I'm broke, I need good foods on a budget!

budgetbytes.com/ is an awesome website for inexpensive meals.

150 every two weeks is pretty easy actually. I used to feed myself for about $20/week, sometimes less. Rice, split peas, beans, lentils, barley and dried beans are really inexpensive and excellent healthy food staples that are good sources of protein. Frozen veggies also generally pretty inexpensive and things like carrots and cabbage and onions also inexpensive and healthy. A bag of potatoes too. Get bags of frozen chicken breast tenderloin and look for good deals on bulk packages of meat that you can split up in freezer bags.

Any fresh veg that you can't eat before it spoils be sure to freeze so it does not go to waste.

Build up your collection of spices and seasonings.

With the above you can do lots of great soups and stir frys.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/08/01/337141837/cheap-eats-cookbook-shows-how-to-eat-well-on-a-food-stamp-budget

There are good recipes in here, I've made them before.

Also dried beans - really cheap, super good for you. Sweet potatoes, too.

tuna

I buy my seasonings on line in bulk. Frontier Natural Products has a good all purpose herb blend and an Italian seasoning blend (both no salt) but you need to buy a pound to get the savings. It costs about $15 dollars for a pound instead of $3 for a tiny jar. If you can find some friends to split it with, it is a big savings.

beautifultippz wrote: »

Hi guys! So here's the thing: my grocery budget for my husband and is usually 150, and that has to last us for a good two weeks until we shop again. Living in the New Jersey/NYC area, food is pricey around us. Anyone can provide a list of foods we can get on a budget that are clean? I already gave up drinks, we only drink water, and he has coffee with skim milk and I with almond milk when craving coffee. Also, we do brown rice and cauliflower rice, a lot! Need sodium free condiments and gluten free and low carb foods. Any suggestions will be amazing. Thanks in advance! Tiff

my first question is why does it have to be sodium and gluten free and low carb?

Does either of you have Celiacs? or is this a personal choice?

Frozen chicken breast, yogurt, tuna, beans

Saving money is pretty easy when you go back to basics, dry beans, rice, pasta, frozen veggies/fruit (which will eliminate spoilage which can be a big money waster) potatoes, oats etc

low sodium flavour additions can fairly simple - I opt for things like garlic, onion, chili peppers, ginger (which freezes great) You could also invest in a couple of windowsill herbs - they will keep giving back! (My grocery store sells sizable plants at about 3$, with spring upon us the local greenhouse might have it even cheaper since people are starting their gardens soon)

Gluten free can be pretty pricey because it's so trendy right now, I would stick to whole foods as they generally (minus my suggested pasta) are gluten free by nature.

Low carb, also trendy, and more difficult if you don't want to eat cheaper things like beans/legumes for protein sources. If you are looking at a big portion of your budget going to animal proteins then I would suggest taking a monthly trip to a big box store to stock up and freeze into portions (I used to do this years back when I was a meat eater and it really helped us stay on budget)

smit7633 wrote: »

My husband and I have less than $100 biweekly for groceries and one thing I've learned is to make large meals that last several days.

For example soups or lasagnas. You just new to pick a low sodium low carb gluten free meal, and make enough to last all week. Portion it out ahead of time so you won't eat tomorrow's lunch accidentally. If the food is not enough then supplement with salad.

Good luck!

I agree with the bolded part. My husband and I average $80/week for the two of us. To be fair, we live in the Southwest which is far cheaper than New Jersey/NYC. We typically make two dinners to last us for the week. Pasta, calzones, and pizza can all be made inexpensively and in large portions. Depending on what you put in them, quesadillas, enchiladas, burgers (meat or black bean), soups and casseroles are the same way. Vegetable soup will typically make 3-4 dinners for the two of us. We have made tomato soup from fresh tomatoes, corn chowder, butternut squash soup, and a hearty soup with lots of veggies and some beans and pasta. Beef chili is more expensive to make due to the meat, but we can typically stretch it a little farther since it is so heavy, especially when we have cornbread with it (very cheap to make).

I realize most of these are not low carb as you requested, but I suspect higher carb foods will generally make your dollar stretch farther, so if low carb isn't medically necessary you may want to reconsider that restriction for budget purposes.

As others have said, canned and frozen veggies can be cheap. Shop sales. Buy certain foods like beans and oatmeal in bulk. Freeze meat if you buy it in bulk for a savings.

I also suggest ALDI. They have items that are cheaper than anywhere, even Walmart. Greek yogurt for example 60 cents a piece where walmart is 1.00 usually if not more..I buy organic milk which is $3.69 at Walmart but only $2.39 at Aldi ( I just discovered Aldi yesterday and it rocked my world). They have plenty a nice healthy foods section..I got some frozen quinoa with spinach and garbanzo beans..lots of frozen meats general I would say it is one of the cheapest grocery stores with healthy options.