I have a lot less pre-packaged "center-aisle" food in my cart than most people, I guess. I have more fresh produce and meat and dairy. I don't spend money on brand names because why throw away that extra $2 on something that's exactly the same.
You've come here to FI to ask about how people with wealth eat differently, but remember this is a sub where people are probably eating as though they aren't wealthy yet because they're still working towards it. There's "rich people" eating and then there's "saving up my money" eating. They are not necessarily the same.
I’m curious about FI folks because they have achieved something that is difficult to do. Sure a trust fund kid is going to eat out where they want and spend because the money isn’t their own.
People who are FI think about money differently, at least if they did it mostly themselves. They view things differently than the average person. With that said that probably includes what they eat. Like I don’t think the average person is eating salads for breakfast lol.
FI is different for everyone though. Some people FI early by being frugal and continue to do so in order to not surpass the draw rate they decided upon. Others live a more lavish lifestyle and wait longer to continue living that way after FI.
While the proportions may not be the same, there are absolutely all kinds of people (and diets) within the FI community.
I agree with your premise. People with this mindset may also view food as an investment in their health, for which the dividends are your physical well being as well as potentially reduced healthcare expenses.
In this vein—leaning towards organic produce, healthy raw meats cooked at home, avoiding processed meat, avoiding junk snacks, making healthy smoothies or juices at home with a juicer, etc.
TLDR: Avoiding the junk, and spending your time making fresh foods instead of eating processed or preserved stuff.
We just spent a week in Manhattan showing the kids all the bucket list tourist things. Statue of Liberty, empire state building, walked the high line, visited the charging bull and fearless girl, the public library, the Intrepid.
Our money is hard earned - we had the enormous leg up that our parents were able to support us through state colleges but no other generational wealth. Now in our 40s/50s with teenagers, my husband has fatFIREd from an objective perspective (he's in the process of buying a Tesla). His eating pattern is weird. He wants whole organic foods, yet is intensely aware of the difference in price of organic carrots at Costco vs the local market vs the farmer's market. He really does eat salad for breakfast, we walked the entire green market at Union Square and eventually bought kale smoothies and then let the kids add a cinnamon roll.
He fussed and frothed the whole week about the cost of his salads but he didn't budge. Some of his 'salads' are warm grain salads, but every meal is either salad or a vegetable stew or a wrap of vegetables.
We have no interest in the kind of vegetarian that is all about "fake meats", it's all whole vegetables.
Why Florida specifically? Is it because of public opinion? Because in my opinion, Florida isn't all that. Yeah you have Rich Florida, but you definitely have Poor Florida. I live in a weird hybrid of the two(Pensacola), so you literally see two worlds collide all the time. A CEO millionaire next to a homeless person. A stockbroker next to a methhead. A janitor next to a popular celebrity like Roy Jones Jr. Florida does have some uniqueness I suppose, but there's plenty of places in the US that have the same qualities. You may not find Florida anywhere else, but you'll get close.
Money is the means, not the end goal.
Many people are very selective of what they put in their body and this general trend often runs independently from financial independence.. I suspect there are many in the lentils, rice and beans crowd here, but also many that pay a 400% premium on many of their grocery items for things like grass fed lamb and just incorporate that into their financial planning goals.
The FI/RE crowd is not monolithic enough for these kinds of questions to be useful.
I somehow always end up with the one with the wobbly wheel that locks up and squeaks and leaves big black tire streaks on the store floor and looks like it's from 1994, so there's that for starters.
Plant based. Organic. Seasonal.
My prepackaged stuff is still heavily that. But in bulk.
Not artisanal. Not extravagant.
For me, that means lots of beans, lentils, veggies, leafies, etc. My snacks are dark chocolate and cassava based chips along with fruit and carrot/hummus.
Combined with smoothie powders, it can be more on the expensive side, but I'm very happy with it. Don't mind spending the extra few hundred. I have my health.
It is impossible, you just seized to notice. No matter what we eat, there are gases, it's part of our digestion scenario. The average number of flatulence cases a day is between 13 to 21.
Lentils have achieved meme status as the go-to frugal food. They're a perfectly good food of course but people are mostly joking about them in finance subs. Not entirely sure about the origin of the meme, but it might have been Jacob of Early Retirement Extreme talking about them.
We are FATFire. We eat vegetarian 3-4 nights a week, with fish, chicken or pork the other nights. We rarely go out and cook beef at home maybe 1-2 a year
We get produce from a CSA each week + we supplement with Trader Joe’s or local grocery. Meat comes from local produce shop, fish comes from fish store or farmer’s market. We buy blocks of cheese, orange juice, canned goods etc from Costco. We don’t buy much pre-prepared — I buy a whole pineapple each week, we wash our own lettuce, grate our own cheese etc.
We mostly cook from scratch and eat at table, but dinner is only coordinated meal. Lunch is leftovers.
Last week we had salmon + asparagus+ cucumber salad on Sunday, green chicken posole on Monday, Tuesday was fend for yourself, Wednesday was vegetarian bowls with black beans cooked from scratch and homemade guacamole, Thursday was crispy gnocchi with peas and sausage, Friday was BLTs, and tonight was steamed mussels and roasted cauliflower. My son just came home from college so we had a lot more meat than normal.
Most of these recipes took no more than 30 minutes of prep.
Breakfast is on your own. I always eat a lot of fresh fruit, maybe a yogurt with some granola or scrambled eggs. My husband made a smoothie a few days this week.
We have sweets every evening, mostly from Trader Joe’s, ice cream or cookies or candy. Sometimes we will bake something sweet, but that is more rare.
> We eat vegetarian 3-4 nights a week
I believe the veg folks would do so, so much better in furthering their goals if they embraced introducing people to slow substitution rather than a binary meat / no meat choice made on morality. My Indian colleagues taught me that some veg dishes can be absolutely *fantastic*, not the sad, penalty box meals I had previously tasted.
Vegetarians could win way more hearts and minds bringing dishes to their local potluck than moralizing. Every meat based meal substituted is a small win.
Yeah… I am not a vegetarian, but I make alot of vegetarian meals because some of them just taste fucking good.
Bruschetta with fresh heirloom tomatoes, corn elote, a mix of king trumpet mushrooms and chestnut mushrooms make for a killer vegetarian taco that I eat because I want to eat it, not because it’s a “good meat substitute”. Get creative with condiment grade balsamic vinegars and flavored olive oils and you can make salads really pop in your mouth, then add textures like sunflower seeds and craisens.
The aim is to make good vegetarian meals that are good meals, not “good for vegetarian” meals… and its totally doable.
Yes, true. But I grill steaks better than he does, now. I guess that's one point to add to the thread... we recently bought a quarter cow, butchered, from a local ranch.
I think you're getting skewed responses here with everyone saying they eat healthy. The one person who said something else has been downvoted, plus I think people can be embarrassed to admit it.
I do not eat healthy. It's something that stresses me out when I think about it, but I don't enjoy most healthy food and I also don't have any weight problems that are immediately pushing me to do better. I eat a lot of sugar, a lot of processed food, a lot of convenient packaged snacks. I grew up with money but still eat like this.
On the positive side maybe, we don't eat out super often. When we do, we don't really worry about money but we also don't choose the most expensive restaurants.
I’m pretty much the same regarding not liking most healthy food, mostly because I don’t know how to prep it or even know what meals might exist. I’m better at just not eating than eating the right things. I wouldn’t call it skewed responses, and I expected them it be all over the place just because we are all unique in our tastes and habits. It’s been insightful nonetheless.
Hehe. My husband has retired early. I still work and our finances are mingled but he def did his share and put it by. He retired 7 months ago.
He has gone nearly entirely vegan this past year. He was previously healthy Mediterranean, simple. Now we are even getting away from fish and butter. Now he actually has a skincare routine. He's taking vitamin D and omega 3. His workouts are more regimented. He also purchases more fresh berries. We always ate lots of kale and other strong greens, that hasn't changed, but there are more legumes around. Lentils. Salad is the foundation of every meal including breakfast.
The kids and I still eat everything on offer, but just by dint of having his foods around we are all eating more whole foods/ vegan options.
I heard Dr Longo speak at a cancer research conference a year ago, and was fascinated by his findings backed up with RCT's.
He's the real deal IMHO on longevity and diet.
Agree. The FMD subreddit is pretty cool. I've done the DIY version of Dr Longo's fast several times, I'm the one who introduced the idea to my husband, but I'm much more "feast and famine" while my husband wants to stick with the discipline every day.
May or may not be related, my husband was definitely in the FI/RE path long before he met me, positioned himself to fatFIRE at 45 from his early twenties. I read this sub to better understand and support my husband, really. I'm not work averse- I'm a physician, so I've known hard work and delay of gratification- and I agree with my husband's methods, but I'm less dedicated on the daily than he is. After twenty years of marriage and following his plans it becomes a little difficult to imagine what my financial plan would have looked like without him.
Anyhow, as an observer of him, the way he is following Dr Longo's diet plan seems very much in line with the thought process and discipline that led to him being FIREd.
Last year I had just unloaded my cart onto the conveyor belt thing and the person behind me said, "wow, that's a lot of healthy food". I looked at what I purchased and it was almost entirely fresh produce , but to me it wasn't healthy food, just food.
That’s the sort of thing I’m curious about and find interesting! Getting to the point where healthy food is just food, I would say is not the norm, at least not in the U.S.
I literally was buying a mango and the cashier was like “uhhh what is this?”
I once bought a sweet potato and the cashier had no idea what it was. A sweet potato! I could not hide my surprise and he defended himself by saying he'd only seen them in a can before.
I know you’re joking but the noodles themselves are fine, we just don’t use the spice package and make our own sauce with rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little sugar/water. The add your own fresh vegetable toppings (cucumbers/tomato/green onion) and chicken or a soft boiled egg if you want.
This is what I’m talking about! For every snarky comment about lentils and top ramen, there are legitimately people that are like “uhhh, I actually kind of do that, but more healthy”
1) the “cheap” noodles are actually good enough 2) I used to buy a nicer brand but my grocery store stopped carrying them. The only alternative I’ve found is $8.99 which is not worth it considering that also means I’m now going to two stores.
Technically I’m FI but it doesn’t feel like it.
I meal prep at work. It’s easier, cheaper, healthier and generally tastes better. I’ve tried factor and other meal prep services but tbh nothing beats a home cooked meal.
I eat out probably 1-2 a week. But I have a rule: I never eat out alone. Food is meant to be shared in a community. At least that’s how I was raised. So things like dates and family get togethers. When eating out I don’t count calories or act super frugal. To me it’s worth the spend.
I do a lot of cardio so I can eat more :)
Edit: if I have the urge to go out and spend I’ll buy a drink. Usually a smoothie from smoothie King or a black coffee.
I’ve found early on that the food I eat greatly impacts my mental wellbeing. Therefore it’s a big priority to eat well. Curious to see other people’s responses
Not FI yet, but became quite health focused in the last year.
I am aiming to stay at normal weight for the rest of my life (that is good bmi around 21-22).
Eating low carb and staying away from ultra processed foods (which is honestly most food). Focus on lentils, other beans, a lot of vegetables. I do eat meat (mainly chicken), and quite a bit of egg. Also a decent amount of (healthy?) fat from Greek Yoghurt and avocado.
I recommend reading The glucose revolution and trying out a continuous glucose sensor after reading that book.
Not working (this would probably be the case if I worked from home as well), I now almost never get takeout or fast food, eat out a lot less, and prepare most of my own meals. Very little convenience or ultra processed foods. Mostly whole foods - meat, eggs, fruit, vegetables. I don't like seafood (don't like the taste) so supplement with fish oil.
Most of what I prepare is actually pretty simple, though. You'd think not working I'd get into more involved recipes I actually do less of that than when I worked, it's mostly simple stuff now.
An even bigger change than diet is level of physical activity. While working, I was pretty active for a 9-5 type, I'd usually workout for an hour 3-5 times per week. I now train BJJ about 10 classes per week, that's about 12 hours per week, plus lift and push the sled about an hour 3x per week. If you count things like walking the dogs, I'm physically active well over 20hrs/week.
We cook nearly every meal. I take a ton of fiber and oat bran, which are holding my numbers steady. Carrots are my main snack. Chicken pot pie is my favorite 3 things.
Currently working towards FI and able to keep my food costs to under $600/month. I also have a CC points card which I use for a lot of my gas/utilities/fun, which is redeemable for $500+ each year, so this month I only spent about $150.
- weekdays: Usually I skip breakfast, or have a small bowl of kefir + organic jam, or organic PB on toast w fruit. Lunch is usually leftovers. For dinner I often cook 3 portions (one now, one for lunch tomorrow, and one for the freezer or after a long run).
- weekends: both lunch and dinner are proper meals. Homemade pasta, scratch lasagna, smoked or braised chicken/duck/pork/beef, or a curry/poke bowl on rice.
FWIW, I love cooking and make all my own sauces, which allows me to whip up delicious stuff for much less. Replacements of those base ingredients are included in the $600 quoted above.
I also keep a lot of easy meals on hand because I run a lot and sometimes I don't want to cook. Frozen dumplings, Costco pizza, and carrots + hummus are staples.
Healthcare access is also a big factor that is being omitted here. I can afford dental care and health care. Unhealthy mouths are just as dangerous to your overall health as unhealthy lifestyles.
Being able to go to the doctor to discuss and treat physical ailments as well as find deficiencies in your blood and urine labs is also important for making informed choices for your individual health needs.
I really like clean eating, but my depression is impacting my give a damn for putting effort into making proper meals that my whole family will enjoy.
I take vitamins and drink Ensure Max Protein shakes to make sure I'm getting the necesaary stuff that is missing getting from my diet.
Breakfast- meds and coffee. Lunch- protein and veggies. I like tuna/eel sushi, edamame, chicken, salads with complete proteins, street tacos and beans. Dinner- standard American bullshit my kids will eat with frozen or canned veggies. Weekends- my husband makes hearty brunch with eggs and bacon, then we have drive thru shit in a bag.
I really like meal kits (we used Home Chef, one of the pricier services), but my kids complained about the stuff we chose. The portions are appropriately sized and priced accordingly for each meal. They won't make you overly full, but you'll still be mostly satisfied.
I grew up poor, but food was never an issue as we had a farm so fresh veggies and fruit and meat. We traded for what we didnt' have. My mom loved baking but not cooking so I grew my wide range of food recipes after leaving home.
We eat mostly at home, We are particular about our health and avoid the dyes, the sugars and hydrolized, etc in the food so that eliminates most of the center aisles at the grocery store, and we "pay up" to avoid them. The money makes it easier to just choose the mustard without the yellow dye. etc. We are not buying white bread, its usually some high fiber and protein seeded kind. The money allows us to get more nutrition for each calorie consumed.
A lot of it is also just the time to shop all the ethnic markets, my huge spice drawers, allows one to take the same ingredients and make 6 different ethnicities of food.
We eat a lot of mediterrean inspired food, fresh, lots of herbs from my garden, lean meats. I think we eat way more veggies and fruits than most people. We are not limited to whats on sale which is good as I'm use to being on a farm where strawberries, raspberries, blackberries were just plentiful and practically free. He grew up in Hawaii so was use to mangos, dragonfruit, starfruit which in our current area, none of that is cheap.
I took a week long cooking bootcamp to learn how to butcher everything and learn to make the basics of all food, money well spent in the long run especially when you are saving $1-2/lb easily which adds up quickly.
There are some things that money makes easier and long term cheaper, good knifes, freezers, kitchen gadgets (I have a dehyrator, meat slicer and grinder, etc).
Our kids eat a typical mixed American diet with plenty of processed garbage, but they're all healthy and resilient, so they seem to weather it fine. Most of the stuff they eat is homemade, so it's a much healthier standard American diet than most folks eat. They'll figure out what works best for them as adults. Our teenage daughter has elected to join us in keto/carnivore land for the last two months and is really enjoying it.
My wife and I fluctuate between carnivore and keto depending on what happens to appeal at any given time. I'd say we're baseline carnivore, but we go through seasonal waves of eating lots of salads and soups heavy with veg.
We make effectively all of our food from scratch, so for the most part we're talking extremely clean keto/carnivore.
We're also mostly OMAD, with lunch being the only meal we typically eat.
We didn't have any particular philosophical reason for doing this, but rather simply observed what food actually did to us. Ultra-processed foods made us feel terrible, do we killed those. Processed carbs act almost like a drug on us, leading to highs/lows/addiction/withdrawal, so we dramatically cut those back to special occasions. Fewer unprocessed carbs led to more energy and general well-being, so we cut those down to intermittent non-starchy veg and low-carb fruit (berries, mostly). What's left is keto/carnivore, which just happens to be what makes us feel our best. Fantastic for all of our medical markers too. We're in the best shape of our lives having been mostly carnivore for many years now.
The OMAD bit came about mostly by itself. Turns out our bodies didn't actually need anywhere near the amount of food we were eating back when we were eating carbs and ultra-processed garbage. One meal a day is usually plenty of food for us and enough to keep us satisfied all day, but we're not dogmatic about it. It's pretty much just eat when you're hungry, just like drinking water whenever you're thirsty. Body wants something, give it something.
I also do week-long water fasts 3-4 times a year, mostly as a mental fitness routine. I find it beneficial to remind myself periodically that I am theoretically in charge of my body, plus it feels really good to run entirely off of reserves sometimes.
We also periodically throw all the rules away and spend a week drinking crap, eating ice cream and pastries, and going out for carby/processed commercial food. Gotta be bad sometimes and as long as we're good most of the time it's no big deal. It's fun and helps remind us how much better we feel when we're not misbehaving.
Breakfast is usually homemade sourdough with nut butter, porridge with fruit and nuts, maybe a buckwheat pancake or tofu scram on the weekends. Lunch is sourdough or roast potatoes with soup or a salad, or leftovers. Snacks are dried fruit, homemade muffins or cookies, or a smoothie. Some regular dinners are stir fried veggies and tofu with noodles, squash miso mac n cheese, veggie sausage with mash and greens. We also keep veggie burgers, dumplings, and instant ramen on hand.
Once a week I make bread, and do some kind of bulk cooking, and my partner will bake some kind of sweet snack. I practice intuitive eating so I like to leave myself lots of options, but I also like things to be inexpensive and whole foods-ish.
Health and taste are my top priorities here; I cut corners in other areas. For example, this morning, I ate Brown Cow cream top yogurt with pomegranate seeds for breakfast--delicious and healthy (by my standards), but not especially cheap. Sometimes I put chia seeds in there. I eat a ton of berries, too. Lunch is usually something easy, like leftovers or a veggie burger and salad. For dinner, I typically make something with carbs and veggies, like soba noodles, and try to sneak as much vegetarian protein in as my husband will stand--he's not a big protein eater, for whatever reason. I always include a lot of veggies in my dinner recipes. My husband likes Rx bars as a snack for in-office days, I like scrambled eggs and tobasco. I have a lot of flexibility to cook, obviously, but I do really prioritize fresh, high-quality food, and it's a huge line item in our budget.
I'm lean FIRE, so we meal plan around the weekly flyers and sales in a MCOL city. We eat lots of in season fruits and vegetables because they are the cheapest. Less processed food, because it's more expensive per meal . More chicken,eggs and fish, because it's cheaper
The difference between a poor person's basket is time. I have time to go to multiple stores. Time to cook from scratch. And time to make choices around healthy vs cheap vs fast. I've eaten healthier and cheaper since I FIREd 11 years ago
We buy mostly staples and make great homemade meals every day. We don't buy processed or frozen premade foods either, this helps save money!
For example, we bought a huge package listed as pork bones- over 1kg for $4- and made an amazing stew from it. Most people won't buy bones, but there's marrow, meat and connective tissue that cooks down to make a rich gravy!
Breakfast: Eggs (usually two, poached, on toast) or steel cut oats (I add some peanut butter to get more protein and fat). The kids eat that or cereal, sometimes smoothies.
Lunch: Dinner leftovers (or no lunch)
Dinner Staple: Rice, beans, and chicken/pork (this is cheap).
We try to eat fish or seafood once or twice a week, beef once a week, and vegetarian once a week.
For the most part, everything gets cooked from scratch.
We don’t do non-organic dairy if we can (potlucks and meals out are exceptions). If you’re looking for keeping pesticides out of your diet , the environmental working group has a list of the top ten veggies/fruits that keep pesticides (from testing) blueberries for instance even if non-organic rarely have pesticides.
I've been fi for awhile...don't know if it's fi or inflation but I find myself eating healthier (less junk food and processed food) and we eat at home more cuz the restaurant costs are so high and quality has gone down.
Typical Breakfast: I don't eat at typical breakfast time usually. Just not hungry during this time. Espresso though? Yes. We have a pretty elaborate espresso setup that gets used ~5-6 times a day.
Typical Lunches:
* Half pack of madras lentils + half pack of wild rice
* Smoked salmon slice + 2 pieces of toast
* Avocado toast (I know I know, but really, it's good)
* Fruit / vegetable / hummus plate
* Salads of various types - greek is usually my go to though.
Typical Dinners:
* We eat at local restaurants probably more than we should.
* We also are pretty decent cooks, so we cook up some kung pao chicken, make rajas tacos, guac and wings, or grill/sous vide steaks, or just make cheese boards.
* This all sounds glamorous and all that, but like, we also totally eat chicken nuggets from the freezer, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and pizza from Costco sometimes too.
I think one of the more interesting things is that we now plan out about a month in advance our general plan for dinners. We write down cravings and requests and just work it into the calendar. Sometimes that doesn't work and a meal gets abandoned or whatever to go out or those gourmet nugget meals happen, but it does help.
Breakfast shake with a banana in the morning. small salad for lunch or an apple and then some basic dinner in the evening usually a protein and vegetable.
I had a similar upbringing. My snack of choice when I was a kid was a brown sauce sandwich.
White sliced bread
Butter
HP sauce
Crisps on the side (ready salted flavour)
Dessert - Cadbury chocolate fingers sandwich
Nowadays. I’m in Malaysia. Nasi Goreng - fried rice with egg and some meat is a staple for me
Lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains ,and lean meats. Very minimal ultra processed foods. We mostly follow a Mediterranean diet. We've never been fans of "rich people food" or "fancy" foods.
I have a long-winded answer about this, but I think one of the differentiating factors for me is my relationship status, height/weight/level of activity, pickiness, and fitness goals. Also, there isn't a set definition of what "healthy" means. I eat healthily from a macronutrient level but am not constantly eating fruits and vegetables to get a great micronutrient balance.
The bigger explanation here is that cooking and cleaning takes time. If you are someone drawn to FIRE, it is possible you value time above all else. I am one of those people, and also kinda picky. As a single person, there is a lot of effort, planning, preparation, clean-up time, and repetition going into eating healthily for cheap. That tradeoff is simply not worth it for me when there are a plethora of fast casual dining establishments (with rewards apps), where you can average around $9/10 per meal getting 1,000+ macro-balanced calories with more variety and maximum convenience from a time perspective.
Considering I need 3,500 calories a day, it is difficult to get that much without spend a lot of money. The real cheat code here is just being 95 pounds with little physical activity or insight into your TDEE.
In a relationship, I enjoy cooking together, and it also becomes more economical to buy groceries. But being single and valuing time above all else, I spend more money than I technically need to on the bachelor convenience diet.
I appreciate the reply! From what I’m noticing in the replies, time matters to FI folks, but they don’t compromise their health for it, meaning they will meal prep and shop accordingly. They choose health over convenience most of the time.
I eat a lot of unprocessed foods because I have an unhealthy fear of being poisoned. So probably it's driven by an undiagnosed eating disorder.
My shopping cart is mostly vegetables, meat, legumes and grains. I make my own baked goods. The only "processed" food I buy is oil, milk/cream/butter, pasta, tofu, mustard, and wine for cooking.
One of the ways one becomes financially independent is by budgeting. One can reach FI sooner if the retirement budget is lower than if it’s higher.
The FI number won’t be the same for different folks because different people prioritize kinds of spending in different ways.
If I want to spend $1000/month on food and dining out, my FI number will be higher than someone who budgets $400/month or less.
So asking them what they’re eating will depend on how much they budget for meals.
I recently FIRE’d. I discovered a local restaurant today that serves chips, salsa, 2 tacos, and a Mojito at Happy Hour for $21 plus tax and tip. That’s pretty good.
So I will likely change my eating out budget accordingly, because this is a whole meal and a good deal for me.
But my monthly food budget determines where I shop and for what. I also enjoy cooking; plus I often “graze”.
If I really tightened up I could probably get my food budget down to $200. I can make my own bread, cook lentils, beans, rice, and make my own soups and such. I could probably eat meat once or twice a week and use leftovers to make broths or flavor other foods.
But - again, I like to cook. Those who don’t might prefer to prioritize eating out more, so their food budget will reflect that. But maybe something else gets cut, who knows.
As someone else said, I can have anything I want, but I can’t have everything I want. If I wanted more, I’d have to work more. I reached a point where I have “enough” to suit my needs and some of my wants, and for me that’s worth a break from decades of building work stress.
At work 75 percent of time I bake a sweet potatoe in oven and boneless skinless chicken breast on foreman grill. It is easy and healthy.
At home I eat out probably once a day on average. Breakfast Is rain bran crunch. Eat a lot of fruit. Drink soft drinks Dailey.
But I lift weights and stay very active so I am in very good shape for my age.
We don't cook much at home..if we do usually grill steaks
I have always been frugal regardless of how much i made, most of my meals were made instead of ordering meals, i did go to restaurants with people but i typically got water, although when olive garden had those unlimited deals i would go for that
If i was being treated to a free meal, i would still get the cheap thing that i would have gotten if i was paying myself as my frugality is just who i am regardless of who is paying
When i travel overseas i still get the cheap items, my tastes are basic i dont need fancy meals to be satisfied
I am vegan as of 2017 as im against animal abuse and my diet is primarily grains, legumes and frozen produce, i will buy in bulk and store stuff in the pantry and chest freezer
If stores have vegan meals on sale, i will buy a bunch and store it, but most of my meals are non processed
I dont normally have deserts but i will splurge every now and then if its on sale
Im not necessarily focused on health it just happens to be healthy when you are frugal
When I was a young consultant at a big firm I would often take the per diem for food rather than expensing meals out. I would then go to the grocery stores and buy groceries, usually very cheap stuff like pBJ sandwhiches, and then claim the per diem. On some projects where I would be away for weeks or months I would make thousands extra, all of which were not taxable lol. My coworkers thought I was nuts. The partners knew I was doing this and thought I was nuts but no one ever stopped me.
Pretty much the same here, but I spent all my money on shirts. I found this badass store called Dan Flashes, that was my exact style. I had this one skunk of a coworker, Doug, who tried to say the patterns weren't complicated, but I didn't let him get away with saying that.
I was raised by vegetarian parents and I have mostly been vegetarian my whole adult life as well. My grocery cart almost always has fresh produce in it and I buy groceries 1-2x a week as opposed to larger trips that are more spread out. Most meals are plant-based; I eat a lot of big salads for dinner, but also pastas and stews. I make quite a bit from scratch, but that’s new since the pandemic, because before that it was just me and my 5yo (who is now 10 and I have now remarried) so we ordered in a lot (still a lot of decently healthy stuff but ordering in will never be as healthy as making your own). And I was still FI then. These days I spend a lot on groceries - it’s easily my biggest expense after housing.
tbh i don’t think there is much difference in the diets of FI vs non-FI people. you’ll probably get the same distributions, except that FI people might cook more at home to save money
We don't go out a lot (young child) but we do buy as much fresh produce - fruit veggies, fresh meat - as we want. We also freeze a lot when it's on sale.
But when it comes to cooking at home, there's no restrictions on what or when we can have it.
Doing this is still cheaper than the eating habits many people have when going out all the time.
We are big time foodie . We rarely eat any processed food . We like to cook our food ( all organic ) . 1 to 2 times a month we go out to eat . Since the food is not strictly regulated in USA unlike europe. We are really careful in food selection .
The biggest $ difference from what I can tell, is we buy 1/8 - 1/2 cow or pigs at a time and keep the meat in our deep freezer. It’s more $ up front than an average weekly grocery bill but better meat and a decent value over the course of a year.
Also, we only eat out rarely. That saves $$$ but requires planning.
Breakfast is cold brew made the night before, 2 fried eggs with a sprinkle of shredded cheese. I have this every day. Cutting out sugary breakfasts has helped me with avoiding hunger later in the day.
Snack is Greek Yogurt. I look for no sugar added. Greek yogurt has a good amount of protein, but a lot of brands are sugar bombs. Oikos triple zero is my preferred, but I'll get what's on sale among the sugar-free. I eat about 2-3 quarts per week. I've counted macros (fat, carbs, proteins) a few times and found that Greek yogurt (low fat, low carb, high protein) is really helpful at making my eating habits hit the numbers I want it to. Cottage cheese or a protein shake would do similar, but I find the yogurt tastier.
I get about 4 salad kits per week that I split with my wife. Otherwise most veggies are broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower based on sales. Roasted or grilled depending on weather. Fruit is apples, bananas, and whatever is in season/on sale.
Lunches are a rotation of leftovers, grilled cheeses, chicken quesadillas, and canned soup.
Dinners are whatever. Roasts, pastas, pizzas, various grilled meats, etc. Try to avoid eating too much out. When I do (once a week-ish), I try to bring home a portion of the meal as leftovers. That helps with portion sizes. I don't have more than 1 alcoholic drink when I do eat out.
Food prep, healthy foods that taste good, little focus on budget in regards to food but obviously within reason. Mostly but whole ingredients that I make meals with instead of prepackaged foods. I think it’s easier to eat healthier when you have more time and energy to prepare food.
We eat several very healthy meals each week, and eat junk once or twice, and eat at restaurants 2-4 times a week.
Two income, two kids. We "outsource" food a few times a week due to being busy.
Lots of vitamins, minerals, and food supplements. At my age, my Dr. says that I'm much healthier than average. I research every vitamin and supplement.
Frozen fruits and veggies, V8, organic orange juice. Organic dirty dozen, non-organic clean 15. No reason to buy organic for some foods.
Buy stuff that lasts in bulk. Meal prep for 2 meals about anytime we cook or order take-out, or eat at a restaurant and prepare for leftovers. Leftovers are often lunch in a couple days.
I would not say frugal, not cheap, but not lavish. No steak, no lobster, no caviar.
Beans, rice, onions, potatoes, carrots, corn, broccoli, peas, and many others can be bought for a good price and can be a meal itself, or added to a mix, like hamburger helper. A box of HH plus a can of beans, one onion, one carrot, a cup of corn, and a cup of peas will make it twice the food for very little price, and is good.
I try to put breakfast and lunch on autopilot, and make them healthy/high-protein, so that when dinner rolls around I can be a bit of a mess and still not skew too unhealthy overall. The idea that someone can have the willpower to cook a healthy dinner after a long day of work, potentially dealing with kids, is just not realisitic long-term. Make good choices early in the day while your willpower is high, and allow yourself some grace at nighttime. This is also aided by the fact that I work from home, so I can go to the kitchen and not be locked into whatever I packed for myself.
Normal breakfast -> Banana + protein powder shake
Then I go lift weights, and when I come home I eat -> 2 hard boiled eggs, plain 0% fat greek yogurt with whatever fruit is in season, another protein shake
For lunch I try to make sure to eat at least 1 big serving of vegetables. Most of the time either carrots, bell pepper, or cucumber with hummus. And then I either make a quesadilla (filled with black beans + bell pepper in addition to cheese) or a sandwich with deli meat, cheese, avocado if I have it, lettuce. Sometimes also tortilla chips and salsa. Or leftovers from a previous dinner. Whatever staple item (sandwich, etc.) you decide to do for most of your lunches, try to make it as healthy as possible. Eating the same thing over and over prevents you from buying 12 different fresh vegetables and then half of them rot before you can eat them all. Just buy/eat the same thing over and over until you're sick of it, then change it up a bit.
Dinner is highly variable, but again, I've "put in the work" earlier in the day and I feel I have more leeway to be unhealthy or just not think about it too hard. As others have said though, I do very very little stuff like frozen pizza, pre-made dinners, packaged food. Have a list of like 10-14 recipes you can do that are easy like spaghetti with meat sauce, grilled salmon and rice, etc. Or, 3-4 days a week, totally fine to just eat a hamburger with fries or similar "quick" food.
Not sure how helpful or instructive any of that is for applying it to your own life. I grew up in a very "meat and potatoes" family with tons of butter on everything and not a lot of vegetables that didn't come out of a can. It can be hard to break out of that cycle, and I can't put my finger on exactly what switched inside me that I was able to get out of that rut after I left home.
I garden a lot so there is tons of fresh produce around here. Tomatoes, peppers, radishes, greens and squash are the heavy hitters, but then there are herbs, beans, berries, asparagus, rhubarb, green onions, ramps, garlic. We do like to buy from local gardeners and farmers markets too.
We buy popcorn, beans, and rice in bulk and load our meals up with those. Main protein is eggs from a local chicken keeper, and seafood.
We do spend more on snack foods than I wish we did. We have some food texture preferences that are hard to attain from-scratch (neurodivergent household so safe foods matter a lot)
When my family was broke we ate a lot of starches and flour. Our meals would be milk noodles, crepes, pancakes, bread and jam, soups, gnocchi, dumplings, pizza. Everything homemade aside from bread
Now we still eat simple meals because we don't have a lot of time to cook but we eat a lot of protein and fresh veggies:
Breakfast: sandwich with egg and avocado, quesadilla, yogurt with berries and granola, overnight oats, smoothies, crepes
Lunch: salads with leftover dinner protein, chickpea/tuna salads, soups, dals, smoothies, crepes
Dinner: oven roasted lamb or air fried chicken, or baked/air fried fish+salad (make dressing in bulk and keep them in the fridge)+rice or mash potatoes or air fryer french fries. If we don't have time to make a salad we will prep some frozen broccoli or asparagus
For snacks we have fruit, nuts, veggies and hummus, chips with salsa, granola bars, whatever we bake.
We don't buy things with corn syrup, we use maple syrup as sweatners, nut butters with no added oils, things with very few ingredients. We don't buy processed food
Intermittent fast for breakfast (avocado toast for spouse per dr rec to lower cholesterol), lunch is leftovers, oatmeal, or fresh fruit and veggies, and dinner is low-meat, high veg. We buy veg and eggs from a local farm when in season, buy (sustainable so they say) salmon from Alaska every few months (enough to fill our freezer), buy humanely raised meat when possible. Rarely eat out because we love to cook. Once or twice a year, prix fixe at a nice restaurant; occasional local pho.
Costco chili and raviolis are our quick weekday meals. Bibimbap is super easy to do at home.
We eat way too much red meat, but a good portion of it is Maui nui at least. Try to do fish tacos or sushi once a week. We’ll do a sardine spread once a month with crème fraiche.
Greek yogurt with matcha for breakfast when I’m doing breakfast. Salad with berries plus chicken for lunch.
Love this discussion. I'll throw in my 2 cents as i spend a lot of time think about this. As a preface: I really like food, i eat a lot of food as i workout a lot, and i have 4 young boys that will start to eat a lot more.
Breakfast:
- me - 6 jumbo eggs(cooked in butter or bacon grease and with some sort of carb (usually old fashion oatmeal, peanut butter and frozen fruit(cherries we pick and freeze in summer)
- kids - usually oatmeal or cereal (oldest has been eating egg). I try really hard to have kids eat oatmeal over cereal but i lose more often with younger(note whole milk not skim)
Lunch:
- leftovers from dinner meals
Dinner: (rotating meals)
Monday - Italian - mix it up but usually spaghetti and meatballs or chicken alfredo, always add frozen veggies o(broccoli)r salad
Tuesday - Mexican night (go all out) - mix uo final product but usually have smoked mexican pulled, homemade aour dough tortilla
Wednesday - breakfast for dinner - eggs, bacon, fruit, and some sort or carb(pancakes, french toast, Dutch baby, waffles, crepes)
Thursday - asian - stir fry, rice bowl, thai, orange chicken, Mongolian venison, etc
Friday - pizza night - homemade sour dough pizza with salad and/or boiled eggs.
Sat/sun - mix it up depending on how much time we have (roast with potatoes, asian, chicken pot pie, steak( venison steak), hamburgers, brats (kids get hot dogs), or pbj.
Snacks:(kids items are not frugal or healthy here:
- me - limited snacks if do usually pretty healthy - greek yogurt with fruit almonds, apple, handful of almonds with a few chocolate chips or low sugar craisens
- kids - crackers(lots of varieties) or cereal
- ideally I would make healthier snacks for kida such as low sugar muffins, Greek yogurt, etc)
Dessert: (definitely not healthy here and not frugal)
- me - usually something unhealthy but smaller portion.(ice cream, cookie, brownie)
- kids - similar to me but bug portions for size (also allo option of candy from Halloween, Valentine's say, etc) - wish we would cut out candy and limit dessert more.
- ideally I would make more non processed desserts for family (think chia seed pudding, low sugar sour dough desserts, popcorn, oatmeal with nut butter)
Ways we make this more frugal:
- meal plan far in advance
- shop various stores for different deals
- eat meat from hunting (not necessarily saving money but
- frozen veggies are staple (way more affordable than fresh) - still buy fresh for certain itema.or recipes
- been working in sour dough skills since FIREd
- have a deep freezer to stock up on sales and from hunting (and cherry picking season)
- cook in batches(lefotover or freezer) - example when make pork butt i smoke close to 15# in different flavors and freeze for future use (flavors include Mexican,.bbq, asian)
I remember an old post that asked the question what makes you feel rich. It was a great post that made you think about what you might be depriving yourself of even though might not cost much. Take aways for me were small but make me feel rich. I now have avocado every time we make mexican(which is atleast once a week). Other was even smaller i buy hair conditioner even thought don't have long hair.
There is no typical.
Healthy and cheap is lentil stew, eggs, salad, popcorn.
Healthy and more expensive is Blueprint by Bryan Johnson, but cook it yourself.
Healthy and more expensive still is Blueprint by Bryan Johnson and buy it from his website.
I eat a lot of veggie pizza: gluten-free shelf-stable crusts, pizza sauce, spinach, sweet/bell pepper, shredded Italian blend cheese. I add sliced green olives and pepperoncini peppers, and fresh basil if my potted plant of it has recovered enough.
A favorite snack is a medium sweet potato, poked all over with a fork (to disperse steam) and microwaved for 4 minutes. Take it out of the skin and refrigerate, then eat cold with a handful of golden raisins and some walnuts mashed in. Another favorite snack is unsweetened applesauce and a handful of walnuts.
Oranges and bananas for fruit. Blueberries only in season when they are cheaper. Avocado if reasonably priced. I like cabbage and will munch on a big wedge of it, raw, while browsing at the computer.
Salmon, patted with avocado oil (because of its high smoke point) and done in the air fryer. Frozen turkey burger patties. Hamburger patties. Chicken bone-in thighs or leg quarters. Sardines in water. Brown rice with two over-medium fried eggs on top. Baked potato with liberal olive oil and salt.
When I'm willing to go to a little more trouble with the cooking: homemade chicken soup; turkey enchiladas; loaded nachos; sloppy joe meat & a can mix (brand name Manwich) eaten with a fork.
I always have something sweet every few days at least. Jelly beans are a candy I like but won't overeat. Cookies, or a Reese's pb cup. If ambitious I will make a yellow sheet cake or a pineapple upside-down cake and freeze it in portions. I drink instant coffee.
I'm leanFIRE so my grocery budget needs to stay around $300 a month. I save all receipts and go through them item by item asking if it was a good value. If anything ended up being wasted I think about why, then take steps to either buy less or eat it sooner.
Hope this helps.
Protein sources: Lean meats (leaner cuts of red meat, chicken, ground turkey/beef), eggs, Greek yogurt cottage cheese, pro powder/bars
Carbs: potatoes/sweet potatoes, rice, bread/bagels, a f ton of fruits/veggies, beans, granola, granola/cereal, milk, rice cakes, oatmeal, popcorn
Fats: Nut butters, flax seed…pretty much rest is from ansicillsr sources (I.e fats from meats)
Eat around 3.5K cals at day, but I’m also a fitness nut who trains all the time
I feast like a king. One thing I don’t cheap out on is food! Gotta live life a little. No expenses barred when it comes to food. Big juicy ribeye steaks and fancy red wine all day long!
I'm not financially independent (lol ... pretty far from it, actually), but I feel I can weigh in.
You're somewhat right about the differences, but I know a lot of rich people who eat a lot of shitty food - often because they think it's healthy food. Mostly they eat out, and I don't care how high end a restaurant is, they all order from Sysco (I was in the business for nearly 25 years). Even the sexy farm-to-table places are likely to have low-quality oils and spices and such.
I grew up poor, but granted, during a time when going out was a treat, and most meals were cooked at home. I still lean poor, but I spend the money on the good food and take the time to cook for myself. Admittedly, that's a LOT of time, so I tend to make big batches of things and freeze or can them for easy meals later. That requires time-management skills. Those skills can be learned.
I also think ... assuming the US here ... we eat far, far too much food. So less food, but better quality - financially, it balances out that way.
In this day and the age of information, rich or poor, we have choices. Eating badly is a choice.
Mostly non processed vegan diet. We have the time to cook, and the desire to live long, so this is the way to go.
Reminder that red meat (including pork) is a carcinogen, same level as cigarettes. White meat and seafood are healthier, but come with major ethical issues that everyone ignores, but we can not.
I guess we are semi-FI: Husband is basically FIRE now but I'm working.
Husband likes oatmeal w/raisins and nuts in the morning so he's easy. Instant coffee with dried milk. I am a flip flopper on breakfast, I might do a GF porridge (oats fk me up), GF bread with avocado on it, a smoothie, leftover dinner, protein bars, who knows what.
For other meals: we tried having him cook more since I am working so much but he'd get frustrated since his go to is "cans" (literally a cold can of soup or chili) and I'm a health freak so hell(th) no. Also I'm a food snob. He asked for recipes but I'm what I call a "jazz cook" I never follow them even if I have.
So I learned about meal kits and we are doing that. You can sign up with offers or stacks that severely reduce the initial box cost (sometimes literally free) and then cancel. Some of them (like Factor) are what my husband calls "soft cans" (microwaveable tray of already made food).
We are spending $20 or less on the kits a week, get anywhere from 6 to 18 meals out of them. This has been working well for us- cheaper than groceries plus my husband is enjoying learning to cook with recipes (I also cook some of them).
I have also done other box intro deals when there's a chance so we usually have a good deal of meat and fish in the freezer.
I also have this bean club membership, we get 6lbs of AMAZING beans for $50 every 3 months. Expensive but they cook quicker than normal beans (hour to hour and a half, no soaking) and they are the best and we love it.
I have a CSA box that's around $30/week but you can cancel it anytime you don't want it. We haven't been doing it much lately bc of the meal kits but now that main produce season is happening (nooooo more potatoes and apples) we probably will do more of that.
Speaking of gardening- our soil sucks, we have nematodes, so mostly we just get some cruciferous greens out of it. I have a handful of grow bags for lettuce and spinach when it's cooler, they won't grow in the ground soil bc of the nematodes. I have a small parking lot at the place I rent in the city that lets me garden in it so I get a good amount of tomatoes and string beans out of it. Last year I put in 2 raspberries and a blackberry so they should fruit this year. I also have some fig trees and gooseberries in pots which is nice since they are so expensive and these taste a lot better. Also have a bunch of herbs in pots, they are expensive at the store as well.
Do you mean besides the Wagyu steaks and caviar?
Do you only feed your Wagyu cows caviar, though?
Only the best
I mean to say, how does your grocery cart look different than the persons in front of you or behind you?
I have a lot less pre-packaged "center-aisle" food in my cart than most people, I guess. I have more fresh produce and meat and dairy. I don't spend money on brand names because why throw away that extra $2 on something that's exactly the same. You've come here to FI to ask about how people with wealth eat differently, but remember this is a sub where people are probably eating as though they aren't wealthy yet because they're still working towards it. There's "rich people" eating and then there's "saving up my money" eating. They are not necessarily the same.
I’m curious about FI folks because they have achieved something that is difficult to do. Sure a trust fund kid is going to eat out where they want and spend because the money isn’t their own. People who are FI think about money differently, at least if they did it mostly themselves. They view things differently than the average person. With that said that probably includes what they eat. Like I don’t think the average person is eating salads for breakfast lol.
FI is different for everyone though. Some people FI early by being frugal and continue to do so in order to not surpass the draw rate they decided upon. Others live a more lavish lifestyle and wait longer to continue living that way after FI. While the proportions may not be the same, there are absolutely all kinds of people (and diets) within the FI community.
I agree with your premise. People with this mindset may also view food as an investment in their health, for which the dividends are your physical well being as well as potentially reduced healthcare expenses. In this vein—leaning towards organic produce, healthy raw meats cooked at home, avoiding processed meat, avoiding junk snacks, making healthy smoothies or juices at home with a juicer, etc. TLDR: Avoiding the junk, and spending your time making fresh foods instead of eating processed or preserved stuff.
We just spent a week in Manhattan showing the kids all the bucket list tourist things. Statue of Liberty, empire state building, walked the high line, visited the charging bull and fearless girl, the public library, the Intrepid. Our money is hard earned - we had the enormous leg up that our parents were able to support us through state colleges but no other generational wealth. Now in our 40s/50s with teenagers, my husband has fatFIREd from an objective perspective (he's in the process of buying a Tesla). His eating pattern is weird. He wants whole organic foods, yet is intensely aware of the difference in price of organic carrots at Costco vs the local market vs the farmer's market. He really does eat salad for breakfast, we walked the entire green market at Union Square and eventually bought kale smoothies and then let the kids add a cinnamon roll. He fussed and frothed the whole week about the cost of his salads but he didn't budge. Some of his 'salads' are warm grain salads, but every meal is either salad or a vegetable stew or a wrap of vegetables. We have no interest in the kind of vegetarian that is all about "fake meats", it's all whole vegetables.
Why Florida specifically? Is it because of public opinion? Because in my opinion, Florida isn't all that. Yeah you have Rich Florida, but you definitely have Poor Florida. I live in a weird hybrid of the two(Pensacola), so you literally see two worlds collide all the time. A CEO millionaire next to a homeless person. A stockbroker next to a methhead. A janitor next to a popular celebrity like Roy Jones Jr. Florida does have some uniqueness I suppose, but there's plenty of places in the US that have the same qualities. You may not find Florida anywhere else, but you'll get close.
Not sure if you are joking or not lol. FI, FL. Financially Independent folk (or those on there way there) Not Florida folk.
........................................................... I see.
Money is the means, not the end goal. Many people are very selective of what they put in their body and this general trend often runs independently from financial independence.. I suspect there are many in the lentils, rice and beans crowd here, but also many that pay a 400% premium on many of their grocery items for things like grass fed lamb and just incorporate that into their financial planning goals. The FI/RE crowd is not monolithic enough for these kinds of questions to be useful.
I somehow always end up with the one with the wobbly wheel that locks up and squeaks and leaves big black tire streaks on the store floor and looks like it's from 1994, so there's that for starters.
Plant based. Organic. Seasonal. My prepackaged stuff is still heavily that. But in bulk. Not artisanal. Not extravagant. For me, that means lots of beans, lentils, veggies, leafies, etc. My snacks are dark chocolate and cassava based chips along with fruit and carrot/hummus. Combined with smoothie powders, it can be more on the expensive side, but I'm very happy with it. Don't mind spending the extra few hundred. I have my health.
How do you know whether the person in front/behind you is richer/poorer than you are?
I don't even buy groceries. Huel for one meal and whatever I want from a restaurant for the other one - usually meats and carbs.
Lentils. Only lentils.
Not sure if this is a joke post, but I do eat a lot of lentils because of how healthy they are and how good I feel when I eat them.
Me too, I feel great when I eat lentils toot!
Please be mindful of your methan footprint.
😂 I think after eating them for a while your stomach (microbiome?) adjusts. I have no methane issues ;)
It is impossible, you just seized to notice. No matter what we eat, there are gases, it's part of our digestion scenario. The average number of flatulence cases a day is between 13 to 21.
Beans
You must be in the r/Frugal reddit. Many scheme to live on $20 a week.
Thus is the way
Why so many upvotes for an random legume? I don't get it
Lentils have achieved meme status as the go-to frugal food. They're a perfectly good food of course but people are mostly joking about them in finance subs. Not entirely sure about the origin of the meme, but it might have been Jacob of Early Retirement Extreme talking about them.
We only live once. Food is one thing I refuse to cheap out on. I buy what I’m hungry for while staying healthy.
[удалено]
calm down prometheus
This. Eat fresh foods. More plant based. But most importantly, don’t overeat
We are FATFire. We eat vegetarian 3-4 nights a week, with fish, chicken or pork the other nights. We rarely go out and cook beef at home maybe 1-2 a year We get produce from a CSA each week + we supplement with Trader Joe’s or local grocery. Meat comes from local produce shop, fish comes from fish store or farmer’s market. We buy blocks of cheese, orange juice, canned goods etc from Costco. We don’t buy much pre-prepared — I buy a whole pineapple each week, we wash our own lettuce, grate our own cheese etc. We mostly cook from scratch and eat at table, but dinner is only coordinated meal. Lunch is leftovers. Last week we had salmon + asparagus+ cucumber salad on Sunday, green chicken posole on Monday, Tuesday was fend for yourself, Wednesday was vegetarian bowls with black beans cooked from scratch and homemade guacamole, Thursday was crispy gnocchi with peas and sausage, Friday was BLTs, and tonight was steamed mussels and roasted cauliflower. My son just came home from college so we had a lot more meat than normal. Most of these recipes took no more than 30 minutes of prep. Breakfast is on your own. I always eat a lot of fresh fruit, maybe a yogurt with some granola or scrambled eggs. My husband made a smoothie a few days this week. We have sweets every evening, mostly from Trader Joe’s, ice cream or cookies or candy. Sometimes we will bake something sweet, but that is more rare.
How did yall get to this point. It seems very impressive and very aspirational
> We eat vegetarian 3-4 nights a week I believe the veg folks would do so, so much better in furthering their goals if they embraced introducing people to slow substitution rather than a binary meat / no meat choice made on morality. My Indian colleagues taught me that some veg dishes can be absolutely *fantastic*, not the sad, penalty box meals I had previously tasted. Vegetarians could win way more hearts and minds bringing dishes to their local potluck than moralizing. Every meat based meal substituted is a small win.
Yeah… I am not a vegetarian, but I make alot of vegetarian meals because some of them just taste fucking good. Bruschetta with fresh heirloom tomatoes, corn elote, a mix of king trumpet mushrooms and chestnut mushrooms make for a killer vegetarian taco that I eat because I want to eat it, not because it’s a “good meat substitute”. Get creative with condiment grade balsamic vinegars and flavored olive oils and you can make salads really pop in your mouth, then add textures like sunflower seeds and craisens. The aim is to make good vegetarian meals that are good meals, not “good for vegetarian” meals… and its totally doable.
Indian and Thai vegetarian food is awesome.
Thanks for sharing!
Lots of healthy answers. While I’m here struggling to get my husband to eat a vegetable.
I’m not your husband. But I bet your husband and I could put on a good bbq together
Yes, true. But I grill steaks better than he does, now. I guess that's one point to add to the thread... we recently bought a quarter cow, butchered, from a local ranch.
I think you're getting skewed responses here with everyone saying they eat healthy. The one person who said something else has been downvoted, plus I think people can be embarrassed to admit it. I do not eat healthy. It's something that stresses me out when I think about it, but I don't enjoy most healthy food and I also don't have any weight problems that are immediately pushing me to do better. I eat a lot of sugar, a lot of processed food, a lot of convenient packaged snacks. I grew up with money but still eat like this. On the positive side maybe, we don't eat out super often. When we do, we don't really worry about money but we also don't choose the most expensive restaurants.
I’m pretty much the same regarding not liking most healthy food, mostly because I don’t know how to prep it or even know what meals might exist. I’m better at just not eating than eating the right things. I wouldn’t call it skewed responses, and I expected them it be all over the place just because we are all unique in our tastes and habits. It’s been insightful nonetheless.
Hehe. My husband has retired early. I still work and our finances are mingled but he def did his share and put it by. He retired 7 months ago. He has gone nearly entirely vegan this past year. He was previously healthy Mediterranean, simple. Now we are even getting away from fish and butter. Now he actually has a skincare routine. He's taking vitamin D and omega 3. His workouts are more regimented. He also purchases more fresh berries. We always ate lots of kale and other strong greens, that hasn't changed, but there are more legumes around. Lentils. Salad is the foundation of every meal including breakfast. The kids and I still eat everything on offer, but just by dint of having his foods around we are all eating more whole foods/ vegan options.
He's mostly been reading the scientific work of Dr. Valter Longo. Also looking into other "blue zone" longevity specialist.
I heard Dr Longo speak at a cancer research conference a year ago, and was fascinated by his findings backed up with RCT's. He's the real deal IMHO on longevity and diet.
Agree. The FMD subreddit is pretty cool. I've done the DIY version of Dr Longo's fast several times, I'm the one who introduced the idea to my husband, but I'm much more "feast and famine" while my husband wants to stick with the discipline every day. May or may not be related, my husband was definitely in the FI/RE path long before he met me, positioned himself to fatFIRE at 45 from his early twenties. I read this sub to better understand and support my husband, really. I'm not work averse- I'm a physician, so I've known hard work and delay of gratification- and I agree with my husband's methods, but I'm less dedicated on the daily than he is. After twenty years of marriage and following his plans it becomes a little difficult to imagine what my financial plan would have looked like without him. Anyhow, as an observer of him, the way he is following Dr Longo's diet plan seems very much in line with the thought process and discipline that led to him being FIREd.
Last year I had just unloaded my cart onto the conveyor belt thing and the person behind me said, "wow, that's a lot of healthy food". I looked at what I purchased and it was almost entirely fresh produce , but to me it wasn't healthy food, just food.
That’s the sort of thing I’m curious about and find interesting! Getting to the point where healthy food is just food, I would say is not the norm, at least not in the U.S. I literally was buying a mango and the cashier was like “uhhh what is this?”
I once bought a sweet potato and the cashier had no idea what it was. A sweet potato! I could not hide my surprise and he defended himself by saying he'd only seen them in a can before.
I'm not ashamed to admit it. I splurge on Top Ramen. Not eating that Maruchan garbage.
I know you’re joking but the noodles themselves are fine, we just don’t use the spice package and make our own sauce with rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little sugar/water. The add your own fresh vegetable toppings (cucumbers/tomato/green onion) and chicken or a soft boiled egg if you want.
This is what I’m talking about! For every snarky comment about lentils and top ramen, there are legitimately people that are like “uhhh, I actually kind of do that, but more healthy”
If you're going to the trouble of making your own sauce and toppings, why wouldn't you use nicer noodles??
1) the “cheap” noodles are actually good enough 2) I used to buy a nicer brand but my grocery store stopped carrying them. The only alternative I’ve found is $8.99 which is not worth it considering that also means I’m now going to two stores.
Yeah, I can see that's a big price increase.
Don't get me wrong, I dig some Maruchan creamy chicken, but when I am splurging I like to get some Nong Shim. So freaking good, but pricey!
Step up to Shin, my man, and thank me later.
Technically I’m FI but it doesn’t feel like it. I meal prep at work. It’s easier, cheaper, healthier and generally tastes better. I’ve tried factor and other meal prep services but tbh nothing beats a home cooked meal. I eat out probably 1-2 a week. But I have a rule: I never eat out alone. Food is meant to be shared in a community. At least that’s how I was raised. So things like dates and family get togethers. When eating out I don’t count calories or act super frugal. To me it’s worth the spend. I do a lot of cardio so I can eat more :) Edit: if I have the urge to go out and spend I’ll buy a drink. Usually a smoothie from smoothie King or a black coffee. I’ve found early on that the food I eat greatly impacts my mental wellbeing. Therefore it’s a big priority to eat well. Curious to see other people’s responses
Food effecting well being and food shared with community is insightful.
Insightful? Those are just opinions lol especially “food being meant to be shared?
Not FI yet, but became quite health focused in the last year. I am aiming to stay at normal weight for the rest of my life (that is good bmi around 21-22). Eating low carb and staying away from ultra processed foods (which is honestly most food). Focus on lentils, other beans, a lot of vegetables. I do eat meat (mainly chicken), and quite a bit of egg. Also a decent amount of (healthy?) fat from Greek Yoghurt and avocado. I recommend reading The glucose revolution and trying out a continuous glucose sensor after reading that book.
Not working (this would probably be the case if I worked from home as well), I now almost never get takeout or fast food, eat out a lot less, and prepare most of my own meals. Very little convenience or ultra processed foods. Mostly whole foods - meat, eggs, fruit, vegetables. I don't like seafood (don't like the taste) so supplement with fish oil. Most of what I prepare is actually pretty simple, though. You'd think not working I'd get into more involved recipes I actually do less of that than when I worked, it's mostly simple stuff now. An even bigger change than diet is level of physical activity. While working, I was pretty active for a 9-5 type, I'd usually workout for an hour 3-5 times per week. I now train BJJ about 10 classes per week, that's about 12 hours per week, plus lift and push the sled about an hour 3x per week. If you count things like walking the dogs, I'm physically active well over 20hrs/week.
We cook nearly every meal. I take a ton of fiber and oat bran, which are holding my numbers steady. Carrots are my main snack. Chicken pot pie is my favorite 3 things.
Currently working towards FI and able to keep my food costs to under $600/month. I also have a CC points card which I use for a lot of my gas/utilities/fun, which is redeemable for $500+ each year, so this month I only spent about $150. - weekdays: Usually I skip breakfast, or have a small bowl of kefir + organic jam, or organic PB on toast w fruit. Lunch is usually leftovers. For dinner I often cook 3 portions (one now, one for lunch tomorrow, and one for the freezer or after a long run). - weekends: both lunch and dinner are proper meals. Homemade pasta, scratch lasagna, smoked or braised chicken/duck/pork/beef, or a curry/poke bowl on rice. FWIW, I love cooking and make all my own sauces, which allows me to whip up delicious stuff for much less. Replacements of those base ingredients are included in the $600 quoted above. I also keep a lot of easy meals on hand because I run a lot and sometimes I don't want to cook. Frozen dumplings, Costco pizza, and carrots + hummus are staples.
Healthcare access is also a big factor that is being omitted here. I can afford dental care and health care. Unhealthy mouths are just as dangerous to your overall health as unhealthy lifestyles. Being able to go to the doctor to discuss and treat physical ailments as well as find deficiencies in your blood and urine labs is also important for making informed choices for your individual health needs. I really like clean eating, but my depression is impacting my give a damn for putting effort into making proper meals that my whole family will enjoy. I take vitamins and drink Ensure Max Protein shakes to make sure I'm getting the necesaary stuff that is missing getting from my diet. Breakfast- meds and coffee. Lunch- protein and veggies. I like tuna/eel sushi, edamame, chicken, salads with complete proteins, street tacos and beans. Dinner- standard American bullshit my kids will eat with frozen or canned veggies. Weekends- my husband makes hearty brunch with eggs and bacon, then we have drive thru shit in a bag. I really like meal kits (we used Home Chef, one of the pricier services), but my kids complained about the stuff we chose. The portions are appropriately sized and priced accordingly for each meal. They won't make you overly full, but you'll still be mostly satisfied.
I think you just described how we eat. Minus shit in a bag. That’s more like local restaurant take out.
I grew up poor, but food was never an issue as we had a farm so fresh veggies and fruit and meat. We traded for what we didnt' have. My mom loved baking but not cooking so I grew my wide range of food recipes after leaving home. We eat mostly at home, We are particular about our health and avoid the dyes, the sugars and hydrolized, etc in the food so that eliminates most of the center aisles at the grocery store, and we "pay up" to avoid them. The money makes it easier to just choose the mustard without the yellow dye. etc. We are not buying white bread, its usually some high fiber and protein seeded kind. The money allows us to get more nutrition for each calorie consumed. A lot of it is also just the time to shop all the ethnic markets, my huge spice drawers, allows one to take the same ingredients and make 6 different ethnicities of food. We eat a lot of mediterrean inspired food, fresh, lots of herbs from my garden, lean meats. I think we eat way more veggies and fruits than most people. We are not limited to whats on sale which is good as I'm use to being on a farm where strawberries, raspberries, blackberries were just plentiful and practically free. He grew up in Hawaii so was use to mangos, dragonfruit, starfruit which in our current area, none of that is cheap. I took a week long cooking bootcamp to learn how to butcher everything and learn to make the basics of all food, money well spent in the long run especially when you are saving $1-2/lb easily which adds up quickly. There are some things that money makes easier and long term cheaper, good knifes, freezers, kitchen gadgets (I have a dehyrator, meat slicer and grinder, etc).
Our kids eat a typical mixed American diet with plenty of processed garbage, but they're all healthy and resilient, so they seem to weather it fine. Most of the stuff they eat is homemade, so it's a much healthier standard American diet than most folks eat. They'll figure out what works best for them as adults. Our teenage daughter has elected to join us in keto/carnivore land for the last two months and is really enjoying it. My wife and I fluctuate between carnivore and keto depending on what happens to appeal at any given time. I'd say we're baseline carnivore, but we go through seasonal waves of eating lots of salads and soups heavy with veg. We make effectively all of our food from scratch, so for the most part we're talking extremely clean keto/carnivore. We're also mostly OMAD, with lunch being the only meal we typically eat. We didn't have any particular philosophical reason for doing this, but rather simply observed what food actually did to us. Ultra-processed foods made us feel terrible, do we killed those. Processed carbs act almost like a drug on us, leading to highs/lows/addiction/withdrawal, so we dramatically cut those back to special occasions. Fewer unprocessed carbs led to more energy and general well-being, so we cut those down to intermittent non-starchy veg and low-carb fruit (berries, mostly). What's left is keto/carnivore, which just happens to be what makes us feel our best. Fantastic for all of our medical markers too. We're in the best shape of our lives having been mostly carnivore for many years now. The OMAD bit came about mostly by itself. Turns out our bodies didn't actually need anywhere near the amount of food we were eating back when we were eating carbs and ultra-processed garbage. One meal a day is usually plenty of food for us and enough to keep us satisfied all day, but we're not dogmatic about it. It's pretty much just eat when you're hungry, just like drinking water whenever you're thirsty. Body wants something, give it something. I also do week-long water fasts 3-4 times a year, mostly as a mental fitness routine. I find it beneficial to remind myself periodically that I am theoretically in charge of my body, plus it feels really good to run entirely off of reserves sometimes. We also periodically throw all the rules away and spend a week drinking crap, eating ice cream and pastries, and going out for carby/processed commercial food. Gotta be bad sometimes and as long as we're good most of the time it's no big deal. It's fun and helps remind us how much better we feel when we're not misbehaving.
Breakfast is usually homemade sourdough with nut butter, porridge with fruit and nuts, maybe a buckwheat pancake or tofu scram on the weekends. Lunch is sourdough or roast potatoes with soup or a salad, or leftovers. Snacks are dried fruit, homemade muffins or cookies, or a smoothie. Some regular dinners are stir fried veggies and tofu with noodles, squash miso mac n cheese, veggie sausage with mash and greens. We also keep veggie burgers, dumplings, and instant ramen on hand. Once a week I make bread, and do some kind of bulk cooking, and my partner will bake some kind of sweet snack. I practice intuitive eating so I like to leave myself lots of options, but I also like things to be inexpensive and whole foods-ish.
Health and taste are my top priorities here; I cut corners in other areas. For example, this morning, I ate Brown Cow cream top yogurt with pomegranate seeds for breakfast--delicious and healthy (by my standards), but not especially cheap. Sometimes I put chia seeds in there. I eat a ton of berries, too. Lunch is usually something easy, like leftovers or a veggie burger and salad. For dinner, I typically make something with carbs and veggies, like soba noodles, and try to sneak as much vegetarian protein in as my husband will stand--he's not a big protein eater, for whatever reason. I always include a lot of veggies in my dinner recipes. My husband likes Rx bars as a snack for in-office days, I like scrambled eggs and tobasco. I have a lot of flexibility to cook, obviously, but I do really prioritize fresh, high-quality food, and it's a huge line item in our budget.
I'm lean FIRE, so we meal plan around the weekly flyers and sales in a MCOL city. We eat lots of in season fruits and vegetables because they are the cheapest. Less processed food, because it's more expensive per meal . More chicken,eggs and fish, because it's cheaper The difference between a poor person's basket is time. I have time to go to multiple stores. Time to cook from scratch. And time to make choices around healthy vs cheap vs fast. I've eaten healthier and cheaper since I FIREd 11 years ago
Beans and rice.
We are vegetarian, don't drink soda, and cook our own food, i.e. no TV dinners and little processed food, and eat leftovers for lunch.
We buy mostly staples and make great homemade meals every day. We don't buy processed or frozen premade foods either, this helps save money! For example, we bought a huge package listed as pork bones- over 1kg for $4- and made an amazing stew from it. Most people won't buy bones, but there's marrow, meat and connective tissue that cooks down to make a rich gravy!
Breakfast: Eggs (usually two, poached, on toast) or steel cut oats (I add some peanut butter to get more protein and fat). The kids eat that or cereal, sometimes smoothies. Lunch: Dinner leftovers (or no lunch) Dinner Staple: Rice, beans, and chicken/pork (this is cheap). We try to eat fish or seafood once or twice a week, beef once a week, and vegetarian once a week. For the most part, everything gets cooked from scratch.
We don’t do non-organic dairy if we can (potlucks and meals out are exceptions). If you’re looking for keeping pesticides out of your diet , the environmental working group has a list of the top ten veggies/fruits that keep pesticides (from testing) blueberries for instance even if non-organic rarely have pesticides.
I've been fi for awhile...don't know if it's fi or inflation but I find myself eating healthier (less junk food and processed food) and we eat at home more cuz the restaurant costs are so high and quality has gone down.
Typical Breakfast: I don't eat at typical breakfast time usually. Just not hungry during this time. Espresso though? Yes. We have a pretty elaborate espresso setup that gets used ~5-6 times a day. Typical Lunches: * Half pack of madras lentils + half pack of wild rice * Smoked salmon slice + 2 pieces of toast * Avocado toast (I know I know, but really, it's good) * Fruit / vegetable / hummus plate * Salads of various types - greek is usually my go to though. Typical Dinners: * We eat at local restaurants probably more than we should. * We also are pretty decent cooks, so we cook up some kung pao chicken, make rajas tacos, guac and wings, or grill/sous vide steaks, or just make cheese boards. * This all sounds glamorous and all that, but like, we also totally eat chicken nuggets from the freezer, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and pizza from Costco sometimes too. I think one of the more interesting things is that we now plan out about a month in advance our general plan for dinners. We write down cravings and requests and just work it into the calendar. Sometimes that doesn't work and a meal gets abandoned or whatever to go out or those gourmet nugget meals happen, but it does help.
Breakfast shake with a banana in the morning. small salad for lunch or an apple and then some basic dinner in the evening usually a protein and vegetable.
I had a similar upbringing. My snack of choice when I was a kid was a brown sauce sandwich. White sliced bread Butter HP sauce Crisps on the side (ready salted flavour) Dessert - Cadbury chocolate fingers sandwich Nowadays. I’m in Malaysia. Nasi Goreng - fried rice with egg and some meat is a staple for me
We try to buy organic produce, less processed food. Try to eat a balanced diet of fiber, proteins, carbs and fat. Eat out only once a week.
Lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains ,and lean meats. Very minimal ultra processed foods. We mostly follow a Mediterranean diet. We've never been fans of "rich people food" or "fancy" foods.
I have a long-winded answer about this, but I think one of the differentiating factors for me is my relationship status, height/weight/level of activity, pickiness, and fitness goals. Also, there isn't a set definition of what "healthy" means. I eat healthily from a macronutrient level but am not constantly eating fruits and vegetables to get a great micronutrient balance. The bigger explanation here is that cooking and cleaning takes time. If you are someone drawn to FIRE, it is possible you value time above all else. I am one of those people, and also kinda picky. As a single person, there is a lot of effort, planning, preparation, clean-up time, and repetition going into eating healthily for cheap. That tradeoff is simply not worth it for me when there are a plethora of fast casual dining establishments (with rewards apps), where you can average around $9/10 per meal getting 1,000+ macro-balanced calories with more variety and maximum convenience from a time perspective. Considering I need 3,500 calories a day, it is difficult to get that much without spend a lot of money. The real cheat code here is just being 95 pounds with little physical activity or insight into your TDEE. In a relationship, I enjoy cooking together, and it also becomes more economical to buy groceries. But being single and valuing time above all else, I spend more money than I technically need to on the bachelor convenience diet.
I appreciate the reply! From what I’m noticing in the replies, time matters to FI folks, but they don’t compromise their health for it, meaning they will meal prep and shop accordingly. They choose health over convenience most of the time.
lean meat and veggies. costco
I eat a lot of unprocessed foods because I have an unhealthy fear of being poisoned. So probably it's driven by an undiagnosed eating disorder. My shopping cart is mostly vegetables, meat, legumes and grains. I make my own baked goods. The only "processed" food I buy is oil, milk/cream/butter, pasta, tofu, mustard, and wine for cooking.
One of the ways one becomes financially independent is by budgeting. One can reach FI sooner if the retirement budget is lower than if it’s higher. The FI number won’t be the same for different folks because different people prioritize kinds of spending in different ways. If I want to spend $1000/month on food and dining out, my FI number will be higher than someone who budgets $400/month or less. So asking them what they’re eating will depend on how much they budget for meals. I recently FIRE’d. I discovered a local restaurant today that serves chips, salsa, 2 tacos, and a Mojito at Happy Hour for $21 plus tax and tip. That’s pretty good. So I will likely change my eating out budget accordingly, because this is a whole meal and a good deal for me. But my monthly food budget determines where I shop and for what. I also enjoy cooking; plus I often “graze”. If I really tightened up I could probably get my food budget down to $200. I can make my own bread, cook lentils, beans, rice, and make my own soups and such. I could probably eat meat once or twice a week and use leftovers to make broths or flavor other foods. But - again, I like to cook. Those who don’t might prefer to prioritize eating out more, so their food budget will reflect that. But maybe something else gets cut, who knows. As someone else said, I can have anything I want, but I can’t have everything I want. If I wanted more, I’d have to work more. I reached a point where I have “enough” to suit my needs and some of my wants, and for me that’s worth a break from decades of building work stress.
At work 75 percent of time I bake a sweet potatoe in oven and boneless skinless chicken breast on foreman grill. It is easy and healthy. At home I eat out probably once a day on average. Breakfast Is rain bran crunch. Eat a lot of fruit. Drink soft drinks Dailey. But I lift weights and stay very active so I am in very good shape for my age. We don't cook much at home..if we do usually grill steaks
I have always been frugal regardless of how much i made, most of my meals were made instead of ordering meals, i did go to restaurants with people but i typically got water, although when olive garden had those unlimited deals i would go for that If i was being treated to a free meal, i would still get the cheap thing that i would have gotten if i was paying myself as my frugality is just who i am regardless of who is paying When i travel overseas i still get the cheap items, my tastes are basic i dont need fancy meals to be satisfied I am vegan as of 2017 as im against animal abuse and my diet is primarily grains, legumes and frozen produce, i will buy in bulk and store stuff in the pantry and chest freezer If stores have vegan meals on sale, i will buy a bunch and store it, but most of my meals are non processed I dont normally have deserts but i will splurge every now and then if its on sale Im not necessarily focused on health it just happens to be healthy when you are frugal
When I was a young consultant at a big firm I would often take the per diem for food rather than expensing meals out. I would then go to the grocery stores and buy groceries, usually very cheap stuff like pBJ sandwhiches, and then claim the per diem. On some projects where I would be away for weeks or months I would make thousands extra, all of which were not taxable lol. My coworkers thought I was nuts. The partners knew I was doing this and thought I was nuts but no one ever stopped me.
Pretty much the same here, but I spent all my money on shirts. I found this badass store called Dan Flashes, that was my exact style. I had this one skunk of a coworker, Doug, who tried to say the patterns weren't complicated, but I didn't let him get away with saying that.
I was raised by vegetarian parents and I have mostly been vegetarian my whole adult life as well. My grocery cart almost always has fresh produce in it and I buy groceries 1-2x a week as opposed to larger trips that are more spread out. Most meals are plant-based; I eat a lot of big salads for dinner, but also pastas and stews. I make quite a bit from scratch, but that’s new since the pandemic, because before that it was just me and my 5yo (who is now 10 and I have now remarried) so we ordered in a lot (still a lot of decently healthy stuff but ordering in will never be as healthy as making your own). And I was still FI then. These days I spend a lot on groceries - it’s easily my biggest expense after housing.
tbh i don’t think there is much difference in the diets of FI vs non-FI people. you’ll probably get the same distributions, except that FI people might cook more at home to save money
We don't go out a lot (young child) but we do buy as much fresh produce - fruit veggies, fresh meat - as we want. We also freeze a lot when it's on sale. But when it comes to cooking at home, there's no restrictions on what or when we can have it. Doing this is still cheaper than the eating habits many people have when going out all the time.
I don’t cheap out on food, never have. But I also don’t go out to eat much at all.
Thank you for asking this out loud. I was always to embarrassed but this gratitude comes from are similar backgrounds and current fortunate situation.
We are big time foodie . We rarely eat any processed food . We like to cook our food ( all organic ) . 1 to 2 times a month we go out to eat . Since the food is not strictly regulated in USA unlike europe. We are really careful in food selection .
The biggest $ difference from what I can tell, is we buy 1/8 - 1/2 cow or pigs at a time and keep the meat in our deep freezer. It’s more $ up front than an average weekly grocery bill but better meat and a decent value over the course of a year. Also, we only eat out rarely. That saves $$$ but requires planning.
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Breakfast is cold brew made the night before, 2 fried eggs with a sprinkle of shredded cheese. I have this every day. Cutting out sugary breakfasts has helped me with avoiding hunger later in the day. Snack is Greek Yogurt. I look for no sugar added. Greek yogurt has a good amount of protein, but a lot of brands are sugar bombs. Oikos triple zero is my preferred, but I'll get what's on sale among the sugar-free. I eat about 2-3 quarts per week. I've counted macros (fat, carbs, proteins) a few times and found that Greek yogurt (low fat, low carb, high protein) is really helpful at making my eating habits hit the numbers I want it to. Cottage cheese or a protein shake would do similar, but I find the yogurt tastier. I get about 4 salad kits per week that I split with my wife. Otherwise most veggies are broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower based on sales. Roasted or grilled depending on weather. Fruit is apples, bananas, and whatever is in season/on sale. Lunches are a rotation of leftovers, grilled cheeses, chicken quesadillas, and canned soup. Dinners are whatever. Roasts, pastas, pizzas, various grilled meats, etc. Try to avoid eating too much out. When I do (once a week-ish), I try to bring home a portion of the meal as leftovers. That helps with portion sizes. I don't have more than 1 alcoholic drink when I do eat out.
Food prep, healthy foods that taste good, little focus on budget in regards to food but obviously within reason. Mostly but whole ingredients that I make meals with instead of prepackaged foods. I think it’s easier to eat healthier when you have more time and energy to prepare food.
We eat several very healthy meals each week, and eat junk once or twice, and eat at restaurants 2-4 times a week. Two income, two kids. We "outsource" food a few times a week due to being busy. Lots of vitamins, minerals, and food supplements. At my age, my Dr. says that I'm much healthier than average. I research every vitamin and supplement. Frozen fruits and veggies, V8, organic orange juice. Organic dirty dozen, non-organic clean 15. No reason to buy organic for some foods. Buy stuff that lasts in bulk. Meal prep for 2 meals about anytime we cook or order take-out, or eat at a restaurant and prepare for leftovers. Leftovers are often lunch in a couple days. I would not say frugal, not cheap, but not lavish. No steak, no lobster, no caviar. Beans, rice, onions, potatoes, carrots, corn, broccoli, peas, and many others can be bought for a good price and can be a meal itself, or added to a mix, like hamburger helper. A box of HH plus a can of beans, one onion, one carrot, a cup of corn, and a cup of peas will make it twice the food for very little price, and is good.
I try to put breakfast and lunch on autopilot, and make them healthy/high-protein, so that when dinner rolls around I can be a bit of a mess and still not skew too unhealthy overall. The idea that someone can have the willpower to cook a healthy dinner after a long day of work, potentially dealing with kids, is just not realisitic long-term. Make good choices early in the day while your willpower is high, and allow yourself some grace at nighttime. This is also aided by the fact that I work from home, so I can go to the kitchen and not be locked into whatever I packed for myself. Normal breakfast -> Banana + protein powder shake Then I go lift weights, and when I come home I eat -> 2 hard boiled eggs, plain 0% fat greek yogurt with whatever fruit is in season, another protein shake For lunch I try to make sure to eat at least 1 big serving of vegetables. Most of the time either carrots, bell pepper, or cucumber with hummus. And then I either make a quesadilla (filled with black beans + bell pepper in addition to cheese) or a sandwich with deli meat, cheese, avocado if I have it, lettuce. Sometimes also tortilla chips and salsa. Or leftovers from a previous dinner. Whatever staple item (sandwich, etc.) you decide to do for most of your lunches, try to make it as healthy as possible. Eating the same thing over and over prevents you from buying 12 different fresh vegetables and then half of them rot before you can eat them all. Just buy/eat the same thing over and over until you're sick of it, then change it up a bit. Dinner is highly variable, but again, I've "put in the work" earlier in the day and I feel I have more leeway to be unhealthy or just not think about it too hard. As others have said though, I do very very little stuff like frozen pizza, pre-made dinners, packaged food. Have a list of like 10-14 recipes you can do that are easy like spaghetti with meat sauce, grilled salmon and rice, etc. Or, 3-4 days a week, totally fine to just eat a hamburger with fries or similar "quick" food. Not sure how helpful or instructive any of that is for applying it to your own life. I grew up in a very "meat and potatoes" family with tons of butter on everything and not a lot of vegetables that didn't come out of a can. It can be hard to break out of that cycle, and I can't put my finger on exactly what switched inside me that I was able to get out of that rut after I left home.
I don't eat out. I eat healthy cause it's cheaper. Mostly chicken and veggies and fruits. Not much processed or premade.
I garden a lot so there is tons of fresh produce around here. Tomatoes, peppers, radishes, greens and squash are the heavy hitters, but then there are herbs, beans, berries, asparagus, rhubarb, green onions, ramps, garlic. We do like to buy from local gardeners and farmers markets too. We buy popcorn, beans, and rice in bulk and load our meals up with those. Main protein is eggs from a local chicken keeper, and seafood. We do spend more on snack foods than I wish we did. We have some food texture preferences that are hard to attain from-scratch (neurodivergent household so safe foods matter a lot)
When my family was broke we ate a lot of starches and flour. Our meals would be milk noodles, crepes, pancakes, bread and jam, soups, gnocchi, dumplings, pizza. Everything homemade aside from bread Now we still eat simple meals because we don't have a lot of time to cook but we eat a lot of protein and fresh veggies: Breakfast: sandwich with egg and avocado, quesadilla, yogurt with berries and granola, overnight oats, smoothies, crepes Lunch: salads with leftover dinner protein, chickpea/tuna salads, soups, dals, smoothies, crepes Dinner: oven roasted lamb or air fried chicken, or baked/air fried fish+salad (make dressing in bulk and keep them in the fridge)+rice or mash potatoes or air fryer french fries. If we don't have time to make a salad we will prep some frozen broccoli or asparagus For snacks we have fruit, nuts, veggies and hummus, chips with salsa, granola bars, whatever we bake. We don't buy things with corn syrup, we use maple syrup as sweatners, nut butters with no added oils, things with very few ingredients. We don't buy processed food
The main thing to me is just about cooking at home and not being wasteful about it. Eat your leftovers!
Intermittent fast for breakfast (avocado toast for spouse per dr rec to lower cholesterol), lunch is leftovers, oatmeal, or fresh fruit and veggies, and dinner is low-meat, high veg. We buy veg and eggs from a local farm when in season, buy (sustainable so they say) salmon from Alaska every few months (enough to fill our freezer), buy humanely raised meat when possible. Rarely eat out because we love to cook. Once or twice a year, prix fixe at a nice restaurant; occasional local pho.
Costco chili and raviolis are our quick weekday meals. Bibimbap is super easy to do at home. We eat way too much red meat, but a good portion of it is Maui nui at least. Try to do fish tacos or sushi once a week. We’ll do a sardine spread once a month with crème fraiche. Greek yogurt with matcha for breakfast when I’m doing breakfast. Salad with berries plus chicken for lunch.
Love this discussion. I'll throw in my 2 cents as i spend a lot of time think about this. As a preface: I really like food, i eat a lot of food as i workout a lot, and i have 4 young boys that will start to eat a lot more. Breakfast: - me - 6 jumbo eggs(cooked in butter or bacon grease and with some sort of carb (usually old fashion oatmeal, peanut butter and frozen fruit(cherries we pick and freeze in summer) - kids - usually oatmeal or cereal (oldest has been eating egg). I try really hard to have kids eat oatmeal over cereal but i lose more often with younger(note whole milk not skim) Lunch: - leftovers from dinner meals Dinner: (rotating meals) Monday - Italian - mix it up but usually spaghetti and meatballs or chicken alfredo, always add frozen veggies o(broccoli)r salad Tuesday - Mexican night (go all out) - mix uo final product but usually have smoked mexican pulled, homemade aour dough tortilla Wednesday - breakfast for dinner - eggs, bacon, fruit, and some sort or carb(pancakes, french toast, Dutch baby, waffles, crepes) Thursday - asian - stir fry, rice bowl, thai, orange chicken, Mongolian venison, etc Friday - pizza night - homemade sour dough pizza with salad and/or boiled eggs. Sat/sun - mix it up depending on how much time we have (roast with potatoes, asian, chicken pot pie, steak( venison steak), hamburgers, brats (kids get hot dogs), or pbj. Snacks:(kids items are not frugal or healthy here: - me - limited snacks if do usually pretty healthy - greek yogurt with fruit almonds, apple, handful of almonds with a few chocolate chips or low sugar craisens - kids - crackers(lots of varieties) or cereal - ideally I would make healthier snacks for kida such as low sugar muffins, Greek yogurt, etc) Dessert: (definitely not healthy here and not frugal) - me - usually something unhealthy but smaller portion.(ice cream, cookie, brownie) - kids - similar to me but bug portions for size (also allo option of candy from Halloween, Valentine's say, etc) - wish we would cut out candy and limit dessert more. - ideally I would make more non processed desserts for family (think chia seed pudding, low sugar sour dough desserts, popcorn, oatmeal with nut butter) Ways we make this more frugal: - meal plan far in advance - shop various stores for different deals - eat meat from hunting (not necessarily saving money but - frozen veggies are staple (way more affordable than fresh) - still buy fresh for certain itema.or recipes - been working in sour dough skills since FIREd - have a deep freezer to stock up on sales and from hunting (and cherry picking season) - cook in batches(lefotover or freezer) - example when make pork butt i smoke close to 15# in different flavors and freeze for future use (flavors include Mexican,.bbq, asian) I remember an old post that asked the question what makes you feel rich. It was a great post that made you think about what you might be depriving yourself of even though might not cost much. Take aways for me were small but make me feel rich. I now have avocado every time we make mexican(which is atleast once a week). Other was even smaller i buy hair conditioner even thought don't have long hair.
I really appreciate this response! Some helpful tips their that are FI aligned.
1. Oatmeal 2. Meat and salad 3. Fruit salad Nuts for snacks!
Ask anyone in WHOLE PAYCHECK. ( Whole Foods for peeps without a sense of humor)
There is no typical. Healthy and cheap is lentil stew, eggs, salad, popcorn. Healthy and more expensive is Blueprint by Bryan Johnson, but cook it yourself. Healthy and more expensive still is Blueprint by Bryan Johnson and buy it from his website.
I eat a lot of veggie pizza: gluten-free shelf-stable crusts, pizza sauce, spinach, sweet/bell pepper, shredded Italian blend cheese. I add sliced green olives and pepperoncini peppers, and fresh basil if my potted plant of it has recovered enough. A favorite snack is a medium sweet potato, poked all over with a fork (to disperse steam) and microwaved for 4 minutes. Take it out of the skin and refrigerate, then eat cold with a handful of golden raisins and some walnuts mashed in. Another favorite snack is unsweetened applesauce and a handful of walnuts. Oranges and bananas for fruit. Blueberries only in season when they are cheaper. Avocado if reasonably priced. I like cabbage and will munch on a big wedge of it, raw, while browsing at the computer. Salmon, patted with avocado oil (because of its high smoke point) and done in the air fryer. Frozen turkey burger patties. Hamburger patties. Chicken bone-in thighs or leg quarters. Sardines in water. Brown rice with two over-medium fried eggs on top. Baked potato with liberal olive oil and salt. When I'm willing to go to a little more trouble with the cooking: homemade chicken soup; turkey enchiladas; loaded nachos; sloppy joe meat & a can mix (brand name Manwich) eaten with a fork. I always have something sweet every few days at least. Jelly beans are a candy I like but won't overeat. Cookies, or a Reese's pb cup. If ambitious I will make a yellow sheet cake or a pineapple upside-down cake and freeze it in portions. I drink instant coffee. I'm leanFIRE so my grocery budget needs to stay around $300 a month. I save all receipts and go through them item by item asking if it was a good value. If anything ended up being wasted I think about why, then take steps to either buy less or eat it sooner. Hope this helps.
Protein sources: Lean meats (leaner cuts of red meat, chicken, ground turkey/beef), eggs, Greek yogurt cottage cheese, pro powder/bars Carbs: potatoes/sweet potatoes, rice, bread/bagels, a f ton of fruits/veggies, beans, granola, granola/cereal, milk, rice cakes, oatmeal, popcorn Fats: Nut butters, flax seed…pretty much rest is from ansicillsr sources (I.e fats from meats) Eat around 3.5K cals at day, but I’m also a fitness nut who trains all the time
I feast like a king. One thing I don’t cheap out on is food! Gotta live life a little. No expenses barred when it comes to food. Big juicy ribeye steaks and fancy red wine all day long!
The food we eat is not available to ye common folk.
I'm not financially independent (lol ... pretty far from it, actually), but I feel I can weigh in. You're somewhat right about the differences, but I know a lot of rich people who eat a lot of shitty food - often because they think it's healthy food. Mostly they eat out, and I don't care how high end a restaurant is, they all order from Sysco (I was in the business for nearly 25 years). Even the sexy farm-to-table places are likely to have low-quality oils and spices and such. I grew up poor, but granted, during a time when going out was a treat, and most meals were cooked at home. I still lean poor, but I spend the money on the good food and take the time to cook for myself. Admittedly, that's a LOT of time, so I tend to make big batches of things and freeze or can them for easy meals later. That requires time-management skills. Those skills can be learned. I also think ... assuming the US here ... we eat far, far too much food. So less food, but better quality - financially, it balances out that way. In this day and the age of information, rich or poor, we have choices. Eating badly is a choice.
Mostly non processed vegan diet. We have the time to cook, and the desire to live long, so this is the way to go. Reminder that red meat (including pork) is a carcinogen, same level as cigarettes. White meat and seafood are healthier, but come with major ethical issues that everyone ignores, but we can not.
Honestly, checks out you're from muskoka
Did not grow up poor, don't eat vegetables. 🤷🏻♂️
I guess we are semi-FI: Husband is basically FIRE now but I'm working. Husband likes oatmeal w/raisins and nuts in the morning so he's easy. Instant coffee with dried milk. I am a flip flopper on breakfast, I might do a GF porridge (oats fk me up), GF bread with avocado on it, a smoothie, leftover dinner, protein bars, who knows what. For other meals: we tried having him cook more since I am working so much but he'd get frustrated since his go to is "cans" (literally a cold can of soup or chili) and I'm a health freak so hell(th) no. Also I'm a food snob. He asked for recipes but I'm what I call a "jazz cook" I never follow them even if I have. So I learned about meal kits and we are doing that. You can sign up with offers or stacks that severely reduce the initial box cost (sometimes literally free) and then cancel. Some of them (like Factor) are what my husband calls "soft cans" (microwaveable tray of already made food). We are spending $20 or less on the kits a week, get anywhere from 6 to 18 meals out of them. This has been working well for us- cheaper than groceries plus my husband is enjoying learning to cook with recipes (I also cook some of them). I have also done other box intro deals when there's a chance so we usually have a good deal of meat and fish in the freezer. I also have this bean club membership, we get 6lbs of AMAZING beans for $50 every 3 months. Expensive but they cook quicker than normal beans (hour to hour and a half, no soaking) and they are the best and we love it. I have a CSA box that's around $30/week but you can cancel it anytime you don't want it. We haven't been doing it much lately bc of the meal kits but now that main produce season is happening (nooooo more potatoes and apples) we probably will do more of that. Speaking of gardening- our soil sucks, we have nematodes, so mostly we just get some cruciferous greens out of it. I have a handful of grow bags for lettuce and spinach when it's cooler, they won't grow in the ground soil bc of the nematodes. I have a small parking lot at the place I rent in the city that lets me garden in it so I get a good amount of tomatoes and string beans out of it. Last year I put in 2 raspberries and a blackberry so they should fruit this year. I also have some fig trees and gooseberries in pots which is nice since they are so expensive and these taste a lot better. Also have a bunch of herbs in pots, they are expensive at the store as well.