• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, July 7, 2009

A new study reports that two out of three consumers (67%) "strongly agree" that they try to prepare healthy meals, reports Supermarketguru.com, which conducted the benchmarking research on behalf of ConAgra Foods. And only 23% say that eating healthfully costs more, down from 30% in January.

As exciting as these realizations may be for public health barometers, it's ain't great news for restaurants: 73% of the respondents "strongly agree" that eating at home can save a lot of money, while only 33% think that eating out is worth the money, down from 40% when the benchmarking study was conducted back in January.

What's more, 90% "strongly/somewhat agree" that the meals they prepare for themselves at home are healthier than those eaten out, Not only are they cooking more at home (90%, versus 81% in January), they've also broadened their definition of what's healthy. For example, 49% are now buying frozen foods as a cost-saving measure, up from 40% in January. And 80% of the respondents agree that frozen foods are as healthy as fresh foods -- up markedly from 66% in January.

Finally, the study finds that the old home-ec chestnut about saving money -- "Plan what you cook, and cook what you plan" -- is seen as an increasingly achievable goal. About 38% believed by sticking to their plans, they could slash between 20% and 25% off their grocery bill. Back in January, only 32% had that kind of confidence in their thriftiness.

Besides buying more frozen food, other fast-growing cost-cutting techniques include making a list (82% now do this, up from 70% in January), comparing store circulars (64% versus 52%), and shopping in a variety of stores based on prices (46% versus 37%).