$40.00 a month (im serious)

setowally

Don't forget that if you have the space and right conditions you can always plant your own small vegetable garden and plant everything on a rotation.

pa_jorg

Do you have a CSA nearby? They are usually small family farms that always need help, so I volunteer a few hours a month at one and get loads of free organic veggies. Just something to consider if you have a little time. Maybe start by befriending some of the vendors at farmers markets?

And I agree with many of the above suggestions, including
eggs
oatmeal
beans
possibly frozen veggies?
tortillas instead of bread

kay_der

Wow. $40 per month? I don't know if it can be done. $50, maybe, if you are very, very careful, cook for yourself, and don't mind repeating meals often. You are probably going to lose some weight, since that package of noodles really has to last for 8 meals.

The Basics: If you are starting with an unstocked kitchen (i.e., no spices or pantry staples like flour, baking soda, etc.), I would suggest focusing each month on one "type" of cooking and buying the basics. For example, this month you might cook Italian. Buy what you need to do a few different dishes that call for the same ingredients, and make them last. You can get spices cheaply at ethnic markets, or if you have to, the dollar store. Look for the cellophane spice packets vs. the spice jars. You'll also find rice and beans more cheaply if you look around the grocery store. For example, at my local stores, the dried beans next to the Mexican food are cheaper than the dried beans on the vegetable aisle.

Protein: For me personally, I would rather limit my meat intake than buy the cheaper cuts/parts, since I am pretty picky about my meat. I would get my protein from beans and eggs. Dried beans are much cheaper than canned, and if you want the meat flavor, you can season with a little bit of ham, etc. I have been known to check the "manager special" section for meat as well.

Fruits and Veggies: Ethnic markets are a pretty good place for fresh produce. Check your local online classifieds for free or very cheap U-Pick arrangements. Often folks with extra garden/orchard produce will offer it for nothing as long as you pick it yourself. Take as much as you can freeze. Beyond those two options, I would second the recommendation for Sprouts/Sunflower. Compare the price per pound on everything. The bag of whole carrots is less than half the price of the baby carrots, for example. If you had just a little more wiggle room in the budget, a produce co-op like Bountiful Baskets will net you a lot of produce for the price per pound. Frozen fruit is expensive, but frozen veggies can be okay, especially if you get the store brand and stay away from the "steam in the bag." You can steam out of the bag just fine.

Meal ideas: For breakfast, oatmeal (not packets) is cheap and filling. Quick breads like muffins and pancakes can be very inexpensive if you make them from scratch. You can always freeze the leftovers. I make my own yogurt and bread, and both are cheap and make a lot of servings. For lunches and dinners, soups are great, and they freeze so you don't have to eat the whole batch in 1 week. Consider foods that you can re-purpose from one meal to the next. For example, you can make a big pot of vegetarian chili, then eat it on a baked potato, in a tortilla, with fried eggs, in a "cowboy casserole", etc.

For those who think it can't be done, it can. My parents spent a total of $400 in 1 year to feed their family of 6 (this was early 1990's), but my mother raised a huge garden (almost a full acre) and canned the whole thing, in addition to getting discards from the grocery store. I wouldn't say we ate like kings, but we never went hungry. You may want to investigate the urban homesteading lifestyle. It's not for everyone, certainly not for me, but people do it and love it.

One parting thought: food insecurity can really mess with your head. Take care of yourself psychologically, and do what you can to make the necessity of this budget a very temporary time in your life.

alpha642

I think as more home made you can do as more money you can save. Here is an example, this is a no knead bread and very easy to make:
You can get 25 lb. bag of bread flour at Sams for ~$9 here in Tennessee (3 cups ~ 1lb = 36 cent). The 2lb instant dry yeast is ~$5 and is equal to 130 pack (7g) this is 3.8 cents per bread. I store my yeast in the fridge and sometimes the data is over but I never had any problems. 4 lb of salt is $1 (180 portions a 10g for bread making = 0.6 cent). The ingredients for 1 bread are 40.4 cents (if water is considered free) and it has 1663 calories and this should be good to cover all your carbs.

Regards,
Markus

PS: go to you tube and have a look for artisanbreadwithsteve

Bakkasan

30 packs of trader joes pasta @ 99 cents each and pasta sauce.
Thank me later.
I kid
But that would do it. Nutrition be damned!

tomatini

I've been there, and while it's difficult, it's not impossible. My basic advice to you is that beans are your best friends in these types of situations. You can make a big pot of bean soup that will last for 6 meals. Get some frozen veggies, oatmeal, oil, rice and frozen/canned fruit (if you can afford it) to round things out. My grocery list for two weeks would look something like this based on prices at my local store:

-2 cans diced tomatoes (about $1 ea)
-Dried lentils ($1.50 for 1 lb)
-Dried yellow split peas ($1.50/lb)
-Dried black beans ($1.50/lb)
-A head of garlic (50c)
-A few small onions (probably about $1)
-Vegetable bouillon cubes (About $1.50 for a pack of 6)
-3 packs frozen veg (peas, chopped spinach, or blends with carrots tend to be cheapest, let's say $3)
-A container of generic rolled oats ($1.50)
-Chili powder ($1)
-Rice ($2.50 for 2 lbs)
-4 packets of ramen ($1)
-Cooking oil (about $2, might last you longer than 2 weeks)

All of that comes to about $20.50, which is slightly over half your budget, but you may be able to find some of those things cheaper and some of them will last for more than two weeks. If you have extra money, get fresh vegetables (like carrots and celery), canned fruit, and peanut butter. With those ingredients I would make:

-Two batches of black beans and rice with canned tomatoes + chili powder (add onions and garlic for flavor): Yields 4 lunches or dinners
-One batch of lentil soup with veggies and canned tomatoes (use the bouillon for this, add onions and garlic for flavor): Yields 6 lunches or dinners
-Two batches of split pea soup with veggies (use the bouillon for this, add onions and garlic for flavor): Yields 12 lunches or dinners
-One batch of lentil & rice soup with canned tomatoes and chili powder (use bouillon, onions, garlic, chili powder): Yields 4 lunches or dinners
-Ramen with whatever frozen veggies are left over: Yields 4 lunches or dinners
-Oatmeal for breakfast every day (sigh): Yields 14 breakfasts. If you can afford canned fruit or peanut butter add it.

That'll give you a total of 44 meals, more than enough for two weeks at three meals per day. Repeat for the remaining 2.5 weeks. This type of menu is not the most satisfying and nutritious ever, but it will keep you going for a month. If you're in a long-term difficult financial situation I recommend looking into food pantries in your area.

kimosabe1

buy your meat on sale and freeze it. Like my grocery store puts meat that is bad in two days on sale.

kdeaux1959

I do not recommend raw hamburger... first it is not the best use for such a frugal budget and secondly, it is far too dangerous.

Eve23

Check into bountiful baskets online see if they are available in your area. That will give you some fresh vegies perhaps. Dried beans and rice are excellent foods. I buy a large piece of meat and then divie it up for my family for each meal or for a day or however you will need to break it up.

In extreme cases I have bartered for food. At one time I baked breads, bagels, and pretzels for fresh meat from the butcher who lived next door to me. However that is not something everyone would be willing to do.

Do not let leftovers go to waste. A piece of leftover meat can be sliced up and added to a soup or rice for another meal.

mrfrodogetdown

I could do it. I'd be eating lots of beans, rice, pasta and potatoes, but I could do it.

Hit up the stores early in the morning to get reduced items. Freeze them. buy in bulk.

never124get

have an Aldi around?

my wife and I pick up most of our produce from there, and supplement with chicken breast/beef from Walmart.

I've cut my grocery bill about a third shopping there and then getting meats from Walmart or Kroger. I use the heck out of some coupons too! If you create an account with Ziplist.com they have a weekly list of foods from grocery stores in your area that have produce and mostly healthy things on sale I made out good this week with apples and bananas. (A bag was down to $1.25 I was like holy crap and stocked up.) I check there then I use the heck out of some coupons, and get all the other stuff at Aldi's and occasionally save a lot. You have to work to get a lower grocery bill and sometimes shop at multiple stores to get the best price on items.

terrellc1

Check with your Walmart...mine has price-matching. A grocery store up the road always has buy 1 get 2 free meat specials each week, and Walmart always PRICE MATCHES!! So I cut coupons and price match and then only have to go to one store rather than spending gas and time going to several. It does take time, but I am able to save a LOT of money.

KayteeBear

One of the best way to lose weight is be on a serious budget. lol AKA make sure to eat correct portion sizes. No super sizing your meals...makes things last longer.

Soup. Lots and lots of soup. I always make a random cabbage soup and LOTS of it.

Most of my tips have probably already been said a million times over so I'll leave it at this.

ladybuggprincess99

Okay, I know it's been said, but COUPON. Seriously.

I'm a college student. I am involved in a 6 person household. We have a budget of $200/month for groceries to feed 1 grown man, 2 grown women, and 3 kiddos and we end up having extra money at the end of the month with name brand products and health food. PLUS we have a surplus of items. Last month I didn't buy anything but milk (which went on some crazy sale so I bought a bunch and froze it), 6 dozen eggs (which I used coupons on as well), and fresh veggies (again, we also used coupons on those. Kashi had a pretty good sale.) You don't have to go insane with it, but it does help.

Even your non-food can be couponed. Then you can play with your budget and buy MORE food.

People can back off if they want to whine about it.

If you want to add me, I can give you more details... I don't want to just take over and turn your post into a coupon discussion.

mercina22

Great Ideas!!

dakotawitch

It's tough, especially since I don't know where you are located and food prices vary, but I have lived on a food budget not much bigger than yours so, here are some things I have done.

Aldi. If you can find one, it will change your life. Especially if you stick with the produce and fresh foods and avoid the processed.

Accept and and all food given to you. What you don't eat, you can pass on to others. (Do you qualify for a food pantry or other assistance?)

Buy food that multitasks -- by which I mean can be eaten in multiple ways and used in many recipes. Cuts down on what you need to purchase.

Make friends with your supermarket managers. Learn when things get marked down at the end or beginning of the day, and shop that "used food rack" like a boss. If you get in with your produce and meat managers, they will sometimes even give you stuff for free. (I learned to be flexible about expiry dates as long as stuff looked and smelled OK.)

If you can, purchase staples like flour and yeast, etc. so you can expand your cooking options. Build up pantry by purchasing a few staples each trip as your money allows.

If you don't have Aldi (and even if you do, because sometimes you can find deals at other stores), watch the adds and COUPON. If you can combine a sale with a coupon, you save so much. If you have Safeway/Randalls/Tom Thumb, get their store card. They load coupons just for you, based on what you buy, to their website. Log in and add these to your card. Their smartphone app is awesome. I have gotten free stuff by combining one of these deals with the weekly ad with a manufacturer's coupon.

Here are some of my favorite things to purchase when money is tight

Eggs. Get 18 if you can.
Tofu (it's 99 cents a block here -- disregard if you're in one of those places where it's $2)
Celery
Carrots
Onions
Garlic
Ground beef (if you can get it on deep discount)
Frozen veggies (storebrand, often $1 or less)
Rice
Pasta
Canned tomatoes
Cheese
Canned pasta sauce (usually 99 cents or less)

I will also sometimes budget to buy myself a "treat" so that I don't feel so deprived -- a good wedge of cheese, a really nice piece of meat, or even the stuff to bake myself muffins or something. Eating on the cheap doesn't have to feel like being poor.

Finally, I HIGHLY recommend the blog Budget Bytes. You would be amazed what she manages to cook for pennies.

2fit4fat

bump for you! i have no idea.. we spend a lot! lol coupons?

Mock_Turtle

i think your main staples are going to have to be a combination of:

rice, dry beans, lentils, tuna (when on sale buy a lot of it), red and green cabbage. I guess main meat would maybe be a fat cut of pork.

only buy chicken & red meat on deep discount - if you live close to a grocery store you can snoop around for stuff that's near expiry, often they will discount it 50% and if you are willing to cook it that day it's fine.

I would also suggest you acquire some expertise with various spices and some forms of ethnic cooking (chinese, indian, moroccan, whatever).

You can get a lot of taste for cheap if you know how to use spices - just buy raw foods and experiment, don't buy **** like KD or whatnot.

karenwillis123

great job on ur weight loss!!! i wish i can continue to lose like u!

mrsgeneric

Make homemade soups and chilis ect... Make enough that you can freeze them! And portion them so your not thawing everything out at once. Saves $ and cooking time