For those on a budget...

NCButterfly

Hey there!

I'm new here and loving the progress I've made in just one week... 5 lbs down!

My husband and I are on a tight budget, so I'm wondering if anyone has any yummy cost effective choices they could share with me? I LOVE all fresh fruits and veggies but they can drain the wallet, so I'm just looking for any ideas.

Thanks!

BrocksMommy

Tuna....super cheap...great choice and tastes great sooo many ways!!! )))

Athena413

One thing that has helped me both calorie wise and money wise is to plan my meals ahead of time. We get paid every 2 weeks, so I grocery shop every 2 weeks. Before I go shopping we sit down and make a menu of the meals we plan on eating. Then I make my grocery list based on the ingredients needed for those meals. I try to pick meals that use some of the same ingredients so I don't have to buy as much. It's hard to cook for just 2 people, so if we measure out proper portion sizes, there's usually plenty for both of us to have leftovers for lunch the next day.

For breakfast I usually make ham, egg, and cheese english muffins. The ingredients are pretty cheap and they're quick to make. They have some protein and some fiber if you get the whole wheat muffins, so they're a good breakfast option. An even cheaper breakfast would be old fashioned oats. You can get a pretty big container for around $2 and it fills you up...a lot of times I'll add some splenda and some frozen berries to make it not taste like cardboard.

If you don't have enough money for fresh fruits and veggies all the time, go for frozen next...they still have all the same nutrients and are a lot cheaper. And frozen grapes (even though you have to buy them fresh then freeze them) make for a GREAT snack! Plus, if you freeze them, they obviously last a lot longer.

Also try comparing prices and shopping at different places. I used to just buy all of my groceries at Wal-Mart because I could get everything I needed in one place. However, that's WAY more expensive! I now get most of my canned goods, eggs, milk, things like that at Aldi. Then I get my meat and produce at Food 4 Less. By the time I'm done at those two stores, I have very few grocery items I need to get at Wal-Mart.

Between bargain shopping and planning ahead, I can usually spend just $100-$150 on groceries every 2 weeks...and that includes dog food!

chubswonky

Look around at different markets as far as produce ones. I'm not sure where you live, but we have a place called "Meat Farms" here- I got produce there for $20 that would probably have cost me $40-$50 anywhere else.

Also- it's almost summer time! If you can, start thinking of any veggies that you love to eat and could easily plant! Woohoo!

mandysjourney

Yer i agree that oats are great for breakfast. cheap and very filling.
I have found that now I have cut my portion size down we buy less meat. Now 2 chicken breasts feeds habby me and the 2 kiddies.

carrot sticks and homus are great snacks. carrots are cheap so affordable snack.
dont go for pre packaged stuff as this is often expensive make your own

steph5565

For breakfast I LOVE oatmeal (NOT instant). I get the Quaker Old Fashioned kind. They're great hot or cold and when I feel like dessert I cook them with milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Yum! For a snack, take 1/3 of a cup and dump it into a ziploc with some cinnamon and you can keep it in your purse or car for emergencies. High in fiber and low in cost.

I also love garbanzo beans (full of fiber and protein), which you can buy cheaply dry. They're easy to make and so good! As far as fruits and veggies go, you can buy frozen (freezing allows them to keep rougly the same nutritional content), just make sure the ingredients list doesn't have anything added (i.e., "blueberries and sugar"), or try a farmer's market. As a rule, in season is always cheaper than out of season and it's better for you and the environment anyhow. If you have the space, try growing your own in the summer! We always had a garden packed with tomatoes, zuccini, raspberries, strawberries, etc and nothing tastes better than fruit that was picked moments ago. If you live in a rural area there are typically places where you can "pick your own" for really cheap - which can count as exercise too!

Don't forget to shop the sales and use all of the food you buy! Whole chickens go on sale at my local store for $5. I butcher out the meat and use the bones to make homemade broth (no MSG and twice the flavor!). Buy things when they go on sale and freeze the extras (just search online to see what you can freeze and what you can't, sometimes you'll be surprised).

Hope that helps!

PrairieRoseNE

Planning ahead does help save money - if you shop at the same place each week - check out their sale flyer and plan meals around what you can buy on sale. Clipping coupons helps - although I don't clip coupons for anything that I don't regularly buy. Coupons for cereal really help, but the generic brands of certain cereals are most times still cheaper than name brand cereals - even WITH a coupon.
I buy those big bags of cereal - and as soon as I get home - I bring out the gladware containers with lids and measure out certain portion sizes into the containers - snap on the lid and stack in the pantry. When my daughter was younger - she could easily grab a bowl of pre-measured cereal - add some milk & a spoon and was ready to eat - not as much chance of spilling, etc.....

Good luck!!

kevanos

Super C has a frozen bag of fruit with a lot of strawberries for 10$, the bag weights 2kg, pretty sweet deal for a delicious base of a fruit smoothie.

diviana

I'm on a VERY tight budget. Here are some things I do:

1) Find your local discount grocery store or 99 cent/dollar stores and shop there. many have fresh produce. Look for marked-down bags of vegetables nearing the end of their shelf life.
2) I stop into Big Lots 1-2 times a week. Last time, I found 6 lb double-bag boxes of Kashi shredded wheat for $2/box. You would be amazed at the clearance prices. I get granola $1.25 a bag), Triscuits (45 cents a box), the list goes on.
3) Costco

Jenn421

i shop at cosco alot and get everything in bulk or go to the bulk burn and get everything alot cheaper

jllipson

Splurge for a Sunday paper and clip coupons. Also sites like www.coupons.com to download coupons.
Frozen veggies that are store brand are usually cheapest. I usually spend a little more for frozen Green Giant Steamers (they are cheaper than store when I have coupons). If you get the ones with cheese, add a can of drained tuna or chicken to it for a meal, add the tuna or chicken after heating veggies according to package directions. Low calorie meal for about $2. It can be for 1 or add something else to it, like a yogurt or something and have it for 2 people. We have been buying these lately about 10 bags at a time and have them about every other night.

Levedi

1. Coupons are definitely good. I don't see the massive savings my sister-in-law does, but she puts more time into finding sales/double coupon days etc.

2. consider buying organic milk in half gallons. I know it costs more per ounce than regular, but it doesn't go bad as fast, so if you find yourself throwing out milk that's gone bad, try the organic milk. It will be more efficient.

3. Stop buying soda (if you already do).

4. Comparison shop different grocery chains. Stater Bros (where I shop) doesn't have a customer card, but their over all prices are lower. Definitely look into places like Fresh and Easy, Big Lots, and 99 cent stores.

5. Grow your own veggies. It takes work, but a crop of broccoli, green beans, squash, carrots and tomatoes can save a lot of money. (Be careful not to get caught up in buying fancy gardening equipment and chemical fertilizers. Those can make gardening more expensive than buying veggies.) Grow enough and you can preserve them for winter. (Okay, I admit I don't do this myself. I work too many hours a week and I live in a city. But my mom did my whole childhood and we did save a lot of money that way.)

6. See if you qualify for WIC or food stamps or a local food bank.

7. Budget. Then buy the essentials first at the store. You'll find out there are things you don't really need that used to go into your cart. (Again, if you already do this, good job. Some people do, some don't.)

8. Don't go to the grocery store more than once a week.

9. Buy bulk dried staples like beans, raisins, couscous, pasta, and nuts. Much cheaper.