I have no idea how to create a meal plan on my budget

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  • DoNotSpamMe73
    DoNotSpamMe73 Posts: 286 Member
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    Use the markets for cheap food & track your calories. Pasta, curries & rice are cheap and have plentiful options.
  • JustinAnimal
    JustinAnimal Posts: 1,335 Member
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    Eggs
  • DoNotSpamMe73
    DoNotSpamMe73 Posts: 286 Member
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    JBWitters wrote: »
    I live with my bf who works barely full-time at minimum wage. We can't really afford more than 200 on food at the most. We're just barely above the limit to get food stamps which is really rough because I don't know what to do other than stretch rice or pasta, but I'm so sick of feeling so awful from my poor diet and weight.

    I'm 5'3.5" and last I checked 172lbs thanks to medicine I was taking for sleep/ bipolar disorder (seroquel)

    I love vegetables and fruits. Greens I'm not a fan of, but at this point I'll do what it takes. I don't want to starve though as I've had problems with starving myself in the past.
    I hate cheese and milk and most things like mayo, mustards, dressings, the only meat I really like is turkey and chicken.

    Any advice?

    Actually throw potato in also(keep it in the dark & it'll last for ages). While fresh veggies are delicious I'd suggest going frozen. Easy to prepare, cheap and they don't go bad all great things on a restricted budget.
    http://myfridgefood.com/ You can use this if you're stumped. I said track calories not food before & I mean it. Both starving & over eating will make you feel sick and eating what you don't like will make you depressed. Do not count exercise calories.
    Message me if you have any questions/support!
  • devil_in_a_blue_dress
    devil_in_a_blue_dress Posts: 5,214 Member
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    My grocery budget is 230/month for 2 adults and a 6 year old.

    The best advice is to shop sales weekly and really look all the stores in your area and what staples cost. One of my local stores sells eggs, milk, and butter for significantly less all the time -- chicken goes on sale there 2 times a month. BUT I can usually get produce/cheeses/pantry cheaper elsewhere, unless there are sales.

    I cut about 150 dollar off our budget when I left my job in August, but we eat the same just because I pay attention. I used to buy 2.5lb bags of frozen chicken for 6.00 and be fine with it. Now I won't pay more than 3.00 a bag for it. Same with produce, I used top drop 3.00 for brussel sprouts, now I won't buy the, until they are 2/3.00.
  • courtney_love2001
    courtney_love2001 Posts: 1,468 Member
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    On a side note, Seroquel can cause weight gain. Worth talking to your doc about if you have noticed weight gain while on this med and you are doing all the right things to lose weight but just aren't seeing it on the scale.
  • racheladkins2002
    racheladkins2002 Posts: 211 Member
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    I was in the same situation last year after being laid off. Here are some of the foods we bought (Aldi is great if you have one):

    1. Canister of oatmeal
    2. Eggs
    3. Dried beans
    4. Brown rice
    5. Whole wheat pasta - Aldi has this cheap
    5. Frozen veggies (no salt or sugar added)
    6. Bananas
    7. Apples
    8. Potatoes
    9. Oranges or other seasonal cheap fruit
    10. Peanut butter
    11. Carrots (not the prewashed or baby carrots, they are more per ounce)
    12. Bulk boneless skinless chicken thighs -- great to freeze in zip lock bags and dump in crock pot
  • SusanKing1981
    SusanKing1981 Posts: 257 Member
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    If you haven't got one see if you can find a cheap slow cooker (crock pot?). You can then get away with buying cheap meat which will become lovely and tender after cooking all day. I buy very cheap beef steaks and cut into chunks, add a couple of chopped up potatoes a bag of frozen veg (peas, carrots and sweetcorn), onion, tin of chickpeas or lentils / beans and a stock cube. This should give 4 meals depending on your portion sizes.
  • suzan06
    suzan06 Posts: 218 Member
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    Annr wrote: »
    Nothing like have Elk in your freezer that says "Illegally poached***Evidence" :-)

    This is totally cracking me up! I agree, have no shame if you can access a food bank.

    Also, ALDI- seriously the best prices overall without having to coupon and go to 5 stores. They have decent produce, just avoid the packaged stuff, same as in any other grocery store.

    We feed 4 for ~500 a month, so a bit more than you but still a pretty small budget. We eat vegetarian, with lots of beans and eggs for protein. If I buy yogurt it is either a big tub or small containers that are about to expire, on special.

    I use the crap out of my slow cooker for soups. Last night we had white bean, carrot, potato, and kale soup. Last week one night we did bean and veggie chili (tomatoes and carrots- both super cheap).

    I was raised on a super duper tight grocery budget- our vegetable side dish was always a canned veggie. You can also get frozen for super cheap- all winter long our veggie side is frozen veggies or steamed carrots basically, with some salads thrown in (salads can get pricey, depends on how much fresh veggies are in your area).
  • suzan06
    suzan06 Posts: 218 Member
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    Also- you absolutely must meal plan!
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
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    Ideas and recipies
    http://wegotreal.com/real-food-meal-plan-broke/
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    when i was in school with not much of a budget for food, my staples were:

    - dried legumes
    - rice
    - potatoes
    - lentils
    - oats
    - onions
    - cabbage
    - frozen peas
    - other seasonal vegetables or on sale vegetables (frozen veggies are always on sale)
    - gala apples
    - whatever meat/poultry was on sale
    - eggs
  • JackieMarie1989jgw
    JackieMarie1989jgw Posts: 230 Member
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    A few tips-
    1. A lot of times the cuts of.meat that take more prep are sold really cheap. Bone-in chicken breasts, for example, often go.on sale for super cheap. More prep work, but much more cost effective than buying skinless bonless chicken breasts. Also buying the whole chicken can be a lot of bang for your buck, you can roast and eat for dinner, then pick off the extra meat and use for lunches for several days
    2. Generic brand stuff whenever you can on staples, like butter, rice, can beans.
    3. Big tubs of unflavored oatmeal can last for a lot of breakfasts and pretty healthy (flavored stuff is expensive and higher in sugar)
    3. Frozen vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh and much cheaper. Fruit, buy in season and always follow the sales!!
    4. Look ahead to see what cuts of meat are.on sale at your store, then plan meals around that.
    5. Dont be fooled by coupons that want you to buy more than what you need, or an.expensive.product that you wouldnt normally buy, especially if there is a chepaer option. I find buying generic and following sales to be a better money-saver than.coupons.
    6. Do you have an Aldi near you? They have very good.prices.on staples. Its all Aldi brand and you have to.bag your own groceries, get your own cart, etc, but very good savings. They can cut prices because they save money on staff.

    Hope this helps
  • JBWitters
    JBWitters Posts: 3 Member
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    courtney_love2001 wrote: »
    On a side note, Seroquel can cause weight gain. Worth talking to your doc about if you have noticed weight gain while on this med and you are doing all the right things to lose weight but just aren't seeing it on the scale.

    Oh trust me I gained 50 because of it. I know. I've been off of it for a while now though. Just having trouble losing it now.
  • JBWitters
    JBWitters Posts: 3 Member
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    Wow I really appreciate all of the responses. I've been learned how important it is to meal plan lately. And I like the websites so far. Thanks a lot everyone.
  • ren3liz
    ren3liz Posts: 45 Member
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    $200/month for two people? You can do it, but you NEED to meal plan. Start like this: Grab a notebook and make a list of every food you have in your house right now. Separate by freezer, fridge, pantry item, spices. This will help you build ideas for the week. Shop weekly, it takes a lot of planning to shop less frequently. So consider it $50 per week. I actually love doing this and make it my Saturday or Sunday morning ritual over coffee. X2 what others have said- if you have an Aldi, shop there. Here we have a local meats place/bakery and a produce place with killer prices because they buy in bulk in service a lot of local restaurants- I always make these two stops now, and wish I had known about them years ago when my food budget was much smaller (less than yours is now). Plan meals around sales, buy your meat when it's marked down. Feel free to message me if you need ideas, I love this kind of stuff! Good luck :) This adds an extra challenge to eating healthy which can be hard enough on its own- but you can do it!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I love threads like this. Thanks to these discussions I am cooking from scratch again and saving all sorts of money. That will come in handy here in Canada as we are heading for hard times.

    That chicken carcass really comes in handy. After gleaning off all the meat, boil it up with onion and spices for your own chicken stock. That stock in turn can be used in soups, stews, and chilis. I do plan a few meals at once when roasting my chicken and will put some beans to soak at the same time.

    I always have dried beans ready for when I feel like making a pot of stew, soup, of Chili. There's a Hungarian bean soup, very satisfying. Bab Levesh.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Oh, and stalk the sales. "day-old" produce that are worth a second look include bananas. Freeze them peeled for future smoothies or banana muffins.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
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    Lots of good advice, so I'll just reiterate. You can do it. One summer I fed 5 (3 teenagers+2 adults) on $50/week. It's doable. Also, I put a little extra effort into making inexpensive ingredients FEEL special so everyone felt well fed (I'm not sure the kids even realized we were belt tightening). E.g. We had many different beans&rice meals, and just adding a home baked bread made it special. As someone else said, it's cheap but seems fancy to make your own ($0.40 per 1 lb loaf). I grow herbs in pots and a little chopped rosemary in the bread makes my kids swoon. Growing herbs is a money saver for me, too, because I use them a lot. I'll also echo the comment about eggs being an economical protein, but the price has been volatile lately, so I price compare eggs everywhere I shop. I do most of my shopping at aldi, but they are highest on eggs right now. The fanciest meal I make for special occasions is individual soufflés. It's also the cheapest.

    Even when not on a tight budget, we smoke or roast a whole chicken ($0.95/lb at aldi) once a week, and make a gallon of stock with the carcass. That stretches several meals when incorporated into other dishes like quesadillas, enchiladas, stews, etc. totally agree with jgnatca about freezing bananas, too. Pound for pound, bananas are by far the cheapest fruit at my store, and so versatile.

    Best of luck!

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