Discussion - Which is actually cheaper? Eating healthy or eating less healthy?

So, for those of you who don't frequent the Daily Chats, cmillington asked a simple question: Which is cheaper? To eat healthy (if not organic) or to eat less healthy?

On the surface, it seems obvious that it's more cost effective to eat less healthy. Meals like Mac and Cheese are extremely cheap, but then so is rice. And rice can be used to make more than Mac and Cheese

But then, a Box of Mac and Cheese isn't complete. You need butter and water to finish it, and rice, I'd argue Rice isn't a full meal either (too dry and dull), but fresh vegetables ARE relatively cheap.

So.. what are your thoughts and your experiences? Which is more cost-effective?

Obviously, this will differ depending on your ability to cook. No time to cook will probably result in different answers from those who do have time.

But, please.. I'm curious what your thinking/logic is. :)

Original Post by voodoolily:

Original Post by dm84:

I usually keep the cost of my meals at less than $3 each. Even McDonald's costs more than that. 

Yeah, but you eat only like 1200 calories a day, right?

When I was a college student I could get a whole bag of groceries for $10, but I ate beans and rice (from the dry bulk bins) for every meal and had to dumpster dive once in awhile to supplement.

 It's closer to 3,000 calories a day, if you really want to know. 

Wow - reading these posts about college students scraping by makes me realize how good I had it in school.  I didn't quality for it, but there was an on campus program for low income students/families to get eating plans - do, or did, any of you have that where you went/go to school?

CD - have you considered local charity food pantries?  From when I volunteered for one, I recall they did offer at least some healthy generic and canned items.

Original Post by santonacci:

Wow - reading these posts about college students scraping by makes me realize how good I had it in school.  I didn't quality for it, but there was an on campus program for low income students/families to get eating plans - do, or did, any of you have that where you went/go to school?

CD - have you considered local charity food pantries?  From when I volunteered for one, I recall they did offer at least some healthy generic and canned items.

I lived at home as an undergrad and my parents didn't charge me for food.

I live off-campus now as a grad student and no one is offering me any handouts (I don't really want handouts anyway; I'd rather control my food).

In fact Massachusetts specifically bans full-time students from getting food stamps, while they hand it out like candy to illegals.

Gotta love America! 

(not trying to go off-topic here) 

I have, but I don't do handouts.  Alex and I are trying to do this on our own.  We're young, you know?  Fresh out of school, getting by with fast food minimum wage job(s), not really anxious to go crawling back to Mommy and Daddy's house to live in the basement or something.  Stubborn, to say the least.

That and the only place we could go to is way on the other side of town and we don't have the gas money to drive there, and busses are expensive. :D

We're surviving.  We manage to get lucky and find a dollar on the ground or a few dollars tucked away in savings that we forgot about.  Our main concern right now is our heat.  We can either buy groceries for the winter or we can pay the electric bill for one month with heat.  Which is why I'm swallowing my pride and moving back in with Mommy and Daddy in February.  They need help with their bills and I'd rather pay them rent than pay my jerk of a lessor who keeps hitting me with noise violations.  It's not my fault I fall and I'm so fat I make a HUGE thud.  Sheesh.

Foodstamps!  Dear lord, I don't qualify for food stamps and I work barely five hours a week!  Because my fiance, who is the sole provider for our apartment right now, makes two hundred dollars a week.  We pay out one thousand sixty dollars in bills (rent, electric, internet because it's how we look for jobs and it's cheaper than buying a newspaper every day, car payment, car insurance, and one frickin' school loan) and we get maybe eight hundred to one thousand dollars a month in income.

Yet we make too much money.

Whereas my sister, who used to live with a tattoo artist who made over a thousand bucks a week got food stamps!  Because the jerk didn't claim his tattoo tips.  And our neighbors, who both work minimum wage fast food jobs andhave an apartment near us, get food stamps.  They make the same income as us, if not more right now because of my job situation, and their uncle pays their rent, their electric bill, their cellular phone bill, and their car payments.  Yet they qualify!?

What the heck, man.

Cellulite, it sounds like you have things very tough right now. Sorry to hear it.

I've posted this before, it has some good tips and ideas, such as how to feed a family of 4 on $45. That's still more than what you are working with for 2 people, but maybe it'll have some ideas you can use:

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmen u.htm

Also have you considered dried beans? Around here, you can get 1 lb for 99 cents or sometimes only 69 cents. 1 lb feeds our family of four for several meals. Add to rice, and you have a complete, balanced meal. Do you buy rice in the giant 40-lb bags? We do - we find that rice is cheaper at the Asian markets.

Original Post by dm84:

Original Post by santonacci:

Wow - reading these posts about college students scraping by makes me realize how good I had it in school.  I didn't quality for it, but there was an on campus program for low income students/families to get eating plans - do, or did, any of you have that where you went/go to school?

CD - have you considered local charity food pantries?  From when I volunteered for one, I recall they did offer at least some healthy generic and canned items.

I lived at home as an undergrad and my parents didn't charge me for food.

I live off-campus now as a grad student and no one is offering me any handouts (I don't really want handouts anyway; I'd rather control my food).

In fact Massachusetts specifically bans full-time students from getting food stamps, while they hand it out like candy to illegals.

Gotta love America! 

(not trying to go off-topic here) 

This is an interesting point actually. When I was in college I had a meal plan that I could use in the cafeteria or the student union which had fast food (taco bell, pizza hut, etc.). The food in the cafeteria was pretty unhealthy (think old school public high-school type food, frozen pizzas, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets and so on). This was in the mid 90s. Not sure if it's any better now. There does seem to be somewhat more of an effort in some public k-12 schools to have more healthy options and cut down on the unhealthy stuff in vending machines.

For financial reasons most of my food had to be purchased on my meal plan.

CD, have you considered trying for a temporary job as a server?  I worked in a restaurant for years to pay may way through school and had the perk of free food after a shift (some restaurants make you pay full price though).  Tips are great this time of year too.  Also, I think if you were already married joint income would be considered poverty and would recieve assistance, unfortunately since you are (by law) single there isn't much help...really stupid.  FYI, my mom was in a very similar situation when I was little and she voluntered twice a week at a food pantry and at the end of her shift was aloud to take a box of groceries from the pantry home...that wouldn't be considered a handout, for your stubborness =)

I have a job as a waitress/prep but like I said, I'm an on call employee and am lucky to get hours.  I haven't had any in about three weeks because business is slow and they don't need the help.  I've been lookin' for jobs ever since I got fired in October and am still getting nowhere.

Seasonal, part time, full time, temporary, I'm gettin' nowhere.

But I'm still keeping my head high and scouring the internet and harassing the local businesses within walking distance for a job.  I figure so long as I'm looking I'm not completely hopeless.  xD

The sucky part about temp agencies and employment agencies is they want you to have a drivers license.  I don't have peripheral vision in my left eye and can't takea drivers test.  So I'm stuck doing things on my own.

I'm a tough cookie.  I'll survive. And once February comes and my lease is up, I'll have a relatively easy life yet again as we'll only have four hundred dollars in bills and eight hundred to a thousand dollars in income monthly.

Bah.  IGNORE TYPOES.  I'm too cheap to buy a new keyboard and too lasy to keep editing posts.

CD: have you filed for unemployment? you still qualify even if you are working if your hours have been substantially reduced...at least you do here in Florida. And unemployment is not a hand out. It is a benefit you have earned as an employee.

Also, when was the last time you checked into food stamps? your income, definitely qualifies, now.

Hillbillyhousewife is a great site...lots of great money saving ideas...

as a side note: the average family of four is supposed to be able to get by on about 120.00 a week for groceries...according to the government, that is...

Original Post by cellulitedelight:

The sucky part about temp agencies and employment agencies is they want you to have a drivers license. 

Is it specifically a drivers license they want, or just some form of government issued picture ID?  Most places ask for a DL because that is the most common form of picture ID.  A passport is a legal ID, and I believe you can go to the DMV to just get a state picture ID - it looks like a DL, but it's just an ID.

http://www.dmv.org/oh-ohio/id-cards.php

Sorry to get off topic - just throwing out ideas to help....

I filed for unemployment in October.  I was denied because my boss told the caseworker I quit.  And I was just denied state assistance on Monday.  They said my fiance makes too much money and they don't consider debt-to-income ratios.  If Alex were to take a cut in hours and only make one hundred dollars a week, then we'd qualify for state assistance but then we'd be in debt up to our eyeballs.

And they want a drivers license to make sure you can get to work.  I told them that's discrimination and I have reliable transportation, and in every single job I've ever had I've never once been late, absent, or left early but they still want a drivers license.  My photo ID just doesn't cut it.

I've thought of all possiblities, I really did and I really do appreciate suggestions.  Unfortunately I'm pretty much stuck where I'm at.  Looking for a job every day, trying to maintain my apartment and sanity, trying to put together a meal out of nothin', and massaging Alex's feet when he gets home from work.

February's only.. what.. two and a half months away?

Edit to clarify: I didn't quit.  I did get fired.  He called my fiance at night, way after my shift ended to complain about my work.  I got on the phone and told him he couldn't say anything to Alex, he had to say something to me.  Words were said, he twisted my words and said I called him stupid, told me I was fired, I called him a cheap bastard and told him I hope his business continues to go under, and haven't heard from him since.

I'd love to turn this guy in for all the crap he's doing.  Making Alex work off the clock after his shift ended to get his chores done, editing time cards on employees who get too close to 40 hours so it's only around 30 hours, not paying royalties on his pizzas (he punches in orders as pick up, takes the cash, then deletes it from the computer so the corporate managers never know he's selling pizzas under the business name), and treats his employees like crap.  Alex used to work on salary for him, equaling out to about 4 dollars an hour and working 9 shifts a week, and he has another girl still doing the same thing.  He lets his high-school employees do deliveries yet makes Alex drive the ones that aren't registered in the computer so Alex doesn't even get a delivery fee for it.

I can't wait until I get a good job so I can get Alex out of there.  Anyone need a seamstress?  How about a pastry artist?  Phlebotomist?  I've got a certificate in all three, I work cheap, and I'm willing to relocate.

Keep trying honey. We hired folks without cars quite consistently and only required the photo ID for immigration purposes...

Original Post by cellulitedelight:

And they want a drivers license to make sure you can get to work. 

How they figure a driver's license insures that a person gets to work (DL doesn't do any good without a vehicle), and how they're not being discriminatory to people who can't drive because of a handicap or medical condition is beyond me.  You might be able to complain to the EEOC about that.  http://www.eeoc.gov/

I too recommend the Hillbilly Housewife website - there are a lot of great tips.  In addition, there are scores of coupon websites that are free, and provide a lot of food and service coupons for your area.  (one of many:  http://www.couponmom.com/ )

Good luck!

on edit: Oh, unless you're trying to prevent blowback on Alex since he still works there, call the IRS on your ex-boss' ass.  The government doesn't like it when people earn money on the sly....

Haha, Alex keeping his job would be a good thing.  He's been applying for a new job, too, since October.  As soon as he gets one his current boss is getting one hell of a reality check.

Have y'all been checking Toledo's Craiglist...looks like there are a few opportunities there?

Also, call centers are generally fairly inclusive, at least it would be better than minimum wage...

Ooh, Phlebotomist? In Colorado they'll pay you $18+ to start.

I have a sister in Colorado.  I wonder if she has a spare room...

Anyway, Alex and I got yet another noise violation for coughing.  God forbid anyone in these darned apartments get sick.  We're putting in our thirty days notice, clearing out our emergency savings and our credit cards and are moving before December's end.

It's a small reward, not having to pay rent (though we are offering my parents two hundred dollars a month for help with their bills) and being able to buy groceries yet again, as well as keep eliminating our debt.  I'd still rather have a job but the ability to buy bagels will keep me quiet for about six months.

Original Post by dreamer88:

I think you can eat healthily for very little money. When I was small the only income my mother had was Income Support and she managed to cook something healthy and balanced every day. But she knew how and enjoyed to cook, was a vegetarian (can be a lot cheaper, in my opinion!), knew about nutrition, had a lot of time, had only one child and herself to feed, only had to live like that for about five yrs etc. ... and still found it a huge challenge.

I reckon it's a lot easier to eat healthily when you have money. I had no money a few weeks ago and all I ate was porridge (bag@49p), apples (9@54p), bread (loaf@30p) and biscuits (pack@13p). Cheap, but by no means healthy! Not a long-term diet, ya know? And let's face it, if you're working a 12-hour day it's obviously easier to come in and heat up a load of oven chips and cheap burgers rather than, as my mum did, be making your own yoghurt or soaking some beans.

Saying that, I think that if you have money then it's cheaper to eat healthily. I can't really be bothered to explain that, but it makes sense, doesn't it?

I don't think fast food should come into it. That's eating out (sort of ...), and however healthy/unhealthy it is it's still surely gonna be more expensive than doing your own cooking??

Maybe it depends. Respect to anyone who manages to make the right choices with no money! LOL.

 It's not always about just cheap. It's about cheap and fast. Convenience trumps health 80% of the time. I'm a full time college student who works full time and has less than $40 amonth for food. What's more, even if I stay awake 20 hours of the day, I only have maybe a half an hour a day for preparing food. And that's if I study while I'm cooking. So yes, the cheap, easy and ast to prepare food works better for people in my situation and almost every situation. There is an extremely limited kind of person who can actually afford to buy healthy foods (they go bad fast so you have to have constant money, not living paycheck to paycheck to buy often and not in bulk) and you actually need time to prepare meals. The only demographics I can think of that fit the bill are married mothers of only one almost fully grown child who does not need money for college and happen to have enough income from Hubby to not have to work (this is rare). Also, retired and already healthy rich people.