$75-$100 Budget for 2 weeks of meals! D:

superdrood

Assuming you have flour, this soup (the mild version) could be made for virtually pennies and it's delicious. If you don't have the Asian pantry items on hand you could easily americanize it by just using some chicken broth or bouillon.

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/sujebi

If I had to work under that budget it'd be with a lot of dried beans, lentils, split peas, etc. along with rice and homemade pastas and breads. Also frozen veggies (can't abide canned) and anything crazy on sale at the meat counter.

Good luck!

k3lly89

We spend a max of $70 a week on our shopping for two, it's normally more around the 50's mark unless we are stocking up on specials. Buying in bulk is good especially if you have a big freezer.

We have a shop around the corner from us that sells products too close to there best before dates and because of this they are extremely cheap.

We normally buy frozen veges as they are cheaper and last a lot longer I have also heard they have more nutrients than fresh ones.

We always buy our bread when it is a bulk special and freeze the ones we aren't using


Breakfast is normally cereal - for me a weight watches one and milk. On weekends we have eggs (free as they are from my parents chickens) on toast or pancakes (homemade) as a treat.

Lunch is normally a filled roll - lettuce, avocardo, ham and cheese. Or a toastie.

Dinner varies- pasta bake, cottage pie and vege, toad in the hole and vege, lasagna and salad, chciken salad, stuffed chicken vege and baked potato, lamb chops mash and vege, chicken salad etc

There is heaps of cheap meals you can make. Buy mince in bulk and divide it up into snap lock bags when you freeze it makes portions easy and is cheaper in the long run, we do this with all our meat.

All the vege is frozen and you can get a good variety of frozen veges.

For snacks we buy muesli bars and we pop our own pop corn (nothing added to it) the odd time I'll bake something too.

backstreet1008

I just shop for myself and I rarely go over $50 a week so that should be fine for two people. My staples are:

Perdue chicken
Yogurt
Frozen Spinach (like $2 a bag for Shop Rite brand and there's a lot of servings in there)
Lettuce
Celery
Carrots
Hummus
Oatmeal
Fruits
Granola bars
Bread
Turkey

And whatever else I feel like that week

ShadowTegra

There are a lot of great suggestions in here! This is definatly one area my wife and I need help in. I'm excited to give these a shot!

aceia89

Bump

metisgirl

hillbilly housewife site...This is a great site for penny pinching.....

Idothin

I agree with everyone who said look at the loss leaders in your grocery store to meal plan. After that, you need to step out of the comfort zone (at least for me). When I am on a tight budget, anything with a label marked LIGHT, SHREDDED, INSTANT, COMPLETE, PREWASHED, INDIVIDUAL, SLICED, READY TO EAT etc means you are paying for convenience and you don't have the budget for that. However, without convenience that is so built into our society, you will find lower prices on food. Skip the baby carrots, buy a giant bag of carrots. I can't claim it's exciting but here is what I would look for:

Beverages- Water, Water and water, make that tap water.

Breakfast: Oatmeal (not instant and certainly not in little envelopes). I eat steal cut oats made in the crockpot. Leftovers last 3 days at least when heated with a splash of milk. I think you could spend $3 and both of you could eat for a week. Toss in some brown sugar. Eat whatever fruit is on sale.

Lunch- Grab your boxes of rice and a bag of dried black beans ($1), tortillas (I can get 36 for $4 at BJs), a block of cheddar cheese ($4?), and a big jar of Salsa ($4?). Cook those beans, shred that cheese. Mix all of it together and throw it in your burrito and heat. You can add anything to it.. corn, chicken, peppers if you have the $. (these also freeze REALLY well for on the go lunches). Let's say this makes 24 burritos, that's 50 cents each. Eat with a banana (8 bananas or so at BJs cost $1.25 in New England).

PBJ sandwiches

Snacks- Popcorn. Buy kernels and cook on the stovetop. Yogurt (big containers divided up). Celery w/ PB, Carrot sticks, 1/2 sandwiches.

Dinner- I'd probably go with some pasta (maybe with meat sauce if there is $), breakfast egg casseroles, breakfast for dinner, quiche, sandwiches, tuna casserole, baked potatoes or chicken stir fry. Use up any extra rice. Eat with whatever vegetable is on sale.

Try to shop for things not on a great sale in a place that has low prices.. aldi, walmart, target etc

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

CoraGregoryCPA

idothin has excellent ideas!

We don't buy any drinks at the grocery store either, except milk and occasionally wine. Soda, juice and beer can run up the bill.

epona_mus

Check out 100 Days of Real Food. She provides meal plans and recipes for $125 /wk for 4 people. You should be able to cut that in half for 2!

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/category/100-days-of-real-food-on-a-budget/

futureangel

oh woow that's bad...and also really unhealthy!! try and cut out sth else..maybe walk to the store/gym/etc. the next time..that saves you gas money that you could spend on healthier food AND is healthy for you by training of calories (: also you could cut out things like alcohol (that is really bad for you anyways if you want to lose weight) , cigarettes, magazines..i have no idea what you usually buy i'm just giving some ideas here because you can't really have a healthy eating habbit with that amount of money..

calliope_music

when we don't have much to spend on foods, i clip coupons like mad and shop on sale. our list normally looks like this:

beans
rice
lentils
yogurt
nuts
cheese
eggs
tortillas
peanut butter
frozen veg

santee57

You might get the Sunday paper for coupons and sit down with the sales ads and work your meals around them. Also shop store brand names over name brands. Also check like dollar Buy a whole chicken. Boil it . Remove the whole chicken add veggies to the stock and add rice or noodles and a little of the chicken cut up back in for a hearty soup. Some of the same chicken can be used in salads, sandwiches, taco's, a casserole or have shredded with salsa and some low-fat cheese on a flour tortilla, If you use rice in the soup don't cook all of it save some back to fix with chicken and the same veggies for a stir fry. Just some ideas I have because I been there and done that

KayteeBear

I can only spend about $50-$100 per MONTH for my boyfriend and myself. Luckily he usually eats lunch or supper elsewhere.

Check for coupons and sales. If something you eat a lot of it on sale for a really good price buy and freeze...I always buy extra bread and freeze it. Always keep spices on hand...it's a bit pricey to build up a nice selection of prices but it will help a LOT when cooking. Buy the whole animal aka buy the whole chicken...makes chicken broth as well as eating the meat. Make lots of soups and stews.

Umm, not sure what else. This is mostly advice I've always heard that I'm just passing on.

I'll be back myself to read everything already posted.

BarbWhite09

Do you have an Aldi near you? If so...SHOP THERE.
I got a dozen eggs for 89 cents the other day at Aldi...Compared to the $2.25 [or something around there] I would have payed at Dillons [I think Walmart is about the same price as Dillons, if I remember correctly]
I buy most of my stuff at Aldi [Broke college girl here!]...Their fresh vegetables aren't badly priced, just make sure you look threw em. I also buy frozen broccoli there that's like $1.09 I think for a decent sized bag.
My fiance & I normally spend $25ish a week on groceries...
I assume if you're in a bigger city it will be more expensive, I live in college town in Kansas...So that may have a little bit to do with the price.
If I don't shop at Aldi I go to Wallyworld, like you can get whole wheat pasta [off brand] for a little over a dollar...

You basically just have to roam around whichever store you use to find the best deals. May end up finding stuff that you wouldn't have thought of.

KayteeBear

So I've finally read through all the posts and damn...I'm jealous of prices. lol I live in a small town with only ONE grocery store and lets just say the prices are at least double of what most people are listing here for things. I do try to do grocery shopping when I visit my mom because there's more grocery stores and the one I usually shop at is a lot cheaper (a trip there was $50, would've been $75-$100 in my town)

smilebhappy

bump to read later

terra_angelica

I have 5 children so we have to stretch out our money like that as well. Two things that I do that we can eat on for several days are big pots of homemade Vegetarian Chili and Chicken Vegetable soup. They both are cheap and last for days!!! I suggest stocking up on dried beans, like pinto beans, lentils, etc. Those when mixed with rice are the perfect protein when you don't eat or can't afford meat. Also, I would stock up on Chicken broth (the low sodium one) for soups, veggies that you like to eat (ones that will go a long way, since the packages are pretty big, such as carrots, celery, etc), canned tuna (in water not oil). salmon, or chicken to put on salads or eat on there own. Cereal of course (whole grain options) will also go a long way.

Here are my recipes for Vegetarian Chili and Chicken Vegetable soup.

Vegetarian Chili:

Dry Pinto beans (soaked overnight, then cooked for 2 hours)
canned corn (optional)
can of diced or stewed tomatoes
can of tomato sauce
diced 1/2 cup onion (lightly sautee before adding to chili)
chili powder
Salt & Pepper (optional)

You can also add these (which will make it a non-vegetarian recipe of course, but a great meat taste replacement)
Low Sodium Beef Bouillon
Low Sodium Beef Broth (1/2 cup) This is also optional. I sometimes add it to make it a little more soupy and it tastes great with it since I am not adding meat to it.

Chicken and Vegetable Soup
Canned chicken (however many you want to add)
Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Low Sodium chicken bouillon
Whatever veggies you like (I usually use carrot, celery, onion)
You can also add rice if you want it to be a little more filling...and it is a healthier option than adding noodles.

brigibooboo

A bowl of pasta w/ stemed veggies, sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a poached egg on top for "sauce". If you have a coupon, you can get passta for free or close to it! And I find we can get 2 meals out of 1 box of pasta.
My weekly budget for the 2 of us is $60 for groceries. I think $75 for 2 weeks may be a little low, but $100 for 2 weeks is totally do-able. Good luck!!!

snarkysharky

Gonna use this thread for when I go shopping! thanx!

sunnykt

I'm a poor uni student, and I try to keep my budget for food at around $40, and this is in Australia, where apparently we love to spend exorbitant amounts on food (according to the Americans I know). I know my diet is completely different to a couple who probably doest want to have two breakfasts and a dessert a day but hey, maybe you can apply this liberally;

I go to Aldi and I buy oats, two bananas, two apples, one avocado, two zucchinis, cans of tuna (pretty much the cheapest protein) a bag of tomatoes, mushrooms (and then I freeze them because I'm not going to go through them all in a week) and one spinach mix and one salad mix (the cheapest I can find), milk, yogurt, hot chocolate, plus a bag of carrot, frozen berries, hommus, eggs and parmesan cheese. These are my staples, when I run out I replace the next coming shopping trip, obviously I don't need to replace these every week- hence usually only needing to spend $20-$30, although the first trip to get these foods is always the most expensive. I then also buy something luxurious (aka sausage rolls or a lasagna)/ different each time and I'm still within budget.

Oats + cinnamon + half a banana + honey = a breakfast ( I assumed you'd already have the condiments)
Spinach + canned salmon or tuna + egg all cooked together in a muffin tray = mini quiche
grated zucchini + mushroom + parmesan + eggs + chili and garlic (again I'm assuming you have the condiments) = egg frittata or omelette type pancake thing cooked in a pan.
Apples = snack or breakfast on the go.
carrots + hommus = snacks on the go.
Berries + yogurt + hot choc + ice = smoothie
parmesan cheese + avocado + salad mix + tomatoes =salad (+ chicken if it's within budget and Moroccan sauce, yum!)

These are mainly good cheap breakfast ideas. I just recycle these meals endlessly and eat sausage rolls or whatever my thing is that week.

I'd also suggest beans rice and soups too, like other posters...

Birdetta

When I make my rice I realy like it with a grated carrot, bit of onion, little celery, and if you want a little bullion. If I have any cooked meat I throw that in too. It works real good if the rice is the 20 min rice cause it cooks the vegis while the rice cooks.

ModernRock

Breakfast burritos are one of the most simple and tasty foods to make in advance and freeze. Scramble a bunch of eggs, saute your veggies, brown the meat, wrap up in a tortilla with cheese, wrap in foil, label, and freeze. Reheat in a toaster oven with the foil on, or take the foil off for the microwave. You could make greek version, garden veggie, egg whites with salsa and cheese, and endless combination of ingredients. I can tell you they beat cold cereal for breakfast by a long shot.

If you are on a budget, you may not have the funds to buy a Foodsaver. However, they really do work if you have the time and interest to put it to use. Even if you just use it to repackage partially used frozen foods to prevent freezer burn, then it will pay for itself. It has a lot more uses, of course, such as freezing dinners. I have the mason jar attachment and fresh fruit vacuumed sealed in a glass jar will last twice as long in the fridge.

deadmittens

I spend about $30 a week on food (excluding subway....) It's not too hard. Brown rice is VERY cheap and easy to mix into any meal to help you feel full. Chicken breasts are cheap, just get some spices. Noodles... Dieting is MUCH easier on a tight budget because you can't afford to make fancy meals, therefore eat a boring diet to keep you from splurging.

stephkuch

great suggestions..thanks!

ratellcm

I spend between $40 and $60 every two weeks for just me.

My list gets made as soon as the flyers come out.

Bags of dried beans, rice and lentils last forever. I watch for big items on sale like a case of canned vegetable soup or the big tins of coffee. I buy big bags of apples, a big bag of a citrus fruit (depends what's on sale between mandarins, oranges, grapefruit). Instead of buying a box of cereal every week, I buy a big bag of hot cereal that lasts the whole month (Sunny Boy, Red River).

I don't shop based on recipes, I pick recipes based on what I have.

I shop at a mall where I can buy groceries at three different stores to get the best deals (always makes a difference, especially with tuna, yogurt, bread).

dovesgate

I live in a town where we have 3 grocery stores, Walmart, and two dollar stores. We're also in a region that is called something odd like a Class D which means we do not get very good produce and we do NOT get really good food prices on anything but loss leaders - and those loss leaders are what I was used to paying on a regular basis in the wealthier town I am from. Go figure.

As soon as I get the grocery store flyers on Tuesday nights, I sit down and compare prices. I decide who has the lowest price on the item I am wanting to buy and write it all down on a list. Then I go to thecouponclippers.com and match up the items I want with the coupons available. I spend roughly $4 for $25 or more worth of coupons.
I generally head to the dollar stores on Friday (payday) and can get by with spending $20 or a cart full of items including rice, waffles, canned beans, bread mix, ham steaks, apples, lemons, carrots, asparagus, avocado, cauliflower, snacks for my kids lunches, sometimes frozen lunches for me, and sometimes yogurts. You just have to watch the expiration dates and check everything for freshness. Then on the weekend I sort my coupons according to which store I am going to use them at and head to the grocery stores.

If you aren't in California, you are in luck - your local grocery store might do double coupons. None of mine do. Doing this, I am averaging about 50% savings especially when I combine it with my local stores' paperless coupons (usually between $30-50 for $60-100 worth of groceries plus another $20 at the dollar store for 4 people).

PudgyPigeon

Everybody is giving really great ideas. Again, thank you so much. A quick thank you to everybody who posted a recipe, a link to a site for recipes (and other things), meals, shopping lists- and just general information!
To answer a few questions and reply to some-

@ CoraGregoryCP: My husband works on the road- the only option is go head to a gas station to reheat things and believe it or not I am constantly hearing, “I forgot I could do that.” Sooo- nope! No option of a kitchen. Lol

@ Idothin: Thank you for reminding me about all the convenience items. (Instant, complete, prewashed, individual, etc.) Water, water, water!

@ epona_mus: Wow! Thank you for that link!!

@ futureangel: Thank you for your concern on healthy eating. We actually do not spend much on gas money and we do not smoke, drink, or buy magazines. C: Well, except my 4 year subscription that I got two years ago for Self Magazine for $10.

@ KayteeBear: $50-$100 A MONTH?! Whoa- I’d love to see an example of what you’re making for meals. You mentioned your boyfriend eats elsewhere for supper and lunch- does that mean he buys something instead of a bag lunch?

@bawhite23: We’re in a college town as well- thank you for the advice. C:

@ terra_angelic: Thank you for the recipe!

@ snarkysharky: I’m glad it will help you as well. Btw- great name!

@ sunnykt: Whoa- awesome post! Thank you!

@ jbrian53: We’ve been looking into a food saver. Thank you for suggesting it and the breakfast burritos may be a good idea for his lunch.

I don't shop based on recipes, I pick recipes based on what I have

@ratellcm: I do this as well! Very helpful!

@ dovesgate: Holy crap- you just reminded me about double coupon days… I hope our local place still does this. It was extremely helpful!

jocelyne1967

I am single and find it hard to shop for healthy foods for unders 120.00 every two weeks and that is for one. Purchasing fresh fruitveg in bulk for a week or two would cut down on cost, but this time of year in my necxk of the woods is getting more expensive. I think the budget you have is going to be very hard. I think it totals a total food cost of a little over 3.00 per person per day. I dont think that permits a healthy diet.

patience842003

You mentioned rice. My husband is from India so he really likes to eat rice. Some different healthy varieties I have found are:

1. Marinate chicken or beef with soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, sesame oil, and garlic for a few hours. Fry up the chicken then add in some vegetables -whatever you prefer- I've used carrots with this recipe mostly. Once it's all cooked up you put that over your white rice. You just have to be careful w/ the sodium in this one, but it tastes amazing.
2. A cheaper variety is to get a bag of mixed vegetables- I buy from Wal Mart an 'asian medley'- cook that with or without meat, add in some soy sauce or if you don't want soy sauce you can do garlic, salt, onion, and to kick it up add in some crushed red pepper (which you can get at dollar stores).
3. Chicken curry is also great over rice. Very simply it's onions, chicken, couple tbsp of curry powder, nonfat/light sour cream, and milk.
4. When we're really tight, we do a tomato rice or egg rice. The tomato rice is crushed tomato, curry powder, coriander, and you mix that in with rice and cook it. With the egg rice I add in some chicken flavoring into the white rice, put in frying pan, and mix the egg and scramble it in.
With all of these recipes you can add in red pepper or cayenne pepper to spice it up. My husband also loves hot sauce and spiracha (a Thai pepper sauce) on everything.
I use Jasmine rice because it's cheaper than Basmatti but taste better and is healthier than plain enriched white rice. I use my rice cooker all the time. The downside of rice is all the carbohydrates in it but if you make sure you measure it out you'll find that a cup is actually a pretty good serving.
Hope this helps!

PudgyPigeon

I am single and find it hard to shop for healthy foods for unders 120.00 every two weeks and that is for one. Purchasing fresh fruitveg in bulk for a week or two would cut down on cost, but this time of year in my necxk of the woods is getting more expensive. I think the budget you have is going to be very hard. I think it totals a total food cost of a little over 3.00 per person per day. I dont think that permits a healthy diet.

@jocelyne1967: Thank you for your concern about the healthy diet.

@everybody else who also feels the need to mention that this may not be enough for a healthy diet: We're doing this because we have a major bill that needs to be paid off before January 20th, 2012. This is temporary and it isn't about cutting cals or diets... it's about paying a bill off. With all the positive feed back and wonderful suggestions I see that it can be done and I am very thankful for the help from everybody. I am also thankful for those who are concerned this may not be enough to spend on a healthy diet. It shows me that people are willing to speak up when they need to- so thank you for that!



@patience84200: You're my new favorite because you've listed a few of my favorite things to have. Thank you, it is helpful.