Eating healthy on a very strict budget.
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btfullerton
Posts: 13 Member
i am limited to about 700 dollars each month so i would like some suggestions as to what kind of healthy items i can buy that arent super expensive. i would like to have a 200 dollar a month max budget for food. is this even possible to make good choices with such a small budget?
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Replies
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Yes.
When I need to eat less expensively, I focus my diet on staples like oats, rice, beans (dried beans are cheaper than canned), potatoes, pasta, frozen broccoli, cabbage, carrots, onions, and canned tomatoes. Some basic spices will jazz up your meals. Hot sauce is good too, if you like heat. The freezer can be very helpful in eating this way -- you can cook a pound or two of beans in the crockpot, put them in individual containers, and freeze what you don't plan on eating within a day or two.
I don't personally eat meat, eggs, or dairy -- but I am sure some other people will have suggestions on how to eat for less with these items too.12 -
I buy a large bag of frozen bean and carrot mix from Coscto for about 7$. That feeds me and my BF (who's bulking) for about 2 weeks of prepped meals plus dinner sides.
English muffins are cheap carbs/bread that are versatile; I use them for breakfast, as my bread at dinner, to make small sandwiches etc. and they're about 1.00/pack of 6 (Canadian mind you, probably less in the US)
For lean meats I tend to go chicken (if you're willing to trim a tiny amount of skin off your breasts you can get really decent bulk sales.
Also I have an app where I can price match based on the flyers of other stores in my area. I splurge on some things but for the most part my staples are reasonably cheap.3 -
How could I forget EGGS!6
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And this goes without saying, but you can eat what you're eating now, less would definitely cost less than you're currently paying. Maybe grab a protein powder to supplement if you need but for the most part, not a lot needs to change.2
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Yes, you can do it. Pay attention to which fruits/vegetables are in season and the cheapest and get those. Keep an eye on frozen vegetables too. If you get a newspaper, you can often find coupons for frozen vegetables. (Grocery sales go in 8-12 week cycles and usually when an item is on sale there will also be a coupon for it in the Sunday paper. If the coupon can be doubled you can get it really cheap.) Also pay attention to what meat is on sale for the week. In addition, stock up on staples like oats and rice and dried beans when you see them available.7
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Yes! I spend about that every month on healthy foods for both me and my significant other. For protein, eggs are a great lower cost option, and chicken is always a go to. It's cheaper than most meats, but can still be fashioned into a huge variety of dinners. I keep huge bags of frozen broccoli in the fridge, and have that with most meals. We also keep bulk sacks of brown rice around, and make that with many meals. From there, we just search for recipes from all different cultures that incorporate these types of ingredients! I've made some delicious indonesian chicken before, Thai chicken, Japanese and Indian curries, fried rice, modified for lower calorie Italian dishes, etc. For most of these, you only need to add a couple extra things. A jar of sauce, fresh veggies, spices, etc. Once you have the basics, you build your recipes around what money is left and you can make some delicious meal options.6
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Others have provided great examples of what to buy. My only addition would be to shop the sales in your area and meal plan. Don't buy on the fly.6
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Cheap, healthy foods that are always on my grocery list (I'm a recent college grad with a ton of debt). I am a marathon runner and don't necessarily steer clear of carbs, so if you're looking to be low-carb healthy, then you might have to filter out a few of these:
-eggs
-canned chicken
-oatmeal
-greek yogurt
-cheese sticks
-lettuce
-brown rice
-sweet potatoes
-bananas
-pretzels (if I'm craving something salty and crunchy)
-Lean Cuisine frozen meals when on sale
-canned soup
-frozen veggies
-PB2: mix your own peanut butter AND add it to protein shakes, etc.5 -
Depends where you shop as well. I feed out family of 5 with about $400 a month by mostly shopping at Aldi.10
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It is difficult, but possible. A few tips: frozen vegetables are more cost effective (because you can keep them frozen and use only what you need each time = less waste) and just as healthy as fresh. Beans are a healthy way to get both fiber and protein at once and you can usually buy a pound for $1 (and get several meals out of one pound). Buy only what you need so that you don't waste food by throwing it away because it spoiled, etc. If you're on a limited income see if there are supplemental food programs in your area that will help you fill in the gaps. Best of luck!4
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I have to second Aldi, they are the best buy, especially when it comes to produce.4
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Buy frozen veggies and they won't go bad like fresh ones. Make your own hamburger helper meals from bags of plain pastas or rice and your own spices and cheeses, plus it's healthier without so much sodium.
Get the bags of boneless chicken breasts and bake them ahead of time, then add them to salads or casseroles or mix your own chicken salads and have that with celery.
Previous poster is right - eggs go a looong way!
Do soups and stews in large batches then freeze the bulk of it.
Meal Planning is key - I feed a family of 4 (including a teenage boy who eats constantly) for about 70 a week. Check out your discount stores (we have an Aldi and I love it).3 -
Wow I spend 200 a week and it seems like there is never any food in the house lol5
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I used to spend $200 a month for 2 adults, 1 kid. It was during my most successful time of losing weight.
I buy chicken breasts in bulk and freeze. Chicken has a lot of protein per pound and is one of the cheapest sources.
Eggs for breakfast.
Frozen fruit and vegetables (unless you can find them on sale. Berries are often on sale now. Buy and freeze.)
Beans and rice.4 -
btfullerton wrote: »i am limited to about 700 dollars each month so i would like some suggestions as to what kind of healthy items i can buy that arent super expensive. i would like to have a 200 dollar a month max budget for food. is this even possible to make good choices with such a small budget?
Sure, I had a $200 / month budget as an experiment for a few months and it was no problem for me. Also, I was eating humanely raised meat and dairy products and certain of my vegetables were organic, so this raised my costs. However, staying at $200 was only possible because I cooked the vast majority of my foods from scratch and mostly used cheaper cuts of meat like chicken thighs. I didn't waste money on foods like soda or boxed cereal or Ultra Processed Foods. I had limited frig space and worked at never having any food waste.
During this time, I shopped at Whole Foods, Publix, and farmer's markets for produce. I bought staples like rice and beans in bulk.
I planned so there was no need to eat out or get other convenience food. I shopped and batch cooked on the weekend to give me lunches and dinners for most of the work week.3 -
Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply and help me out. i really appreciate it.4
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I second the suggestions for: buying staples in bulk, eating frozen vegetables and fruit/vegetables in season, dried beans, oats, and eggs, and avoiding flavored drinks, convenience or fast foods as much as you can. Restaurants and take-out foods are usually the biggest budget drains, even if you're buying from the dollar menu.
Prepare food in batches, divide it into portions, and then refrigerate or freeze the portions. This saves time and work, and allows you to save money by buying in bulk. Because you don't have to eat everything you cook right away, this allows you to vary your menu more. It also works well for packed lunches.
Good snacks include sunflower seeds or peanuts in large packages, or bulk popcorn that you pop yourself in a pan on the stovetop or in a microwave popper.
If you need spices, see if there is an ethnic food supermarket or grocery in your area and check it out.
Inexpensive drinks (other than water) are tea or coffee that you make yourself, or instant drink mixes that you make at home in a pitcher.4 -
Here are some tips. If you like chicken, buy a whole one or parts with bones. Roast it, and save the fat/drippings and bones. Use the drippings to cook other things like eggs. If you buy fresh vegetables, make sure you save the scraps. Take the bones and scraps of vegetables to make broth.
Want to cook mashed potatoes or other root vegetables? Use the fat and broth instead of butter or oil. You can also make some sort of gravy with those two ingredients .There are lots of way to save; it's just a matter of being creative.3 -
BudgetBytes is a good site for low cost healthy meals - she breaks down the cost per ingredient (based on where she lives of course). The food is really good, and most meals come in at around $1-$2 per serving.2
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Not sure if your going to be into this suggestion or not, but when I was that limited on funds, I cut my weekly to budget to around $50 some weeks I was lower some higher.
1.) Find the sales are your stores, check the weekly ad and go off of that, also check the newspaper internet etc for coupons, youll find some sometimes for eggs, sour cream, yogurt, things that you could fit into your budget and coupons always help
2.) there are tons and tons of rebate apps (ibotta, checkout51 and many others) that will give you cash back into paypal for buying food,
3.) Plan your meals ahead of time, get a large thing of chicken and make it into several meals that week or freeze it.
4.) Buy in bulk when you can, but make sure you arent over buying just because its cheaper by unit, my husband wont let me forget the time I bought a box of grapefruits because the unit price was cheaper, when I only need 3 a week (I cut in half and take half to work every morning) needless to say, we wasted money on that, but I learned a lesson
5.) your budget will be cut in half if your spending money on beverages, those suckers can really rack up your grocery bill especially soda and juice.
6.) When looking for recipes try to find ones that have few ingredients, some of the meals I made with 5 ingredients or less are recipes we still use today, Here are two examples: Sausage, tomatoes and beans the ingredients are literally Italian sausage (or turkey sausage) fresh or canned tomatoes, onions, and white beans, cook the sausage and then throw everything else into the crockpot, or into a pot on the stove and simmer, done. And another Kale porkloin soup. Chicken broth, porkloin, tomatoes, white beans, onion. Cook the pork, remove from pot, cook onions, add tomatoes and beans, put pork back in, add chicken broth, add kale boil done.
7.) I found making meals in slightly larger quantities worked out better for the budget, making soup we made double the batch, it lasts longer (obviously) and isn't much more expensive to double a recipe.
8.) Simple and cheap meals dont mean tasteless or unhealthy, the cheapest meal I make is chicken and broccoli, its obliviously chicken, broccoli and then just a sauce which we change around, it has a little soy sauce, hot sauce, peanut butter, and some spices, under 300 calories a serving and its super cheap especially is frozen broccoli is involved!
You can totally stick to $50 a week, it'll be tough and take some planning ahead of time, but saving money on food and having meals that you enjoy is such a rewarding feeling!1
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