Shopping Healthy on a very low budget

bapcarrier

Do you have anyone close to you that you would feel comfortable doing this with...When I was in the same boat, my friend had food stamps and I was very limited on funds but just above the cut off for help. We would shop together once a month. That way we could buy in bulk or bigger packages. We would drive further to a better priced store because we were only going once. I would buy all the non-covered items i.e. laundry detergent, toilet paper, shampoo, etc. for both our families (6 people total) and she would buy the food. We made up our meals in advance, figured out exactly how much we needed all together and shopped from the list. Then we took turns preparing a weeks worth of meals in advance, enough for 6 people. We then split each meal, so both our families had good food. We left one night a week open for each family to make whatever they wanted. This left both families with more $ to use however needed. Also, if the non-food items didn't total the amount of food stamps then the difference went to extras that weren't covered or just to add extra food. By not having to buy things like toilet paper, etc. That money can be added to the grocery money if need be. Hope this makes sense, it really worked for us for a number of years.

Tourn85

thanx well as far as the budget anyone know a way to make a grocery list with your recipes?

Mr_Knight

Tourn85 wrote: »

hi to start im not giving advice im asking it.
ok i am looking for ideas and ways to come up with a monthly grocery list and recipe list
When only able to go to the grocery store one time a month on a um id say 250.00 budget to feed 3 people.

Rice, lentils, and whatever veggies are in season.

kristimason3

I've become pretty good at this over the past 15 years of having kids and always being broke..sighs. Coupon with your food stamps. First get your local store flyers to find what will be on sale the week you are shopping. Then see if you can find coupons that match what is already on sale. Couponmom.com is an awesome sight to make it really simple. There are tons of free printable coupons on there and you put in your zip code and boom it tells you what the best deals are at your local stores and where to find the coupons you need. Then set a meal plan for each week of the month based off of what is on sale that you also have a coupon for. This will save you a ton and stretch those funds. For instance, last week ground turkey, canned beans, canned corn, diced tomatoes and taco kits were on sale and I had a coupon. One pkg of ground turkey 3.25 - 1.00 coupon makes 2.25. The taco kits were buy 1 get 2 free and I had 1.00 off when you buy 3. Taco kit normally 2.50, now 1.50 and the other 2 boxes free.Canned goods all under 1.00 and I have coupons. So maybe I spent 3.50 for 3 cans of beans, 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 2 cans of corn. I have a small garden as well that helps with fresh veggies. Monday- turkey chilli made with 1 package ground turkey, 1 can pinto beans, 2 cans red kidney beans, a can of corn, a can of diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, chilli powder, garlic powder and diced pepper and onion. Makes a ton of chilli. Tuesday I take the leftover turkey chilli, add taco seasoning from one of the taco kits and some shredded cheese (low moisture part skim mozzarella) spoon it in soft and hard shells pair with fat free canned refried beans its taco Tuesday. Wednesday I still have more chilli (family of four here) so its "taco soup" reheated, add a bit of water pair with a package of jiffy corn muffins (50 cents). So now I've fed 4 people 3 dinners for around 8 dollars. And its basically ground turkey, veggies and beans so its low cal but filling. Chicken (buy a big whole one on sale) first night roast the chicken serve it with potatoes and frozen mixed veggies, next night use the left overs for chicken pot pie by adding flour and egg for the shell and some chicken stock, then chicken soup the third night with the rest. Large crock pot meals work best for stretching. Male the first meal basic so the second and third you are adding things to make it more exciting. It is mentally difficult at first but once you get used to it it just becomes habbit and sometimes its fun to see what you can come up with. It sounds like alot of the same but if you play with what you've already got you'd be surprised what you can come up with. Meats are hard to find coupons for so I go to the ghetto grocery stores for that that have the "pick 5 for $20" deals. I rarely shop at Walmart for groceries because there is no rewards card. Using your rewards card can get you extra coupons, cheap gas, sometimes 10 bucks off your next order etc. If you have a smart phone there are apps where you can register your rewards cards for extra perks like free amazon gift cards, mail in cash rebates etc. No brainer because you are just swiping your card like you always do. I am not a crazy couponer. I only spend about an hour to 2 every 2 weeks on the whole thing.

joyfulteach

Tourn85 wrote: »

thanx well as far as the budget anyone know a way to make a grocery list with your recipes?

Ziplist

giggitygoo

One thing that works for me is planning all of my meals around one main ingredient.

I live in Los Angeles, where food is very expensive comparatively. We still can find whole chickens on sale for 79 cents a pound. I stock up and freeze them.

Here would be my week with a whole chicken for example:

Day 1: whole roasted chicken, grain (usually rice), and veggies. I make gravy out of the chicken drippings.
Day 2: Brown rice "pasta" salad. It has chopped leftover chicken, and whatever veggies I have around. Usually some hard boiled eggs to bulk it up.
Day 3: Shredded chicken tacos. Pull all the meat you can off the bones and warm up with some black beans and taco seasoning mixed in.
Day 4: Chicken soup Put chicken bones in a large pot of water with herbs, carrots etc and boil for a few hours. Strain and reserve. Should make about 4 quarts of stock. Make soup with one portion, freeze the rest
Day 5: Beans and rice. Dried beans, spices, and chicken stock go into crock pot until tender. Serve over brown rice with a little cheese and hot sauce.