I have no idea how to create a meal plan on my budget

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Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    when i was in school with not much of a budget for food, my staples were:

    - dried legumes
    - rice
    - potatoes
    - lentils
    - oats
    - onions
    - cabbage
    - frozen peas
    - other seasonal vegetables or on sale vegetables (frozen veggies are always on sale)
    - gala apples
    - whatever meat/poultry was on sale
    - eggs
  • JackieMarie1989jgw
    JackieMarie1989jgw Posts: 230 Member
    A few tips-
    1. A lot of times the cuts of.meat that take more prep are sold really cheap. Bone-in chicken breasts, for example, often go.on sale for super cheap. More prep work, but much more cost effective than buying skinless bonless chicken breasts. Also buying the whole chicken can be a lot of bang for your buck, you can roast and eat for dinner, then pick off the extra meat and use for lunches for several days
    2. Generic brand stuff whenever you can on staples, like butter, rice, can beans.
    3. Big tubs of unflavored oatmeal can last for a lot of breakfasts and pretty healthy (flavored stuff is expensive and higher in sugar)
    3. Frozen vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh and much cheaper. Fruit, buy in season and always follow the sales!!
    4. Look ahead to see what cuts of meat are.on sale at your store, then plan meals around that.
    5. Dont be fooled by coupons that want you to buy more than what you need, or an.expensive.product that you wouldnt normally buy, especially if there is a chepaer option. I find buying generic and following sales to be a better money-saver than.coupons.
    6. Do you have an Aldi near you? They have very good.prices.on staples. Its all Aldi brand and you have to.bag your own groceries, get your own cart, etc, but very good savings. They can cut prices because they save money on staff.

    Hope this helps
  • JBWitters
    JBWitters Posts: 3 Member
    courtney_love2001 wrote: »
    On a side note, Seroquel can cause weight gain. Worth talking to your doc about if you have noticed weight gain while on this med and you are doing all the right things to lose weight but just aren't seeing it on the scale.

    Oh trust me I gained 50 because of it. I know. I've been off of it for a while now though. Just having trouble losing it now.
  • JBWitters
    JBWitters Posts: 3 Member
    Wow I really appreciate all of the responses. I've been learned how important it is to meal plan lately. And I like the websites so far. Thanks a lot everyone.
  • ren3liz
    ren3liz Posts: 45 Member
    $200/month for two people? You can do it, but you NEED to meal plan. Start like this: Grab a notebook and make a list of every food you have in your house right now. Separate by freezer, fridge, pantry item, spices. This will help you build ideas for the week. Shop weekly, it takes a lot of planning to shop less frequently. So consider it $50 per week. I actually love doing this and make it my Saturday or Sunday morning ritual over coffee. X2 what others have said- if you have an Aldi, shop there. Here we have a local meats place/bakery and a produce place with killer prices because they buy in bulk in service a lot of local restaurants- I always make these two stops now, and wish I had known about them years ago when my food budget was much smaller (less than yours is now). Plan meals around sales, buy your meat when it's marked down. Feel free to message me if you need ideas, I love this kind of stuff! Good luck :) This adds an extra challenge to eating healthy which can be hard enough on its own- but you can do it!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I love threads like this. Thanks to these discussions I am cooking from scratch again and saving all sorts of money. That will come in handy here in Canada as we are heading for hard times.

    That chicken carcass really comes in handy. After gleaning off all the meat, boil it up with onion and spices for your own chicken stock. That stock in turn can be used in soups, stews, and chilis. I do plan a few meals at once when roasting my chicken and will put some beans to soak at the same time.

    I always have dried beans ready for when I feel like making a pot of stew, soup, of Chili. There's a Hungarian bean soup, very satisfying. Bab Levesh.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Oh, and stalk the sales. "day-old" produce that are worth a second look include bananas. Freeze them peeled for future smoothies or banana muffins.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    Lots of good advice, so I'll just reiterate. You can do it. One summer I fed 5 (3 teenagers+2 adults) on $50/week. It's doable. Also, I put a little extra effort into making inexpensive ingredients FEEL special so everyone felt well fed (I'm not sure the kids even realized we were belt tightening). E.g. We had many different beans&rice meals, and just adding a home baked bread made it special. As someone else said, it's cheap but seems fancy to make your own ($0.40 per 1 lb loaf). I grow herbs in pots and a little chopped rosemary in the bread makes my kids swoon. Growing herbs is a money saver for me, too, because I use them a lot. I'll also echo the comment about eggs being an economical protein, but the price has been volatile lately, so I price compare eggs everywhere I shop. I do most of my shopping at aldi, but they are highest on eggs right now. The fanciest meal I make for special occasions is individual soufflés. It's also the cheapest.

    Even when not on a tight budget, we smoke or roast a whole chicken ($0.95/lb at aldi) once a week, and make a gallon of stock with the carcass. That stretches several meals when incorporated into other dishes like quesadillas, enchiladas, stews, etc. totally agree with jgnatca about freezing bananas, too. Pound for pound, bananas are by far the cheapest fruit at my store, and so versatile.

    Best of luck!

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