How much does it cost to be Healthy?

[zeeko13]

The biggest hurdle on my road to fitness is money. Not the numbers themselves, but the anxiety that comes with low income + student status. I'd like to turn that monster into a realistic plan.

Even though this is true, I've been spending 70% of my small income on fast food. This is ridiculous and I know this. This is where I came from. It doesn't matter anymore. What matters is where I'm going.

My goal is to use that money to buy groceries and start cooking my own meals. I know this will be cheaper than what I'm doing now.
I also need about $120 a month to come back to my Muay Thai school. I can't for the life of me pick a cheaper school because the teacher and everyone there are so authentic, it's worth the extra cost for the community. 

 

So my question is, for the people out there eating paleo-style (not strict), how much are your groceries per week, for one person?

I know different regions have different food prices. I live in the Los Angeles area to give you a clue on where I'm at.
As a bonus to feed my curiosity, how much are you paying per month on training? This can be school/ gym fees, equipment, program subscriptions, whatever you spend with the goal of improving your fitness. 

 

I'm fairly new to budgeting money for groceries. I'm 25 and only started calling myself an adult maybe a couple months ago XD

And if you have any tips on what to buy to keep costs reasonable, that would be great because I don't know a damn thing.

[Toshimi]

There are ways to do paleo (or paleo ish) without breaking the bank. Pork shoulder chops are way cheaper than some other cuts, also tougher cuts of meet (that then need to be cooked longer) is another way to go. 

 

Paleo leap has some resources on eating paleo on a budget.

 

Even if you decide not to do a full blown paleo right now (don't feel like you have to to be a part of NF) simple things like cutting out processed and fast foods can make a big difference. 

[Sunmage]

Before you fight specific foods you might want to get an overview of your spendings and create a budget.

It is possible. $120 is much money, but a crossfit box charges about the same. You might have to cut back on other stuff like coffee to go.

There was a post on the NF blog about affordable paleo, too!

 

I started tracking every expense again. Money just ran through my fingers. I really hurts when you see that most money goes for gas and fast food. Especially fast food is a very expensive way of eating.

Do you have some regular meals you enjoy? Some fast things you can throw together when you are really hungry?

 

You did not mention how big your budget is. Having numbers would help putting you in the right direction...

[zeeko13]

CaveGirl, what a great link! Every time I thought to myself, "Oh I can't do that for x reason", there was another suggestion well within my capabilities. I always like truckloads of info. Thank you!

Well, okay I guess I can do numbers. I'm not used to talking about my money to be honest.

I just quit my job to become a full-time student. I get about 1500 for every 3 months. So figure $500 a month.

My credit card bills add up to ~$100/ month. I haven't bought anything with CCs in a long time and I'd like to keep it that way.
Phone bill is ~70/ month. 
Medication: $40 every 3 months for contact lenses, anti-anxiety varies depending how anxious I've been... I'd say it averages about 50/ month.
Transportation: I ride a motorcycle because it's cheap! And fun it's only about $10-15 a month. I don't include repairs because I know a guy. 

Housing: I don't pay rent. Thank you grandma. 

I don't drink coffee. Literally the only other thing I buy is food. I haven't bought a new video game in months, and trust me when I say I'm a gamer. 
I recently quit all sugar drinks and that's helped a bit, not a whole lot. I'm hoping the more healthy I get over time, the less medication I will need, but I can't count chickens before they hatch.

So, put that together, my monthly needs come out to about $250 a month. That leaves the other $250 for budgeting food. I can definitely live on that, but it would be nice if I even had minimal spending cash. 

[Raincloak]

the more you're willing to cook, the cheaper you'll eat.  Fast food is only cheap compared to restaurant food.

 

for all the following, YMMV.  Not everything I recommend here is "paleo approved" but I guarantee it's better than fast food.

 

Cheapest protein in the universe is legumes (peas, beans, lentils) plus a grain (rice, corn).  Powdered milk is also way down there.  Second cheapest is chicken eggs and tofu.  Third cheapest is cheap cheese or ground meat, and peanut butter.  You can get all your protein for $2/lb or less.  If you're in a hurry, get a rotisserie chicken from the deli.  Bacon, sausage and other processed meats are expensive and should be "treats" not staples.

 

Cheapest starch in the universe is rice.  Second cheapest, wheat flour.  Third cheapest, potatoes.  You can also get a mountain of corn tortillas for a few bucks from your nearest tortilleria, which should be easy to find in LA.  Pasta is more expensive, followed by bread which is more expensive than that, followed by artisan bread which is most expensive.  You can get starch for less than a dollar a pound.

 

Cheapest veggies are in the freezer section.  Second cheapest are canned tomatoes and fresh carrots, cabbage, and onions.  Third cheapest is whatever else is in season.  If you budget $3/lb for veggies you should be able to score a decent variety.

 

You also need fat to cook things in.  Cheapest is vegetable oil, but no good on a paleo diet.  Butter is fairly cheap if you buy it on sale, and a lot of paleo cooks swear by ghee (which you make by melting and straining butter).  Olive oil is slightly more expensive but it's what I mostly use (don't buy "extra virgin" for cooking, get "light" oil).  Coconut oil is more expensive still, but it's versatile and one jar will last a while if you don't waste it.  Animal fat (lard, suet, etc.) is available in butcher shops but price varies widely, and if you've never cooked before I wouldn't use it as your first weapon.

 

you'll also want a few spices.  Ones I use most: salt, pepper, garlic, sugar, vinegar, chili, lemons.  As you expand your skills you can acquire more.

 

so: $1/lb for starch, $2/lb for protein, $3/lb for veggies, plus a bit for fat.  Depending on your size, some ballpark figures might be 1/2 lb starch, 1/2 lb meat, and 1 lb. veggies per day.  That works out to just under $4/day, which not coincidentally is the food stamp budget allotment.

 

speaking of food stamps, you might wanna apply for those.  Also Obamacare, if your school does not offer a better healthcare plan.

[zeeko13]

One more thing, my kitchen challenges:

1. No microwave. 
2. A small pressure oven,

3. no soup pot. I really want a soup pot. I like soup. 

4. Very small amount of fridge + freezer space. I live with my grandma who keeps arcane jars of inedible things in there, and it's not a big fridge to begin with. 

I can make a great stir fry, and I always eat a paleo breakfast out of habit. The no microwave thing makes fast snacks kind of hard, but I like sardines so I'll probably just stick with those. 

[zeeko13]

duplicate post.

[Raincloak]

One more thing, my kitchen challenges:

1. No microwave. 

2. A small pressure oven,

3. no soup pot. I really want a soup pot. I like soup. 

4. Very small amount of fridge + freezer space. I live with my grandma who keeps arcane jars of inedible things in there, and it's not a big fridge to begin with. 

I can make a great stir fry, and I always eat a paleo breakfast out of habit. The no microwave thing makes fast snacks kind of hard, but I like sardines so I'll probably just stick with those. 

 

1. Microwaves can be had for less than $50 (try Craigslist).  However it's perfectly possible to cook without one.

2. I have no idea what a pressure oven is but I'm sure you can manage it.

3. So hit the thrift store, garage sale or Wal-Mart and get a soup pot.  I bet you can find one for $10.

4. Ask grandma if you can clean the fridge, or buy an extra fridge.

[zeeko13]

The no microwave + small fridge isn't only a money concern.  There's no space for one. Also our electricity is so old that we don't have 3-prong (grounded) outlets, which most microwaves need. But like you said, I can cook without one.

A pressure oven works the same as a convection oven, except you can seal the environment, cooking things faster. I plan on buying whole chickens and sticking them in there. 

And grandma, as much as I love her, is a stubborn rock who won't change for anything. I've already had several discussions with her about how I want to eat healthier and the space thing, and she just gave me the look. I hate the look. It's alright, I'll manage. I do wish I could store more food, though. And before you say something like "buy a chest freezer, put it in the garage" my grandma has already banned me from putting anything more in the garage. I already have my bike + motorcycle in there and she's kind of crazy about the space issue of the apartment to be honest. 

But I will find a soup pot even if I have to store in my own closet. That much I can do.

I hope it doesn't seem like I'm making excuses. That's not the case, because I'm not trying to get out of responsibility. I just have hurdles that make progress... slower.

[Sunmage]

Wow.

 

Thats some hurdles that need to be taken care of.

You got a lot of ressources for cheap paleo food =)

Chicken and some veggies is a great and cheap paleo meal. You even can do it in badtches for 2 days.

 

But you are limited in the storage and kitchen area. 

Is there any way you can reduce your credit card and your phone  bill?

 

Is there a possibility to put a freezer somewhere? Maybe if you park the motorcycle outside(I hate recommending it btw). Is it about the space or about you changing things she is used to? About you taking space in her house?

The look is no "no", is it? 

 

If you cook a badtch every 2nd day will you be able to store the rest in the fridge? Would you survive having Dinner, Lunch, Dinner, Lunchg with the same food?

If you cook in the afternoon that means 3 servings for the fridge. Does that fit in?

How many emergency meal servings would find place in the freezer?

 

If the space is to small you would have to cook every day. Still possible, but time consuming. You cook 2 servings, eat one directly and the other is lunch the next day.

 

Also: Is there a tea kitchen with a microwave at university you can use?

[zeeko13]

The good thing is, anything I put in my room is okay. So I could stock up on pantry items no problem. And, if I pay for the extra electricity, I don't see why I couldn't have a small freezer in here, now that I think about it... 
The lame thing is I realized the garage doesn't have electricity hooked up. Oh well. 

The credit bill Is something I've been tackling over the years. I don't charge anything, and my balance has been steadily going down. Whenever I get some extra cash from odd jobs or holidays I put it straight to paying off debt. Luckily that's something I've had a lot of progress in so far. So yeah, that's my strategy. All extra cash goes to paying off debt.

The phone bill, I will look into. 

It looks like I have enough room for about 6 meals and about 5 jars in the fridge, and enough room in the freezer for a 12-lb turkey. And a few bags of frozen veggies if I stuff em in there. 
I do not mind eating the same thing at all. Luckily I like my cooking when I actually do it

Well, today's a great day to get started. Time for me to go grocery shopping.

[Raincloak]

wait you're carrying revolving credit card debt?  Drop the boxing lessons and pay that shit off.  That's like 23% compounding interest, plus whatever monthly fees you've got going on.  It's about the biggest possible drain on finances, short of lottery tickets.  You can go back to Muay Thai in a few months when the balance is paid.  (Do bodyweight workouts in the meantime, and when you get back to the gym, think about how amazed everyone will be at your improvement.)

 

Charging stuff to a card is actually not bad and can result in an improved credit score, but it's only worthwhile if you pay off the balance in full every month.  If possible you might want to consider getting work/study or a part time job to get your debts paid, since the faster you pay it off, the better.

 

 

When I was a fulltime student two years ago, I used to live on about $300/month after rent.  Most of that was food, the rest was transportation (bus pass), personal care items and textbooks, although eventually I started keeping up my share of the family's phone pool.  Nearly all my clothes and shoes were secondhand, and I didn't replace them often.  I took good care of my electronics (mostly cheap used ones) and kept them safe from viruses and thieves.  I also used a bicycle, until it unfortunately got stolen.  I used the school gym and took walks for exercise.  I cooked at home, rarely ate out and rarely drank alcohol.  I mooched a lot of free meals from social clubs on campus.  I stuck to cheap forms of entertainment.  I was on my family's health care plan, and when that ran out I got cheap insurance with a high deductible.

 

Consequently I graduated with almost no debt (was able to pay off the last of it within a month of graduation, when I got a new job), and sticking to that lifestyle for the following year resulted in a heap of savings 12 months later, which I used to buy a car, travel to Europe, and start an IRA retirement fund.  It's totally doable.

[zeeko13]

I wasn't planning on rejoining muay thai anytime soon. I'm still conditioning for it, it's been a while. It's just a goal I have for the future. 

Pretty much everything you described about your time in college is what I do. Minus the cooking, which is why I'm here. I've been in the poverty level my whole life, I know how it goes.

 

My debt comes from my 18 year old self making bad life decisions. Since then I've been diligent on lowering my balance as much as possible. Yes, I know CCs are the devil if you carry a balance. Luckily I don't have any monthly or annual fees

 

I go to community college, and my financial aid waivers my tuition. I get all my books for free either from the internet or from friends who took the class. I have plenty of games for entertainment. 

I had a part-time job the same time I was going to school full-time for computer science for about 10 months before I couldn't do it anymore. I was at the fast food place for 2 1/2 years and my anxiety was getting really bad from the combination of not enough sleep, bad food, and overworking myself. The job was a bad place to spend my days. Full of toxic people, and my health was slipping every day. I just quit 2 weeks ago. I'm not ready to go back to that battlefield yet. Los Angeles is a horrible place for part-time jobs. 

 

I'm a lot happier like this for now. I get full sleep, I take walks every day and I'm restarting the body weight routine because I finally have enough energy to do so. I'd rather take the slow and steady route, even if that means keeping my small budget for a longer time. 

Anyways, my grocery trip was smooth sailing. Plenty of veggies I like were on sale, and I remembered how awesome I am at cooking mexican, so I made a bunch of taco meat for a few days, and I'll make a nice batch of guacamole & salsa once I get home from class. After I did the numbers, I was well within my budget if I shop like this all the time. Which I guess is my new goal! Thank you everyone for all your help

[Sunmage]

Looks like you found a position to start!

 

120 bucks for muay thay may be well worth it, but please consider going there after your CC is debt free.
Compound interest is a real bad effect unless it is working on your savings ​

 

And imagine how nice your budget would look if that 100 $ were free to spend

[zeeko13]

Also, Raincloack, thank you for reminding me about food stamps. I've been considering them for a while, but while I was still working I didn't ever get around to it. I filed an application today. It really would help me with my food so that I can pay off my balance faster.