Low income grocery shopping tips for a newbie to adult crap.

VCopple

I am a student and I work at a school. My budget is about $200 per month for a family of 3.

I buy frozen vegetables and fresh fruit. I buy the fruit when it is in season, and the veggies will stay in the freezer forever. I buy turkey sausage and sometimes kielbasa because it is pre-cooked and I can freeze it. I will also occasionally buy a very large piece of meat and cook it. The first week of October I bought an 11 pound spiral sliced ham. I baked it, then cut it up. Half went straight into the fridge, the other half went straight into the freezer. I took the bone and any meat attached to it and put that in the freezer as well.

I was able to eat one half of the ham every day for two weeks before I ran out of recipes I had on hand. Then, I took the bone out of the freezer and made a delicious split pea soup which I was able to eat for lunch every day for another week. I finally got tired of ham after three weeks, and then moved on to other things in my pantry. November rolled around and I was running low on food, so I pulled out the other half of the ham that was frozen and again ate for another two weeks.

Another thing I do is buy chicken. It is cheap and versatile. If you spend a little extra money and buy the individually wrapped breasts they stay in the freezer forever without getting freezer burned. Chicken and rice or chicken and beans with some vegetables will go a long way for your budget and your diet.

Finally, if you run out of food, (which happens to me occasionally when my students are out for the winter break and I don't get paid) don't be too proud to go to a food bank. Don't abuse them, but you can go and get help from them to bolster up your pantry for a few weeks.

withintherose

Use Costco/sam's club and buy in bulk. I can eat for a month off the chicken, broccoli, turkey patties and turkey meatballs that I buy. Cost is around 50$.

shadow2soul

RatOuttaHell wrote: »

Thumbs up for Aldi's! Well, if you live in the UK that is. Aldi's is brilliant for low price, quality food - especially fruit and veg and they have a massive selection.

Aldi's is in the US as well.

Aemely

There are lots of sites with $1-5 a day food ideas. Here's a good list of 44 healthy foods under a dollar. For $350/mo., you have $11.50 a day for both of you. You could split that out depending on which meal is more important to you, e.g., $2 breakfast, $3.50 lunch, $6 dinner. I know families of 4 who eat on a low fixed budget ~ they make it work by planning at least a week of meals in advance.

http://greatist.com/health/44-healthy-foods-under-1

jonnyman41

give new life to products about to reach their use by dates e.g use veg that is close to going off to make a huge pan of soup and then divide and save in small containers in the freezer. that way you can have soup with all the goodness for ages!. Can do the same with meat that is close to being past usable by making stews and pies and freezing to live another day. Save left over evening meals for a quick warm up lunch the next day and use scrappy trimmings from left over dishes again for soups and stews.

Laurend224

Oh also, save all your veggie scraps in a gallon Ziploc bag in the freezer. Onion skins, celery, carrot scrappings and ends, even apple cores and peels. I pretty much throw everything in there except potato peels and waxy veggie skins. When you fill up the bag dump it in a pot and cover with water. Add a bit of salt, and some poultry seasoning and boil boil boil. An hour is good, more is better. Homemade veggie stock. Strain and freeze. No more buying boxes of stock at $2 a pop!

myheartsabattleground

Have you tried applying for food stamps / snaps ?

SteampunkSongbird

NoelFigart1 wrote: »

I spend about what you do per person per month on food. So, this is how I do it.

• Learn to make stock and soups. This uses up those bones in a way that gets an extra nutritional bang for your buck. Besides, if you work somewhere that has a microwave, individually frozen soups are an easy, cheap lunch.

This really is a great, cheap way to make lunches; fresh veg can normally be bought pretty cheaply and if you make a big enough pot of soup, you can freeze a whole week's worth of lunches in individual portions. Leftover meat scraps can make good, hearty soup too, or just be used as flavouring for soup/stock.

TimothyFish

Buy the stuff that hasn't already been turned into a meal. Buy things like rice, pasta and beans in the largest bag you can find, since it is usually cheaper that way and will last a long time. $350 is actually a lot of money as long as you stay away from previously prepared foods.

Liftng4Lis

As others have suggested, buy meat in bulk and freeze. Also, cook in bulk and freeze. Farmers markets for fruits and veggies and stores like Win-co, where you can buy pretty inexpensively. This budget is easily doable.

angieward39

Here is a sample menu with per serving price approximations that I've used for ideas: (I live in the South)

Breakfast:
yogurt bought on sale @ .50
OR banana @ .50
OR Nutrigrain bar @ .80
OR eggbeater omelet with onion, 2 oz ham, and laughing cow cheese @ $1.50
OR Package instant oatmeal and a side of fruit @ $1.50

Lunch:
salad made at home with 3 oz of grilled chicken @ $2
OR large can Progresso light soup @ $2
OR baked sweet potato and 3 oz grilled pork loin @ $2
OR English Muffin pizza with turkey pepperoni made at home and small salad @ $2
OR Tuna salad with side of cucumbers @ $3


Dinner:
Stir Fried Veggies (do these yourself) and 3 oz stir fried chicken @ $2
OR homemade burrito with refried beans and low carb wrap @ $1.5
OR Morningstar black bean burger and steamed broccoli @ $2.50
OR spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and turkey meatballs @ $2.50


Snacks:
Fruttare all-fruit popsicle @ .80
Chocolate greek yogurt (Dannon) @ $1

Lounmoun

madxprofessor wrote: »

So I am 22 and been on my own for 2 years, but i find myself running out of food money and having my dad bring me pizzas and fast food because that is all he will buy me even though i'm trying to lose weight.... Anyways I need good advice on how to make roughly $350 last a whole month if that's even possible. I love fresh fruit and veg but can only get 2 shopping trips in a month currently, leaving plenty of time for the end of my 2 weeks worth of fresh stuff to go to waste. I am okay with frozen vegetables but not frozen fruit. I am only cooking for 2 people 3 times a day including myself. I need no-so-obvious tips on how to stretch my money like its the great depression. thanks in advance if you read all that.

Plan your meals out. I just make a list of 28 dinners every month or 2 and assign 7 per week. I generally have the same things for breakfast or lunch so it isn't hard to figure out what I need for those.
Some fruits and vegetables have a longer shelf life than others. Apples and oranges will last longer than bananas or strawberries. Potatoes, onions, carrots last a bit longer. Use the most perishable stuff first. If you can't use something before it will go bad freeze it. Use frozen fruit in smoothies or baking. Buy frozen vegetables so you only use what you need and reduce waste.
Buy things that are whole and cut it or shred it yourself. This goes for meat, cheese, vegetables and fruits. You can get 5 or 6 cups of meat off a whole chicken and use that for all kinds of recipes.
Dry beans and lentils are super cheap. After you cook them, you can freeze them. Canned beans are still fairly cheap if you prefer those.
Get eggs.
Rice and pasta are pretty cheap.
Buy a large container of plain oatmeal.
Buy larger containers instead of single serving containers.
Buy store brand or generic brand items. Most of the time there isn't a big difference except price.
Cut up meat and put it in stir fry, soup or casseroles instead of having a large slab.
Make a big pot of soup once a week. Use leftovers for lunches or freeze for another day.
Use what you have on hand.
Popcorn (not the microwave kind) is a cheap snack.
Hummus is cheap and easy to make. You can use it as a dip or a sandwich spread.
Drink water mostly. If you want to flavor it add a few drops of lemon or lime juice or drop in some frozen fruit.
Nuts/trail mix is very filling in small amounts.
Use leftover spaghetti sauce for pizza sauce.

obscuremusicreference

Kalikel wrote: »

Try applying for food stamps. They give them out like crazy.

That is completely dependent on where you live. Given that this poster lives in Florida (as I do), unless the second person she's cooking for is a baby, I wouldn't count on it.

Lots of good ideas in this thread. It is doable. It comes down to taking the time to look at ads (Publix also has where you can sign up for coupons online) and not going into the grocery store without a plan and a budget.

ETA: I actually applied for food stamps 2009ish. As I was the only one working in a house of 3 adults and my $24000 income was not stretching very far, I was very surprised when I was turned down.

mykaylis

be careful about canned fruit - the ones packed in water usually have splenda in them, which works for some people and not others. it gives me seizures. just a heads up

make a list of 10 meals based on what can be stored easily - dry or canned beans, rice, pasta, frozen vegetables, frozen meat, etc. then buy as much as you can when they're on sale, and then supplement with your fresh produce (whatever's in season/on sale, look at per-serving or per-pound prices). cycle through those 10 recipes whenever you need to.

i was dirt poor for about 3 years and i was a student for several years in my 20s. this is how i survived. unfortunately i did not make the best nutritional choices, but i am learning.

melimomTARDIS

check out my diary. i live on a low income, and eat pretty well, and vegetarian. i keep it to less than $100 including baby diapers and pet food...and we are a family of 4.

melimomTARDIS

angieward39 wrote: »

Here is a sample menu with per serving price approximations that I've used for ideas: (I live in the South)

Breakfast:
yogurt bought on sale @ .50
OR banana @ .50
OR Nutrigrain bar @ .80
OR eggbeater omelet with onion, 2 oz ham, and laughing cow cheese @ $1.50
OR Package instant oatmeal and a side of fruit @ $1.50

Lunch:
salad made at home with 3 oz of grilled chicken @ $2
OR large can Progresso light soup @ $2
OR baked sweet potato and 3 oz grilled pork loin @ $2
OR English Muffin pizza with turkey pepperoni made at home and small salad @ $2
OR Tuna salad with side of cucumbers @ $3


Dinner:
Stir Fried Veggies (do these yourself) and 3 oz stir fried chicken @ $2
OR homemade burrito with refried beans and low carb wrap @ $1.5
OR Morningstar black bean burger and steamed broccoli @ $2.50
OR spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and turkey meatballs @ $2.50


Snacks:
Fruttare all-fruit popsicle @ .80
Chocolate greek yogurt (Dannon) @ $1

I love this! I'll post my own in a second

melimomTARDIS

Breakfast-
1 cup of dry oats, cooked in water in the microwave (large 15 cup canister is $2.80 locally)
1/2 cup low fat milk (4.00 per gallon)
1/4 cup raisins (5.79 per pound)
Sugar to taste (1.00 for a 1lb bag)

Lunch-
2 eggs (2.00 per dozen)
2 slices toast (2.00 per cheap loaf)
1T margarine spread (1.00 per lb)
Carrot and celery sticks (less than 1.00 per lb locally)

snack-
1 banana (.69 cents a lb locally)
1T peanut butter (2.00 for a 16 oz jar)

Dinner-
1 cup rice (4.79 per 10lb bag at costco)
1 cup cooked from dry pintos (1.00 per lb) (cook in crockpot)
hot sauce (dollar tree sells this)
a few corn torillas (3.00 for a pack of 72)
1/2 can corn (.50cents per can locally)

Dessert-
Hard candy (1.00 per pack of 30 candies locally)

I live in the midwest.

melimomTARDIS

Another cheap meal is spaghetti noodles with marinara sauce, plus a veggie. I use frozen broccoli a lot in marinara sauce, tastes good.

or potatoes. Holy crap potatoes are so cheap here. I eat them nearly everyday, nuked in the microwave. I top them with BBQ sauce,or baked beans, or chili...or margarine.... so good.

ccesq73

I find it cheaper to shop for meat at night. The store reduces the price by up to 50% the night before the sell by date. If I'm not going to use it right away I freeze it. The same applies to seafood. The store also has a "reduced for quick sale" produce section. It's a good place to get cheap salad fixings if you're going to make it right away. The fruit tends overripe which is okay if you're making a smoothie or a pie.

concordancia

obscuremusicreference wrote: »

Kalikel wrote: »

Try applying for food stamps. They give them out like crazy.

That is completely dependent on where you live. Given that this poster lives in Florida (as I do), unless the second person she's cooking for is a baby, I wouldn't count on it.

Lots of good ideas in this thread. It is doable. It comes down to taking the time to look at ads (Publix also has where you can sign up for coupons online) and not going into the grocery store without a plan and a budget.

ETA: I actually applied for food stamps 2009ish. As I was the only one working in a house of 3 adults and my $24000 income was not stretching very far, I was very surprised when I was turned down.

There is a big difference between supporting someone and having an adult considered a dependent for official financial reasons, which usually requires declaring them incompetent.