Cutting the food budget

PeachyPlum

In February, I lived off $20/week for groceries. Lots of split pea soup, lentils, one giant pot of beef chili, and some chicken thighs.

I don't wish to repeat it, but I did it.

FitForL1fe

JoRocka wrote: »

draznyth wrote: »

I buy so many *kitten* eggs yo

lol- I go through about 2-3 dozen in a 6 day period. sooooooooooooo yeah. lots of eggs.

With the oatmeal and whole egg + 2 egg white, unsweetened almond milk (125ml) I'm only at 270cals for breakfast

good deal- that's not bad- I usually skip breakfast so I can have a giant dinner- but I do occasionaly squish some food in the AM- under 300 is a great deal- and the egg/white ratio is good to.

*kitten*, need to step up my egg game

Pinkranger626

Oh! Question for the oatmeal with egg on top!! How do you season it so it tastes good?

IAmAPearl

Wow! I'm losing my mind reading that in some areas lettuce is $3.50/head, and Roma tomatos are $2/lb.

kpk54

My freezer is full of "double discounted" meat/chicken. One store I shop, discounts their close dated meats 30% around 10 AM. If it is not sold by 3 PM it gets discounted to 50%. I've been buying it for years and "ain't" dead yet. Other than that, we eat by whatever is on sale in a given week and stock up on the non-perishables when on sale.

weird_me2

You could try making your own yogurt to save a few dollars. If you are paying $5 for a quart, then you could make it for quite a bit less. Here, my milk is very cheap at about $2.60 for 2% milk. I'd probably use about 42 oz of milk and strain the yogurt a bit to make it more creamy like traditional store-bought, but that's only about 1/3 of a gallon of milk. I usually make a gallon of yogurt at a time and then strain it so it's greek style. I get 64 oz of greek style yogurt for the cost of the gallon of milk. It's a bit of effort, but it might free up a few dollars to buy some more meat.

Another thing I do to save money is to make a lot of soups/chilis. I like chicken taco soup or chili or even regular chili. I usually triple the amount of beans they call for and it still tastes delicious but costs a lot less. I can make about 20 cups of these chilis/soups with 1 pound of chicken breast. It gives me the taste of meat without too much extra cost.

Other than that, I shop the sales and stock up when there's a really good deal on something. I also shop Aldi's and usually try to only plan my meals around the fruits/veggies that are on sale or always cheap at Sam's club.

arditarose

I'm cutting in a different way. I was buying my lunch every day which was almost 15 bucks sometimes, plus my quest bar for breakfast and a snack. So I've finally started bringing my lunch every day, but I haven't really skimped on the groceries I love yet. It may be next because...struggles. The company I work for is practically going under.

BeginnersBootcamp

Instead of buying pre packaged individually almond 100cal packs we are starting to buy large bags ans portion them ourselves. Cheaper!

rachael00679

I spend $100 on groceries and around $40-$50 on meat. That is for 2 adults and 2 tween boys who I swear have hollow legs. But that's also includes toiletries, food and litter (crystals) for two adult indoor cats, and other household items like waste bags, cleaners and laundry soap. I shop at the market for fruit and veg and a local green grocer. I try to buy what's in season because it's cheaper, and I look at veg that's cheap because it's damaged or its close to being tossed...especially if I am going to use it in the next day in a soup because quite frankly it's fine it's just not pretty and in a soup you can't tell. I find NOT buying at supermarkets helps substantially with cutting costs. I get the groceries and household items from a 'budget' supermarket - Aldi. But after seeing how they keep their costs low by purchasing their products from manufacturers that employ international workers and pay them substantially less than the award, I am trying to figure out other ways of doing my shopping. I buy my meat from a wholesale meat place. I buy two or three types, I buy quantity and I only buy what's on sale and I portion it out in freezer bags for the following weeks.
Both my hubby and I take lunch from home. The kids always take lunch from home and prefer my food over the lunch order system because the food is disgusting. So we save money that way.

However....If it's a good week and we get a bonus from work I nearly always buy feta, chocolate or take the kids out to eat their choice... But we are saving to go overseas next year to Disneylandand every penny counts.

MsJulesRenee

workoutgrl87 wrote: »

Oh! Question for the oatmeal with egg on top!! How do you season it so it tastes good?

Garlic salt/powder and pepper is the best (tried all different seasoning before, but that tastes the best to me) Sometime I'll make a huge Amish Oatmeal Bake for the week with blueberries, raisins, and walnuts on Sunday and just throw an egg on top. onceuponachef.com/2014/03/amish-style-baked-oatmeal-with-apples-raisins-walnuts.html Thats the recipe I like the most and you can def cut the butter/sugar in half and use unsweetened almond milk. Still tastes great

kxforg

My husband and I would spend $50 a week total at the grocery store on fruit/veg and whatever staples we would need. We would and still buy store brand when ever possible (Kroger) and ususally we can doctor it up with the $1 spices from the store and make it really yummy.

We'd hit costco for a bulk protein purchase, fish, chicken, beef and then take it home, break it apart and freeze it. The important part was to label our frozen meats with dates so we could be sure to eat the older stuff first. We would spend a bit there (no more than $200) but it would last 4 to 5 plus months so the weekly average would be about $12. We would also be sure to check out the clearance section and the sale meats to see the deals.

We would and still buy store brand when ever possible (Kroger) and ususally we can doctor it up with the $1 spices from the store and make it really yummy.

All told we did this for 2 years so help pay off some bills and it worked well. Once the bills were gone we upped the budget to about $75 to $80 but we still shop in bulk for meat and we still buy sale only items and Kroger brand. The change is we buy a bit more organic than we did in the past.

It is very doable to eat well and be healthy on a tight budget with very little compromise over all. I suppose the most important part is we talked and worked out the budget then we would grocery shop together with a fixed list and weekly meals planned out in advance based on the advertised specials. This was the key I believe to making it work.

AllOutof_Bubblegum

Absolutely nothing wrong with rice and beans, if you know how to mix up the flavors with awesome spices. Middle Eastern (Indian/Mediterranean/Pakistani etc) food is CHEAP and mouthgasmingly delicious. All it takes is an assortment of dry grains and legumes and combination of spices. The spices can be a little bit of an investment at first, but you don't need much to make a mind-blowing, flavorful and exotic meal that you'll keep daydreaming about for weeks.

Look up recipes such as makhani sauce, tikka masala, jalfrezi, or karahi. They are amazing with chicken, lamb or beef, but just as good with rice and chickpeas or lentils, black eyes peas, quinoa or couscous.

zoeysasha37

I also use a ton of rice and frozen veggies, I can make a bunch of meals and season them differently so I don't get bored.
I also keep my eyes out for coupons and price matching. For example if shoprite has turkey hill ice cream on sale for 1.99$ and you have the store add , Wal-Mart will give you the turkey hill for 1.99$ . Some stores will also double coupons. I don't spend a lot of time looking for the coupons, but if I come across ones that are for items I like, then I definitely use them!
I've also found that buying certain things in bulk helps cut down a little bit. I got Scott toilet paper (like 32 rolls) on sale for 13$. So now instead of spending 1.50$ per week on a roll, I have 32 weeks worth for 13$.
For other household stuff like bleach and window cleaner, I go to the dollar store(dollar tree has a lot of name brand cleaning items like glass plus and comet). It does save money, but does take a little more time and thought.
I'm in the process of rebuilding my credit, to buy a home (homes aren't cheap here at the Jersey shore!!) So I'm always looking how to save a few bucks without having to collect coupons for 7 hrs per day like the show on tv!! :-)
Do you have a sams club or bjs club where you live? If so, ask around to see if any if your friends have one of their member cards. (Then you won't have to pay for your own membership) if your able to find someone that will let you use their card, you can try to stock up on any bulk items that will last you a while. I got the 10 lb bags of rice there for less then what I pay for 3 lbs at the grocery store! And it'll last you a while.
Best of luck to you!