cheap foods

manny08phs

i need help finding cheap foods that make you feel full. im on a $200 a month budget and cant afford food for me and my bf as is. all ideas welcome.

cpbord

Cook one soup,one casserole and baked one or two chickens, three vegetable side dishes a week. When picking out recipes; look at what is on sale at your local store. Breakfast foods ideas oatmeal; make at home egg sandwiches and yogurt (non- fat plain) add sugar free jelly or fruit for flavor.

sunshine_gem

I'm not sure how it works in america but try going to farmers markets and things for your fruit and veg. It's usually much cheaper and better quality. I also find that if I go shopping later in the day, quite often a lot of stuff is reduced because of sell by dates. There's usually nothing wrong with it but shops have to get rid of it. Hope that helps.

smelons

Porridge oats are very filling. Also lentils are cheap and satisfying. Put them into soup or curries.

Keiko385

Dried Beans, rice, lentils, quinoa are good fillers and can be added to almost any casserole type dish to get more servings out of it

AmandaLou4319

I am not sure if there is a Trader Joes in your area, but I have saved a significant amount of money on produce and other health items (almond milk, chia seeds, etc) by shopping there. I feel the quality is there and the prices cannot be beat.

If there is not a Trader Joes, I would suggest frozen veggies and coupons. I use to buy individual chicken breasts, but now buy frozen whole chickens and put it in the slow cooker. I shread the meat and use it all week.
Canned items can be great also. You need to watch the sodium, but canned tomaotes and black beans are a staple for me and they will not go bad! You can also soak your own beans for even more savings.

When it comes to any item that can spoil, I make sure I can eat it all before it goes bad. On items that last a long time, I watch for specials and sales so I can stock up. Sams Club and Costco are great, but you really need to do the math and see if you are really saving. Some items you save a bundle, but others are tricky and look like deals and are not.

You have to spend sometime researching and preping but the savings can add up!
Good luck!

cmwash13

We do dry beans and Chicken and big bags of frozen veg. Those items will last forever just have to portion my measuring cup is my best friend

jlynn6810

We do dry beans and Chicken and big bags of frozen veg. Those items will last forever just have to portion my measuring cup is my best friend

It is my best friend too! Lol. And completely agree with this post. Chicken and frozen veggies...you can mix it up so many ways and eat it every night.

JessyLovesJCS

Processed and pre-packaged foods can wreck a budget. Cook from scratch if possible or simply don't buy convenience food. (It's mostly full of preservatives, artificials and sodium anyway...even if they taste good. LOL)

Erin0164

Store brand frozen veggies in the largest size available. Cost efficient, filling and good for you. Then you can use them in fritattas, soups or steam a pile of spinach and serve your fish/chicken/tofu/pork on top.

daffodilsoup

Lentils, rice, dried beans, potatoes, and rolled oats are my cheap, filling standbys!

Also, don't underestimate the power of coupons! Even if you only devote an hour or two a week to clipping and perusing grocery store ads, you'll be surprised at the amount of money you'll save.

EmmiDahling

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/

She has recipies with the cost (based on whe she lives) for the recipie and each serving. I've made several recipies from here and they were all delicious.

claire7090

Buy in bulk as much as you can - eg I now buy dried pasta in 3kg (6.6lb bags) as that costs me £3 rather than buying the 1kg (2.2lb) bags that used to cost me £1.80.
Buying in bulk costs a little more week one but works out alot cheaper over all.

Make sauces from scratch - eg my kids love pasta bake with tomato sauce - I now use a tin of chopped tomatoes and an onion rather than the expensive 'dolmio' type sauces. If I have any other odd bits of veg it gets thrown in as well and to make a crunchy topping I use some bread crumbs from bread that might be a bit too stale to eat as bread.

Always look in the fridge before you shop so you never double up on things.

Use every last bit of food, if it running short of date freeze it to use later or use it that day.

Beans and pulses are cheap and fill you up for hours.

Homemade soup fills you up, I make soup with anything left in the fridge at the end of the week and add a handful of rice or lentils to thicken it and to make it more filling.

marieautumn

chicken breast (buy them in the case, wrapped seperately and keep in the freezer. put one to defrost in the morning for dinner), canned fruits (i eat these for breakfast every day...less than 300 cals), and make big portions so you can eat the left overs for a few days.

jfrankic

I totally understand being on a budget! My family of 3 (and 1/2 if including my 11 month old) has a weekly budget of $70. I make my own homemade yogurt, salad dressings and have a bread machine (although we usually buy bread). I don't do coupons because I don't take the time with working full time and two small kids. We just make wise choices. Here are a few of my favorite go-tos......

Dried Beans - I make a full pound at a time and we have beans/bean soup with my healthy version of cornbread cakes for dinner. Then put the rest in chili, mexican or you can freeze them in a bag.

Frozen Whole Fryer Chicken (cheaper than thawed chicken) - Thaw it, skin it and throw it in the crockpot with some seasonings. After your first dinner, take the rest of the meat and use for homemade chicken salad, put it on top of a lettuce/green salad or save for another dinner main course. You can save the juice to use for broth, too. If you watch your portions, you should be able to get three meals for two poeple out of one chicken.

My new favorite.....I have discovered frozen all natural turkey burgers at Aldi. A box of 12 is only $6, sometimes less on sale. They are all natural and only 200 calories (but have 160 mg of sodium if you are watching sodium intake). You don't even have to thaw them before throwing on the grill.

Potatoes, frozen veggies, pasta, all of the other posters' suggestions.

sriraw

Rice and beans and frozen veggies. Healty, filling, and fairly cheap if you cook all your own.

seanwebster

I stumbled across this a while back looking for something completely different. Some decent ideas, but some things aren't as cheap as they used to be and it's more focused on getting enough calories than cutting them to lose weight.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

KimbersNewLife

Always look in the fridge before you shop so you never double up on things.

Use every last bit of food, if it running short of date freeze it to use later or use it that day.

This is GREAT advice, this whole post is great but I believe I just came up with another New Year's Resolution!!! Use every bit of food and check the fridge and pantry before shopping. I am going to take it a step further...I am going to attempt to eat all the food in my house before buying more.. should help my finances and my waist line! Thanks!:flowerforyou: