Nutrition, On the Cheap

· Be your own butcher. Turn rack of lamb into chops at a fraction of the cost you'd pay at the grocery. Boneless chicken breasts often cost $6 or more per pound -- more than three times the cost per pound of whole chicken. Use the back and necks to flavor soup, broth or stew. If you do buy boneless, skinless poultry or meat, choose family packs of store brands, which usually cost far less than brand names. Wrap and freeze what you don't need for future meals.

· Skip bottled water. A good home filtration system produces water at a fraction of the cost and eliminates recycling. Brew your own coffee and bring it to work in a thermos to save a couple of dollars per cup. Save at least a dollar per cup by brewing your own tea.

· Seek frozen bargains. Fresh cherries can cost $8 or more per pound. But frozen, unsweetened fruit has the same nutritional punch for much less money. Use them in smoothies, cooking, mixing with other fruit or even for eating slightly thawed. Year-round bargains include bananas (about 30 to 60 cents per pound), apples and pears (both about $ 1.50 per pound). Find farmers markets by Zip code at http://www.localharvest.com.

· Stretch your budget with vegetables. Dried beans cost just pennies per serving. A vegetable omelet with two eggs costs about 50 cents -- half the price of one item on a fast-food dollar menu.

· Reach for cheap, good fats. Fresh, heart-healthy fish can run $18 per pound and higher. But there are plenty of penny-

pinching options. Catfish and farm-raised salmon cost about $7 per pound. Canned fish -- anchovies, tuna, sardines, clams -- have the same fatty acids and cost from 50 cents to $4 per can. Another option: pickled herring, just a few dollars per jar and loaded with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.