Weekly Budget

NatureMadeBeauty

I try to spend about $180.00 a month on food, which equals out to about $45.00 a week. I have been trying to follow a Paleo diet. I'm allergic to gluten so a no grain diet is best for me! I would love to hear about food spending habits or much needed tips on how to build up your food inventory! Or just plain tips on saving! I would have lots of gratitude for gluten free recipes.
Come help me on my journey friends are welcome and much appreciated on my site.
Thank You!

kommodevaran

If you want to eat cheap, Paleo is not a good choice. You just have to stay away from what you're allergic to - gluten is found in wheat, rye and barley - and grains are cheap and versatile. If you learn some principles of cooking, you won't need so many recipes.

I started out with the foods I already knew I liked and knew how to use. I keep track of the contents in fridge, freezer and pantry. Whenever I'm running low on something essential, it goes on my shopping list. In the store, I usually buy the cheapest acceptable alternative. I look at price per pound, and consider value, not just price. I alternate and rotate so I get variety. I plan my meals so I avoid waste.

seltzermint555

Planning meals to avoid waste as kommodevaran mentioned. That's #1 for me. We waste very little and our food budget (for 2 adults) is about the same as yours, usually around $40-50 per week for groceries, which is all meals except maybe 1 lunch out through the week and lunch/dinner on Saturdays when we dine out. We sit down on Sundays and create a list of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the coming week & then make a list and buy only what is on the list. The only time we stray from that is if there's a great special deal on something we like a lot.

Unfortunately I can't help with grain free, Paleo, gluten free, etc. I have no clue about any of that. We eat a lot of produce (fresh and frozen) alongside staple foods like beans, lentils, rice, tofu, chickpeas, etc. It saves us a considerable amount of money to pick up bulk spices, tea & sauces from the smaller Asian/ethnic markets instead of supermarkets or natural food grocery stores. Staying away from prepared meals and boxed items has helped lower our grocery bills. My husband is a great cook but we get bored at times and find a lot of great meal ideas on Pinterest and even YouTube.

NatureMadeBeauty

seltzermint555 wrote: »

Planning meals to avoid waste as kommodevaran mentioned. That's #1 for me. We waste very little and our food budget (for 2 adults) is about the same as yours, usually around $40-50 per week for groceries, which is all meals except maybe 1 lunch out through the week and lunch/dinner on Saturdays when we dine out. We sit down on Sundays and create a list of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the coming week & then make a list and buy only what is on the list. The only time we stray from that is if there's a great special deal on something we like a lot.

Unfortunately I can't help with grain free, Paleo, gluten free, etc. I have no clue about any of that. We eat a lot of produce (fresh and frozen) alongside staple foods like beans, lentils, rice, tofu, chickpeas, etc. It saves us a considerable amount of money to pick up bulk spices, tea & sauces from the smaller Asian/ethnic markets instead of supermarkets or natural food grocery stores. Staying away from prepared meals and boxed items has helped lower our grocery bills. My husband is a great cook but we get bored at times and find a lot of great meal ideas on Pinterest and even YouTube.

Thanks! My diet consist Fresh Vegs and Meat. I don't have alot built up in my pantry inventory! Give yourself a pat on your back I look up the average cost of one person food per week and the average was about 40 --50 dollars for one is what the net sites said. I eat out some also, however, my downfall is Chinese which I'm going to have cut back because of gluten allergy! Sucks, but learning to adjust still. Thanks! Add me as a friend if you want to.

rj0150684

One of the best investments I made for saving money on food was a chest freezer for the basement. It helped a lot when I was doing a meat CSA, but even without, it’s still easy to get bulk meats (at a discount and sometimes also on sale), portion it out into ziploc bags and take it out to thaw as needed.

Lounmoun

I spend about $600 per month on food for 3 people (adult male, adult female, teenage female) so about $50 per person a week. No special diet. Meat, dairy included.

Plan meals.
Meat is expensive. Buying whole chickens or chicken thighs is cheaper than buying boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Use meat cut up in a dish rather than a large piece on your plate and you can stretch it farther.
Soup is pretty economical.
Things like cabbage, carrots, onion, potatoes, celery, zucchini are generally pretty inexpensive. Frozen plain vegetables are economical.
If you are going to eat a lot of vegetables maybe consider gardening or visiting farmer's markets. Buy things when they are cheaper and freeze or can them.

yirara

I spend about £90-100 per month on all groceries just for me. I generally don't eat out and I also don't have any food allergies. I buy as much kind of seasonal veggies as I can eat before they go off, have lots of dried food like rice, pulses, pasta and the likes, bread is my main food during the day (sorry), and only fairly small portions of meat or fish. I feel that I spend too much money on spices though. I can easily make anything Asian or Arabic without having to go out and buy special ingredients, yet at the same time always find something else that I'd love to have. I guess one way of saving money on cooking is to make a bigger pot, enough for 3-4 portions and then freeze what you don't eat. Also saves a lot of time.

Cbean08

The more work that the store has put into the food, typically the more expensive it is. Look for things that are raw, un-cut, un-butchered, and with little to no packaging. So basically, you'll have a lot more cooking and prep that you will need to do. Look for dry beans, bulk rice, potatoes, non-organic vegetables and fruits, block cheese, whole chicken, whole fish, eggs, bulk spices and nuts.

Avoid anything that is marketed as "gluten free." You'll find a gluten free loaf of bread to be double the cost of a regular loaf. Also, things that have been marketed as "all organic, all natural," will be more expensive even if there is little difference in the actual product.

Look on clearance racks for canned goods and buy a lot of an item that you'd use when there is a sale. Things like marinara sauce, salsa, pickles, spices, canned veg, canned beans, canned corn, canned/packet tuna, beef jerky etc will last a long time.

Personally, this is too much of a hassle for me to deal with but props to you if you can take the time to do it. My weekly food is about 300 dollars for just me. I eat out all the time though.

shaumom

One thing that increased flavor but decreased cost for me, when I went gluten free, was to make a small herb garden. Then I had handfuls of herbs I could try out but little to no cost with them. Also indian and asian food markets for spices- you can get a pound of many soices for the cost of a tiny bottle of it in the regular grocery store.