I need cheap ideas for meals/snacks

Dennish68

Hi everyone...i am trying to cut down on my grocery bill because i think i must spend about $70 a week on groceries just for myself. I will buy greek yogurt and protein bars for snacks so right there that costs me about $20. i usually have salad every day with protein. so the salad itself is about $12 more a week. For breakfast, i have been making protein pancakes and that uses a plain greek yogurt daily and a scoop of protein powder. then dinner is a meat with vegetable usually. i am really trying to keep my grocery bill to $50 a week(and i have about 165 g protein a day) so any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance

nccarolb

My first suggestion would be to add beans to your diet. They are high in protein and pretty inexpensive. I makes lots of bean and veggie based soups and chilies during the winter months. Are you buying salad mixes? If so, you might want to price out buying a couple of kinds of lettuce in bulk (whole, instead of already chopped). A favorite quick and easy meal for me is an omelet made with eggs and Ro-tel tomatoes. If I have the calories, I add cheese and bacon bits. That's three sources of protein in one meal. I've also discovered that purchasing Dannon Light and Fit Greek Yogurt in the six pack is cheaper than buying individual containers. You might try some trail mix (heavy on nuts) for snacks. You can buy big bags and divide it into individual servings. A slow cooker is your friend. I have an oval one in which I can cook a whole chicken which is at least four meals. They also are great for cheaper cuts of meat by making the meat tender. Oh, and you can boil a pot of eggs and take a couple out of the fridge every day for breakfasts, snacks, or salad topping.

These are just a few things off the top of my head. I spend as little on groceries for myself as possible and still be reasonably healthy.

dumb_blondes_rock

We usually have about 150 each payday to spend on food for two of us. I buy two to 3 bags of frozen chciken tender cut breast (costs the same as whole breadt, same weight, and is easier to portion out) and I buy a 3 or a 5 pound roll of 97/3 or 93/7, whichever I can find. When I get home I portion that out indifferent bags and freeze. I buy lentils, or pinto beans, brown rice and corn tortillas.(you dont need corn tortillas every time). I buy broth, or you can buy bullion cubes. I also bhy frozen veg, so they last longer. We buy oatmeal, and fruit and milk substitute (almond, rice, soy) to make smoothies. I also buy sugar free pudding snacks. I buy things to make salads, veggies like potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes, corn, whatever you like. And of course spaghetti stuff, you can use zucchini as the noodles.

I make out of this list tacos (if you want burritos then get flour tortillas, corn is cheaper and is also a whole grain.) I make roasted crockpot chicken I make soup, chili, chicken salad, stuffed chicken breast (stuffed with sautéed broccoli and carrots, then grill) , chicken and rice, enchiladas burgers without buns, chicken parmesean (I always have breadcrumbs, eggs and parm cheese on hand) and I of course have just chicke, steamed veggie and rice days too.

Making your own spaghetti sauce I find is cheaper for the taste. You can buy spaghetti sauce for a dollar, but it does not taste that great.

You can make your own pizzas, pancakes, biscuits, breads, cakes or cookies, and they are better tasting amd lower calorie if you use alternatives like applesauce, artificial sweetner, milk substitute, etc. And cheaper

For snacks I do smoothies, pudding, sometimez just fruit as a snack. Hummus is easy to make and cheaper than buying. I make a lot of things homemade since I lostmy job because I dont have any money and I have a lot of time on my hands lol.

seltzermint555

To save money on yogurt, have you considered (or do you currently) the larger containers of plain or vanilla, and then adding your own stuff to it?

I buy the medium sized container of plain Fage and in my area it's $3.39 at Aldi or Target. I'd spend around $6-10 on the same amount of Greek yogurt if I bought individual containers of it. Really versatile as well.

Where do you currently grocery shop? I find a HUGE difference in my monthly grocery budget shopping primarily at Aldi. I love their produce and frozen fish/shrimp/etc. I used to shop at Walmart and bigger supermarkets and spent a lot more money.

I don't know which stores you have available or which types of bars you buy, but my husband and I have found some amazing deals at Big Lots on bars like Clif, Zone Perfect, Luna, and others (including some that are truly PROTEIN bars) and he gets some kind of individual protein shakes premixed from Big Lots for 1/4 the price at other stores. Sorry I'm not sure about brands or availability. I also buy those types of products at Target for cheaper than the supermarket.

Store brands can be a huge plus too. Sometimes I discover that I actually PREFER store brands, for example Mama Lupe tortillas usually have less sodium and taste much fresher than Mission. Always Save taco sauce is better than the big brands. Tons of examples like that but of course there is a period of trial and error.

Good luck! I know what it is like to be on a tight budget or just wanting to scale back on grocery spending!!

SoftHeat

Check weekly sales ads for the stores that you shop at most often. Kroger regularly has Cliff/Luna/Lara bars on sale 10/$10. This is typically the best way to catch deals on meat as well. I buy large containers of yogurt & portion them out into smaller containers w/ frozen fruit.