Healthy food for super cheap?

WalkingGirl1985
WalkingGirl1985 Posts: 2,046 Member
edited September 28 in Food and Nutrition
I know we all struggle with finances one way or another sometimes, but how do you do it? Live on 200 bucks a month for food stamps for 2 people? (Fiancee tried to get his part back, but because hes a college student he was totally cut off) What can i get thats healthy and cheap?

Replies

  • FruitLoop05317
    FruitLoop05317 Posts: 229
    if you have a save a lot nearby their food is cheaper...
  • WalkingGirl1985
    WalkingGirl1985 Posts: 2,046 Member
    Yeah, we go there but some things are still pricey.
  • WalkingGirl1985
    WalkingGirl1985 Posts: 2,046 Member
    Double post.
  • oxavecamourxo
    oxavecamourxo Posts: 270 Member
    Dollar Tree? They have lots of frozen & canned foods.
  • sla0814
    sla0814 Posts: 240
    Go to your local farmers market for fresh and cheap produce:)
  • cee2sea
    cee2sea Posts: 1
    You can buy beans and brown rice and cook them yourself and they are very cheap. Tofu is cheap as well. All are healthy and pretty low in calories. If you have beens and rice that makes a complete protein. Depending where you are living, it will be berry season soon. Sometimes the farms let you pick them (this is cheaper than the store). You can buy a bunch and freeze them for use in the winter. You can start a garden with the basics, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, beans, peas etc. You can cut down on juice as it is high in calories and can be costly. You can go to the discount stores for can goods. We have one call No Frills and you can get a can of sliced green beans for 97 cents. Basically, if you eat out this puts a huge whole in your wallet. Look for freebees in the mail or newspaper and set a time to go out when there are specials in the fliers.
  • RedHotRunner
    RedHotRunner Posts: 850 Member
    Do you have a Sprouts where you live? Hands down the cheapest, yet fresh, produce around.
  • quietlywinning
    quietlywinning Posts: 889 Member
    Eggs are very inexpensive. I second the farmers market for fresh produce. A lot of times it is also organic, just not "certified" because they can't afford the process to become certified, but they still grow clean. Aldi also has produce that is usually quite a bit less than other grocery stores, and sometimes it is in really nice shape. Otherwise, the best thing you can do is learn to cook. Prepared foods are a LOT more expensive than cooking from scratch.
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    do not pass go!! do not shop at any of the earlier suggested places. (save a lot, dollar tree, etc)

    for two people, $200 can get you quite a bit of food, but you have to be creative.

    first, check your farmer's markets. here we have a program where if you spend $5 at the farmer's market with your ebt (food stamps) you get an extra $2.

    because it is almost summertime, you should be able to get quite a bit of food inexpensively because so much is in season.
    even if you must shop at grocery stores, you should be able to get very good prices on real food.

    buy dry beans, they are considerably cheaper than canned beans with way less packaging. soak them overnight and cook the next day.

    find pastas on sale for $1/lb or less.

    reduce your meat consumption to nearly none (you don't need it anyway and especially not from box stores).

    if you can, plant some supplemental vegetables and herbs in a community garden or in containers around your house/apt. food can be free if you want it to be.

    check the day-old bread aisle and freeze breads for later.

    but whatever you do, do not buy food at the dollar tree. you have no idea what is going on there, and very "cheap" food can sometimes be very dangerous. it's not really that cheap, either, when you think about it or do the math.
  • rharvey75495
    rharvey75495 Posts: 16
    Try Aldi food store if there is one nearby...they have great produce and canned goods way cheaper than even Wal Mart sometimes. I like the garden idea from cee2sea, I started one last year and again this year...lots of food cheap...just takes a little time and lots of work, but hey, the work burns the calories...I call that a win-win! If you don't think you have room, you can start a container garden...just put some holes in the bottom of some buckets (use old laundry detergent buckets or check out your local bakery, sometimes they will just give away their used frosting buckets for free). It does take a little time to get there, but once you start reaping the rewards of all that hard work, you will be amazed at how gratifying it is.
    Good luck!
  • k2d4p
    k2d4p Posts: 441 Member
    Light soups. 1 can is anywhere from 140 - 250 calories. I am not on a tight budget and I still get these because they are good. They are very inexpensive. I get 5 - 10 cans everytime I get groceries.
  • jamielise2
    jamielise2 Posts: 432 Member
    Couscous is cheap and filling. It's a pasta. When I was living on $75 a month for food I usually would buy dried beans or peas, ground turkey, flour (and make my own whole wheat bread or pasta), eggs, and frozen veggies. Depending on what area you are in, check out www.bountifulbaskets.org and see if there is a site near you. This is a fruits and veggies co-op where you get a basket with half fruit and half veggies for $16.50 a week. And it's like $50 worth of produce. For two people one basket will probably last two weeks, to give you an idea, so you could get it twice a month and still get fresh fruits and veggies. Just a thought.

    If you don't have Aldi in your area, check to see if you have Winco. They are WAY cheap as well.
  • ksharon22
    ksharon22 Posts: 111
    Have you shopped at ALDI before? Their produce is inexpensive and they carry a brand called Fit & Active which is very good. Protein bars, string cheese, Vanilla Almond cereal (like the Special K brand), 100 calorie cookie packages, salad dressing, turkey bacon, etc. Google them and you can check out what they have to offer on their website.
  • boomsmom
    boomsmom Posts: 60 Member
    I agree, We have lots of local farm stands and the veges are usually more reasonable, also buy food that is in season. Growing your own is a great idea. We always grow tomatoes and our own herbs. Summer squashes are easy to grow, as are cucumbers. Just gotta keep the wild beasts out. We also have blueberries and blackberries in our yard during the summer. Are their any local food co-ops. I also buy local eggs - they are extra yummy (I have no idea why). Coupon it as well. Look for double coupons on frozen veges and I know one of our local supermakets has 10 for $10 on frozen veges sometimes. Also check Target sales. Good Luck! It is certainly hard sometimes when you are on a tight budget.
  • Dahamac
    Dahamac Posts: 213 Member
    Most of us in the Gen X and younger crowd have no idea how to stretch a food budget. The hardest part of stretching the food budget is learning to live with less variety and sacrificing our wants for our needs. Of course healthy food and cheap food is challenge. However, If you can make the time, learn when and on what days your local food stores mark food down. I have saved a lot of money by buying "marked down" food. It drives the wife crazy but it is good food, you just have to use it quickly.
  • lmr9
    lmr9 Posts: 628 Member
    Here are some ideas I can think of. Hope this helps! :flowerforyou:
    - frozen and fresh fruits and veggies
    - beans
    - pasta
    - brown rice
    - oatmeal
    - make your own salad dressings using oil and vinegar
    - avoid most packaged foods - they are mostly just sugar anyway
    - it helps if you can buy meat from the counter - most packaged meats are meant for a family of 4 - so just buy what you need - really only need 1/2 a pounds of meat for 2 people (or the total opposite is buy in bulk, separate, and freeze)
    - you can make some tasty soups in a crock pot - and then freeze them in individual servings
    - portion control
    - be sure you shop smart - don't waste anything - plan you meals before you shop and only buy what's on your list
    - skip all drinks - except water, of course, and maybe some milk
    - buy a whole chicken - bake or boil it and save/freeze in small portions
    - become a hard core coupon clipper!
  • rharvey75495
    rharvey75495 Posts: 16
    I forgot to tell you about TheGroceryGame....
    check out www.thegrocerygame.com....great way to get lots for a little. I spend $135 a week for a family of 4 (two teens included) and we have about 3 months of food in our store room, so if you work it, you really can feed two on $200 a month, you may not store back as much as I can, but I bet you'll be surprised at what you can do. They offer a 4 week trial for $1, I think. Take my advice though, before you sign up for the trial take a couple of weeks to get the coupons from the paper, or you'll get frustrated at all the great stuff you could have gotten if you just had that coupon. I manage to come home with lots of free stuff or almost free stuff everyweek when I combine the coupon with the sale price at the right stores. Be careful though and don't go over board on the processed foods, they aren't always the healthiest. But the money you save on non-food items (like deoderant, toothpaste and shampoo or household cleaners) you can use on fresh produce or other healthy options. Happy bargain hunting and remember that God is more interested in our character than our comfort, but He ALWAYS loves us. Even when times seem tough, He is there.
  • meinco
    meinco Posts: 62 Member
    Just today I posted about this on facebook - I took my local mexican food market sale ad, king sooper's, albertson's and safeways sale ad to Walmart and they price matched every single thing from those stores. So not only did I save by not driving around to different stores I got a TON of fruit and veggies.

    4.5 lbs Roma Tomatoes
    1 Plantain
    3 Yellow Corn
    2 Heads of Leaf Lettuce
    2.5lbs of Apricots
    3 Avacados
    2.27 lbs Vidalia Sweet Onions
    2 Mangos
    3.5 lbs Bananas
    2.5 lbs Peaches
    1 head of Cauliflower
    2.5 lbs of Grapes
    1 Whole Pineapple
    1 Yellow Bell Pepper
    Total: $17.16

    The boys and I will be eating this stuff for a week at least. if you did that every week you would have an amazing amount of healthy food for under $20.00 / week. Add milk, eggs and meat (bought on sale) and you could easily feed the 2 of you for a week under $40.00.

    And whatever I have left over by next Thursday when I go and pricematch again will go into my dehydrator or freezer. Right now the dehydrator is purring away filled with leftover watermelon, pureed mango (fruit leather) and strawberries from last weeks produce purchase.

    DSCN0365.jpg

    rclick - view image if you want to see the whole picture
  • chicpower1
    chicpower1 Posts: 169 Member
    I Walmart Ad Match. Just got back from there as a matter of fact. One grocery store 30 miles away had avacado's on sale for .50 each, another store had Oscar Mayer turkey dogs for .99 a pack, and yet another had Butterball Turkey Bacon for $1.00. I had a coupon to slap on top of the Butterball Turkey Bacon. The way I do it is go through all the city ad's, make a list of what I want to buy at Walmart using the ads, then go to couponmom.com and search her database to find matching coupons to put on top of the sales when possible. If you use food stamps then coupons may not be the best option since you have to pay tax, but the ad matching could save you as much or more as coupons.
  • trud72
    trud72 Posts: 1,912 Member
    i dont know if you have a garden or not have you tried growing your own? its not hard and a little more exersice for ya! lol
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