budget and diet

Salad is a good cheap filler. It works pretty well.

Oatmeal and eggs are my go-to foods. I get both at Costco. The Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats come in a 9- or 10-pound container, I think, and it's extremely inexpensive. I buy 5 dozen eggs at at time, and it's less than $7.

lettuece, wheat bread, sliced cheese, tomatoes, and 100% roasted white meat chicken, under 400 calories, and less than 10.00 it will last you about a week or 2 hope this helps

Buy a vacuum sealer, it will be your friend!!!

In the beginning avoid expensive proteins like seafood. Buy those when you have some wiggle room in the budget. Focus on things like chicken, dried beans, brown rice, fresh fruits and veggies. Get creative and buy some new spices! You wont get sick of chicken if you learn to cook it differently I can share some recipes though the boards have TONS. And when you find one you and your family like, cook double and freeze half, especially when the ingredients are on sale, not only does it save your budget, you have instant healthy meals!

BUY ON SALE! I can not stress this enough! Chicken goes on sale atleast once a month in phoenix AZ (high standard of living in my area) for $1.19-1.60 per lb. And this is when we stock up! We wont have to buy chicken for 2-3 months off of a $30 purchase. look for other ingredients and spices in the 10 for 10 (i know most grocers nation wide do this) Eggs are always cheap, someone always has them on sale! I got 4 dozen for $4 a week ago, eggs for $1 a dozen are almost unheard of here, and man were people snagging them (remember if refrigerated eggs are good for 3 weeks past the sell by date).

Only buy enough fruits and veggies to make it through 4 days to a week (apples and oranges are heartier then berries and necatarines or peaches) yes you go to the grocery store more often, but you have less waste. If you like smoothies, and your produce it about to go bad CHOP IT AND FREEZE IT! A) youll try new flavors. no waste!

Waste is a huge culprit, so focus on makeing foods with the ingredients already in your house as much as possible. Then when you are truly low, re-stock on things that are on-sale and healthy. This will force you to make decisions based on health at this point not "Its in the cupboard"

If you have aldi grocery stores nearby, shop there. It may even be worth the trip if you have to drive a little ways, but there prices are ridiculously low on almost everything.

Agree! Aldi is awesome store for inexpensive fresh fruit and vegetables.

turkey, eggs, buy your lettuce by the head not in the bags or containers, canned tuna and chicken, frozen fish, buy the crystal light(i love the lemonade) that makes 2 quarts instead of the bottle servings. brown rice, canned beans, etc.

I am working a minimum wage job and am saving money by eating this way. I pretty much only eat things I have listed lol.

If i find what seems to be a good deal I make a note in my phone that says the price the calories, protein and other things that i am tracking and of course the product name and go to other stores to see if i can find a better deal.

I would love the recipe also.

Thank you,
shebee25

I see you live in Florida (I'm in GA) So hello fellow southern girl! If you are like me you get bored easy, so buying/eating the same thing will put you off track faster than you can say tuna (which I really don't like, so even if it is cheap, it ain't happening!)

First check out southernsavers.com. This site is awesome, it’s a savings blog that helps you with weekly ads, coupons, and just saving money! She also shows how to make weight watchers recipes using what’s currently on sale. It has truly been a life(money) saver for me. It's focused on the lower southeastern states so it should be helpful.

I shop at Publix (where savings is a pleasure:-) but this tactic can work at almost any grocery store. The best thing to do is to buy what's on sale. So what I do is I get the weekly ad and base my shopping list off that ad. I buy the fruit that’s on sale, meat, fish, deli meat, yogurt etc. Every category (cereal, dessert, snacks, etc.) will be on sale every week, just different items. That way you don't get bored and can often expand your culinary taste! For example this week Nabisco 100 calorie packs on B1G1, next week it may be Sunshine’s 100 cal packs. Or this week Fresh Experess salad blends are on sale next week maybe it's Dole, etc. Buy 1 Get 1 sales are the best. You save so much money and get twice as much food! I do coupon, but I am not extreme, I just get the Sunday paper and use the coupons (I learn how to from southernsavers). But if you don't want to coupon it's still saving you money. Also it’s not as time consuming. With this approach I go to the store once a week spend about $60-70/week for my husband and I, and we always have good food in the house.

For the things that rarely do come on sale, stock up when they do! Have an extra $10 in your budget for those items each week so you can buy enough to hold you over till they get on sale again:-) Also even if what you want isn’t on sale (or never is, like my soy milk) the money that you save with the rest of your groceries should help off set the price. But trust me, almost everything goes on sale! Plus even Whole Foods have sales and coupons!

Hope this helps! :-)

Canned vegetables like beans, etc. Coupons of course.

Buy a vacuum sealer, it will be your friend!!!

In the beginning avoid expensive proteins like seafood. Buy those when you have some wiggle room in the budget. Focus on things like chicken, dried beans, brown rice, fresh fruits and veggies. Get creative and buy some new spices! You wont get sick of chicken if you learn to cook it differently I can share some recipes though the boards have TONS. And when you find one you and your family like, cook double and freeze half, especially when the ingredients are on sale, not only does it save your budget, you have instant healthy meals!

BUY ON SALE! I can not stress this enough! Chicken goes on sale atleast once a month in phoenix AZ (high standard of living in my area) for $1.19-1.60 per lb. And this is when we stock up! We wont have to buy chicken for 2-3 months off of a $30 purchase. look for other ingredients and spices in the 10 for 10 (i know most grocers nation wide do this) Eggs are always cheap, someone always has them on sale! I got 4 dozen for $4 a week ago, eggs for $1 a dozen are almost unheard of here, and man were people snagging them (remember if refrigerated eggs are good for 3 weeks past the sell by date).

Only buy enough fruits and veggies to make it through 4 days to a week (apples and oranges are heartier then berries and necatarines or peaches) yes you go to the grocery store more often, but you have less waste. If you like smoothies, and your produce it about to go bad CHOP IT AND FREEZE IT! A) youll try new flavors. no waste!

Waste is a huge culprit, so focus on makeing foods with the ingredients already in your house as much as possible. Then when you are truly low, re-stock on things that are on-sale and healthy. This will force you to make decisions based on health at this point not "Its in the cupboard"

Thanks you helped me out too. That was quite informative and very helpful! My gotta haves are: 1 % milk, eggs, whole grain pitas, peanut butter, kidney beans, spinach, cheese, chicken, brown rice, broccoli, cauliflower, baby carrots, various fruit and hommus! Oh and I make my own homemade granola cereal and store it in the freezer cuz it is much cheaper and quicker for me to grab in the morning with a fruit!

What is "budget?" Everyone has their own idea of what that means.

I haven't seen anyone mention this, but I think it's very affordable and goes a LONG way is tofu. I'm not sure of tofu prices outside my area, but I can get a pound of extra firm organic for $1.99. Add in some veggies (bell pepper, onion, carrots, and cabbage, etc) and stir fry it and you can easily have 6 meals for a under $10.

You can also do really unique things with it like made a tofu pesto sauce and save the $$ of all that olive oil...plus cut out all those fat calories! It makes a ton so you can divide it up and freeze it for on the go meals.

It also doesn't hurt to pick up some things like Lean Cuisines when they are on sale and you have a coupon. Not the best to eat all the time, but I like to have a reserve for when I'm sort on cash/time to cook/or at the end of my fridge suppy and don't have time to get groceries. Coupon when on sale brings price down to $1.50 or so.

Don't forget about growing a garden too. You don't need much space to grow some of your household "staples" such as lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, etc. The summer savings do make a HUGE difference when you think of what you're saving on produce on a week by week basis.

I just saw your post about salads and sandwiches getting boring. You're not getting unique enough! I LOVE getting a little wild with my sandwiches and salads...you can come up with so many different things.
Ideas:
Brie/tomoato/onion/spinahc/dijon mustard sandwich
brie/mayo/cranberry chutney/turkey sandwich
field greens/goat cheese/pistachio nut mix salad
spinach/field greens/apples/pears/dried cranberries/onions/candied walnuts/onion/blue cheese salad
roast beef/havarti/horseradish/onion grilled sandwich
black bean and salsa "burgers"
tomato/dill/cucumber/hummus/low-fat feta/lemon juice/spinach pita

also...if you have a pressure cooker or crock pot--- buy chicken halves or "frier" chicken... a pack of boneless skinless chicken breast will cost you approx. $6-7 and you get 1-2 meals (depending on if you have kids/take leftovers to work etc) or you can spend $2.50 on the chicken halves and you get 4 different meals. I will put them in the pressure cooker and drain the juices and take out the bones (which FALL out after pressure cooking). The result is pulled chicken. i have used it to make low fat chicken salad, low fat/low cal chicken enchiladas, and i just used it to make soft chicken tacos (along with making my own guacamole-yummy!)... then freeze what you dont use!! that way you have a quick meal-- try making a little chicken broth, some brown rice, sautee peppers and onions, throw in the pulled chicken and a little soy sauce and you have a yummy very quick very healthy wholesome meal!

I've never understood the concept that it is expensive to eat healthily if you are on a low income. Chicken is dirt cheap (in the UK anyway). Likewise eggs and own brand wholemeal bread. Carrots are cheap. Apples are cheap. Potatoes is cheap. Rice. Baked beans. Oatmeal. Just keep it simple and natural. If you aren't buying alcohol or takeaways or junk you have so much money to spend on healthy food.