Shopping healthy on a poor man's budget
clairesmommie
Posts: 15 Member
How do you do it? I usually spend $80/week on groceries for my family of 4 at Aldi. I decided that we have been eating unhealthy things so I went to Fresh Thyme and spent nearly $50 on about a quarter of the amount of food I usually buy. I'm getting discouraged but would like to hear suggestions. Thanks in advance.
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Replies
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Do you have the opportunity to grow anything? Not sure if you have a '.99 Cent' store near you but I can find some really great deals there. Huge heads of cauliflower, bell pepper and lettuce for only a buck!. It can sometimes be a hit or miss. Do you have Sprouts Market? They always have the cheapest produce. I live in CA and everything is expensive.0
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Do you have the opportunity to grow anything? Not sure if you have a '.99 Cent' store near you but I can find some really great deals there. Huge heads of cauliflower, bell pepper and lettuce for onlt a buck!. It can sometimes be a hit or miss. Do you have Sprouts Market? They always have the cheapest produce. I live in CA and everything is expensive.
I don't havr either. I am in Illinois about 15 minutes outside Saint Louis MO.
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Hmm? Local 'Farmers Markets'? Sometimes frozen isn't bad either in a pinch mixed with fresh vegis.
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What DID you buy? Healthy food is usually very cheap, and you don't have to get any fancy stuff, special herbs, organic etc. Get some potatoes, rice, pasta, beans, cheap cuts of meat, butter, milk, yoghurt, nut and nut butters, eggs, apples, oranges, bananas, frozen vegetables, carrots, oatmeal, bread. Look at the price per pound, per gram of protein, per portion, per calorie. Only buy what you like and want to eat. Don't buy more than you can eat before it spoils. Learn how to cook. If needed, google recipes for dishes you like. Cooking yourself instead of outsourcing will almost always be cheaper, tastier and healthier.0
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I think it's very easy!
Purchase items that are not only cheap but can be purchased in bulk and used in MANY different recipes during the week.
I dont know the specific prices in your area but some good staples to buy would be:
plain chicken breasts (which can be frozen or bought frozen)
spaghetti
pasta sauce
white rice
black beans
potatoes
oats
lentils
eggs
bags of frozen veggies
bags of frozen fruits
fresh fruits which stay good for a while like apples and oranges
fresh veggies that are cheapest in your area like zuchinni, green beans, and carrots
plain white bread
Milk
The idea being to buy a large amount of individual items that are cheap and can be used in multiple meals. EX. With the above you could make:
breakfast:
Egg omelet (eggs and veggies)
Eggs in a basket
French toast
Oats with fruit
Smoothies
Lunch & Dinner:
Beans and rice
Spaghetti
Stir fry
Lentil Soup
Chicken with veggies
Zuchinni boats
For snacks:
Carrots, oranges, oatmeal bars, hard boiled eggs, apple slices
And so on. This is just a general guide. Remember ultimately it has to do with the number of calories you are consuming.
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Most of my meals are chicken breast, frozen vegetables, and a baked potato (with a squirt of ranch dressing) or rice or pasta.0
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What did you buy at Fresh Thyme that you can't get cheaper at Aldi's, Wal-mart, etc?0
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whirlygig60 wrote: »What did you buy at Fresh Thyme that you can't get cheaper at Aldi's, Wal-mart, etc?[/quote
Good point. I am gonna take my receipt and look at walmart to see if their prices are cheaper. My daughter is autistic so I am transitioning her to gluten free foods. I bought alot of that stuff. Fruits, organic baby food for my youngest.0 -
Nothing wrong with Aldi. I would focus on nutrition first than be bothered about organic. You should shop within your budget tbh.0
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clairesmommie wrote: »whirlygig60 wrote: »What did you buy at Fresh Thyme that you can't get cheaper at Aldi's, Wal-mart, etc?[/quote
Good point. I am gonna take my receipt and look at walmart to see if their prices are cheaper. My daughter is autistic so I am transitioning her to gluten free foods. I bought alot of that stuff. Fruits, organic baby food for my youngest.
My brother is also autistic and has a really bad sensory disorder and when we switched him to a gluten free diet his improvements were AMAZING0 -
FloralBlossom wrote: »clairesmommie wrote: »whirlygig60 wrote: »What did you buy at Fresh Thyme that you can't get cheaper at Aldi's, Wal-mart, etc?
Good point. I am gonna take my receipt and look at walmart to see if their prices are cheaper. My daughter is autistic so I am transitioning her to gluten free foods. I bought alot of that stuff. Fruits, organic baby food for my youngest.
My brother is also autistic and has a really bad sensory disorder and when we switched him to a gluten free diet his improvements were AMAZING
I just want to point out... if you want to put her on a gluten free diet, buy things that are on the above type lists. DO NOT buy most of the gluten-free alternatives out there because they are 2-300% times more expensive.0 -
FloralBlossom wrote: »clairesmommie wrote: »whirlygig60 wrote: »What did you buy at Fresh Thyme that you can't get cheaper at Aldi's, Wal-mart, etc?[/quote
Good point. I am gonna take my receipt and look at walmart to see if their prices are cheaper. My daughter is autistic so I am transitioning her to gluten free foods. I bought alot of that stuff. Fruits, organic baby food for my youngest.
My brother is also autistic and has a really bad sensory disorder and when we switched him to a gluten free diet his improvements were AMAZING
Thank you for sharing your story. I certainly hope this helps improve her stimming and attention issues. It couldnt hurt right? :-)0 -
Fresh Thyme is the same company as Sprouts.0
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Start cooking. Things get a whole lot cheaper when you make them yourself. It's healthier and it tastes better, too.
Buy your meats whole when you can. Get a chicken or turkey and cut it up yourself. Use all the parts. Make stock with leftover bones. The cheapest cuts of beef make some of the BEST meals around, you just have to know how to make them. If you learn enough about meat, you'll find lots of ways to save. Most people just go in and buy the boneless, skinless chicken breast and 1.2 pounds of the 93% hamburger. There's nothing wrong with that! But it's not the cheapest way.
Use coupons - grocery stores here have them online. You can get them in the Sunday paper. Lots of food company websites have downloadable coupons. If your store has "Double Coupon Day", take advantage.
If you have one of those cheapo grocery stores near you, visit it. They have pretty low prices on things like peanut butter. But bring your own bags!!
Keep an eye out for sales at the grocery store!!! When they have to get rid of stuff before it hits the Sell By date, they drop the price. Take it home, freeze it - cheap food! Mone of the stores here is forever putting pork and turkey on sale. I actually wait until the sales and the buy it up.
Most important: if you are not good at math, take a calculator. The stores purposely break those "price helpers" down differently to confuse you. They price one item per ounce, and another by gram or ml.
Be open to generics, but don't make the mistake assuming the generic will be cheapest. Sometimes, the Dole frozen fruit (especially with a coupon!) is cheaper than the generic. If they've priced the store brand and name brand differently, it will very frequently be cheaper to buy the name brand.
Shop slowly. Look around for the deals. Aside from stuff they're trying to get rid of, stores try to hide the deals. Lots of time and money goes into getting people to spend more. Look around, find the deals. Watch the ads, but LOOK in the store.
Don't buy the cheapest TP. It's so thin that you have to use like twice as much. Not a deal!
Use bleach and Bar Keeper's Friend to clean. You'll save a fortune on cleaning supplies and can use it to buy food. I always crack up at how Bar Keeper's Friend is found in more poor homes and rich homes than middle class ones. The poor have figured out that it woks well and is cheap and the rich use it on the All-Clad pots and pans and find out how well it works.
People always say that eating healthy is more expensive, but it's just not true. It's really cheaper if you do a little work. 0 -
I love Aldi for healthy food! They have great options in their produce!0
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Um. I used to shop at Aldi, and I can assure you, our food was healthy. I bought mostly meat, veg, milk. I also buy flour, sugar, salt, pasta, canned and dried beans, some herbs/spices, rice, masa, baking powder, baking soda, canned tomatoes....some cheese and deli meat and eggs and hot dogs.
I buy their bread, too. And cereal. And oatmeal! Oh, and their nuts are super cheap!
I can't tell you what their precooked frozen food tastes like. Never bought it. But their canned soups are mostly healthy for a convenience meal. 0 -
If you're looking for health, ignore the organic label.
If you can switch your daughter's diet up on her and she won't starve herself to death rather than change, might want to rethink her label, too.0 -
Start cooking. Things get a whole lot cheaper when you make them yourself. It's healthier and it tastes better, too.
Buy your meats whole when you can. Get a chicken or turkey and cut it up yourself. Use all the parts. Make stock with leftover bones. The cheapest cuts of beef make some of the BEST meals around, you just have to know how to make them. If you learn enough about meat, you'll find lots of ways to save. Most people just go in and buy the boneless, skinless chicken breast and 1.2 pounds of the 93% hamburger. There's nothing wrong with that! But it's not the cheapest way.
Use coupons - grocery stores here have them online. You can get them in the Sunday paper. Lots of food company websites have downloadable coupons. If your store has "Double Coupon Day", take advantage.
If you have one of those cheapo grocery stores near you, visit it. They have pretty low prices on things like peanut butter. But bring your own bags!!
Keep an eye out for sales at the grocery store!!! When they have to get rid of stuff before it hits the Sell By date, they drop the price. Take it home, freeze it - cheap food! Mone of the stores here is forever putting pork and turkey on sale. I actually wait until the sales and the buy it up.
Most important: if you are not good at math, take a calculator. The stores purposely break those "price helpers" down differently to confuse you. They price one item per ounce, and another by gram or ml.
Be open to generics, but don't make the mistake assuming the generic will be cheapest. Sometimes, the Dole frozen fruit (especially with a coupon!) is cheaper than the generic. If they've priced the store brand and name brand differently, it will very frequently be cheaper to buy the name brand.
Shop slowly. Look around for the deals. Aside from stuff they're trying to get rid of, stores try to hide the deals. Lots of time and money goes into getting people to spend more. Look around, find the deals. Watch the ads, but LOOK in the store.
Don't buy the cheapest TP. It's so thin that you have to use like twice as much. Not a deal!
Use bleach and Bar Keeper's Friend to clean. You'll save a fortune on cleaning supplies and can use it to buy food. I always crack up at how Bar Keeper's Friend is found in more poor homes and rich homes than middle class ones. The poor have figured out that it woks well and is cheap and the rich use it on the All-Clad pots and pans and find out how well it works.
People always say that eating healthy is more expensive, but it's just not true. It's really cheaper if you do a little work.
I love this!
And, OP, plan your meals, write a shopping list according to plan, take it with you and stick to it. And never shop on an empty stomach
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I shop at Aldi, for about the same weekly budget as you and feed a family of five. You don't need to change where you shop. Aldi has a great selection of economical 'healthy' foods. Dried beans, lentils, split peas. Canned beans, great produce. Heck, I even get organic soy milk there. The only things I don't buy at Aldi are my 'weird vegan foods' like Vegenaise, nutritional yeast, tofu, and Boca burgers.0
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Here's a cookbook put together to help SNAP (food stamp) recipients make the most of the small amount they're
given. Yummy healthy recipes, great photography, a nice departure from the usual bland government output.
https://8e81c55f4ebf03323905b57bf395473796067508.googledrive.com/host/0B2A2SnkA9YgxaHdzbEhGSmJOZDg/good-and-cheap.pdf
And yes, keep shopping Aldi, migrate toward whole, natural, unprocessed food, and if you get/use a slow-cooker
that will help make cheap cuts of meat very very tender. Plus, it's great to come home to hot dinner all ready after
work! (Or even if you don't work outside home, it's an easy way to fix a meal & forget about it all day.)0 -
I have no clue, actually. I am struggling financially but the things I love are so expensive and I just buy them anyway. I spent at least 100 bucks a week on food for just myself. Maybe this thread will give me some ideas too.0
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What did you buy with that $80/week? I think Aldi's has some good stuff. My wife loves to buy the fruits there. I'm a simple guy so I just need some meat, fruits, and vegetables. Everything else is a filler.0
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If you're from the St. Louis area, I would also keep an eye on Schnucks ads. I know they can be pretty expensive on a lot of stuff, but they have pretty good sales sometimes (the one here in Evansville last week was offering Greek yogurt for $.77, for instance). They have double or triple coupon days every once in awhile, which is a great time to stock up! I also tend to find bags of bananas at mine for $1.50 or so, and seasonal produce can be fairly reasonable.0
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kommodevaran wrote: »What DID you buy? Healthy food is usually very cheap, and you don't have to get any fancy stuff, special herbs, organic etc. .kommodevaran wrote: »Don't buy more than you can eat before it spoils. Learn how to cook. If needed, google recipes for dishes you like. Cooking yourself instead of outsourcing will almost always be cheaper, tastier and healthier.
^^^^THIS! I have saved more money than ever now that I eat healthy, whole foods (and less food altogether) and don't order pizza, eat fast food, or overeat at restsurants regularly.
Like... enough to book two vacations (one halfway across the world) for both of us this year. Seriously. (I'm kind of grossed out by how much money I used to spend on crap food.)
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panhandle8 wrote: »Fresh Thyme is the same company as Sprouts.
I think Sprouts has the best deals on produce and it is good quality. With that said, I typically shop at Kroger but last grocery shopping decided I was not buying junk and did my full grocery shopping at Sprouts. Didn't even use coupons like I usually do at Kroger and spent between $30- $50 less.
You can buy healthy foods from anywhere though. Stick to the perimeter rather than the aisles.
Good luck!
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The Aldi by me has a great selection of produce, and their everyday prices are usually less than the sale prices at Kroger. When they have sales on veggies, then that's what I eat in salads that week or if it's something I can cook and freeze I try to do that. Meat isn't always priced as well but I usually buy what's on sale and freeze it from other stores. Luckily, our Kroger has had boneless skinless breast for 1.99 lb for a long time now. I have to shop more often now because veggies and fruit go bad but I don't know that I'm spending more in the long run. I do still buy some processed foods for lunches for kids but over all I don't buy much. I also use my crock pot and cook things I can freeze extras of for my lunch or dinners on the go. It does take preplanning and is more work but it's worth it in the end. In fact, my daughter recently complained that I hadn't cooked some meals in a while (life was hectic!) and she missed it. Didn't like eating cans of soup. I appreciated it!0
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Laurend224 wrote: »I shop at Aldi, for about the same weekly budget as you and feed a family of five. You don't need to change where you shop. Aldi has a great selection of economical 'healthy' foods. Dried beans, lentils, split peas. Canned beans, great produce. Heck, I even get organic soy milk there. The only things I don't buy at Aldi are my 'weird vegan foods' like Vegenaise, nutritional yeast, tofu, and Boca burgers.
Yup, but my aldi sometimes sells boca (just bought them today, or their brand veggie burgers. I can easily spend $40/week for a family of 3!
Oh, and for a gluten free budget - we buy a lot of romaine/cabbage for wraps, zucchini/squash for noodles, and aldi's brand corn chex to blitz with spices for homemade breadcrumbs.0 -
The aldi gluten free line (live G free) is VERY VERY good. Its quite possibly the best tasting gluten free items I have ever had...and its SOO SOO much cheaper than the other brands at regular grocery stores.
My suggestion on transitioning to gluten free foods is - DONT DO IT. I don't mean continue to consume gluten, but don't tansition to the "gluten free version" of foods you already buy and eat. Learn to eat foods that naturally do not contain gluten (for the most part). Its SOO much cheaper.
Sit down and write out a list of 5 meals that the family enjoys, that are naturally gluten free and cheap. Rotate those meals, adding new ones as you discover them, until you have a good solid collection of cheap, easy to prepare and gluten free meals to rotate.
In our house - our favorite gluten free, cheap and easy meals are:
polish sausage and broccoli (slice 1 polish per person and saute in water until heated through, dump in a bunch of frozen broccoli, cover and steam until done. Drain off excess water and then top with a handful of shredded cheese. cover until melted and serve - takes less than 15 minutes from freezer to table).
grilled chicken and cauliflower. Just season a chicken breast with s&p, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan and add chicken. cook until golden brown. Steam frozen cauliflower in the microwave. This can be done in thousands of ways...just add a seasoning blend (taco, italian, lemon pepper, curry, etc...) and you have a new meal!
Minute steaks (just thin steaks that cook in 1 minute), with green beans (steam fresh green beans in a shallow covered pan. when tender crisp drain excess water and add a bit of butter. sprinkle lemon pepper seasoning over them and serve.
Beef and rice - brown 1# ground beef in a pan with a small chopped onion and some garlic. drain excess fat. Dump in 1 cup uncooked rice and 2c water. sprinkle on chicken bullion and cover until boiling. turn heat off and allow rice to cook for 15 minutes before serving
tacos with corn tortillas and rice.
I feed 6 people and 1 dog (budget includes EVERYTHING - all HBA, toilet paper, paper goods, all food, and pet supplies) on $500 a month - easily. I'm in N IL (sw Chicago burb). In all honesty, I could cut it back to $350/$400 without too much difficulty - only buy on sale. Make a meal plan and stick to it.
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I've lost 65 pounds eating almost nothing but oatmeal for breakfast, turkey and cheese for lunch, and canned vegetables with TV dinners for dinner, not necessarily for the same reason, but because they are easy and quick. I am now a strong believer that macronutrients and organic stuff is not nearly as important as portion control and eating low calorie items. There are plenty of those out there for very low cost0
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Frozen veggies, lentils, brown rice, dried beans, and ground turkey is cheap! Also, keep an eye on places like Big Lots and The Dollar Tree for snacks, canned goods, and spices. I am St. Louis. I really like Sav-a-Lot also.0
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