"Eating Healthy Costs Too Much"

Okay...here's one that I used myself for YEARS. For some reason I thought that a $3 Tombstone pizza and a bag of potato chips was a "cheap" dinner. I figured that a box of Wheat Thins or some 100 calorie packets were a "cheap" snack. I even went so far as to believe that a box of cereal was a cheap breakfast option for my kiddos. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

You know what I figured out? Eating healthy is NOT expensive! Never mind the costs associated with long-term health issues and problems caused by a poor diet. I don't have any mad math skills like that but I can use a simple calculator and look at my grocery receipts and KNOW that I'm spending much less on groceries now with SIX people in the household, than I was back in 2003 with just two of us! Crazy, right?

Here's what I know:

*If you come up with a weekly meal plan BEFORE your week begins and then go to the grocery store and get only what you NEED, you spend a whole lot LESS and you are stocked with healthy options for the week!

*If you buy produce in-season or during a sale, you spend a whole lot LESS! I was so stupid....for years, if I had grapes on the list, I'd buy em'. I never paid attention to the price per pound. They were on the list so I bought them. I won't buy grapes now if they are not $.99/lb. or less. Did you know that apples were on sale for $.39/lb. last week? Guess what? That's a great time to stock up! DO NOT buy them if they are $1.79/lb....unless you are made of money. And if you are, I'd like to talk!

*Coupons are time-consuming and I'm not going to say it's fun to spend time clipping but if you've got a little spare time, they can save you LOTS of money. Check out this blog post I wrote last year: I bought $263.49 worth of grocery items and after coupons only spent $61.60 out of pocket! (Please note that we DO NOT buy Cheetos and fruit snacks any longer - even if they are free!)

*Stop buying pre-packaged crap. You buy those 100 calorie packs that have six ittty-bitty little bags of cookies for $2.50. Try making your own "healthy" desserts from scratch. You'll get about 3 dozen home-made, good-for-you sweet treats for the same price. How about fruit snacks? Like that tiny little bag of sugar is enough to tide over my kids until dinner time? Please. My kids get an apple ($.09) or an orange ($.10) or maybe a whole wheat banana muffin ($.20). It is filling, nutritious and very inexpensive!

*My final tip is to pack your kids a lunch from home. I know that this doesn't work for everyone but just consider it. I'm not placing the blame on the schools for what they serve - I know that it is not always in their control but what they serve is less than impressive in my book. Here's a sample week from a school lunch menu:

Monday: Corn dog, chips, green beans, cherry cheesecake
Tuesday: Turkey&Cheese on Bun, Tater Tots, Corn, Mixed Fruit
Wednesday: Taco in a bag, Pineapple, Cookie, Peanut Butter Sandwich
Thursday: Pork Shape, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, orange slices and hot rolls
Friday: Chicken teriyaki, garlic noodles, broccoli and cauliflower, peaches

Sure, there are a few fruits and veggies in there - mostly canned and high in sodium. Sure, there are some okay sounding main dishes, but I have no idea what the nutritional value is for those foods or for that matter - what a PORK SHAPE is made from? Ugh....I'd hate to guess!


Take a look at what my 5 year old daughter packed for lunch one day last week:

She packed a clementine, a handful of almonds, a hard boiled egg, and some mini caramel rice cakes. Not only did she have a healthy, nutritious, filling lunch for school but at just $.56 cents for EVERYTHING, it blew the $2.10 school lunch out of the water!

Eating healthy does NOT cost too much. It is NOT impossible. If you want to make healthy changes in your diet, in your family's diet, then just DO it! Get rid of the junk and offer healthy options. Buy in-season and on-sale. Be purposeful about what you are putting into your body and what you are putting into your family's body and reserve those special snacks and desserts for birthdays and celebrations, NOT for everyday consumption. God Bless.....

Lindsey