It's expensive to raise healthy kids!

My feelings on eating healthy are that when I have tried to eat healthy, it can drive you broke. When you compare the costs of all that organic, wheat, whole grain foods, they are usually more expensive to buy and come in less quantities than regular food. If you do have problems eating healthy and have trouble supporting yourselves, there is always the WIC programs, if you qualify. I personally have never been on it, but they do give you some money for food and milk, things that are nutritious. I don't know too much about the program, but it is available to you if you qualify. They give you nutritious meal plans and some money for the nutritious meals also!

Sorry, don't have many tips other than I use coupons a lot. But yes it is expensive to raise healthy children. Those snack cakes cost about 98 cents when some good fresh fruit is like $3 per pound. We have five of us to feed and spend about $125 per week just getting enough for one meal per day.

in our household we have to buy a gallon of milk a day and the store in front of where we live charges $3.85 a gallon. In town it is cheaper but by the time you add gas cost to get there it equals out to cost more. Yes I agree totally with you becuase it is cheaper to buy a pop and a bag of chips hten it is to buy something healthy. But they can't lower the prices of the fresh foods becuase it would hurt the farmers in there wallets and If they raised the price of junk foods alot of kids would go hungry because that is all they will eat. I am going to try to make my home a lower fat home this coming new year I will probably have a food strike going on though lol. I usually only buy it weekly because you can geet some good deals sometimes the fruit goes on sale grapes are 3.69 pound now where I live. shame.

I generally try to make healthy meals that will give us a lot of leftovers. For example, whenever I make spaghetti, I make enough to last us for at least lunch and dinner the next day. So, for about $5, I'm making 3 meals. In terms of meat, I have an uncle who is a farmer and, whenever he slaughters a cow, I buy a quarter. I can usually get a couple hundred pounds of steaks, hamburger, etc. for about $100-120.

I know what you mean about the cost of encouraging healthy eating habits. We are a family of 5, and we spend to eat healthy. Because we feel it is important, we tend to cut back on other things to help offset the cost of eating better--eating healthy. We also never go out to eat fast food. No one in our family likes or eats red meats, and there is even a vegetarian amongst us. I find that poultry is cheaper than beef products at the commissary where we shop, which is helpful to us because we don't eat beef. I shop for veggies and if something is on sale, I buy extra and freeze. I also go food shopping with a clear cut list of what I need and I do my best not to stray from what is on the list--and rule of thumb is do not take the kids food shopping with you so you can avoid buying the extras they tend to stick in the cart. I also use coupons, in fact last week I saved over $30.00 by using coupons. Another good tip is to look at your portion servings of food. More often than not, people tend to eat more of a portion than is really needed. If you could learn to portion properly, you could also cut back on how much you buy, or benefit from leftovers you will have.

its not that expensive..

Let me start off by saying that milk is bad because it's filled with hormones and antibiotics. Either get organic milk or soy milk. Soda is bad because of the dangerous high fructose corn syrup in it. In fact, everything with high fructose corn syrup should be avoided. I have healthy eating habits. It's just my husband and I and I don't mind paying more for organic because it's a lot cheaper than medical bills that come from eating all these bad, processed foods on the store shelves.

To have best eating in the specified limited budget, one has to start cooking at home daily.once a while, hotel is ok but otherwise,cook all things at home by bringing all the items needed from the stores.yes.the expence like milk etc cannot be reduced by this but reduction of other expences can help you to spend more on children.

Talk about the cost of living in propotion to your income, what are you trying to do just stash your money for a rainy day or blow it up on a holiday by trying to do away with basic essentials like milk ,at $7 minimum wages per hour u r paying 20 minutes labour on a weeks quota of milk

I am trying to have healthier eating habbits but you are right, it is expensive to buy healthy foods. I have 3 young children and I have 3 young children and I have a terrible tiem getting them to eat veggies and fruits. I'm sorry I don't ahve any advice. If you learn anything on thsi can ya let me know. I am very interested in this topic. I do find it funny how you hear about all the obese in thsi country yet you wont hear about the prices for healthier foods going down so you can reg afford to feed a family well.

You make some really good points. I've noticed that the really great sales at the grocery store are always on things like TV dinners. They don't have half price sales on fresh veggies in season....They do sometimes have sales for pasta which I always stock up on. It's a good budget stretcher that is really delicious. Also, in the summer, I've started planting a vegetable garden. I love gardening and for at lease three or four months we have wonderful fresh things. I expand it a little each year. Next spring I'm putting in cantalope which will be the first fruit I've planted.(One of my neighbors has had good luck with melons.) Also, am thinking about canning some stuff. I haven't done that yet.

Technically it is more expensive to raise unhealthy kids, doctors vists, surgary... its all far more expensive than a lifetime supply of healty food and exersise You can live without milk, its actually healthyier to live without milk... so thats really not an excuse to give the kids sugary drinks, not for anyone, milk is really only good if you need to fatten up You can join a local cooperative to help raise fresh foods for your family, and trade with family owned farms for things like babysitting, milking the cows so a family can go on vacation, and lots of other things

Ut-oh, putting us on the spot eh? I honestly think we don't have healthy eating habits. My daughter, she loves fruits and veggies so she likes to make sure she has plenty to eat, and she is only 11. I make them drink milk and lots of water daily, but I admit that they probably drink more soda. Since I split my time with the kids with their dad, I can't say they eat healthy there. He likes McDonald's--a lot because he hates to cook, so I know they do not eat all that healthy over there. We feed both a family and a couple. When it is just the two of us, we eat pretty good. I have been making him drink Cranberry juice lately--for his kidneys. Best tips on a budget-- nothing is wring with canned fruits and veggies. In fact, it is probably wise to have some stocked somewhere, just in case. Never waste a meal. Eat leftovers! I've always hated seeing people throwing away food they never finished or never even ate.

Yes healthy food is more expensive than junk. Ever heard you get what you pay for? I would never suggest lowering the price of milk since I live in Wisconsin and some of my good friends are dairy farmers. They work very hard to get that milk for us and when milk prices drop they scramble to keep everything going. ANd believe me, when milkl prices raise, they still need to watch their money. I pay $2.69 for a gallon of milk

It is hard to manage a budget for buying healthy foods when the junk food is often on sale! I try to buy what happens to be on sale in the fruits and vegetables or look for deals on the seasonal local fruits and vegies. Milk goes a long way for health and mixes with healthier foods like cereal so it is a staple at home. I agree with you though-it's a challenge to get the right foods when they often cost more

"I can buy a 2-liter bottle of soda for maybe 87 cents on sale but it costs between $2.50 and $3.00 for a 2-liter of skim milk" same here BUT if you opt for the pop every time, imagine how muhc you'll be forking out in medical bills later on ;-) Secondly you can and do actually get milks benefits from other sources..I RARELY drink milk because I cant stand the stuff but I know that calcium and the other nutrients etc I'm getting elsewhere so its no big deal.. thirdly yes we are a family of four and you are rigth the cost of groceries has gone up and its tough..I've noticed it in the past four yrs that I've been living here in the U.S What we used to get for $200 a week is now down to about half meaning we'd get a cart full for 200 but are only able to half fill the cart now..... best way to work on a budget....stock up on "do all" foods....things like canned cream soups, sp sauce, gr beef, seasonings (lots of different ones), various pasta, rice, broth, potatos and chicken....You have those main things in your house and you can make SO MANY variosu dishes...Always always always have fresh veggies and fruits at hand, they're cheap, good for you and filling so if you have a salad as a starter course you'll find that the main course need not be too major...any leftovers, freeze them and date them...buy meat when its on sale only and in value pack size then seperate it and freeze it when you get home....dont waste time with already deboned and skinned chicken cause you'll pay more...buy with bone in, skin on and do it yourself at home....oh and a big kicker, buying brand name items..you are goin to pay more for the name which is nuts..for example if I need 1lb of bacon it costs $4-6 dollars for top name brands whereas I can get a 1lb of store brand for half that price....Also check out your local butcher shop for sales.. In the summer grow your own veggies and herbs...herbs you can dry them and jar them and they last (I cant wait to have my garden! I miss it) which in my case at least comes in really handy since I use so many various seasonings when I cook..buying them constantly can be pricey....USE COUPONS!! and work the coupons into local sales..you can save a lot that way... thats all I have right now LOL I just got up and need coffee really badly

I wish milk was 87 cents and pop was $3.00! That be nice. I would buy more milk for sure and less pop.

We try to have healthy eating habits. When my husband cooks, he cooks meals you would pay good money at any restaurant. Plus plenty of left overs for the next few days. Our kids are picky eaters. My oldest is learning to eat what we cook, our youngest doesn't want any sause on anything that she eats. Plus her veggies she loves her veggies. With most kids you would have to fight them night and day to get them to eat veggies. I'm like you when it comes to milk. $ 2.50 is a really good deal on milk. I usually buy 2 at that price since we all love milk, plus we use it in cooking. Got to love store brand.

I think some one here are so naive that they don't even know the rules of making friends with others. You wanna know more foreigners? Then it;s better that you are a girl, and then post one of your most beautiful pictures here, i am sure there will be foreigners to knock your door soon, Hehe! No offence, just kidding! LOL!

3$ for a liter of skim milk?! I pay 0.80$ for milk!:) You can come and live in Romania if you wand more products with not much money ;)