$30.00 A WEEK...

alsunrise

The only way I'm really able to save money shopping is to make out a meal plan. That way I'm buying exactly what I'm actually going to use and it cuts down on the waste. I would also suggest shopping early in the morning if possible because most a lot of the places mark their meat down in the morning.

iAMsmiling

YOU GUYS ROCK!! :flowerforyou: I cant wait to go grocery shopping now! :happy:

sounds like the staples on my shelf at all times should be :

rice
beans
peanut butter
and for spices?
garlic powder
hot sauce
rosemary
basil
chili powder

Onions... would you buy fresh and leave them sit out ( how long before bad?) or dice them up and freeze.

would you continue to buy chicken every week or buy it in bluk then cook it then freeze it? I was going to cook everything i could on sunday then divide it up into meals. rice n chicken w/ rosemary for one meal, ect Something i should have started long ago ...one of my new years resolutions was to shop smarter and not waste. You guys are giving a great start! :happy:

Grocery store sales run in cycles. You'll notice that chicken is on sale at all of the stores at the same time. So, buying it in bulk and freezing can be the way to go to get you through to the next big sale.
Buy onions fresh. Any left over after a couple of weeks...freeze.

firefoxxie

Dry beans, Dry lentil, carrots, onions, tomatoes and with that I can make a meal that will last me 2 weeks ;P

Angie__1MR

-5 dozen eggs - $7.50
-brown rice - $3.50
-chicken breasts - $10
-5 bags frozen vegetables - $5
-oats $4

My1985Freckles

Grocery store sales run in cycles. You'll notice that chicken is on sale at all of the stores at the same time. So, buying it in bulk and freezing can be the way to go to get you through to the next big sale.
Buy onions fresh. Any left over after a couple of weeks...freeze.

Agreed! Also, you could have a little herb garden in your kitchen. (Don't recommend this if you have a cat lol). Also, if you use green onions in a recipe, leave about an inch of the green left on the bulb and put them root side down in a jar with some water on your counter. They will grow back! (I've actually had some grow back while living in the veggie drawer of my fridge! guess there was some moisture in the bag they were in!)

Oh, and if you buy potatoes, don't store them next to your onions becasue the potatoes put of gasses as they "age" that cause the onion to go bad faster. Store them on separate shelves. I started doing this and now my onions last FOREVER! (well, not forever forever, but like a month or more forever)

Oh and if you buy fresh berries (or any fruit really), let them sit for a few minutes in a vinegar bath (1 part vinegar, 4 parts water) they will last a LOT longer.

Bananas rippen slower if you leave them together and cover the bunched end in aluminum foil.

jbeverly21176

$30.00 a week is easy, browse your stores sales, don't buy name brand, store brand is just as good and a lot cheaper. (At least at our store). My family of 4 (1 is under 1yr, so spending on baby items is a little pricey) can get groceries under $400 for a month. My husband and I budget wisely and that isn't getting junk food (certain things for my 4yr old) but I always have fruits and veggies available.

GallyX0

Actually doing this lately and having decent success.

$3 - big bag raw spinach
$2 - clump vine ripe tomatoes
$3 - two # green peppers
$8 - two # chicken (whatever cut is on sale)
$3 - cartoon eggs
$4 - whole grain bread
$2- peanut butter
$2- raspberry preserves
$3- beans

Total: 30$
2 eggs a day with veggies does breakfast, chicken baked with spices, 1# cubed for salads with veg for lunch, 1# strips to make veg and bean chili (don't need much more, just $1 hot sauce and ketchup makes a decent chili) for dinner, PBJ when I'm too lazy to cook a meal. Works out well, and if I'm under, I get a bag of health snacks for a couple dollars (bag of apples, carrots, or nuts like soybeans.)

Been working pretty well, though I have a few things to bolster it already, like dressing, vinegar, spices, rice, etc, bought in bulk at the start of the year.

Very possible to eat 4-5 healthy meals a day on this.

ktchnofdngr

If you are wanting to lower your food budget, there are 3 basic rules you need to follow:

1. Eat the food you buy (minimize throwing away fresh veggies by buying only what you need or buy frozen/canned)

2. Make some sort of meal plan (I actually subscribe to eMeals, a menu planning service--they send me a menu with 7 meals based on the grocery ads and a grocery list. There are several companies out there, and you can often find a groupon for one of them somewhere in the country at any given time...I subscribe to the family plan, and then use leftovers for lunches. With only 2 of us at home, we only use 4 meals a week, but it gives us more than enough food for lunches and dinners. I personally think that the service is worth every penny, but you can also make your own)

3. Shop the sales. Back when I was in college and I had more time, I would sit down with the grocery ads and a pad of paper. I would then look at what was on sale and build my menu of the week around the sale items. If it wasn't on sale, I didn't buy it. By doing so, I was able to eat relatively healthy on $50 a month (this was also over 10 years ago--I doubt I could do the same thing now!) I would also stock up on things that I liked to eat when they were insanely cheap (buying 10 lbs of chicken leg quarters when they were on sale for 39c/lb or buying mac and cheese when it is 4 boxes for a dollar)

One other thing I would mention is that you should periodically plan to just eat from your pantry for a while in order to rotate staples/canned goods. I like to do this during National Buy Nothing Month (usually in February), and it means that I can use that can of chickpeas that has been buried in the back of my pantry!

Check at your local dollar store for cheap spices. They will often have things like italian seasoning or lemon pepper for 50c each.

Oh, Onions can last 2-3 months on your counter as long as it is cool and dry. You know they have gone bad when they start to change color underneath the skin.

BritishVegGirl

Im in the UK but $30.00 is ~ £19.00 today so I will work with that, it is usually about what I spend anyway. 1kg = 2.2 lb also btw. Food prices will vary so much between countries and compared to average earnings etc etc but still I thought id show you guys what somebody in the UK can get for about the same "money". I shop around often to get the best prices and often shop in discount stores, my shopping is never done in one shop either.

Frozen broccoli
Frozen cauliflower
Plain white pasta
Plain white rice
7-10 tins of beans (chickpeas, black eye, kidney etc)
Fresh carrots (big bag lasts 2 weeks)
Fresh onions (big bag lasts about 2 months)
2 lettuces
Large bag of spinach or kale
400g Tofu block
Asda "Walmart" chicken style peices (these are vegan nom nom)
Potato
Loaf of white bread
Chopped tomatos
Box of cereal
Soya milk
Bag of apples
Box of mushrooms
Bag of mixed frozen berries


:-) there you go. Adds up to £19.40 (I think - headache) or $30 converted over.

That food will feed two adults for one week easily with spare , of the fresh veggies my pet guinea pigs and rabbits get a share of these too. I have a huge cupboard of all cooking basics like spices, nutritional yeast, purees, pickles, fresh herbs in the kitchen. My freezer is always full of frozen veggies so I never actually have to buy them all in one go, I buy everything in the value ranges really and veggies are bought in bulk bags of non perfect items (I am eating them I dont care if they are pretty!) I often buy veggies and bread in bargain bins due to being "out of date" also. What I buy varies weekly but that is a good overview of a big shop.

jlapey

Do you have a produce stand in your area? We have one called "Fresh Pickens", they are cheaper than grocery stores and every thing is grown locally (I think). I would purchase things I could make into several servings so as to last longer.

wellbert

I don't think I could live on $30 for 2 days. I'd probably buy a big knife for $30 and rob a butcher shop.

jlapey

I'd buy a whole chicken as apposed to just the bag of breasts. A whole chicken is just around $5 and you can make several meals with the meat. I like to season one, throw it in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours then harvest all the meat from it. Then I throw the bones back in all the juices in the slow cooker, add about 6-8 cups of water then let it continue on low for 8 hrs. You now have the best homemade chicken broth. I strain that and freeze the stock in a muffin pan so I have frozen portions of stock ready to go.

We buy whole chickens as well, and butcher them ourselves. One half of the breast can usually be sliced into two therefore giving you 4 servings as opposed to two. The tenders are bagged separately as are the hind quarters. The rest of the carcass is used to make chicken stock for use in recipes. Store bought stock has far too much sodium.

One chicken can yield: 2 hindquarters, 4 breast filets, and one/maybe two servings of tenders, 2 quarts stock. You can also divide the leg from the thigh and get four servings instead of two. One chicken can go a LOOOONG way.

green_nurse

frozen veggies ARE just as good if not BETTER than fresh!! good lawd people!! unless you're buying local or go to the farmers market daily, it's not as FRESH as you think!

frozen veggies, frozen fruit, dry beans, eggs, brown not instant rice, ground turkey is affordable but not necessary...i also buy unsweetened almond milk in the shelf box=less than $2, if you can find an affordable whey protein...

good luck!

feefie04

bump, very informative

wellbert

frozen veggies ARE just as good if not BETTER than fresh!! good lawd people!! unless you're buying local or go to the farmers market daily, it's not as FRESH as you think!

I wish you could convince my wife of that.

$3 for a bag of flash frozen stir fry veggies, or $12 to buy them all fresh? Seriously.

AyaKara

I always spend $30 a week on average for my groceries! So, this is not a problem for me :laugh: I get:

-- 1 bunch of bananas, a bag of apples
-- raisins
-- 5 Greek yogurts for the week
-- eggs
-- tomatoes & mushrooms
-- two bags of salad
-- oats

& I get by just fine, unless I need to buy refills of things that have run out. :flowerforyou:

MED2012COLORADO

I don't think I could live on $30 for 2 days. I'd probably buy a big knife for $30 and rob a butcher shop.

LOL :laugh: I was thinking the same thing which is why i asked the smart wonderful awesome people on this site. :happy: They sure pulled thru with some awesome ideas didnt they? :bigsmile:

MED2012COLORADO

I always spend $30 a week on average for my groceries! So, this is not a problem for me :laugh: I get:

-- 1 bunch of bananas, a bag of apples
-- raisins
-- 5 Greek yogurts for the week
-- eggs
-- tomatoes & mushrooms
-- two bags of salad
-- oats

& I get by just fine, unless I need to buy refills of things that have run out. :flowerforyou:

What do your meals look like on this list... i can see maybe oatmeal w/ raisins for breakfast? then maybe banana for a snack, then salad w dressing? and sauteed mushrroms for lunch, yogurt for snack dinner egg and tomato omlete? Thanks again for the lists.

a_better_me_for_me

bump

kenziestx

Shop at Aldi"s!!! I love that store. Everything is off brand, the quality is there, the price just isn't. You could fill your cart 1/2 way up with $30.