$30.00 A WEEK...

Dried beans are cheap, freeze well when cooked, and are an excellent source of protein and fiber.

I can get a dozen eggs around here for a buck, another source of protein.

I am not sure where you are located, but we have Aldi's around here and every week they have super cheap produce. This week, oranges, avocados, and grapefruit are super cheap.

Do you have a bakery outlet near by? I can get a stock of bread for close to a month for what I'd pay for 2 loaves in a normal store.

Shop early in the morning or later at night. Sometimes meats are marked down. You would have to cook it up right away or freeze it, but there is nothing wrong with it.

Look at unconventional places for food. Our gas station here sells bananas, onions, and potatoes for 38 cents a pound.

Chicken Breast(4 per pack, 12 oz size) x 3 = 12.00

7 bags frozen veggies = 7.00

B1G2 Steak = 8.00 (6 steak total)

Nuts (cashew, pistachio) = 10.00

Sweet potato = 4.00

Steamer healthy meals = 6.00

Usually the basics of what I buy every week, albertsons or kroger

I lasted 5 days a few weeks back on $10 lol. I bought two packets of meat for $5 each (sausages and turkey mince). Then I cooked them up and ate them with frozen veggies from the freezer for lunch and dinner. Brekky I already had in the house, usually rolled oats and milk. Plus a couple of meals I ate my sisters left overs. But yeah, meat and veggies are quite cheap!!

make a huge pot of soup my friend.

Carrot and coriander
Chicken and sweetcorn

There are so many possibilities plus the veg is cheap and flavour it up with herbs, lasts me a week!

Frozen fruit and veggies are good for you. Sometimes even better because they get frozen right away and preserves their nutrients verses the "fresh" stuff thats been sitting on a truck for however long then sitting in the store losing nutrients.

Unless its local produce, that fresh isn't as fresh as you think.

I hate frozen green beans so I by no salt added canned and I buy canned tomatoes which have more lycopene due to the heating process. I look for the BPA free cans. Otherwise I buy frozen (plus its way more convenient) and I do buy fresh but when trying to save some money I buy more frozen or seasonal fresh produce.

My weekly budget is about $20 per week here's what I buy...

Oatmeal
Grapefruit
Spinach Salad
Tyson Ready Grilled Chicken Strips
Eggs
cheese sticks (they last two weeks, 12 in a pack)
Rice cakes (last me two weeks)
Jello
Off brand Greek yogurt
frozen veggies
Meat (Chicken or fish, whichever is on sale)

The flash freeze frozen veggies are actually better for you in some ways because they are frozen at the peak of their life rather than being picked, shipped, and placed on shelves. If you have a farmer's market still open, those are the best places for actual, fresh fruits and veggies. So, with that being said, I shop at Safeway:

A couple of bags of frozen veggies: $5
5 Apples, pears, or bananas: roughly $5
1 bag of pre-washed lettuce: $2.50
3 cans of tuna on sale: $3 each
Chicken breasts, 3 or 4: $6-$7
Generic brown rice: $2-$3
1 box eggs: $3
= $28.5

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.

I would get some frozen veggies, a family pack of chicken, some rice, I need my nature valley granola bars, some apples, eggs. Sometimes if you go shopping early they will have meat that is about to reach it's 'sell by' date with a coupon. One day I got two huge pork roasts for $5 each! Avoid convenience, premade foods and junk food.

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Hey There I wish I could tell you exactly the prices and what not, but I am awful at that, but for my family of 3 I only spend about $30 a week (but we go grocery shopping every 2 weeks). I am a stay at home Mom, so we only have one income. Anywhos, I make everything I can from scratch,(bbq sauce, marinades, etc especially my bread). I have a system, where one paycheck I go out and buy my meat in bulk. This will last us about 2 months. Then for the rest of the weeks I get the basics I need to make whatever I want, like eggs, milk, cheese, flour, sugar, butter, rice etc, we also use frozen veg though. I think the only reason I am able to do this unfortunately is because I started with a well stock pantry, around tax time we go on a big grocery trip and I restock what we might not use as quickly (like cornstarch, baking soda, spices). I hope this makes sense and/or helps. It is possible once you stock up to only get what you are out off.

This may not be practical for you, but I meal plan, so I use up what we have and nothing goes to waste. Sundays I try and go through and plan for the week. Maybe that way you could go shopping once a week so stuff is fresh and you wont loose as much. I hope something I said helped!

I forgot to add some stuff, I also agree with Aldis, we do a lot of shopping there. Canned tuna is a great option, rice, chicken, I eat a lot of apples and peanut butter, that's my fav right now. Whole chicken is way cheaper, (I bought one on my last trip for $3.50), you can cook it up and eat off of it for days! Good luck!

Dried beans and rice FTW.
Add carrots, onions, cabbage.

Chicken breasts are too expensive. Buy the leg quarters.

Get regular oatmeal, if you get the big thing it's about 3 or 4 bucks, but lasts for a few weeks. Flavor it up with some cinnamon or peanut butter your golden.

Salad mixes are generally 3 or 4 bucks also, but if you portion it right, 3 lunches. Get a loaf of bread, some lunch meat (try to aim for anything lower in sodium and with no fillers or preservatives if your budget allows), and if you have room, provolone cheese. Make a half sandwich, and take a couple cups of the salad mix to work.

OR

Get some chicken breasts. I don't know if your store has them. I find these thin sliced breasts. They run about 3-4 as well, and there's about 6-7 in there. You could always save some for lunch (much better alternative than lunch meat!)

Buy fresh fruits and veggies (go for what's in season) Worst case, bird's eye steam fresh is cheap, and can provide 1-2 servings.

Peanut butter for filling calories/protein

But never settle for ramen!! I was saving money for moving and I tried to eat "the college kid diet" ramen, pizza, etc.... I felt like crap. I rather have just bought fruits and veggies and less crap!

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