Grocery Lists? Budgets?

RoboLikes

Hi, I am always watching my money concerning my food budget as well. Try: www.poorgirleatswell.com

She gives great tips on how to make the most out of your weekly shopping cart (sometimes only ends up being $25), great recipes, and just some ingenious money saving tips.

Hope that helps!

giftieetcetera

I spend about $150 to 175, but we are a family of four.

I suggest that you plan a stir-fry at least once a week, with whatever veggies you have leftover and a bit of whatever lean meat you have left. For example, thin cut pork chops come in 5 servings at my local store. I freeze the fifth and defrost it for a stir-fry to use up extra veggies - an onion, maybe half a bell pepper, some pineapple, whatever - at the end of the week over a little bit of brown rice. (Sometimes I add a bit of soy sauce and seasonings or some teriyaki sauce.)

Also cheap - red beans and brown rice or a big chili with lots of beans and some lean ground beef. Freeze leftovers in individual servings for further weeks.

We do a lot of baked potatoes and top them with salsa or barbeque sauce instead of butter!

saraann4

I buy my own groceries and my budget is $50 a week. Sometimes, I'll push $70, but that's rare

My list varies and I don't buy these things every week. I can live off some of these for 2 weeks

Fresh fruit: oranges, apples, blueberries, strawberries, melon, watermelon (not at all once)
I can't cook fresh veggies yet (learning) so I usually stick with frozen broccoli, peas, corn, cauliflower. I live in Indiana so....fresh corn on the cob is dynamite and dirt cheap.
Chicken breast...at little high here (I think)
Romaine Lettuce hearts... I usually buy the bag that has 3 of them in there. It's a lot better than buying the Dole bagged lettuce.
Marketside Chiptole Ranch dressing...they have several kinds...just my fav and full fat.
Shredded cheese
Lay's Light Potato Chips...No fat and taste like real potato chips (can't give them up)
Special K Cracker Chips....Cheddar, Sour Cream & Onion, Southwest Ranch
Diet Coke
Lean Cuisine (eeeek, yes I know...I try to only eat them during the week.)
Fat Free Milk (only way I can drink it)
Multi-Grain Cherrios (big box) or Kashi
deli meat
eggs
Greek yogurt
Honey
PB2 (tad pricy, had to buy it last week)
Peanut Butter & Co (You can buy serving size packets at Walmart for 69 cents.)
Healthy Life hamburger buns and english muffins

I think that's it... I'm sure I'm missing something though hahah...Like I said though, I don't buy everything on that list all at once.

mommab23k

Yes, you can eat well on $50 a week. Especially if you set the entire amount aside at the beginning of the month, so you can take advantage of sales to stock up. If you are willing to buy little to no convenience or pre-packaged food your money will go the farthest. Cooking from scratch is always cheapest. If you can get a crock pot that would help too, as you can set it up before work/school and come home to several servings of a healthy and cheap meal!

Also remember that meatless meals are almost always economical, especially if using beans/rice as your main protein source. You can find lots of recipes for those, and if you buy dry beans and cook them yourself it's MUCH cheaper (and WAY less sodium). You can cook large batches at once and freeze individual portions. You can find all sorts of recipes on how to make beans in your crock pot too, especially on places like pinterest and blogs. Another good website for inexpensive but healhty meals using inexpensive ingredients is www.nutrition.gov.

jaimemariel

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/

my new favorite budget food site. also check out the book "cooking for one." stock your pantry, freeze, don't be shy of leftovers and get creative! 50 a week is easy.

nursenessa1

bump

hooperkay

I spend $150 a week for 6. I use coupons and have for a while. I buy fresh fruits and veggies each week. Most of my money goes to that. I buy meats on sale and stock up. Pantry, personal, paper items are bought with coupons. I would look for sales on things that don't have expiration dates and slowly stock up. Watch for clearance, like my store puts things they are not going to carry anymore on clearance for like .10-.25. Buy enough for like 6 months. That way eventually you will only have to buy produce, milk, cheese, that kinda stuff.
I do go to the local farmers market too. Check your dollar store too. Mine carries cleaning stuff.

tumblyweed

Doable, especially since you're eating healthy. I break my list into categories so that I don't forget a particular area of foods (I would always forget butter, for example).

Shop often so that you can buy produce fresh. It's cheaper and less caloric. One of the advantages of a strict budget is that there is no room for empty-calories. An apple is cheaper than pudding cups...
When it comes down between cheetos and real cheese and you've only got a couple of bucks left, you'll end up making the right choice (ok, for a long time it was actually cheetos for me, but now I'm here and well.. wiser).

I don't eat red meat, so that's a HUGE savings right there.

That's my nickel for ya...

txlissa62

I keep my pantry stocked with staples, and replenish when things go on sale. Same with meat - for instance, when chicken breasts go on sale, I buy about 10 lbs, and freeze them individually. Buy spices in bulk - it's much cheaper than buying the pre-filled jars. (You don't have to buy a lot at once; in fact, you can buy as much or as little as you want.) If you like to bake and are so inclined, try baking your own bread. It's so much cheaper than store-bought, and tastes better, too.

Farmers market for veggies, or grow your own. Try to cook from scratch rather than buying prepackaged foods. It's cheaper, and better for you.

MinMin97

I think on that budget I would shop as follows:
ground beef
chicken drums and thighs
rice
pinto beans (soak and cook them yourself)
salsa
cheese
toritilla chips
corn tortillas
ingredients for quick/easy lasagne style casserole: pasta/sauce/cottage cheese/shredded mozzarella cheese
wheat bread
butter
pnut butter

You will take a few weeks to build up a pantry so you can have more variety:)

Mom0fTwo

Hi, I am just starting out and I'm living on my own. Luckily I only have me to feed but have no idea how to go about doing it on a budget... I have budgeted fifty dollars a week.
I was hoping that either some of you had this too and were willing to let me see your grocery lists, and give me advice on how to do it, or that someone might know where to go to find this. I googled it but the results are mainly from years ago and unfortunately food is not as cheap now. Thanks.

personally i spend about 110-130/ week for a family of 4 (in canada) so to me $50 a week for 1 person is completely doable...but remember the first couple weeks you move out with prob be double that if not more, because you will have to buy things like laundry detergent, paper towels and toilet paper, spices salt pepper, baking items, tons of meat to stock up, lots of non perishable items to be able to make meals but once this major effort has been done it is mostly up keep and fresh items
things like a bag of carrots, an onion, some tomatoes, potatoes, apples oranges and grapes are usually cheap and can last minimum a week if not closer to a month, cheese is a good staple to have and remember you can freeze bread and some fruit like grapes and pre-make things like soup, stew, chilli that can feed you all week, also the most versatile thing, eggs, whether baking or breakfast they are cheap and easy....good luck

amazon75

I try to plan my meals around what's on sale each week. I always scope out the sale papers for my local stores then go shopping.

Topsking2010

bump

hali1

Another bonus to planning your meals in advance is that you can keep from wasting food. For example maybe I want some cabbage for a stir fry but it would be too much to use the whole head, so I'll plan on making cole slaw later in the week to use up the rest. I HATE throwing away food.

My other favorite trick for saving grocery money is just eating less meat. I use really small amounts of meat to cut up into a stir fry or casserole, but it's pretty rare (maybe couple of times a month) to have a whole meal based around meat. And I used to live on pork chops, meat loaf, etc. I try to cook meatless at least half the week. Dried beans are super cheap and even tofu is cheaper than most meat in my area. Yay for plant-based protein!

Hoakiebs

For emergencies, buy some lean cuisine or weight watchers smart ones for about $2 to $2.50 each. If a family member has a Costco membership, get them to buy you yogurt 18 pack for 9.99, house foods tofu 3-19 oz. packs for 3.97, broccoli 4 lbs for 4.99, and apples 12 for 6.99 and frozen fish fillets of your choice, or 12 boca burgers for 9.99. Make meals you can make 4-6 servings at a time and refrigerate/freeze them for later in the week; things like chili or hamburgers or hot dogs or soups?

photojunkie28

All the suggestions/reminders on here are fabulous and inspiring as I have found that not planning enough in advance really drains the budget when eating healthy.

I can say however that a container of rolled oats lasts me a couple weeks and I eat it EVERYDAY for breakfast with blueberries/cinnamon. And its really cheap. A pint of blueberries and container of rolled oats will be about 5 bucks and lasts over a week.

I seen Eggs mentioned. Very cheap form of protein and versitile.

Lettuce is a must - Buy it by the head for $1, chop it up and put it in mason jars in the fridge to keep fresh longer (check pinterest)

Skip everything "ready made". You will find if you have to do the work yourself, you will pay less for it

Also, Make lots of crock pot/soup/chili type meals. You can make a million healthy variations so you don't get bored and you can make a weeks worth of lunches/dinners at once and store them in containers. Hope this helps a little

Laddiegirl

I just wanted to throw out there that the larger dollar stores in my area (SF Bay area) are fantastic hidden sources for fresh and affordable veggies. You've got to look everything over of course to make sure it's not starting to go but I can't tell you how much money I save doing that. I never use canned veggies and find frozen veggies rubbery for my liking so this has been a great resource for me.

shaynak112

I'm from Canada, my boyfriend and I budget $50 a week ($200 a month) on groceries for the two of us. We just went grocery shopping today and bought:
broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, apples, oranges, pears, strawberries, nectarines, lettuce, spinach, oats (5 kg lol), tofu, low calorie yogurt, fake sausages (we're vegetarian)
it came out to about $30 and then with the oats it was like $40
that will last us a week. we usually spend $35-$40 on a shopping trip once a week and then I go out partway through the week and get a few more fresh veggies and fruits. Oh and to get shirataki noodles at a Chinese store once a month
We eat a lot of salads, veggies, rice, oats, and beans. We buy rice, oats, and beans (chickpeas!) in bulk because we eat so much of it.
Soup is good, cheap, easy to make, and you can freeze it! We have like six or seven containers of soup in the freezer, for when we are too lazy to make an actual dinner. It's so filling and delicious too!

CMB1979

I'm in Korea and spend around $100/week just for myself. Of course, food is more expensive here. Chicken breast is about $7/pound. Beef around $15/pound for ground up to about $50/pound for real steaks. Apples are $1-3 each, a small melon is about $20. etc etc. I found prices are 6-20x the US cost and impossible to eat anywhere near $50/week. I did find Quaker quick oats in the foreigner store for $15 for 1 kg.

I miss the USA!

PLUMSGRL

Here's a good site for ya:

http://www.dollarfriendlymeals.com/