Struggling to be able to afford to eat as healthily

[Needtodrinkmorewater]

Is anyone else now?
Used to fairly easily be able to include lots of fruit and veg in our diets. I’m not finding that I’m just making sure that it’s enough for Dd, 4, fruit at least. For example if I buy apples, berries and kiwis one week, they’re generally all eaten by her 🙈which is great but I’m getting really conscious of the fact I don’t eat well anymore, the food shop is ideally like to do, full of seeds, fruit, veg etc just isn’t affordable anymore

Also, I love bananas, but find it hard to pick up a decent one. Many are a bit mushy inside, with a slightly rotten taste (even if they look ok). Also, they go brown super quick.
Anyone else finding this?

We buy some fresh fruit but always have bags of blueberries, raspberries and mango in the freezer. Bananas are usually good value, as are nets of "easy peeler" satsumas.

We never buy alcohol or meat so that helps to keep the shopping bills down.

The trouble with only ever having what one ‘needs’ and not what one fancies/a large variety, is that it’s tedious and dull.

Sometimes we need a bit of enjoyment in life. Lord knows it’s hard enough at times, and now especially after Brexit, a pandemic, a war, rampant inflation and stagnant wages.

I hate this kind of bullshit answer when people are struggling.

Yes, I’ve been thinking that bananas seem to have way more bruised and brown bits than they used to. They look fine on the outside, but when you peel them, a good quarter is inedible. What’s with that?

Berries are expensive they're out of season, eat with the seasons and it's ok

I know not everyone can do it due to space but I grow raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries and rhubarb in the summer and I freeze a lot to use during winter.

I can’t afford to buy much meat, I usually buy a whole chicken to last the week (does a couple meals) but red meat I only buy if it’s in the ‘almost out of date’ section. We eat fish once a week but it’s getting pricy, the price of salmon has always been high but now it’s crazy. Sometimes it’s cheaper to buy cheap cuts of meat from the butcher rather than the supermarket, things like shin and cheaks are often a reasonable price.

Anything that’s imported from abroad is going to be expensive, winters a though time as we haven’t got much fruit and veg in season, I have noticed that cabbage is probably one of the cheapest veg and cauliflower, both are pretty diverse, can be cooked in many ways.

There's lots more than turnip, cabbage and carrot in season.

The eat seasonably people really do my head in at this time of year - there is virtually nothing that is in season now - if you eat seasonally then in March you live off carbs with some meat.

if you want to eat a balance of fruit and veg then you are eating imported, or grown in greenhouses, which right now means expensive.

There’s always been a class element to healthy eating. There’s a reason the tall, clear skin and glossy hair combo is usually found on the wealthy. The current food costs have just pushed a whole extra group of people into being unable to afford healthy eating- and will be smugly looked down on by some of the rich as if they are too stupid or lazy to understand dietary advice.

I am so grateful I’m not having to make those choices, but aware many are.

The wonky fruit and veg is cheaper
I usually get bananas, apples, tinned pears/peaches for fruit, then frozen raspberries for porridge, strawberries only when they are British ones. Basically gorge strawberries all summer then don't eat them out of season!

Veg - carrots, onions, cabbage kind of stuff is cheap, grated carrot is good for bulking out salads. Batch cook with any reduced veg and make something like pasta bake where you can throw it in. If I have anything left over then it's usually good roasted and/or added to omelettes

Out of season fruit and veg is expensive. I'm on a low income and mostly eat seasonally.

What’s in season right now? Enough to do a Whole 30 on a budget?

if you eat seasonally then in March you live off carbs with some meat.

And preserves and veg which is in season in march.

I bought bananas and tangerines in Aldi today and walked past the overpriced punnets of berries. I do buy a lot of ‘out of season’ vegetables though because I enjoy eating them and like someone else said, pretty much everything is out of season in March.

Tins of stuff are good, chopped tomatoes, chickpeas, cannellni beans, black beans and all the other types of beans, green lentils come in tins too. All that is good and reasonably priced. Frozen spinach and frozen peas are also good value.

food is expensive but wasting food because you eat half and the other half goes mouldy is the worst, so buying tinned and frozen is always a good idea.

I'm still buying as much fruit & veg, but keeping to seasonal things.

This week I'm bought apples, pears and satsumas. Six apples were 82p, nine satsumas were £1.35, six pears were 75p. And we have the first of the rhubarb from the garden.

Plus leeks (99p), carrots(75p), onions(69p), lettuce (85p), cucumber (75p) and an aubergine (80p). There were potatoes, garlic and shallots already in the fridge, and spinach, sweetcorn and peas in the freezer.

So £7.75 this week. Once I've added dried lentils, porridge oats, cannellini & kidney beans and soup mix, that's 22 different fruit and veg for £10.

Yes op I really understand this too. I was at tesco today and somehow managed to spend £98.37 - i bought a bag of pears, some oranges and 2 punnets of grapes. DD wanted lots of raspberries and strawberries but like you say, it gets eaten by her in one sitting 😲

Everything has just shot up so much. I didn't buy any alcohol or meat from the butchers. The amount above was the basics like ham, potato's, eggs, butter, some juices but nothing overly exciting

Agree, it just reminds me of Therese Coffey and her ‘let them eat turnips’ quote.

Do you have a lidl near you? I often buy their too good to waste boxes as a way of bumping up the amount of fruit & veg in my weekly shop.

No clue what that is

I've never bought a lot of fruit as it is expensive and to be honest it is far better to eat more veg and salad for your 5 (or however many) a day. I haven't found it to be too bad now I have started meal planning every week. Some lettuce, red cabbage and carrots don't cost a lot and they make a lot of side salads (we grate or shred them then add some sweetcorn/cucumber or similar). I grow some of my own stuff in summer and freeze what I can. For fruit I buy frozen raspberries which I eat frozen (way nicer to eat IMO!) and maybe apples or pears or plums as they don't tend to be too expensive and I can stew and freeze them if they aren't eaten before they go off.

What is your budget for the week and how many of you?

Do u have a big freezer?

On Friday, I go to my local market, which there is a very good fruit and veg “£1 a bowl - big bowl - it gets stuck in your head 🤣

I try and buy all the fruit there, and some veg, you are not going to pay a £1 for a bowl of spuds when you can get a 56kg bag for £6.00.

I try and make soups - carrot and coriander, you will get 16 servings for around 75p - leek and potato soup is probably nearer £1.50 for 16 servings as the leeks are more expensive - lady finger soup is delicious but I can only get about 10 servings for just under £1.50, I could go on all night, mushroom, onion, courgette, pepper, sprouts - very cheap after Xmas, freeze the individual portions in small freezer bags on trays til they are frozen solid, then chuck them in the ground floor basket.

frozen fruit from all the supermarkets are good in porridge, and smoothies.

Lentils are great for soups and stews.

Chana Daal is a good one

Egg curry is another good one

The spices are generally bought cheaper in the 24/7 supermarkets, they come in bigger bags, just cut the label off the bag, stick onto an empty clean good sealing jam jar and pour your spice in the jar.

Potato and chick pea curry
kidney bean curry
Agsin dried pulses are cheaper in the 24/7 supermarkets, you get a great big bag of kidney beans for about £4.00 which does make massive savings.

go past a charity shop and you will find a vegetarian cookbook and a student cookbook which give you ideas for wonderful meals inexpensively.

i could go on all night, but I shall leave it there

good luck

Ok, well assuming you don’t have access to Google to find out what the Whole 30 is, I’d be interested to hear from you what’s in season and cheap right now in March? If it’s a good variety if interesting and tasty fruit and veg I’d be pleased to hear. I’m a bit fed up with apples, bananas, satsumas and carrots.

I'm assuming you also have Google to find out what's in season

@ATerrorofLeftovers leeks, spring greens, radish, artichoke, swede, watercress, cauliflower, cucumber rhubarb I think are
I know they're not the most exciting

Pickled red cabbage and beetroot is one that's pretty cheap and I eat a lot as it's good with cottage pie, stews etc

I’m genuinely in need of some inspiration to stretch the budget, while eating healthily and not being bored to tears. I thought you were posting on here to help people? My mistake.