Shopping List For Budget

If you buy a whole chicken you can get several meals from it. If you get to the store early enough you may find sometimes they have coupons right on the meat packages of things that are about to outdate. (I got two big pork roasts for 10 dollars ($5.00 each) not that long ago.) You can also get frozen veggies at a pretty good price sometimes. I don't eat a lot of rice, but a bag of rice is pretty inexpensive and you can have that with beans, salsa and a little cheese or low fat sour cream for a kinda mexican rice bowl. I can't wait to see what people advise, I can always save some money!

Rather than tell you specific things to buy, I'd encourage you to try to figure out the cost of each of your meals. Assuming you eat 3 a day, you can afford to spend $2.22 on every meal. Let's round that down to $2, so it leaves you an extra $20 for snacks, drinks, whatever else you like.

Okay, so your budget per meal is 2 dollars. Now what I'd do is write out some meals that I like to make, the cost of all the ingredients, and how many meals this makes. Here's an example of what my plan looks like, using something I buy all the time:

1 package of 6 whole-wheat pitas (1.50)
1 can of tomato sauce (0.70)
1/2 brick of Mozzarella cheese (2.50)
1 can of pineapple tidbits (1.20)
1/2 package of bacon (1.75)
1 green pepper (0.25)
grand total: 7.90 / 6 meals = 1.31 per meal

Obviously, you can't buy just half a brick of cheese or half a package of bacon, so my next meal will probably be based around the things I will have left over. I'll keep doing this until I have fed myself for as long as I expect all the ingredients I buy to last, and then everything on my plan will go on my grocery list. After a while you will start to get an idea of which things you use a lot, at which point I would encourage you to buy those things in bulk or stock up when they are on sale and further lower your price per meal.

As for specific things to buy, the only thing I don't see already mentioned so far is popcorn. It's ~250 calories for ~1/3 cup of kernels popped in an air popper, which is a HUGE bowl popped. I get easily more than ten bowls out of one $1.50 bag of kernels. It's a little high in carbs, but it's a much better (and cheaper!) choice than any other snack I can think of. You can pop it on the stove in oil for a few extra calories, but honestly a low-end air popper is probably the best $20 you'll ever spend.

Pinto beans (not canned), brown rice, eggs, carrots. If you have a friend that can take you to Costco, or Sams, buy canned veggies by the flat. Chicken, peanut butter. Like a previous poster said, get meats that are about to go bad. They taste best at this point anyways, and you can freeze them. Pork is a more affordable meat. Don't be to shy about going to a food pantry if you need a little more than you can afford. Food is really going up in price lately...

My budget is just about the same. I tend not to cook fancy meals, I just stick to the basics.

Fruits: Apples, bananas, frozen berries, raisins, other fruit in season (in season is less expensive and tastes better)

Vegetables: Lettuce/mixed greens (usually in a container, it lasts longer), spinach (same), potatoes, carrots, cucumber, zucchini/squash

Meat: chicken, turkey, lamb, beef (I get the higher fat percentage, it's cheaper, and the fat can easily be drained), EGGS

Nuts/seeds: cashews, almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts, sunflower seeds, flaxseed (all of these I get in bulk to last a month or more, so I'm not exactly sure how they fit into a monthly budget.)

Misc: Olive oil, canned coconut milk

I eat Paleo so there is a bunch of stuff that is not on the list. So to add to this, I'd recommend getting certain things in the bulk section of the store: grains (especially rice), beans (dry), trail mix, etc.

What exactly is Paleo, I've had several people mention it to me before....

And describe it to you. I don't know how many times I've gone over it with you.

I would suggest that you look for some coupons, every extra bit helps when the budget is tight.

These are great suggestions! I like the idea of breaking it down and planning as much as you can so when you go shopping you can spend a certain amount for each day/week, then you know you wont be left with nothing at the end of the month. And just think how much better you'll be feeling since it'll be healthier food :happy:

Depending on where you live, you should really shop the local super markets and do some couponing. Google whatever store is nearby with "coupon match up" and you can get a blogger in your area with the deals. Whatever is on sale this week, whether it be fish, chicken or pork, write it down and get an estimate of what you'll need. $50 a week for one person is SO easy.

I get kale at Walmart because it 's cheapest, but most of the other veggies suck. I make kale chips (delicious -- google it!).

Whole chickens on sale are perfect, can get quite a few meals. Eggs are cheap. Shop Sam's club for your veggies, bulk broccoli, mushrooms, avocados, and more!