Eating (mostly) clean on a budget

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  • Th3Ph03n1x
    Th3Ph03n1x Posts: 275 Member
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    I always plan my meals and shop from a list. It might be partially to some of the non perishable items we wren't buying before I'm not sure what it was but when we got the total at the checkout I about fell out. My best guess is so many different produce items because those are the only items that increased in number.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    budgetbytes.com
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    Capt_Apollo wrote: »
    budgetbytes.com

    Checked out your site and I like it.

  • PowerfulHunt
    PowerfulHunt Posts: 281 Member
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    Check out Leanne Brown's "Eat Well on $4/day"

    https://41aac1a9acbe9b97bcebc10e0dd7cb61ef11502c.googledrive.com/host/0B9c5aT4eSlRfMzVpbC0xemtkSlE/good-and-cheap.pdf
  • softblondechick
    softblondechick Posts: 1,275 Member
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    I guess I don't get how eating clean is so expensive. For me, the food bill is reduced. We don't eat out at all anymore. I don't buy any processed foods at all. My Costco bill was less than $ 100 last week, eggs, pot roasts, lettuce, tomatoes, a whole cart of stuff.

    Our food bill has gone down significantly. No more booze is another way our food bill has gone down.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    goldthistime wrote: »
    Capt_Apollo wrote: »
    budgetbytes.com

    Checked out your site and I like it.

    it's not my site
  • Th3Ph03n1x
    Th3Ph03n1x Posts: 275 Member
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    PowerfulHunt wrote: »
    Check out Leanne Brown's "Eat Well on $4/day"

    https://41aac1a9acbe9b97bcebc10e0dd7cb61ef11502c.googledrive.com/host/0B9c5aT4eSlRfMzVpbC0xemtkSlE/good-and-cheap.pdf

    I will def check it out thanks.
  • racheljonel
    racheljonel Posts: 400 Member
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    Frozen veggies, eggs and ground turkey are staples of mine....and all cheap. Buy fresh veggies on sale and in season. Whole chickens are also cheaper than butchered chicken....and you can save the bones and veggie scraps for broth. Also, when possible, support your local farmers' markets....they are great for getting more bang for your buck in produce.


  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    I find it helpful to shop in catagories, ie- "dairy" "fruit/veg" "protiens" "starches" and then combine to make meals. I have a blog post on MFP about it, feel free to check it out.
  • crystalflame
    crystalflame Posts: 1,049 Member
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    I plan my meals around what's on sale, and the freezer is my best friend. I start by picking out the produce. This week there's a lot of kale because it's $0.98 a bunch (usually $2.99 in the off-season). I bought 3 packs of $0.98 blackberries, and what doesn't get eaten by Wednesday will be frozen because berries start to go downhill fast. I thoroughly inspect all the produce I buy - I got a giant container of spinach last week that's still pretty crisp because it was super fresh when I bought it, but if it already looks a little wilty in the store it won't last very long. I load up on certain frozen veggies when they're on sale - edamame, peas, corn, etc. (NOT broccoli because frozen broccoli is disgusting IMO - that's worth buying fresh. Knowing what you need fresh is important.) I wait for chicken to be $1.99/lb and buy about 20 lbs. That's 10 weeks' worth of chicken for me and my husband. I won't buy pork chops unless they're $2.99/lb or less, and if they get down to the $1.99 mark I load up on them too. Tuna, salmon, and shrimp are not weekly items, and I won't spend more than $6.99/lb on them. I try to buy non-perishables like beans, lentils, and rice in bulk when they're on sale. I'll make double batches of soups, stews, curries, saucy chicken dishes, etc. and freeze them. You may pay double or triple your normal grocery bill one week, but a few weeks later when there's not great deals you're already loaded up on food.
  • Th3Ph03n1x
    Th3Ph03n1x Posts: 275 Member
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    softblondechick wrote: »
    I guess I don't get how eating clean is so expensive. For me, the food bill is reduced. We don't eat out at all anymore. I don't buy any processed foods at all. My Costco bill was less than $ 100 last week, eggs, pot roasts, lettuce, tomatoes, a whole cart of stuff.

    Our food bill has gone down significantly. No more booze is another way our food bill has gone down.

    I'm sorry I can't make you get it. I can only tell you that first bill nearly doubled. Let me mention here we did not eat terribly dirty to begin with. Some ramen and/or mac and cheese now and then, crackers, chips, soda (again occasionally except the crackers) some breakfast foods. The main two things that changed this grocery bill were 1. more veggies/less meat and 2. more low fat/non fat dairy.

    We were not really worrying about dairy fat before at all. We bought full fat sour cream, whole milk, regular cheese and so on. The last trip I bought almond milk, some greek yogurt but only a couple small containers and a very pint container of fat free milk (I also got the whole milk for the kids). It seems like there were a few non perishables that I bought that I don't normally buy but I can't recall exactly what.

    I expected it to be lower than our normal bill too but it was almost double what I normally spend. Maybe this was just due to the initial changeover or possibly because there was too much variety in the menu. Time will tell.
  • iamaprincessx
    iamaprincessx Posts: 78 Member
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    Lidls!

    Cottage cheese around 30p
    Spinach bags just 49p,
    Mushrooms in a tin contain same amount of vitamins & nutrients than the boxed and are 30p or something
    FROZEN VEGETABLE BAGS, £1
    frozen chicken & fish £2-£3


    77374700.png
  • HardcoreP0rk
    HardcoreP0rk Posts: 936 Member
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    If you plan some meals in advance, you'll be able to figure out what you can safely freeze. For example, if you buy a massive bag of spinach and plan a few salads and a vegetarian lasagna from that...you can portion out what will go into the lasagna and freeze that much. You can also freeze ahead anything that will go into a smoothie. That should help cut down on the spoilage.

    Don't be afraid to make substitutions. If the meal plan calls for barley one night, farro another, and quinoa on a third...maybe you can handle subbing in brown rice for all three meals. It's up to you, how much or how little you can tolerate the same ingredients, but that is one way to save for sure.

    Also, if there is a rare or little used ingredient - try to see if it is something you can buy in the bulk foods section. I save a lot of money on certain nuts, spices, and flours this way. It may only be 50 cents to buy the quantity of spice I need (which I wont use again in a lifetime) but the bottle of that spice may easily be $7.99
  • HardcoreP0rk
    HardcoreP0rk Posts: 936 Member
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    Another thing...go ahead and buy full fat dairy. It's silly to pay more for dairy that is low fat, especially since the "health benefits" are widely disputed
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    HardcoreP0rk wrote: »
    Another thing...go ahead and buy full fat dairy. It's silly to pay more for dairy that is low fat, especially since the "health benefits" are widely disputed
    this
  • goddessofawesome
    goddessofawesome Posts: 563 Member
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    Why not make some of your own yogurt and cottage cheese if it's something that you eat often? Like others said, buy items in season or on sale. If you can't do that then opt for frozen fruits and veggies. They're just as nutritious as the fresh. Plan your meals too so that you're not having a lot of wasted food at the end of the week. If you do buy fresh veggies and fruit and it doesn't look as though you're going to use them before they go bad freeze them.

    We have a freezer filled with vegetables from the garden we had this summer along with canned tomatoes and sauce that we made. Now I only go to the grocery store for ancillary items like chicken, beef, fish. I buy raw milk from a local farm and make my own yogurt and just recently made some cottage cheese that came out awesome. Now I really only go to the store once every few weeks.
  • Shastabaldi
    Shastabaldi Posts: 36 Member
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    what did you buy? would be easier to offer solutions if i saw your grocery receipt.
  • jmauerhan
    jmauerhan Posts: 82 Member
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    softblondechick wrote: »
    I guess I don't get how eating clean is so expensive. For me, the food bill is reduced. We don't eat out at all anymore. I don't buy any processed foods at all. My Costco bill was less than $ 100 last week, eggs, pot roasts, lettuce, tomatoes, a whole cart of stuff.

    Our food bill has gone down significantly. No more booze is another way our food bill has gone down.

    Exactly. This x1000
  • Texas2Fit
    Texas2Fit Posts: 30 Member
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    See if you have these folks in your area: http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/
    We find that we eat better when we have more veggies in the house, since we don't like to waste what we buy. We pick extras when they offer some in bulk, and then plan meals around what is in the week's box.
  • Th3Ph03n1x
    Th3Ph03n1x Posts: 275 Member
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    goddessofawesome wrote: »
    Why not make some of your own yogurt and cottage cheese if it's something that you eat often? Like others said, buy items in season or on sale. If you can't do that then opt for frozen fruits and veggies. They're just as nutritious as the fresh. Plan your meals too so that you're not having a lot of wasted food at the end of the week. If you do buy fresh veggies and fruit and it doesn't look as though you're going to use them before they go bad freeze them.

    We have a freezer filled with vegetables from the garden we had this summer along with canned tomatoes and sauce that we made. Now I only go to the grocery store for ancillary items like chicken, beef, fish. I buy raw milk from a local farm and make my own yogurt and just recently made some cottage cheese that came out awesome. Now I really only go to the store once every few weeks.
    HardcoreP0rk wrote: »
    If you plan some meals in advance, you'll be able to figure out what you can safely freeze. For example, if you buy a massive bag of spinach and plan a few salads and a vegetarian lasagna from that...you can portion out what will go into the lasagna and freeze that much. You can also freeze ahead anything that will go into a smoothie. That should help cut down on the spoilage.

    Don't be afraid to make substitutions. If the meal plan calls for barley one night, farro another, and quinoa on a third...maybe you can handle subbing in brown rice for all three meals. It's up to you, how much or how little you can tolerate the same ingredients, but that is one way to save for sure.

    Also, if there is a rare or little used ingredient - try to see if it is something you can buy in the bulk foods section. I save a lot of money on certain nuts, spices, and flours this way. It may only be 50 cents to buy the quantity of spice I need (which I wont use again in a lifetime) but the bottle of that spice may easily be $7.99

    I do plan meals in advance but these are great tips especially the first one...thank you.

    Also for the record people I'm not trying to imply clean eating has to be expensive. Just trying to make adjustments so it isn't.

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