$40.00 a month (im serious)
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Shop the sale items too. That will help your budget and try for coupons. Some grocery stores like food lion will have a buck off produce purchase of 10 or more and will have green peppers and avacados on sale for 2 for a dollar. They also have certain days when meat goes on 'clearance'. I would lask the butcher when those days are.0
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Start clipping coupons. My friend goes thru the recycle bin every week at the dump and gets free coupons. Find a store that doubles the coupons. USE THEM. You have to price compare to figure out which store has what you eat for the cheapest amount. We have 3 stores in a 1 mile radius. When I moved here I made a list of necessities and went to all three and wrote down the price at each. I scour the weekly ads at each store to find sales and match sales to coupons. I take my price journal with me so I can change the price if a store increases/decreases. I try to make a monthly trip to Walmart superstore to get cheaper meat. Hamburg at Wal-Mart for 75% is super cheap... just be sure to rinse it after you cook it to get the excess fat off!
Ask the meat department for the ends/scraps. They can't serve/sell them so they go in the garbage. Easy way to add meat to your meal for free. Ask the bakery about out of date bakery items. They usually mark them down then toss em. Look for a local food pantry. There are usually requirements to obtain free food so check before you go. Also check for soup kitchens or church suppers.
Frozen veggies
Dry beans
Frozen bread loaves- bake them yourself when you need them.
You can make a veggie soup that will last for a weeks worth of meals for $5. Elbow macarroni, tomato paste, ground hamburg, veggies- canned or frozen of your choice.
Most pasta meals are relatively cheap to make but crap on calories!
If you are seriously trying to spend this much per month you need to plant a garden and grow fresh veggies. You can grow tomatoes all summer and can them so you have them for sauces. We stockpile in the summer. Blueberries freeze very well and will last thru the winter. We do the same with corn on the cob. We get 13 ears for 3 bucks and cook it then cut it off the cob and freeze it. Make your own jelly/jam.0 -
My budget isn't quite that low ( $40/week for a family of 3 and it includes household pruducts.) I don't have much to add about specific foods to buy, but I can tell you the strategy I use. Every Sunday I go through all of the grocery ads and write down everything on sale that looks good to me. It has to be significantly on sale, too, not just 10 cents off or something. Then I go through that list and see what meals I can make from it, focusing on the foods that are the best bargains and keeping in mind foods I can use in multiple things, and I make a second list. Then I total it up and see if I'm on budget. If not I see what I can cut and when I get to the magic number I use that list. I also total my foods while I'm shopping to make sure I'm on target. It's a lot of work, but the work makes it possible.0
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look at your budget, rearrange where you're spending your money, and allocate more of it for... ya know... the thing that will keep you alive. (food)
Can you survive on $40/month? Yeah probably. Will this site be at all useful to you? Probably not, since you'll be eating an awful lot of ramen noodles.0 -
- beans
- rice
- coffee
- apples
- oranges
- curry spice
- chicken
- carrots
- canned veggies
- spaghetti noodles
- tomato sauce
- potatoes
- spinach
If you're not squeamish, look into dumpster diving. As soon as products go out of their sell by date, stores just chuck them behind the store. We can get more produce than we know what to do with. BUT be very cautious about what kinds of things you fish out of there- prepackaged foods that aren't temperature sensitive and produce are good, but leave the meat, dairy, and any precooked foods in there.
Where you shop is so important. The price of foods varies immensely if you shop at The Dollar Store versus Whole Foods. Shop somewhere where the prices are significantly discounted, even if the quality isn't what you'd ideally want. Also, clip coupons (which you can also find online and print.)
Be very, very aware of how fast you eat things and at what rate they go bad. It's a fine balance, and you can't afford to let anything spoil, but you also don't want to go without!0 -
My budget isn't that bad. But, I am really trying to cut down on expenses. So, I am interested in these suggestions.0
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The only way you might come close to that without a free source of food would be to only buy staples. So bags of beans, rice, flour, potatoes and the like and make everything from scratch. Around here, pork has been the cheapest cut of meat. Throw a little meat in with the bean and make your own bread. Buy whatever produce you can at whatever the cheapest price is. Since you are in AZ you should be able to grow a garden now, even if you are in an apartment there are plans for Rubbermaid plastic bin gardens or see if someone will give you big nursery pots from trees. Growing your own greens is fast so you could be eating from them in about a 6 weeks.
If you seriously don't have money you should look into food banks and soup kitchens. The city near us has 3 soup kitchens and like 30k people. My daughter volunteered at one of them during high school and she said they had plenty of fairly nutritious food and usually sent people home with a brown bag lunch too. Between the 3 kitchens you could eat dinner almost every day. Our town of 900 has a church that has a clothes and food bank and so does our neighboring town of about 1000. One of the churches has free bread day and I've heard they get a lot of gourmet breads that are day old from several stores. If you don't like the idea of getting stuff for free then volunteer there. Even though we didn't need food, the nights my daughter worked she was also fed since she was there at dinner time.
If this is a long term problem not just a this week problem then you should apply for food stamps. In our state you have to be homeless, handicapped, have children, or work 24 hrs a week. I think receiving unemployment is also acceptable.0 -
Get a better job0
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My budget isn't quite that low ( $40/week for a family of 3 and it includes household pruducts.) I don't have much to add about specific foods to buy, but I can tell you the strategy I use. Every Sunday I go through all of the grocery ads and write down everything on sale that looks good to me. It has to be significantly on sale, too, not just 10 cents off or something. Then I go through that list and see what meals I can make from it, focusing on the foods that are the best bargains and keeping in mind foods I can use in multiple things, and I make a second list. Then I total it up and see if I'm on budget. If not I see what I can cut and when I get to the magic number I use that list. I also total my foods while I'm shopping to make sure I'm on target. It's a lot of work, but the work makes it possible.
And Walmart will price match all those sales, so you don't have to go shopping around to get those prices. Do any of your stores double coupons face value? I got around 30 boxes of cereal for about 35 cents a piece last week at store that doubles coupons.
Edit: ask people to save coupons for you to get extra. Also if stores have a limit on coupon used, you can usually do muliple transactions in order to use more, or leave and go back in.
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Your staples should include oats, eggs, beans, canned seafood, potatoes, and any vegetable and fruit in season. Limit meat as that is the biggest budget killer. Buy things on sale, even if they are not needed right away.
Breakfast, you could have oatmeal, eggs and toast, smoothies, etc.
Lunch, tuna or salmon sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly, baked potatoes, salads, etc.
Dinner, a portion of meat, rice or potato, and a vegetable.
It might be difficult but with a little planning it should be doable.0 -
Got this recipe from an MFP friend (and it's cheap)
Chicken thighs (I got them on sale, I think it was $2.50 for 1.7lbs)
Cola
Soy sauce
garlic
oil
Brown thighs in some oil with the garlic. Put in a pot and add cola and soy sauce. Simmer for 45 min, it should reduce to a syrupy sauce. Add water if it reduces too fast.
Also: You can buy dry milk powder and rehydrate it. I think it's cheaper than fresh0 -
Bumping for suggestions!0
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All I can think of is, are coupons. Hopefully, if you use them wisely. You can save/spend 40$ a month.
Good luck x0 -
We do a lot of grocery shopping at Walmart since they have pretty good prices usually. Also, if you have Safeway nearby, you can sign up for their Just for U program with the club card. We've saved a lot of money on groceries by using it. And I don't know if they're down there, but my sister does a lot of shopping at Grocery Outlet and Winco... they both have really cheap prices.0
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I'm not sure how cheap these would be for you, but you can find whole bags for $3-$4 here, and they last forever. You only need a little each time, especially if you're cooking for one.
It's "textured vegetable protein" / "textured soy protein". It's 50% protein, and it tastes... well, it tastes like nothing, really. I cook them in tomato sauce (should also be fairly cheap) with plenty of garlic, and use that as a vegetarian bolognese topping for spaghetti.
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Personally, I would stop buying `jack in the box` processed food.
Get to you local market and buy some fresh veggies and you can buy meat, and learn to cook stuff.
In the UK I can buy some lean mince steak put in a pan with some peeled, diced potatoes veg of your choice, salt, pepper, tomato ketchup, stock cube boil for 45 mins cost around in dollars 5$ You can put some in a freezer and you can get around 6 meals from this.
Try looking into making your own stuff, it really will be cheaper.0 -
My church has a food bank and we serve hot meals one day a week. You my dear, are part of our target population. We don't do it out of pity, we do it out of love. So, check out the churches in your area, don't let pride keep you away. You need to feed that belly in order to feed that brain. Best of luck kiddo.0
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That's tough to do! Some good suggestions here already! Bump for later0
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I only spend about $20 a week, but I also eat lunches at work for the most part. For home I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts and I use onion, but you could use peppers and make fajita like chicken with tortillas or just use the chicken and buy a "seasoning package" for buffalo chicken which is yummy on some salad. Lettuce, potatoes and soups are pretty cheap. I buy cereal or granola bars for breakfast because I am not a big breakfast eater. Aldis is really a great place to shop for groceries if you have one close. I don't have one close so I use Hyvee, but I spent $60 yesterday and it will last me 2-3 weeks and had I used coupons it probably could have been less. I do not buy soda or juice, I just drink water for the most part. Good luck to you.0
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Be careful with organ meat if you have cholesterol problems as they are the worst meat for you in this case. We are not on a tight budget but I always go to the markets on days when I know they are reducing the prices on meats and vegetables. If it is ground beef and the price is reduced as a result of it expiring in a day I will bring it home, cook it, let it cool and bag/freeze it for future uses in stews, chili, pasta sauce, taco salad, etc.
The vegetables I use by making soups and freezing they for future meals.
Works great and this way I feel I am not being taken advantage of by the crazy high prices.0 -
and I agree with the statement about organ meat.
Offal is the new steak! : )
At French Haute Cuisine ("high kitchen") cooking contests, like the Bocuse D'Or, they are now actually preparing ox cheeks and ox tails and such. Gastronomy has lately been rediscovering organ meat and it is now very trendy! :glasses:0 -
coupons and sales will be your best friend. Good luck eating for 40 a month. Eating healthier options anyway.0
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I am a social worker and learned to feed my family of four pretty decently on about $125/week. Discount grocers and buying/cooking in bulk will be your savior. A quick Google search found these in Arizona (I have no idea how far away they are from you). My recommendation is to find time each week to hit at least one discount store and at least one place where you can buy in bulk and check your local Dollar Store - often you can find canned or dried or frozen food there (be careful, sometimes it is NOT the cheapest option!) See what's available that week. Make time each week to cook in bulk. Often with Discount Grocers you can't go in with a list because what's available changes every week. If you find a whole chicken for $5 Buy It and take it home and cook the whole damn thing and debone the meat and put it in individual containers (I weight mine first so it's easy to grab and go each week). If there’s veggie - get 'em, take them home and clean/cut/cook them all and put them in individual containers or baggies if you don't have enough tupperware. If there's fruit available I buy it - if I can't eat it all before it goes bad I'll cut it up in small pieces and freeze it for smoothies later. I even buy spinach/greens in bulk and blend them with coconut milk and freeze them in a cupcake tin to make myself smoothie pops - then each morning all I have to do is add the fruit and some water and boom - a fresh green smoothie! Buy lots of bulk beans and brown rice and canned tuna (in water not oil). Don’t let the lure of cheap $1 meals get to you! It only looks like inexpensive food – it isn’t! You got this! A little planning and a little time and You Got This!
Arizona Discount Grocery Stores
Cornville
Grocery Surplus Outlet LLC
9435 Cornville Road
Cornville, AZ
Ph 928-639-3869
Mesa
American Discount Foods
www.american-discount-foods.com
308 South Extension Road. #108
Ph 480-649-4495
Glendale
Grocery Outlet
4308 W Bell Rd
Glendale, AZ 85308
(602) 548-0007
Peoria
The Dented Can LLC
9501 W Peoria Ave Ste 11
Ph 623-486-9646
Quartzsite
Discount Groceries
1558 West Main St.
Ph 928-927-4301
San Luis
Green Tree Grocery Outlet
520 N. Archibald Street
Yuma
Green Tree Grocery Outlet
495 E. 10th Street
Ph 928-329-6664
Green Tree Grocery Outlet
9117 E. South Frontage Road
Yuma, AZ
Tucson
Grocery Outlet
5667 E Speedway Blvd
Tucson, AZ 85712
(520) 546-6645
Value Foods Store
Tucson 85726
520-622-0525
Wickenburg
B & S Discount Sales
642 W Wickenburg Way
Wickenburg, AZ 85390
Phone: (928) 684-37160 -
You can get grains and beans really cheap in bulk at wholefoods or on nuts.com.
You really should try to cut out other expenses it's really cheap to eat BAD- just check out McDs 99 cent menu.
To eat healthy you have to invest in your FOOD. I spend about $500/month on fresh produce.
You can check out what my fridge looks like here
www.me-on-dukan.blogspot.com0 -
Eggs (Protein and Fats), Bananas (Carbs) and Potatoes (More Carbs).
Rice isn't a bad option either, can get 20 pounds for like 20 bucks where I'm at.0 -
If you are without money in general, go to the nearess food bank! I give food there all the time...mostly fresh food in the summer as I have a HUGE garden and can't eat all the produce!!! Example, somehow I ended up with 40 cucumber plants and 60 tomato bushes..seriously how much salsa can you make!!! HaHa, But, seriously, food banks are there for a reason.0
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My budget is about $200-300 a month, I buy cheap, if I have them I will use coupons and store adds/specials.
Buy your bread at an outlet store, My city has a SaraLee outlet and you can buy bread for as little as $.99
Buy store brands, if its cheaper.
Frozen veggies are pretty cheap, about $1-2 per bag
Look into food pantries, no shame in getting free food.0 -
Here in Alberta, Canada the Farmer's Markets are really expensive however the product is fresh for the most part. I have bought chickens that were very questionable for freshness and berries that are fresh on top and not so great below 2 inches in the pail. So for me Farmer's Markets are buyer beware.0
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Youre in Arizona....check out the Mexican groceries. You can get staples like rice and beans there pretty cheap.
I would also tell you to check out one of the buying groups...Market on the Move can be a terrific deal for produce. They have sites all over Tucson on the weekends, and I think they have sites in Phoenix too. Also...Bountiful Baskets co-op is a wonderful program. We get a basket every other week because its just so much good food we don't finish all of it. Its $15 a basket...and worth a minimum of twice that , all fresh fruits and veggies. Good luck!0 -
I haven't read everything that was advised but as a student i pride myself on making cheap good meals.
I but lemons/ lemon juice and make lemonade instead of buying juices; sometime i just add the lemon to water for flavor the juice tends to last 2-3 weeks while the lemons last 1.5 weeks.
Corn tortillas, usually 30 tortillas for $1.50 and i put black beans, grated cabbage and cheese. 3 tortillas are usually less than 200 calories and the corn limits the calories and carbs.
Back to cabbage, i buy a whole cabbage usually like $2.00 and it can last about 2 weeks depending on how often i use it. I steam it or saute it with some seasoning.
Also, when I buy ground turkey I usually split it into four servings, tomato sauce and a zucchini and egg noodles. That's four meals for about $2.50 a meal for all ingredients.
I eat a lot of eggs
Usually I buy big dry oats, its about $3.50 but it can last 3 weeks to a month
tuna is a good suggestion
i like graham crackers for snacks.
I don't eat read meat so no tips there but if you want to make fish tilapia is usually cheap and stores sometimes sell one big piece for less than $2.00
Hope this helps:)0
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