$40.00 a month (im serious)

Shop the sale items too. That will help your budget and try for coupons. Some grocery stores like food lion will have a buck off produce purchase of 10 or more and will have green peppers and avacados on sale for 2 for a dollar. They also have certain days when meat goes on 'clearance'. I would lask the butcher when those days are.

My budget isn't quite that low ( $40/week for a family of 3 and it includes household pruducts.) I don't have much to add about specific foods to buy, but I can tell you the strategy I use. Every Sunday I go through all of the grocery ads and write down everything on sale that looks good to me. It has to be significantly on sale, too, not just 10 cents off or something. Then I go through that list and see what meals I can make from it, focusing on the foods that are the best bargains and keeping in mind foods I can use in multiple things, and I make a second list. Then I total it up and see if I'm on budget. If not I see what I can cut and when I get to the magic number I use that list. I also total my foods while I'm shopping to make sure I'm on target. It's a lot of work, but the work makes it possible.

- beans
- rice
- coffee
- apples
- oranges
- curry spice
- chicken
- carrots
- canned veggies
- spaghetti noodles
- tomato sauce
- potatoes
- spinach

If you're not squeamish, look into dumpster diving. As soon as products go out of their sell by date, stores just chuck them behind the store. We can get more produce than we know what to do with. BUT be very cautious about what kinds of things you fish out of there- prepackaged foods that aren't temperature sensitive and produce are good, but leave the meat, dairy, and any precooked foods in there.

Where you shop is so important. The price of foods varies immensely if you shop at The Dollar Store versus Whole Foods. Shop somewhere where the prices are significantly discounted, even if the quality isn't what you'd ideally want. Also, clip coupons (which you can also find online and print.)

Be very, very aware of how fast you eat things and at what rate they go bad. It's a fine balance, and you can't afford to let anything spoil, but you also don't want to go without!

The only way you might come close to that without a free source of food would be to only buy staples. So bags of beans, rice, flour, potatoes and the like and make everything from scratch. Around here, pork has been the cheapest cut of meat. Throw a little meat in with the bean and make your own bread. Buy whatever produce you can at whatever the cheapest price is. Since you are in AZ you should be able to grow a garden now, even if you are in an apartment there are plans for Rubbermaid plastic bin gardens or see if someone will give you big nursery pots from trees. Growing your own greens is fast so you could be eating from them in about a 6 weeks.

If you seriously don't have money you should look into food banks and soup kitchens. The city near us has 3 soup kitchens and like 30k people. My daughter volunteered at one of them during high school and she said they had plenty of fairly nutritious food and usually sent people home with a brown bag lunch too. Between the 3 kitchens you could eat dinner almost every day. Our town of 900 has a church that has a clothes and food bank and so does our neighboring town of about 1000. One of the churches has free bread day and I've heard they get a lot of gourmet breads that are day old from several stores. If you don't like the idea of getting stuff for free then volunteer there. Even though we didn't need food, the nights my daughter worked she was also fed since she was there at dinner time.

If this is a long term problem not just a this week problem then you should apply for food stamps. In our state you have to be homeless, handicapped, have children, or work 24 hrs a week. I think receiving unemployment is also acceptable.

My budget isn't quite that low ( $40/week for a family of 3 and it includes household pruducts.) I don't have much to add about specific foods to buy, but I can tell you the strategy I use. Every Sunday I go through all of the grocery ads and write down everything on sale that looks good to me. It has to be significantly on sale, too, not just 10 cents off or something. Then I go through that list and see what meals I can make from it, focusing on the foods that are the best bargains and keeping in mind foods I can use in multiple things, and I make a second list. Then I total it up and see if I'm on budget. If not I see what I can cut and when I get to the magic number I use that list. I also total my foods while I'm shopping to make sure I'm on target. It's a lot of work, but the work makes it possible.

And Walmart will price match all those sales, so you don't have to go shopping around to get those prices. Do any of your stores double coupons face value? I got around 30 boxes of cereal for about 35 cents a piece last week at store that doubles coupons.

Edit: ask people to save coupons for you to get extra. Also if stores have a limit on coupon used, you can usually do muliple transactions in order to use more, or leave and go back in.

Got this recipe from an MFP friend (and it's cheap)

Chicken thighs (I got them on sale, I think it was $2.50 for 1.7lbs)
Cola
Soy sauce
garlic
oil

Brown thighs in some oil with the garlic. Put in a pot and add cola and soy sauce. Simmer for 45 min, it should reduce to a syrupy sauce. Add water if it reduces too fast.

Also: You can buy dry milk powder and rehydrate it. I think it's cheaper than fresh

All I can think of is, are coupons. Hopefully, if you use them wisely. You can save/spend 40$ a month.
Good luck x

I'm not sure how cheap these would be for you, but you can find whole bags for $3-$4 here, and they last forever. You only need a little each time, especially if you're cooking for one.


It's "textured vegetable protein" / "textured soy protein". It's 50% protein, and it tastes... well, it tastes like nothing, really. I cook them in tomato sauce (should also be fairly cheap) with plenty of garlic, and use that as a vegetarian bolognese topping for spaghetti.

My church has a food bank and we serve hot meals one day a week. You my dear, are part of our target population. We don't do it out of pity, we do it out of love. So, check out the churches in your area, don't let pride keep you away. You need to feed that belly in order to feed that brain. Best of luck kiddo.

I only spend about $20 a week, but I also eat lunches at work for the most part. For home I buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts and I use onion, but you could use peppers and make fajita like chicken with tortillas or just use the chicken and buy a "seasoning package" for buffalo chicken which is yummy on some salad. Lettuce, potatoes and soups are pretty cheap. I buy cereal or granola bars for breakfast because I am not a big breakfast eater. Aldis is really a great place to shop for groceries if you have one close. I don't have one close so I use Hyvee, but I spent $60 yesterday and it will last me 2-3 weeks and had I used coupons it probably could have been less. I do not buy soda or juice, I just drink water for the most part. Good luck to you.

and I agree with the statement about organ meat.

Offal is the new steak! : )

At French Haute Cuisine ("high kitchen") cooking contests, like the Bocuse D'Or, they are now actually preparing ox cheeks and ox tails and such. Gastronomy has lately been rediscovering organ meat and it is now very trendy! :glasses:

I am a social worker and learned to feed my family of four pretty decently on about $125/week. Discount grocers and buying/cooking in bulk will be your savior. A quick Google search found these in Arizona (I have no idea how far away they are from you). My recommendation is to find time each week to hit at least one discount store and at least one place where you can buy in bulk and check your local Dollar Store - often you can find canned or dried or frozen food there (be careful, sometimes it is NOT the cheapest option!) See what's available that week. Make time each week to cook in bulk. Often with Discount Grocers you can't go in with a list because what's available changes every week. If you find a whole chicken for $5 Buy It and take it home and cook the whole damn thing and debone the meat and put it in individual containers (I weight mine first so it's easy to grab and go each week). If there’s veggie - get 'em, take them home and clean/cut/cook them all and put them in individual containers or baggies if you don't have enough tupperware. If there's fruit available I buy it - if I can't eat it all before it goes bad I'll cut it up in small pieces and freeze it for smoothies later. I even buy spinach/greens in bulk and blend them with coconut milk and freeze them in a cupcake tin to make myself smoothie pops - then each morning all I have to do is add the fruit and some water and boom - a fresh green smoothie! Buy lots of bulk beans and brown rice and canned tuna (in water not oil). Don’t let the lure of cheap $1 meals get to you! It only looks like inexpensive food – it isn’t! You got this! A little planning and a little time and You Got This!



Arizona Discount Grocery Stores

Cornville
Grocery Surplus Outlet LLC
9435 Cornville Road
Cornville, AZ
Ph 928-639-3869

Mesa
American Discount Foods
www.american-discount-foods.com
308 South Extension Road. #108
Ph 480-649-4495

Glendale
Grocery Outlet
4308 W Bell Rd
Glendale, AZ 85308
(602) 548-0007

Peoria
The Dented Can LLC
9501 W Peoria Ave Ste 11
Ph 623-486-9646

Quartzsite
Discount Groceries
1558 West Main St.
Ph 928-927-4301

San Luis
Green Tree Grocery Outlet
520 N. Archibald Street

Yuma
Green Tree Grocery Outlet
495 E. 10th Street
Ph 928-329-6664

Green Tree Grocery Outlet
9117 E. South Frontage Road
Yuma, AZ



Tucson
Grocery Outlet
5667 E Speedway Blvd
Tucson, AZ 85712
(520) 546-6645

Value Foods Store
Tucson 85726
520-622-0525

Wickenburg
B & S Discount Sales
642 W Wickenburg Way
Wickenburg, AZ 85390
Phone: (928) 684-3716

Eggs (Protein and Fats), Bananas (Carbs) and Potatoes (More Carbs).
Rice isn't a bad option either, can get 20 pounds for like 20 bucks where I'm at.

My budget is about $200-300 a month, I buy cheap, if I have them I will use coupons and store adds/specials.
Buy your bread at an outlet store, My city has a SaraLee outlet and you can buy bread for as little as $.99
Buy store brands, if its cheaper.
Frozen veggies are pretty cheap, about $1-2 per bag
Look into food pantries, no shame in getting free food.

Youre in Arizona....check out the Mexican groceries. You can get staples like rice and beans there pretty cheap.
I would also tell you to check out one of the buying groups...Market on the Move can be a terrific deal for produce. They have sites all over Tucson on the weekends, and I think they have sites in Phoenix too. Also...Bountiful Baskets co-op is a wonderful program. We get a basket every other week because its just so much good food we don't finish all of it. Its $15 a basket...and worth a minimum of twice that , all fresh fruits and veggies. Good luck!