Shopping healthy on a poor man's budget

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southcitystudio

Frozen veggies, lentils, brown rice, dried beans, and ground turkey is cheap! Also, keep an eye on places like Big Lots and The Dollar Tree for snacks, canned goods, and spices. I am St. Louis. I really like Sav-a-Lot also.

Orphia

There is no scientific evidence that gluten-free diets help autism.

http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/special-diets-do-not-work-for-autism/

Also, there is no scientific evidence that organic food is any healthier than non-organic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlqk8oV1FVI

With a child, and an autistic one at that, you've got enough to worry about without wasting precious money on unnecessary and expensive food. Hope this information saves you a great deal of worry and expense. Kind regards

kristydi

Kalikel wrote: »

Keep an eye out for sales at the grocery store!!! When they have to get rid of stuff before it hits the Sell By date, they drop the price. Take it home, freeze it - cheap food! Mone of the stores here is forever putting pork and turkey on sale. I actually wait until the sales and the buy it up.

Great tip! Last week I got a big pack of chicken thighs (we use thighs every week for Taco Tuesday) for .59 cents a pound. They're usually $1.49 or $.99 on sale. I broke the packet into meal sized portions then froze as soon as I got home. There were enough in the pack for 3 meals.

Kalikel wrote: »

Use bleach and Bar Keeper's Friend to clean. You'll save a fortune on cleaning supplies and can use it to buy food. I always crack up at how Bar Keeper's Friend is found in more poor homes and rich homes than middle class ones. The poor have figured out that it woks well and is cheap and the rich use it on the All-Clad pots and pans and find out how well it works.

My favorite cleaner for the bathroom is white vinegar mixed half and half with blue dawn dish soap in a spray bottle. That stuff cuts through soap scum better than anything I've ever used and is cheap.

demoiselle2014

Just remember that food can go bad when frozen, it's just much, much slower.

My husband and I have saved money quite successfully by getting a Costco membership. We buy soaps and similar necessities in large amounts, same with food staples. You can get fruits and veggies there at a very good price, though of course it's a waste if you don't cook and eat them before they go bad. It's also a good place to get chicken or fish in bulk (the chicken often comes individually wrapped, while the salmon comes in big slabs that we'd slice and wrap into individual portions, then freeze).

If you go that route, be prepared for an expensive shopping trip every couple months. However, if you have those goods in the freezer, you can probably do the rest of your shopping at Aldi's even more economically.

ETA: It may not be viable in OP's region, but in an urban area like mine it is possible to save a lot of money by going to an ethnic supermarket rather than the local grocery store. We'll go several subway stops away together on weekends and stock up at the Asian market, where we can get veggies and fish for much less than at our neighborhood store.

When we were budgeting really tightly, we were feeding two adults for $50 per week in NYC.

salembambi

im not going to pretend to know what the prices are where you are and what type of resources & situation you have soo

i will just say what i like to live on cheaply and see if it helps you
brown rice
dried beans & lentils
potatoes ... i live on potatoes
corn
bulk salsa
frozen mixed vegetables, frozen spinach
frozen fruit
cheap fruits like apples,bananas,prunes I only buy other fruits when they are in season and on sale
applesauce
broccoli,cabbage,mushrooms,turnips,beets
peanut butter
oatmeal
dice tomatoes,crushed tomatoes
whole wheat wraps

always pay attention to sales and stock up when you can

unrelentingminx

I have a cupboard of essentials such as pasta, tinned tomatoes, rice etc that are cheap and keep for ages. For my weekly fresh shop I plan all my meals for the week and only buy the specific things I need for those meals. Except meat cuts which I buy in bulk and freeze in single portions to defrost as I need them. A couple of times a month I will do a batch cook and freeze in individual portions so that they are ready at a moment's notice.