lawrence's 1980s book "How to feed your family on £5 a week" (probably costs more than £5 now) by Derek (sorry can't remember his last name. He used to write a column in the Good Food magazine in the early 90s).

So the OP asks whether healthy eating/living can be achieved on a budget. My vote would be YES, YES and YES. Though it does take time and effort.

lynzpower

Mercuryrising wrote:

lynzpower does your £100 a month include lunches at work? I live on my own and I'm budgeting £100 a month for ALL food and household (which would only be about a fiver for the latter)? So you seem to do really well.

I suppose I'm from the no bother generation but it would be a good thing to learn to cook and now is a good time as I can't afford to socialise much.

Anyone know of any good recipe books for budgeting?

Yep, all food at home, work, cleaning stuff, toietries the lot!

And to think we were spending 75 a week!!!