IS CHEAPER BETTER?

So I have been contemplating for a while if cheaper is better as far as food is concerned. So you can go to McDonald's and get anything you want off the dollar menu. You can't make anything on the dollar menu for a dollar. But is it really better for you? Obviously not but thinking of items in your grocery store, does it change your mind? So I can get a whole jar of mushroom and black olive spaghetti sauce from the grocery store on sale for $2.00. To make spaghetti sauce it cost $1.39 for the canned tomatoes, $1.00 for the can mushroom, $1.39 for the canned pitted black olives, plus other ingredient that you will add. Just the three main ingredients in the sauce are already more then the price of the ready made spaghetti sauce. I know how much sodium is going into my homemade sauce. I know all the ingredients going into my spaghetti. Basically a homemade spaghetti meal costs me about $5.00 for 4 people where as the ready made sauce and noodles would have cost me $3.00.

In my opinion the $2.00 difference for a healthier lifestyle is worth it. If I continue to harm my body I am going to be paying a lot more on medical bills then the $2.00 I saved for this meal. When thinking frugal we should be thinking of how to save money, but not at the expense of our health and body. Did you know that just cutting down sodium intake can cause you to lose a lot of weight?