$40.00 a month (im serious)

If someone can do that they might just end up a millionaire. Sorry I'm not much help. My grocery bill is huge(250/week). I'm interested if others have ideas though.

Lettuce?

what you got against grilled onions? Without grilled onions dont ever expect to be fit and have a low body fat percentage. Youre so cruel to grilled onions.

what you got against grilled onions? Without grilled onions dont ever expect to be fit and have a low body fat percentage. Youre so cruel to grilled onions.

hhaha...this.

If you have any Chinese or Indian food grocery stores around you then I would recommend you check them out for produce and spices. All the ones I've been to have always had really good prices.

This is not easy. You're giving yourself $10 a week. I have done maybe $20 a week as a student, but $10 is hard.

Here's what I would do:

1) Keep track of sales, you will pretty much have to live off what's on sale that week.
Your best bets usually (in Tucson) are Fry's and Sprouts. You can get their flyers online.
* http://services.frysfood.com/StoreLocator/StoreLocatorWeeklyAdSearch.aspx
* http://specials.sprouts.com/Shop/WeeklyAd.aspx

Also keep an eye on Albertson's and Walmart--occasionally grocery prices there are better.

2) Foods to look out for
Protein, look for sales on:
- Tuna cans (50 cents/can is good)
- Frozen chicken (~ $1.80/lb or better is good)
- Ground turkey ($1.25/lb or better)
- Eggs ($1 / 12 pack or better)
(I would avoid beef on the budget you have)

Vegetables & fruits
- Whatever is on sale (including frozen/cans). Avoid too much corn if you can.
Usually you can get fruits & veggies for $1-1.25 a lb.
- Also look for cabbage & carrots in fresh produce.

Cereals / Breads / rice
- Dry beans are cheaper than canned
- Uncooked (rather than instant) rice
- For lunch sandwiches: you can usually get a reasonable 20oz loaf for under $1.50 (should last a week of sandwiches)
- Breakfast cereals: usually bulk / no-brand is not too expensive

Dairy
- Buy milk only on sale
- If yogurt falls under $1.50 (32 oz pack, plain / low or non-fat), I'd get it
- Similarly if cottage cheese falls to about 80-90 cents for a 16oz pack

--

Apologize I'm not good at meal planning, as I tend to simply cook / use what I have in the fridge. I'm sure someone else will have good suggestions for you though.

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I would say, start with not going out to eat.. ditch the candy and juice initially(while stocking up)

Make sure you check the price per unit(ounce, pound, each, whatever) on EVERY thing, the largest pack is not always the cheapest per unit.

The least processed you go, the cheaper it usually is..

uncooked is almost always cheaper than cooked or canned.

bags of rice and beans(I like pinto and they're cheap here)

chicken(bone in will be cheaper by weight, but of course it's weighing the bone too)
less healthy ground meats(the leaner ones are quite expensive though)
avoid really nice cuts of meat...

frozen veggies in bulk are decently cheap and won't go bad like fresh veggies. could start with a couple then add in extras.
check sales for fresh veggies
bags of potatoes are really cheap here.

Shop around(at all the local stores to find the best deals) and stock up.
Go for the cheapest per unit instead of just the cheapest for right now, it will last you longer. split up and freeze what u're not going to quickly use..

My boyfriend and I spend about $50 a week for the 2 of us (sometimes more if it's a bulk item that will last us weeks/months).

We normally shop at lower price grocery stores (FoodMaxx/Food4Less for us here) Find the cheapest store you can will help out a lot. Don't buy name brand items if you can help it, the local brand in these stores is called Sunny Select or Sunnyside Farms, so most of our items are those brands.

we mostly just buy a lot of cheap veggies that are on sale at these stores, on sale meat (or a good deal), lots of frozen veggies (in case our normal veg doesn't last us), a spaghetti squash is a weekly buy (it usually feeds us for like 2.5 meals). We buy turkey bacon because it's cheaper than normal bacon in our store and we actually like it.

We have a store call Vallarta around here that has some great deals every week. 10# potatoes for $1 .. 5# tomatoes for $1 .. they have really cheap meat as well.

We also have a .99 store with a grocery area (veggies, frozen foods, breads, lots of canned goods)

And our normal Dollar Tree that has a little fridge/freezer area where we get things like farmer john sausages for $1 (normally 2/$3 in grocery).

I think it really depends on what you are looking for, what you are willing to put into your meal (crock pot meal? Have time to cook? Need quick meals?), and where you shop. If you don't have any discount stores around you then definitely try to shop sales, use coupons, go to several different places for sales if you have to.

Good luck!

Edit: I realized you said $40-50 a MONTH .. I'd say also add in Rice & beans .. both are pretty cheap items that can last a long time, especially beans if you can find them on a really good sale and stock up.

oh also, where ever you shop, find out where the meat n dairy that's close to date is (if they separate it) at brookshires I can get things that are 3-7 days till there sell or freeze date at a significant discount, have caught sales like this at walmart too, but not often(not like I go check every day)