Asking 4 tight budget grocery ideas

amunet07

Unfortunately for me...I don't like fish. I have a bunch of canned chicken breast but need ideas on using it

Hungry girl does A LOT of recipes with this in it!

I have three of her books...guess I better look at them again. lol

kwest_4_fitness

This is an amended version of what my husband and I buy for ourselves every week. I pared it down to fit a single person just to offer you an example of what you could have on a budget that’s healthy and offers snack options.

(1 box) Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta $1.50
(1 can) Hunt’s spaghetti sauce $1.00
(1 package) Chicken breast (it always seems to be on sale lately) $5.00 for 2.5 lbs (@ 1.99 lb)
(1 bag) Steam-in-bag broccoli (or other veggie) $1.52
(3 each) Healthy Choice TV dinners $7.44 (2.48 ea)

(2 cans) tuna $1.50
(1 loaf) Nickle’s 35 calorie white or wheat bread $1.98
(1 jar)Peanut butter (any brand) $2.19
(1 jar) Generic sugar free jelly $1.76
(1 bottle )Parkay spray butter $1.88
(1 box) generic instant oatmeal packets $2.50

(2 ea) Iceberg lettuce $2.50 for 2
(2 lbs) Tomato $3.38 for 2 lbs (@$1.69/lb)
(2 ea) Cucumber $1.58 for 2
(3 lbs) Bananas $1.62 for 3 lbs (@ $0.54/lb)
Small bag baby carrots $1.00

(1 small jar) Miracle Whip $2.00
(1 bag) Chocolate rice cakes $2.00
(1 4-pack) Hunt’s sugar free jello $1.00
(1 box) Generic fiber bars - Great Value (Wal-Mart brand) are only $2
(1 box) Philly Swirlz Delites $1.98 OR fat free/low fat ice cream - usually around $3.50 on sale
(1 bag) Generic fat free mini pretzel twists $1.50
(1 box) Act II or Orville Redenbacher 94% fat free popcorn $3.48
(1 case) of bottled water $2.47 (Wal-Mart brand) (I always refill bottles from the water cooler at work throughout the day!)

About $50.00 per week

- From the list above, you have choice of toast & jelly or oatmeal (or you can have both) for breakfast. Bananas go really well with breakfast or a snack between breakfast/lunch.
- For lunch, PB&J, PB& Banana, or tuna fish salad sandwich, or, when you make the chicken, save a few ounces to make a grilled chicken salad. Multiple snack options are available for lunch (jello, popcorn, pretzels, etc.).
- For dinner, spaghetti with salad, grilled chicken breast with steamed veggies and salad, or TV dinner.
- For dessert, Philly Swirlz bar (these are only 14 calories for the Delites) or a dish of ice cream.

Invest in the Ziploc vacuum seal kit. It’s only $7.00 and you can suck the air out of the Ziploc bags to freeze individual meals. For example, you could cook an entire box of pasta and can of sauce, toss in some chicken breast, maybe a few mushrooms, then separate into individual portions, put in a Ziploc vacuum baggie, suck out the air and freeze!!! My husband actually does this.

amunet07

This is an amended version of what my husband and I buy for ourselves every week. I pared it down to fit a single person just to offer you an example of what you could have on a budget that’s healthy and offers snack options.

(1 box) Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta $1.50
(1 can) Hunt’s spaghetti sauce $1.00
(1 package) Chicken breast (it always seems to be on sale lately) $5.00 for 2.5 lbs (@ 1.99 lb)
(1 bag) Steam-in-bag broccoli (or other veggie) $1.52
(3 each) Healthy Choice TV dinners $7.44 (2.48 ea)

(2 cans) tuna $1.50
(1 loaf) Nickle’s 35 calorie white or wheat bread $1.98
(1 jar)Peanut butter (any brand) $2.19
(1 jar) Generic sugar free jelly $1.76
(1 bottle )Parkay spray butter $1.88
(1 box) generic instant oatmeal packets $2.50

(2 ea) Iceberg lettuce $2.50 for 2
(2 lbs) Tomato $3.38 for 2 lbs (@$1.69/lb)
(2 ea) Cucumber $1.58 for 2
(3 lbs) Bananas $1.62 for 3 lbs (@ $0.54/lb)
Small bag baby carrots $1.00

(1 small jar) Miracle Whip $2.00
(1 bag) Chocolate rice cakes $2.00
(1 4-pack) Hunt’s sugar free jello $1.00
(1 box) Generic fiber bars - Great Value (Wal-Mart brand) are only $2
(1 box) Philly Swirlz Delites $1.98 OR fat free/low fat ice cream - usually around $3.50 on sale
(1 bag) Generic fat free mini pretzel twists $1.50
(1 box) Act II or Orville Redenbacher 94% fat free popcorn $3.48
(1 case) of bottled water $2.47 (Wal-Mart brand) (I always refill bottles from the water cooler at work throughout the day!)

About $50.00 per week

- From the list above, you have choice of toast & jelly or oatmeal (or you can have both) for breakfast. Bananas go really well with breakfast or a snack between breakfast/lunch.
- For lunch, PB&J, PB& Banana, or tuna fish salad sandwich, or, when you make the chicken, save a few ounces to make a grilled chicken salad. Multiple snack options are available for lunch (jello, popcorn, pretzels, etc.).
- For dinner, spaghetti with salad, grilled chicken breast with steamed veggies and salad, or TV dinner.
- For dessert, Philly Swirlz bar (these are only 14 calories for the Delites) or a dish of ice cream.

Invest in the Ziploc vacuum seal kit. It’s only $7.00 and you can suck the air out of the Ziploc bags to freeze individual meals. For example, you could cook an entire box of pasta and can of sauce, toss in some chicken breast, maybe a few mushrooms, then separate into individual portions, put in a Ziploc vacuum baggie, suck out the air and freeze!!! My husband actually does this.

Thanks!

mrmanmeat

If you have a local farmers market, try that for all your non-meat things (veggies, fruits, etc etc) I've started going to mine and most are all home grown, no chemicals, and reasonably priced. $20 got me a lot of stuff, and that was after I gave a kid $12 for two pieces of biscotti to help send him to college...

jagh09

Shop the sales and clip your coupons. Stock up on staple items like canned beans, brown rice, whole wheat pasta. Try to avoid those smaller packaged meats, and buy bigger. You get more bang for your buck that way. Just freeze single servings in bags and use as needed.

silkysly

Frozen veggies are very cost effective.
Bird’s Eye Normandy Blend & Low cal spaghetti sauce is a cheap easy meal. Add chicken & garlic if you for extra flavor!

amunet07

I'll share the one scrumptious receipe I have for the canned chicken:

Chicken Quesadillas

1 oz of the can of chicken
1 Mission whole wheat carb balance torilla
1 wedge garlic & herb laughing cow
1/2 oz pepper jack cheese

cut the torilla in half, break up the chunked chicken & the pepper jack, and LC wedge and distribute between the the two sides of the torilla. Microwave for 30 seconds, then put the two sides together for another 30 seconds. Then cut the the torilla so you have two wedges. Enjoy~

smileyface45

We usually shop at Aldi or Save a Lot. You can get fresh fruit and vegetables a lot cheaper than a regular grocery store. The main difference is the selection isn't as big but you can still get the things you need. We try to get everything at Aldi/Save a Lot and only buy certain things at a regular grocery store that the other doesn't have (which isn't much). I can feed my family of 4 for 2 full weeks (3 meals a day) at Aldi for $150.

I would love a list of the foods you bought and/ or the menu for the two weeks Please

silkysly

When you find out, let me know too!!! LOL. Seriously, eating healthy is expensive as all get out. I spent $20 on frickin' cherries the other day. Fresh fruit is expensive! And I'm trying to avoid pre-packaged foods because of all the sodium... it's practically impossible to eat well and not spend a fortune.

Use frozen berries in Fiber One Cereal. Frozen is cheaper...

marquesajen

Bags of dry beans, cheaper than the cans.
Bulk rice
Look for deals on meat, or anything that is normally a little pricey. Keep a sales flier on you and build your week around it.

jrzguy

Get costco or bjs membership, it's like $50 for a year or year and a half; but you'll save that much in your first month or sooner. I get steak for like $4 a lb, and the local supermarket same steak is like $7

mikonei

Frozen chicken breast has been my best friend. But I just always keep an eye on sales. I have 3 main stores that I shop at so it keeps things pretty cheap. Pasta is always on sale and in my stores frozen veggies are usually a good deal. Just a few days ago I picked up 30 lbs of split chicken breast because at $0.99/lb it was HALF the price of what I usually pay for chicken. I just deboned it and froze it into small portions.
For 1 month I spend $200 which feeds 2 regularly, and 3 about half the time. And as weeks go by I am getting better at finding deals. It just takes a little time and patience.

silkysly

This is an amended version of what my husband and I buy for ourselves every week. I pared it down to fit a single person just to offer you an example of what you could have on a budget that’s healthy and offers snack options.

(1 box) Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta $1.50
(1 can) Hunt’s spaghetti sauce $1.00
(1 package) Chicken breast (it always seems to be on sale lately) $5.00 for 2.5 lbs (@ 1.99 lb)
(1 bag) Steam-in-bag broccoli (or other veggie) $1.52
(3 each) Healthy Choice TV dinners $7.44 (2.48 ea)

(2 cans) tuna $1.50
(1 loaf) Nickle’s 35 calorie white or wheat bread $1.98
(1 jar)Peanut butter (any brand) $2.19
(1 jar) Generic sugar free jelly $1.76
(1 bottle )Parkay spray butter $1.88
(1 box) generic instant oatmeal packets $2.50

(2 ea) Iceberg lettuce $2.50 for 2
(2 lbs) Tomato $3.38 for 2 lbs (@$1.69/lb)
(2 ea) Cucumber $1.58 for 2
(3 lbs) Bananas $1.62 for 3 lbs (@ $0.54/lb)
Small bag baby carrots $1.00

(1 small jar) Miracle Whip $2.00
(1 bag) Chocolate rice cakes $2.00
(1 4-pack) Hunt’s sugar free jello $1.00
(1 box) Generic fiber bars - Great Value (Wal-Mart brand) are only $2
(1 box) Philly Swirlz Delites $1.98 OR fat free/low fat ice cream - usually around $3.50 on sale
(1 bag) Generic fat free mini pretzel twists $1.50
(1 box) Act II or Orville Redenbacher 94% fat free popcorn $3.48
(1 case) of bottled water $2.47 (Wal-Mart brand) (I always refill bottles from the water cooler at work throughout the day!)

About $50.00 per week

- From the list above, you have choice of toast & jelly or oatmeal (or you can have both) for breakfast. Bananas go really well with breakfast or a snack between breakfast/lunch.
- For lunch, PB&J, PB& Banana, or tuna fish salad sandwich, or, when you make the chicken, save a few ounces to make a grilled chicken salad. Multiple snack options are available for lunch (jello, popcorn, pretzels, etc.).
- For dinner, spaghetti with salad, grilled chicken breast with steamed veggies and salad, or TV dinner.
- For dessert, Philly Swirlz bar (these are only 14 calories for the Delites) or a dish of ice cream.

Invest in the Ziploc vacuum seal kit. It’s only $7.00 and you can suck the air out of the Ziploc bags to freeze individual meals. For example, you could cook an entire box of pasta and can of sauce, toss in some chicken breast, maybe a few mushrooms, then separate into individual portions, put in a Ziploc vacuum baggie, suck out the air and freeze!!! My husband actually does this.

GREAT LIST! Thanks a bunch!

Rae6503

Cheap healthy food:
Eggs, rice, chicken in a can, tuna in a pouch, green leaf lettuce, apples, 93% lean beef in a tube (cheaper than the stuff on the platter things, which is weird), store brand whole wheat pasta, canned no salt veggies, celery, carrots.

mikonei

Get costco or bjs membership, it's like $50 for a year or year and a half; but you'll save that much in your first month or sooner. I get steak for like $4 a lb, and the local supermarket same steak is like $7

I forgot about that. Milk is up to almost $4 a gallon here, and at BJs I can get it for $2. 25 gallons of milk later and the membership pays for itself. Not to mention how much it saves on other foods and gas.

smileyface45

BUMP BUMP

Sherie13

Get costco or bjs membership, it's like $50 for a year or year and a half; but you'll save that much in your first month or sooner. I get steak for like $4 a lb, and the local supermarket same steak is like $7

Better yet, find a friend to split the membership cost with! You each get a card and save $25. You have to be careful with fresh produce at Costco or any bulk place like that. Only get stuff that you can freeze or you can split the cost and share with a friend. I buy the strawberries and freeze them for smoothies. The frozen chicken breasts that come two to a vacuum sealed pack are great and I get a rotisserie chicken from then almost every week. I shred it up and use it in salads, sandwiches, pasta, and even homemade pizza.

LuluGirl140

Bump Bump bump!!!

baisleac

Didn't read the whole thread so forgive me if I'm repeating.

Buy things that take a long time to "spoil"
Bulk: grains, beans, seeds, sale meats/fish (if not veg, freeze and save)
Frozen: veggies, fruits, sale meats/fish

Plan your weekly meals around the weekly ads; fresh foods are usually on the outside of the circulars.

RoseBlanc

If you have a local farmers market, try that for all your non-meat things (veggies, fruits, etc etc) I've started going to mine and most are all home grown, no chemicals, and reasonably priced. $20 got me a lot of stuff, and that was after I gave a kid $12 for two pieces of biscotti to help send him to college...

LOL you are a good person, sir.