Even though I haven't started, I already feel like I've come to some significant realizations. I spent a considerable amount of time in grocery stores yesterday, and realized that a lot of the foods that I thought were the cheapest foods one could eat were luxuries compared to what I'll probably be eating this week. I had planned on making eggs and tuna staples of my cheap week of eating - nope. Too expensive. At the farmer's market, most of the fruits and vegetables did not even provide the most bang for my buck.
I was able to score a bunch of bananas to give me one of my fruit/vegetable servings each morning for 90 cents. And I also stumbled upon this at Kroger:
That's right. 4 cans of blackeye peas for a buck. Normally $2.80 for 4. Sure I'll probably eat more blackeye peas this week than I have the entire past 3 years combined, but I imagine that folks on restricted budgets also end up eating whatever their grocer puts on sale.
Packs 8 grams of protein per serving, and there's 3.5 servings per can. Which brings me to my next realization - I'll probably be eating healthier this week than I normally do. One concern was that it was much cheaper to eat unhealthy than to eat healthy. I think that may be true when you are talking about food that has been prepared for you. But even cheap unhealthy food has to factor in the cost of preparation. The absolute least expensive food out there hasn't been processed - it's pretty much a straight line from the fields to you. Which is about as healthy as you can get. Oats, beans, rice: all inexpensive, and good for you. Now if I can just figure out how to make these things taste good...
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