I agree with San - we could go round and round on this.

And I also agree that when you have other family members involved who are simply not willing to give up their unhealthy habits (even if all they have to do is eat what's prepared), it adds a level of challenge.

But I really do hope that this thread has pointed out that healthy eating doesn't *have* to be any more expensive than otherwise.

I do think it's pointed out some of the more ridiculous arguments people come up with to avoid healthy eating (it takes too much time to wash my yogurt cup is the best one I've heard so far! ).

I for one would love to see the $80 meal plan

Not because I have doubts, but because my starving college student days involved lots of ramen and eggs, and my current 'healthy' days do not involve me putting a lot of time and effort into bargain hunting.

My brother however... is trying to lose weight (started at 330, now down to 315) and is on a very limited budget. I would love to give him ideas for healthy food that he could eat on said budget.

I can't really weigh in on the cheaper subject - my 'cheap' days were not healthy, and my healthy days aren't cheap, but I'm not limited to foods I don't enjoy as much due to budget. I can have my Greek salad with capers if I want! I will say that learning to cook healthy was more expensive just because I didn't know what I'd like, what to get, and its easy to be seduced by the 'we'll make it easier for you' plus the amount of money I saved by cooking at home instead of going out more often made up for the gap.

I agree too that there will never be a consensus on this topic and it's always going to be harder when you have others living in your home/in your life, that do not want to eat healthy.

I struggle with that with my own boyfriend and while he loves the idea that I am working on being healthy, he's not really on board. He easily tempts me off my plan and then I question why I am not losing weight! I know why!

Like Jeanette, for me the struggle has been learning how to cook. When I try something new and it doesn't work out, I end up throwing the food away (wasted $$) and then having to get something else to eat (more $$). It's a process.

It's taken me about a year to go from ordering things -- which was just easier and less expensive than my kitchen mistakes -- to cooking at home and actually making food that is balanced and filling. It's not easy and I recognize that I've had to go back to basics.

I've learned the hard way -- by counting my calories and monitoring my hunger -- that whole grains do make me full longer while refined carbohydrates make me hungry faster (and of course, this is the IR that I have that's related to the PCOS).

I splurge on food and I spend approximately $200 a month, buying as much organic food as I can. I don't eat much dairy, so I've been spared the price increases in that area. I like rice milk and Rice Dream comes fortified just like milk, so I'm getting my vitamins. Keeping it simple, cooking-wise, has probably been the best approach. It prevents having to buy expensive ingredients and reduces the risk of kitchen mistakes.

Jeanette - I'm on it!

New thread on the topic coming this weekend.

Yay, thanks!

Which isn't what's being debated.

Damn, I've been gone for a few days and was expecting to hear Alpha's reply.

Oh well.

My mom and dad get mad when I dont want to eat what theyve cooked but it is really bland and too heavy lots of meat and sometimes its just not tasty

My point being is you need to stop and look at other people's circumstances. Healthy eating IS expensive for many people and will continue to be no matter where they cut back, no matter what they cut out, no matter how little they buy.

Sorry ... I will never agree with that.

Have you tried offering to cook the meal? - then you can cook it healthily and give yourself a portion with maybe more vegetables and less meat - however you need to adjust things to give yourself a balanced diet with enough healthy calories.

I am currently eating more meat and vegetables than I used to have when I was big. The difference is that I cook it only in the healthy ways and do not follow it with with a high calorie dessert and / or junk food. If I have anything later it is fruit or yoghurt. Lots of meat is not necessarily a bad thing - since it depends what we each mean by the term "lots".....

You could try experimenting with spices for flavour. I am sure that there are some great suggestions for different meats if you scan the internet. I think that I recently saw a spices link in the Cohen's section for instance.

I find that I save money by eating healthier. That is because I do not buy sodas, fast food, or conveniece store snacks. I save money by making my own salads, buying chicken breasts by the bag, vegetables and fruits, etc. Water is free and coffee is cheap.

If I plan my meals ahead of time, I don't tend to go to the fast food restaurant for lunch and I do not go to convenience stores and get sodas and snacks.

Granted, it does take more time. However, at the beginning of each week, I cut up my veggie snacks and have a bag of healthy salad lettuce with spinach leaves ready to go. This saves time.

Eating healthy is expensive if you try to do it through buying frozen healthy meals, healthy chips, and healthy vitamin drinks. Most of these items are not needed.

Good luck.

So what you are saying is that healthy eating is only expensive if one is lazy?

Uhm....disagree. A lot.

I have a life. I have three people to look after, every single one of them demanding 24/7 attention. And they don't even live in the same house. So a quarter of my day is spent in the car, or walking from point a to point b. I get up at 6 am, and go to bed at around 1 am, give or take a few minutes. Even if I wanted to, I simply do not have the time to cook for longer than about 10 minutes for myself.

Up until last year, I would just eat whatever the rest of the family left over. Just grabbed whatever was there. Nowadays, anything I eat, any cucumber, any chicken breast, any apple, goes ON TOP of what I already spend on food for the rest of the family. It's something I have to spend additionally.

As for water being free....yeah, if you live in an area where the water out of the tap is save to drink. Personally, I even pre-cook the water that I give my cats to drink because the water is so bad over here.

Don't generalize. For some people it might be cheaper, for some it might be more expensive, for some it doesn't make any difference. It depends on the individual and their circumstances. We could discuss this until we're all blue in the face and could still come up with valid reason why our individual opinion works in our individual case. It would lead nowhere.

How about we turn this thread into something constructive, and come up with ideas of how to make healthy eating cheap(er)? Some of us might have budgeting ideas that others never thought of...and whether we think that eating healthy or healthier is expensive or not, I am sure none of us would turn up their nose at saving a few quid, right?

I'm always happy to save a few quid...

I loved your idea from another thread San where you get loads of bargains at the fruit and veg stalls at the market by turning up just before closing. I had never tried that.

I have had some amazing bargains by buying fruit and veg from a fruit and veg wholesaler that sells direct to the public. The best bargain this year was a box of kiwi fruit for £1.20. There was literally well over 100 kiwi fruit in it and they lasted well too...

Did the $80/month healthy thread start yet?

I'm definitely curious. I'm also sure that shopping at Whole Foods aka Whole Paycheck may not work well for healthy foods on a budget Although they do have some excellent unsweetened salad dressings.

It also doesn't help that I pick up some more obscure things, like quinoa, almond flour, cold pressed flax seed... I need to figure out what I can actually grow at home I think. Although I think with as many avocados as I go through, its a real shame they don't grow in this climate.