MYTH: eating healthy is expensive

This is something you commonly hear: "Healthy food is more expensive." Wrong! "Health food" is expensive, but this is a marketing term. It's a con! Don't believe the hype!

It is easy to eat HEALTHY and CHEAP. You simply have to do a little more planning. Here are lots of items which are very healthy and cheap as dirt.

RICE

Go for brown rice, it's much better for you. Soy sauce is cheap too, especially if you buy the bigger bottle. (Kikkoman's is recommended) You can pretty much live for weeks on a 5 pound bag of rice, costs like 6 dollars. I have done it! (the last week before my first paycheck after moving to NYC)

SWEET POTATOES/YAMS

These are great, totally filling, and they taste great with nothing on them! Just boil until they're soft. Very cheap!

BANANAS

Bananas usually go for 50 cents a pound or so. Not only can you eat them on their own, they are the perfect way to sweeten up other stuff without sugar. I put them in yogurt, on top of Grape-Nuts, in peanut butter sandwiches.


EGGS

Your standard eggs cost what? $1.50 a dozen? Even if you spring for free-range eggs (recommended, because have you seen how they usually treat those chickens?) they're only about $3.00 a dozen. 2 eggs and some rice or bread on the side makes a small meal, so that's like 60 cents per meal.

GROCERIES

This is the key. Just buy fresh food from the grocery store instead of "health food" from some "health food" store. Vegetables are cheap. Beans are cheap. Potatoes are cheap. Apples are cheap.

WATER

In most places water is FREE. It falls from the sky for pete's sake. Squeeze a little lemon in there if you want some flavor. Why drink anything else?

I have also received the following advice: Even if healthy eating were more expensive, it is still a very smart financial move because being unhealthy is VERY EXPENSIVE. Do not trust health insurance companies or the government to take care of you.