Clean on a tight budget?

Troll

Some things:
1. We're in a food desert, i have access to walmart or the dollar general.
2. My husband is a hardgainer with a labor job, picky tastes (meat and taters, basically). 3700 cal or more a day
3. Im small but breastfeeding, i need 1800 or less. Vegetarian.
4. We have a newborn and 2 year old. Toddler has a mild dairy intolerance.
5. Our budget is $400/month, including nonfood items like soap or toilet paper.

Any tips on eating clean at this budget and such varied needs? We dont qualify for aid.

zeejane03

The term 'clean' is arbitrary and very subjective-it doesn't actually mean anything.

My family of 5 has a $100 a week grocery budget, which also includes nonfood items. Walmart's prices are decent so you should be ok there (if you have an Aldi within an hour drive, it's worth it though to go at least once a month).

Things like beans, rice, lentils, potatoes, loss-leader produce, frozen produce, whole grains (oats, pastas etc), etc are all inexpensive. For your husband you can add cheap cuts of meat and larger portion sizes. Casseroles are a great way to do cheap meals, and then we do a lot of 'breakfast for supper' meals-breakfast burritos, pancakes with eggs and a meat, quiche, egg scrambles with hashbrowns etc etc.

eta: one of my kids is lactose intolerant. I do buy her almond milk ($2 at Aldi), but otherwise she can eat most of the food that the family eats. Sometimes she needs a lactaid pill but she can eat cheese and such without one.

eta#2 (lol) Menu planning is a huge help in keeping you on track for your grocery budget

Chef_Barbell

I like budgetbytes.com for cheap recipes to feed a family of varied tastes.

Oh and platejoy.com

puffbrat

What does eating clean mean to you and why do you feel the need to do it?

Buy bulk as much as possible. Oats, beans, and rice tend to be inexpensive in bulk. Shop sales. Frozen meat and produce can sometimes be a cheaper option than fresh, especially in larger quantities. Buy generic/grocery store brand rather than name brand items.

kimny72

I guess it really depends what you consider "clean".

You can get eggs, dairy, frozen bagged veggies, dried beans and lentils, oats, rice, natural nut butters. I have seen tofu at Walmart. Most Walmarts now have a limited supply of in season fruits and veggies. There's probably other stuff I'm not thinking of, but I don't make any effort to eat in any style so it's not top of mind for me.

I'd add that there is really no benefit to eating 100% by whatever definition of clean you're going by. Even professionals in the wellness industry only profess to eat 80/20, and probably fall a bit short of that in actuality.

Maybe if you give us an idea of the types of things you'd like to get but can't afford, it would help with more suggestions?

lemurcat2

We'd have to understand what you mean by "eating clean."

Meat + potatoes + veg qualifies as a whole foods based diet in my mind. Beans and lentils are cheap and vegetarian. Eggs are cheap. Frozen veg and fruits are usually cheaper this time of year. Just a few thoughts.

MichelleSilverleaf

You don't have to "eat clean", especially since the term is useless and has no set definition (which is not a dig at you btw). Eat what you like, buy what you can, try to get in a lot of servings of veggies and fruit. There were a couple people who shared some great websites that had some pretty yummy meal ideas for tight budgets, hopefully one of them will share them. I'll try to find them if I can. Only other things I can suggest are being mindful of sales, frozen can be as good as fresh, and don't think you have to buy organic. It's just paying more for nothing.

NovusDies

To give an example: My own personal definition of "eating clean" will probably not match yours. I have no fear of processed foods or preservatives. My only restriction is if a simple product seems over-processed (for the lack of a better word) like a pizza having imitation mozzarella cheese or something. I am not afraid that it is going to do something negative to my body but I don't see the point in it and it doesn't exactly scream quality imo.

Troll

Edit. Hubs will not eat: yogurt sweet potato beans lentils nuts oatmeal bread tomato onion peppers hummus mayo avocado fish desserts milk alternative milk shellfish no veg except cuke, canned green beans, corn, and broccoli with ranch. Only apples grapes banana.

I dont eat cottage cheese, avocado, tomato, tofu, mayo, sour cream, or mushrooms.

Toddler is a garbage disposal.

Clean means...like, im sick of not cooking and everything coming from a stupid box or freezer bag because we cant make any kind of cohesive plan. I miss fresh, home prepared, limited ingredient

kimny72

If your husband refuses to eat foods that have to be a staple of your diet as a vegetarian, maybe it's time to have him feed himself and you worry about yourself and your little one. Maybe someone else here will see something jump out at them, but you pretty much eliminated anything "unprocessed" I eat in your follow up post. Good luck!

NovusDies

That is quite a list of exclusions. Any chance carrots were accidentally omitted from the husband's will eat veg list? I see no bread is that an allergy or a low carb situation? What about pasta? What about eggs?

Before making any suggestions which might be harder for me than for someone else with a picky eater in their house I would advise that if your life currently revolves around pre-packaged foods not to try and go to an extreme right away. Maybe start with planning 2 or 3 meals a week and then ramp up to more.

JBanx256

kimny72 wrote: »

If your husband refuses to eat foods that have to be a staple of your diet as a vegetarian, maybe it's time to have him feed himself and you worry about yourself and your little one. Maybe someone else here will see something jump out at them, but you pretty much eliminated anything "unprocessed" I eat in your follow up post. Good luck!

And, REALLY not trying to sound like a jerk but...

...as adults, sometimes you have to do things you don't necessarily like. I don't want to go to work or pay my bills or clean the house, but I do. Eating foods with some reasonable nutrient content isn't that big of a deal. I'm not saying you have to waterboard your husband with kale smoothies every morning for breakfast, but he sounds like a kid...what do you like to eat? "Chicken nuggets and mac & cheese." Anything else? "NO!" If he wants something - to change his diet and eat healthier (which is what I am assuming you mean by "clean") - then that means he's actually going to have to open his mind and accept that eating healthier involves...wait for it...waaaaaaaaaait for it...you know...eating healthier *GASP*

Seriously though. When I was a kid, I didn't like spinach or asparagus or BARF anything else green. There are still some foods I don't like, of course. But somewhere along the way I crowbar'ed my mind open just enough to be willing to try some stuff I "didn't like" and I guess my taste buds grew up too.

Like Kimny said, maybe he just needs to figure his way around the kitchen a bit and let you eat a decent variety of stuff that is both inexpensive & nutritious.

NovusDies

I completely missed the fact you are a vegetarian. You probably realize there is no way to feed yourself and him the same food, right? One of you will be starving.

NovusDies

I agree with @kimny72 and @JBanx256. If you really want him to eat a home-cooked meal he will either need to figure it out himself or you will need to fix some sort of simple meat and potato casserole that he can reheat several nights a week.

Troll

NovusDies wrote: »

That is quite a list of exclusions. Any chance carrots were accidentally omitted from the husband's will eat veg list? I see no bread is that an allergy or a low carb situation? What about pasta? What about eggs?

Before making any suggestions which might be harder for me than for someone else with a picky eater in their house I would advise that if your life currently revolves around pre-packaged foods not to try and go to an extreme right away. Maybe start with planning 2 or 3 meals a week and then ramp up to more.

No carrots either, bread is a preference. He eats tortillas.

Troll

kimny72 wrote: »

If your husband refuses to eat foods that have to be a staple of your diet as a vegetarian, maybe it's time to have him feed himself and you worry about yourself and your little one. Maybe someone else here will see something jump out at them, but you pretty much eliminated anything "unprocessed" I eat in your follow up post. Good luck!

He feeds all of us considering its his paycheck we buy food with

Troll

NovusDies wrote: »

I completely missed the fact you are a vegetarian. You probably realize there is no way to feed yourself and him the same food, right? One of you will be starving.

Thats why im compromising and eating processed junk-we cant afford such wildly different menus unless somebody eats ramen for every meal.

Troll

NovusDies wrote: »

I agree with @kimny72 and @JBanx256. If you really want him to eat a home-cooked meal he will either need to figure it out himself or you will need to fix some sort of simple meat and potato casserole that he can reheat several nights a week.

The issue isnt cooking, its paying for it. I happily cook all day but we use his paycheck to buy food.

JeromeBarry1

None of us are going to be able to solve your household problem. We can suggest things that help you figure it out, maybe, but you and your dh are going figure this stuff out. Eggs are cheap and nutritious. He might have to learn how to cook up a mess of huevos rancheros and put them in a tortilla.

NovusDies

You can definitely stretch a budget especially with his food. While I am not a fan a pot roast with an inexpensive cut of meat could make many meals for him. You can usually buy whole chickens and roast them cheaper than individual cuts. You can make a very cheap and tasty sauce/gravy with chicken or beef stock and a corn starch slurry that will add a little something extra to his meals.

NovusDies

For your meals beans a few nights a week are really cost effective.