It is ironic that the foods that make us the fattest are often the lowest in cost. It unfortunate that foods like white flour, white bread, pork, non-lean meats, prepared foods and deserts are often cheaper than whole grain fours, vegetables and lean meats.
This doesn't mean that eating on a budget has to make you fat. In fact if you take a look at the diets of people in other parts of the world we can learn a lot about how to eat for less and stay healthy.
First you should try and follow the food pyramid as closely as possible. Making your own salads from head lettuce, celery, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, etc, is much cheaper than buying bag salads, provided that you store your ingredients in airtight containers and make several salads from them.
One key to eating cheaply is to avoid waste.
Try adding brown rice, such as Basmati, to your diet as a major component. Combined with different kinds of beans this will give you the same proteins that are found in meats. Try Central American and Caribbean recipes for different beans and rice variations. One delicious variation from the Caribbean is "Peas and Rice" which uses rice and the bean like pigeon pea baked together with spices. It is delicious and is the daily main course in much of the Caribbean.
Add meat to your diet sparingly and buy larger quantities when it is on sale. You can purchase lower price, fatty cuts and stew them in a crock pot, let cool and drain off the fat. Drain fatty ground beef and mop up the fat with a paper towel before adding it to your recipes such as spaghetti.
The best way to save money and eat healthy at the same time is to use fresh ingredients that are in raw form instead of prepared foods. A bag of potatoes, rice or flour is much cheaper than one serving of prepared food.
Look to those childhood favorites that your mother cooked, only make them leaner. Potato soup, spaghetti and meatloaf can all be made with less fat. Look for healthy recipes on epicurious.com and other sites.
If you stick to buying raw ingredients and preparing them at home you can eat healthy and save a lot of cash at the same time.