How We Afford to Eat Well

Good morning! =)


I've been meaning to write this post for a while; I want to help dispel the myth that eating healthy is prohibitively expensive. 


A lot of it has to do with prioritizing expenses. Food is my second biggest expense after rent every month. I allocate a lot of money towards it because it's incredibly important to me. Unless I absolutely have to, I choose not to purchase new gym clothes or home decor or books or magazines or entertainment in favor of spending more money on good, wholesome food.


So my first tip would be to invest more in what you're putting in your body - if you can. I do understand that in this economy, not everyone has this luxury. =(


Anyway, this is how I spend our food dollars: (we are a two-person household, of course)

As you can see, the total is $134.99. That's including all of my weekly staples and some things that I normally only buy once every two to three weeks: razors and toilet paper, as well as two items I only buy once every few months: parsley and oregano flakes. 


This is how my fridge looks post-shopping-trip:

Do you see my secret stash of delicious Dunkin' Donuts coffee?! ;-)

In the top left corner you can see two of my pre-packed meals. That is 3lb of asparagas in the middle, next to 1lb of brussels sprouts and a pack of 4 cartons of egg whites. On the bottom right, you will see 3lb of tilapia (it's cheaper to buy fresh tilapia than frozen tilapia at my BJs - $5.99/lb vs $7.99/lb) stacked on top of 2lb of salmon. The two tupperware containers in the middle contain some pre-cooked veggies left over from last week. To the left of the cooked veggies are bags of pre-cooked chicken breast, and behind those are tupperware containing leftover meat from last week. There are bagels behind the veggies, but you can't see them.


Max has some more protein sources (his own chicken breast, gigantic packages of sausages, string cheese, etc) in the bottom drawers. 

This is the top shelf of my fridge: two types of cream cheese (for Max), banana peppers (Max's), two and a half dozen eggs (I like to use organic eggs - the smaller carton on the left - for hard-boiling. I swear their shells peel easier), and some Bragg's amino acids.

Freezer! =) 5lb of frozen chicken breast under two five-pound bags of green beans. The frozen pizza and waffles are Max's. ;-) You can't see them, but there is a package of VitaMuffins and a loaf of Ezekiel bread in the fridge door.


In all fairness, Max will probably buy two rotisserie chickens this week, so that'll add another $10ish to our total weekly grocery bill. I also did not need to buy apples or sweet potatoes this week since I'm still stocked up, but I eat about $5 of each of those foods per week. All in all, that means we spend about $155 a week if we have to stock up on absolutely everything. 


That $155 grocery bill may seem steep at first glance, but consider the fact that that comprises all of our food for the week. That means we spend $11 per person per day. You can't even get one meal at most restaurants for that price. 


Not bad for a bodybuilder and a figure competitor, if you ask me.