What does eating well actually cost a week?

"Eating healthily is expensive" is half true. Some of it genuinely costs more. Most of what makes a food bill large has nothing to do with how healthy the food is.

Where the money actually goes

Three things, in roughly this order:

• Food thrown away. Households routinely bin a meaningful share of what they buy, usually fresh produce bought with good intentions and no plan.
• Unplanned shopping. Going in without a list, or going in hungry, reliably costs more than the same trip with a list.
• Convenience. Pre-cut vegetables, single portions, ready meals and takeaway on the evenings when nothing was planned.

Notice that none of those three is "vegetables are pricey". A kilo of carrots, a bag of frozen peas, a sack of potatoes, dried lentils and porridge oats are among the cheapest food in any shop.

What genuinely costs more

Being honest about this matters: fish, good meat, nuts, berries out of season and anything marketed as a health product do cost more. The first three are worth it; the fourth usually is not. Protein powder, superfood blends and wellness drinks are the easiest place to spend money for very little return compared with eggs, yogurt, beans and oats.

Five changes that cut the bill

1. Plan three dinners, not seven. Seven is a fantasy and ends in waste. Three decided meals plus leftovers covers most of a week.
2. Shop from a list organised by aisle. It shortens the trip, which is the same as shortening the receipt.
3. Buy frozen vegetables and frozen berries. Same nutrition, a fraction of the waste, and they are usually cheaper per kilo.
4. Let pulses do some of the work. Swapping meat for lentils or chickpeas in two meals a week makes a visible difference, and the meals are good in their own right.
5. Cook one and a half portions. Tomorrow's lunch is the cheapest meal you will ever buy, because you already paid for it.

A rough figure

Prices vary too much between countries and shops for a number to mean much, but the shape is consistent: a planned week built around oats, eggs, yogurt, pulses, frozen vegetables, potatoes, rice and two or three portions of meat or fish usually costs less than an unplanned week with the same number of meals, because almost nothing is wasted and almost nothing is bought twice.

The saving comes from the plan, not from buying cheaper food.

General wellness information, not medical or personalised nutrition advice.