food budget

Pay close attention to sale prices and stock up when there's a low price. Pair sales with coupons if possible.

Frozen or canned fruits and veggies are pretty cheap, so maybe those instead of fresh fruit & veggies for a while?

If you do go this way try and stay away from caned veggies as much as you can there nasty high in sodium. I just found this out myself.

There are plenty of companies that make salt free canned vegetables.

True. I haven't found many on a budget yet. Im probly not looking hard enough though.

eggs

Do you have an Aldi around you? They are great in prices and have a wonderful Fit & Active line that will help you keep on track. If not, I would watch any adds and build up a pantry when things go on sale. Once you get it built up a bit, $25 would be easy! I have a great pantry and just keep creamed soups to cook with with, tomato pastes, sauces and diced/stewed cans, chicken stock. If you can buy in bulk, that helps too. Good luck. It's a challenge, that should make it fun :-)

That is a really low budget. That's half of what I was spending on just myself, 6 years ago.

Anyway, I agree with what's been said before. Try shopping at stores like Aldi or Save-A-Lot. I also agree with the Asian Markets. There is a great one near me. There are some odd foods there, but there are also good deals on produce and seafood. Just stay away from the cookies.

Portion out your food when you're done cooking it. Put some in the bowl you're going to eat out of, and put the rest in lunch sized portions in containers. Freeze whatever you can't eat in a few days. If you're going to eat on the cheap, you're probably going to cook a lot. You can't afford to let anything spoil.

I also buy a lot of eggs and frozen veggies. They are easy and they store well.

Buy produce in small quantities just for the spoiling factor.

Yeah the steamers at walmart are good there is like usually 2 svs to a pack. I get the rice ones two and split that up for two dinners. I buy a bag of cooked chicken breasts so all i have to do is pop them in the microwave, they are around 7.00 but i use them for most meals at dinner. Also like someone said, the salmon is great too 5.00 for 4 fillets. Bananas and strawberries and grapes are good "keepers" and usually cheap-excpt only in season with stberries. I like a 1.00 lean hot pocket for breakfast or you can get the 1.49 pack of like 12 fit and active waffles at aldi and i put peanut butter and cut banana on those. DELICIOUS. CHEAP. AND at walmart for your lunches, get the Tuna to go! Comes with a mint, napkin, silverware, relish, tuna pack and red. fat mayo, UNDER 1.50 usually!!!! Soup is cheap too. Check out my blog for more ideas www.cupcakesandcardio.blogspot.com!!

$25.00 a week would be tough, but I imagine that it is only you you are feeding on the $25.00.

I would find a good farmers type market and shop there sales (I shop at Sprouts)

I feed my family of 3 on $75- $90.00 a week which breaks out to about $25.00-$33.00 per person. (Please note this is for food only, not other essentials like t.p. cleaning supplies, etc that we get at Costco)

Find things that get you more than one meal in left overs or made with the same thing (1 package of ground turkey woudl feed one person serveral meals and only costs around $5.00 and you can make tacos, ground turkey burgers, etc. with it)

I would shop the sales and buy only what on sale, if Strawberries and Potatoes are on sale this week, you eat that, if it's bananas and lettuce next week you eat that.

Buy as fresh as possible, but make sure you eat it before it goes bad.

Don't forget to get creative. I don't like lentils, but I do like them in burritos with mustard. I am also working on a mashed lentil recipe. You can make potatoes in a million different ways, and they are so cheap. There are many recipes on the web on how to make mashed potatoes with mashed beans mixed in for more protein and satiety. Try roasted chickpeas in place of potato chips. I'm going to try toasted/roasted lentils this weekend. Try to incorporate foods that keep for awhile and you don't need to buy weekly--oatmeal tubs, rice. Remember to buy beans dry and plan ahead. Lentils are great because you don't have to plan ahead. You can also cook them in the rice cooker. If you have a crockpot (or even if you don't,) experiment with soups and stews.

Look around online for couponing sites that will download automatically to your grocery store savings card. I use Savingstar, but I think it is new and there aren't many offers just yet that I want. But it gives you money back in terms of Amazon money and stuff like that (which can be used to buy food.) Make sure to use your grocery store savings cards. Don't be shy when people ask you what you want for Christmas to tell them grocery store gift cards if necessary. If you qualify income-wise, you can also check out food pantries and community meals. Your local United Way can help you find them.

I have read before that frozen fruits and veggies are not only less expensive, but also really good for you. They pick them at the peak of freshness and preserve them, then freeze them to lock in all the nutients. I know that on the Target website they have had coupons for the Market Pantry brand frozen fruits and veggies. Also, this time of year keep your eye out for Del Monte coupons, they usually have some out for the holiday season. I like the Green Giant Just for One packs. They come in packages of 4 for about $2.50 here in MN, and they are great little sides for lunches or dinners! Also, make sure that you are purchasing fresh fruits and veggies that are in season, when you buy them out of season, they can drain your pocket book. They also say that if you purchase more fruits and veggies your grocery bill will be less since you are not buying a bunch of other filler food.