On a budget?

Sorry to hear about your husband's job.

I've notice that when dieting, you tend to spend more money. Fresh products cost more- it stinks! The only thing I can recommend is keep an eye on the sales ads.

Where do you live? Could you go fishing? Or do you know someone who does?

The regular grocery stores often have a budget brand of frozen fish fillets - my grocery store has store brand bags of tilapia, salmon and a few others - probably 6-8 fillets in a bag for a very reasonable price. They also have had skinless, boneless chicken breast for $1.99/lb - very good price. Also, keep an eye out for sales/deals and stock up if you can. Also, many grocery stores will significantly discount meat that is about to hit its sell-by date - watch for these (they usually have "managers special" stickers) - the meat is perfectly good, but needs to be cooked or frozen within a day or two. It'll take a little longer to go through the meat section looking for sales, but it's worth it!

Other budget shopping tricks - try to buy things in bulk when you can - for example, buy the 50oz glass jars of applesauce instead of the cups, or the large containers of yogurt rather than the individual servings. It's a little less convenient but much cheaper when you calculate the price per volume. I buy almonds in bulk from a heath/organic food store (which tend to be pricier in general) but the bulk almonds is WAY cheaper than the price per pound you end up paying for the convienient snack packs or even the bakery-aisle nuts. Don't be afraid to check out stores that you usually don't shop at - although health/organic/whole food stores can be pricey on some things, our health food store also tends to have very good vegetable prices (for their non-organics) and they'll usually have a few awesome deals every week. I got eggplant at 69 cents each the other day!!

Excellent proteins: legumes! Purchase them in bulk, rinse them, soak them over night (rinsing them several times and replacing with fresh water during that period) and rinse one last time and cook. Delish! Nothing like fresh legumes, beats a can of bean everytime because you control what goes into them. Canned foods are so full of unneeded sodium but when you buy in bulk, brown rice, legumes, well the sky is the limit actually of what's available you don't have to worry about additives in your foods.

Pick a place that has a high turnover in the bulk bins, think outside the box, Small neighborhood Hispanic grocery stores, Vietnamese food markets, other Asian market etc. Low cost and very fresh!

Often times you can also get veggies far cheaper at those markets as well. Crockpot cooking is a wonderful thing for cost saving and also time saving. So many recipes on the net and also if you a 'search' on MFP you'll come up with hundreds of awesome recipes for budget cooking.

Buy in season foods and save money and the planet!

:flowerforyou: Yes, on a budget here too. Husband's small business is folding:ohwell: ....soups and stews stretch the budget. Add a salad for bulk. We put left over stew on rice or add a baked potato. Mmmmmm! Count your blessings along with your pennies dear one. Tough times build character....I am some kind of character!:laugh: I am so thankful we have our health, our families and each other. It's all good.

Here is to a prosperous and healthy 2011!:drinker:

Go vegetarian once a week...cutting back on meat will reduce the grocery bill.
Fresh veggies don't have to be expensive. Don't go to a conventional grocery store. Check asian markets, farmers markets, and check to see if there is a co-op in your area.
I was able to support a family of three on my income alone for over three years. It can be done...just hang in there.

I swear by my local scratch & dent store! Granted, they don't have fresh fruits and veggies, but they do sell tons of other healthy food for CHEAP. Lot's of organic foods & low calorie foods. Do you have that kind of store near where you live?

I agree with most everything here. I rely on at least one crock pot soup to make lunches for a better part of the work week. Lentils are great as they don't need to be soaked and they cook in a reasonable amount of time for weeknight cooking. I also get small pork roasts that stretch really far for things like pulled pork sandwiches and as a spicy taco filling. In the spring you may consider looking into getting a farm share through the Community Supported Agriculture program (http://www.localharvest.org/csa/). We get a ton of fresh, local produce from May through December for a fraction of what it would cost us in the stores.

go to your local big supermarkets near closing time and buy your fresh fish,chicken,meats etc then.they always sell that days food cheaper then all you have to do is either freeze it or cook meals then freeze them.

Since neither me nor my boyfriend have a job and he's a student we are on very low budget all the time. We buy most of the stuff at Aldi, which is around the corner - in Germany not that hard i don't know about where you are. Prices are good and the frozen things are tasty and not as expensive, if you don't use the ones with breading they are just as good as the unfrozen. Also we have a shop that often as fresh unfrozen meat and fish for half of the price when it has to be eaten this or the next day. Maybe one of the shops where you are has that too, i am not familiar with the customs elsewhere. I also had the experience that farmers outside of the city offer their fresh vegetables, meat and such for lower prices than in shops.

Basa is a mild, good tasting fish that is usually pretty inexpensive. Pollock is also a good one.