Face it, it's easier to justify eating crap when you're broke. Ramen noodles are handy and cheap, and why not splurge and grab the Cool Ranch Doritos since you've saved so much on that main course. The value menu at McDonald's will yield items with decent mouthfeel for an on-the-go lunchtime.
All of those items are rip-offs. They provide practically nothing in the way of vitamins, minerals or healthy anything for that matter. You can eat well on the cheap with these few tips:
1. Sell, donate or regift your cookbooks. Almost all of them contain recipes made with specialty ingredients, long and complicated directions, and are impractical for real-life cooking. Keep any that you've used more than 4-5 times in a year and pitch the rest. Learn ratios, what healthy ingredients you can substitute for more expensive ones, and learn to cook "your way."
2. Learn portion sizing and buy in bulk when possible. Not Sam's Club bulk, necessarily; food such as yogurt, cottage cheese, and chicken breasts are cheaper when you buy them in larger containers rather than pre-portioned packaging. Invest in a set of measuring cups and spoons ($1 each set at Dollar General Store) and a Smart Spin storage system. Check the serving size on the nutrition information panel and portion the food at home. Having pre-prepped, pre-portioned food will help keep your overall food cost (and consumption) down. Reading labels and portioning out snack foods (like those Doritos - 11 chips is a serving at 140 calories) will go a long way to making your purchases stretch between paychecks. Knowing how much you are supposed to be putting into your mouth (1/2 c. of cottage cheese, 6 oz. of fat-free yogurt) will give a better awareness of what you're actually supposed to be eating in one sitting or meal.
3. Stop eating out. Just stop. A week's worth of food, snacks, etc. can be prepped in one hour a week. It's an intense hour: grill 2-3 lbs. of chicken breast and cut them into strips for salads and wraps, portion/prep side dishes and snacks into your Smart Spin containers and snack bags, cut and prep lettuce, fruit and vegetables. Chop up onions and mushrooms to use in omelets, grits or burgers; make a large batch of whatever you've purchased on sale or in season. I'm a fan of greens, beans and tomatoes mixed with salmon as a healthy lunch option that can be made in many different ways. When you get ready to head out the door, you'll be able to open the fridge and grab snacks and lunch rather than spending 3x as much for a Subway gut-bomb.
4. Give up processed crap. It's not food. Huge unit prices + cheap ingredients + fillers + chemicals = money in the toilet and pounds around your middle. No more pre-bagged salad, 100-calorie packs, cold cereal (make oatmeal/cream of wheat and stick it in the fridge the night before), fat-free ice cream, processed cheese food - don't buy it, and you won't eat it. Fresh fruit, vegetables fresh, frozen and canned, bulk popcorn, banana "ice cream" - you will save big bucks (and big calories) by spending a little more time in the kitchen - again, about an hour a week.
5. Quit shopping at Whole Foods. Organic is a standard, no matter where you buy it. Whole Foods markets itself as wholly "local, organic, pure and natural," but they also sell conventionally-grown, trucked-in produce, and their organic items are the same things you can purchase at lower cost at Kroger. The people who work at your nearest Kroger? They're local. Most Kroger and Giant Eagle stores have locally-grown items throughout the store. Buy cheap when and where you can.
6. Buy your staple foods and canned goods at cut-rate grocery stores like Aldi or Save-A-Lot. Sign up to have weekly circulars sent to your inbox. There's no need to cherry-pick sales, just choose the store with the most items you want on sale. Stock up on fresh produce in season (those Smart Spin containers freeze well) and canned/frozen when they pop up cheap.
7. Get up ten minutes earlier and make breakfast at home. Old-fashioned oatmeal or cream of wheat = 2 minutes in the microwave. 2-egg omelet with mushrooms, onions, and spinach = 5 minutes. Stir in some milk, a tablespoon of chopped walnuts, and some honey into your oats, have a banana, and voila! A gigantic breakfast in less than 10 minutes, and for about 500 calories. Breakfast should be your biggest meal of the day. While it's cooking, gather your snacks and lunch for the day.
8. If you just can't give up your Doritos, or your Kraft Shells and Cheese, compromise with a "cheat meal." Bodybuilders do this regularly in order to prevent bingeing and to enjoy their favorite "bad" food. Buy a bag or box - just one - of your favorite crap food. Then designate a day, meal, or time to sit back and thoroughly enjoy one serving, without guilt. If you're having a treat everyday, how is it a treat? It's just food, and you will be able to enjoy it - really enjoy it - if you don't get it as often as you'd like.
9. Use a food-tracking website, like SparkPeople, to log your meals and find recipes for healthy food. This will help you decode your eating habits, streamline your portion sizing and possibly, your waistline. People who track their food intake lose weight faster and keep it off longer.
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