Budget ideas?

Sunshine_And_Sand

I always felt like chili is a good budget go too. It can be made using mostly inexpensive canned ingredients and makes several servings so that u can bring leftovers for the next day and freeze some for later if you don't want to eat it for several meals in a roll. Also, if you want to add meat to it, the less expensive cuts of beef tend to work better for chili anyway.

wendhall

I like to shop at Aldi also for the best prices, I have had good experience with most products there. They now carry more healthy options an organic items for less. Save A Lot is another store like this. Look around in your area for other discount stores too, we have a discount store called P&R that has many discounted items and lower prices on produce and meat. I do check expiration dates, some items can be expired but if I take the time to look I can find great deals. The last time I was in they had rotisserie chickens for $3.49 that were freshly made that day. The dollar tree, dollar general or family dollar can have great deals too. Look around town and see what stores you might be missing.

laurenebargar

I use alot of recipes from budgetbytes.com

I also meal prep when I can, and Im 90% of the time a vegetarian so I dont spend money on meat at the store.

grinning_chick

cmtigger wrote: »

Oh, an often maligned budget food is sardines. Low calorie, high protein, high calcium. A can of the ones canned in tomato sauce mashed up and put on pasta and topped with a little cheese is a quick and cheap meal.

Gonna second sardines. Fear them not, like I did for years before finally screwing up the courage to try them. If you want to ease gently into them, start with boneless/skinless fillets in water or good olive oil. Smell like tuna, pretty much eat like tuna. Treating them just like a can of albacore tuna, minus the mercury, is a 101 way to introduce them - e.g., tuna salad, tuna casserole, tuna dip. Assuming, of course, you like and eat tuna.

The only thing I learned is they do get a bit fishier in sandwich salad or cracker dip if you mix in and let sit in the fridge overnight because of a two portion batch. But then again tuna doesn't fare all that well, either, when you do such.

There is a great sardine review & rating page to research/navigate which ones to buy and try: http://mouth-full-of-sardines.blogspot.com/p/sardine-list.html

cmtigger

grinning_chick wrote: »

cmtigger wrote: »

Oh, an often maligned budget food is sardines. Low calorie, high protein, high calcium. A can of the ones canned in tomato sauce mashed up and put on pasta and topped with a little cheese is a quick and cheap meal.

Gonna second sardines. Fear them not, like I did for years before finally screwing up the courage to try them. If you want to ease gently into them, start with boneless/skinless fillets in water or good olive oil. Smell like tuna, pretty much eat like tuna. Treating them just like a can of albacore tuna, minus the mercury, is a 101 way to introduce them - e.g., tuna salad, tuna casserole, tuna dip. Assuming, of course, you like and eat tuna.

The only thing I learned is they do get a bit fishier in sandwich salad or cracker dip if you mix in and let sit in the fridge overnight because of a two portion batch. But then again tuna doesn't fare all that well, either, when you do such.

There is a great sardine review & rating page to research/navigate which ones to buy and try: http://mouth-full-of-sardines.blogspot.com/p/sardine-list.html

That is a good page.
I discovered them when I needed to go low sodium/high calcium and Safeway offered me a coupon for a really good deal. I tried it and now they are in rotation. (Do check labels for sodium content.)
I’ve eaten them like tuna salad too.

Sp1tfire

Egg roll in a bowl recipe! http://tiphero.com/egg-roll-in-a-bowl/ It was shared with me and it is a budget god send.
cauliflower = 3$ for a huge head that'll last multiple uses ( I riced it for this recipe!)
Ground pork = $2.50 where I live for a lb
coleslaw mix veg= $2.50
sesame oil = $3.00 (once you buy it you won't have to for a long time!)
tiny knob of ginger = 60 cents
tiny garlic bulb = 60 cents

Big servings in it too if you sub cauliflower rice in for regular. Makes a lot!

nutmegoreo

I haven't read all the responses, but it looks like you got some great suggestions so far. I have chosen to place myself on a strict budget until the end of next year. With that, I have been shopping sales, checking out flyers and meal planning based on what's cheap at the moment.

I was able to get 30lbs of vegetables for less than $15. Look for what's in season. Right now (in my location) squash are on sale. I haven't been a fan of squash due to inexperience with them, so I'm doing some learning on prep. I have learned to roast the seeds, and those are amazing for snacks.

Someone here suggested the app, Flip, which has all the local flyers and you can use it to create a shopping list. That's been very helpful too. Get creative: I made breakfast sandwiches, English muffin with cheese, egg, and ham for less than 50 cents each.

maybe1pe

Right now my SO and I have placed ourselves on a stricter food budget for the time being (paying for an upcoming trip) and we have started cooking 2 or 3 things every Sunday. We then portion them out for each of us to take to work throughout the week and have dinner ready when we come home. We eat those things until they are gone and then we make something different. We don't throw out leftovers we make sure we eat or freeze them.

Buying frozen or canned fruit or vegetables.

We like beans so I bought dry beans 2lbs for $2 and I made them in the crockpot. We now have days and days of beans to eat for the price of a couple of cans. Also we buy rice in bulk and make rice to go with meals. (SO is gluten free so we alternate our starches each week between rice, beans, sweet potatoes, or potato depending on what I can find super cheap)

I buy chicken thighs bone-in, skin on and skin them myself. (side note bake chicken skin with salt and pepper for an hour and it's like bacon) in my area thighs like this are less than $1 a lb and boneless, skinless chicken breast is $2+ a lb.

It is hard sometimes and some weeks are really boring food wise. But for us right now saving the money is worth it. I've been feeding us both on less than $200 a month. It's possible.

Basically; batch cook, freeze if you have to, don't let anything spoil.

sarasmiles124

For cheap meals I usually do more vegetarian meals. I have meat and seafood maybe two to three times a week. I have a lot of lentils, soups and salads.