Eating right on a budget

JulieBoBoo

Add bulgur to spaghetti sauce instead of ground beef,

I so need to try this!

I was vegetarian for two years and did this all the time. It's yummy.

Klynn63

My budget is $50 a week, it is totally doable! You have to plan for EVERYTHING your going to buy and buy off brand or generics. Buy bags a chicken (frozen, bonesless, skinless breasts) they go a long way. Fat free hot dogs are dirt cheap, buy bags of FROZEN fruit & veggies, you can steam veggies and they taste great.. frozen fruit I make into smoothies. I buy yogurt 4 packs around $1.88, you can go to bread stores for cheap bread.. like .85 cents! I buy low cal bread so I splurge and get Natures OWn for $2.00! I shop at Walmart, they have been the cheapest I have found and I find everything healthy I need! There are so many websites you can google as well for healthy, low cost meals! It all depends what your family likes..
But trust me, if I can do it.. anyone can do it!

rsalleyne

Very good topic. Here's a blog post I wrote on this last year. It's got a California slant to it but hopefully it helps everyone

http://drbecky1970.blogspot.com/2011/04/eating-right-when-times-are-tight.html

Sorova

You can save a tonne of money by learning to cook legumes (black beans, lentils, navy beans, chana, etc.) from dry instead of buying canned. They cost pennies a serving and they're more nutritious than the canned versions, cheaper, and don't have any salt. They're loaded with protein and fibre and other nutrients and there are lots of ways to prepare them.

This website has a great guide for beginners on how to cook dried beans, including the ratios of beans: water you need to use.
http://www.chezbettay.com/pages/basics1/basics_beans1.html

Black beans are one of my favourite foods and I always have a bowl of them in the fridge so I can throw them onto salads, eat some with salsa for a light snack, etc.

Oatmeal (old fashioned oats, not the packaged stuff) is also a filling money saver. In general, you can save a lot of money cooking from scratch the old fashioned way and skipping the more expensive prepared and packaged foods. Sadly it takes time.

marycmeadows

Frozen veggies all the way! I prefer fresh, naturally, BUT you can get great deals on frozen veggies -- especially if you buy store brand, or watch for sales..... often you can get a whole bag of veggies for under $1.50..... compared to fresh!? No comparison! frozen is way better than canned to.... Beans are also great! you can get bags of dry beans for cheap - sure, you have to soak the beans overnight, but it's not a big deal!