Asking 4 tight budget grocery ideas
Replies
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I have the same problem. I grow some some stuff in my garden (tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, peppers) during summer months but struggle during the rest of the year. Normally, I buy a giant size carton of 1-2 fruits and eat those all week. I buy seasonal produce as it is less expensive. I've found the club size mixed frozen fruit from Costco and the super markets is great to have on hand for when I'm missing my "frozen" snack.0
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Unfortunately for me...I don't like fish. I have a bunch of canned chicken breast but need ideas on using it
I mostly make chicken salad.
Savory, add 1 tbsp of ranch to 1 can, add celery, onions and carrots, salt and peper to taste
Sweet, add 1tbsp of ranch to 1 can, add grapes and walnuts0 -
I used to buy take out and junk food. NOW THAT was costly.
Now I shop with the local market add papers. I have a list before I go in.. I never go hungry or thirsty or i'll come back with loads of water and juice.. lol..
I grocery shop with a deliberate plan. Every Wednesday the sale adds change so I make sure I'm among the first to get there and shop for the sale items ONLY! .. I try to avoid anything else at regular price unless its a staple item or a must have.
Buy frozen chicken and fish. Lots of fruit and vegetable that are fresh but again .. ON SALE!0 -
We go to Gordon's Food Service for frozen chicken and fish - tends to be much cheaper and in a larger size than the grocery store. Rice is cheap and can be incorporated into many healthy meals. Eggs are an excellent source of protein, can be made in so many different ways and are CHEAP! Canned tuna fish is a cheap, simple protein option as well. It can be used for salads, sandwiches and pasta if you are creative. Lettuce - you can use leaf lettuce for wraps instead of tortillas, save a lot of calories, and money. Good luck!0
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First & foremost - generic (or store brand) is as good as any. The savings are a major plus.
& then...
Frozen fish & chicken.
Buy your bread in bulk & freeze it.
Brown rice.
Whole grain pasta.
Low fat cheeses / dairy in general.
Fat Free Yogurt is usually like 10/6$ :] these are a must for me.
PopChips (these are my staple for a salty crunchy chip-like snack and they're like 2-3$ a 3 serving bag.)
Whole-grain cereals.
Dried beans.
And I know its not really crock-pot season but a pot roast with carrots, celery, green beans, onion, tomato and your meat of choice can usually last me for at least a dinner/lunch/dinner schedule.
Same goes for chili. Figure out how many calories are in a whole batch you make & portion it out accordingly as you go along. :] Chili goes a LONG way.
I tend to buy all my meats at costco and freeze them individually so I can grab & go as needed.
Hmm. I'm drawing blanks now =/
I shop as needed with a budge for that trip so what I get can vary.0 -
Unfortunately for me...I don't like fish. I have a bunch of canned chicken breast but need ideas on using it
Hungry girl does A LOT of recipes with this in it!0 -
I mostly make chicken salad.
Savory, add 1 tbsp of ranch to 1 can, add celery, onions and carrots, salt and peper to taste
Sweet, add 1tbsp of ranch to 1 can, add grapes and walnuts
Brilliant!0 -
No kidding. I am soooo with you. I ask myself that same question each time I shop......0
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It stinks doesn't it??? I put back the cherries and still spent over $10 on ONE watermelon that wasn't even all that big. I try to hit the fruit/veggie stands and can get great deals there but its not always convenient to do so.When you find out, let me know too!!! LOL. Seriously, eating healthy is expensive as all get out. I spent $20 on frickin' cherries the other day. Fresh fruit is expensive! And I'm trying to avoid pre-packaged foods because of all the sodium... it's practically impossible to eat well and not spend a fortune.0 -
Unfortunately for me...I don't like fish. I have a bunch of canned chicken breast but need ideas on using it
I mostly make chicken salad.
Savory, add 1 tbsp of ranch to 1 can, add celery, onions and carrots, salt and peper to taste
Sweet, add 1tbsp of ranch to 1 can, add grapes and walnuts
Yum...I'll have to try that. Thanks0 -
Unfortunately for me...I don't like fish. I have a bunch of canned chicken breast but need ideas on using it
Hungry girl does A LOT of recipes with this in it!
I have three of her books...guess I better look at them again. lol0 -
This is an amended version of what my husband and I buy for ourselves every week. I pared it down to fit a single person just to offer you an example of what you could have on a budget that’s healthy and offers snack options.
(1 box) Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta $1.50
(1 can) Hunt’s spaghetti sauce $1.00
(1 package) Chicken breast (it always seems to be on sale lately) $5.00 for 2.5 lbs (@ 1.99 lb)
(1 bag) Steam-in-bag broccoli (or other veggie) $1.52
(3 each) Healthy Choice TV dinners $7.44 (2.48 ea)
(2 cans) tuna $1.50
(1 loaf) Nickle’s 35 calorie white or wheat bread $1.98
(1 jar)Peanut butter (any brand) $2.19
(1 jar) Generic sugar free jelly $1.76
(1 bottle )Parkay spray butter $1.88
(1 box) generic instant oatmeal packets $2.50
(2 ea) Iceberg lettuce $2.50 for 2
(2 lbs) Tomato $3.38 for 2 lbs (@$1.69/lb)
(2 ea) Cucumber $1.58 for 2
(3 lbs) Bananas $1.62 for 3 lbs (@ $0.54/lb)
Small bag baby carrots $1.00
(1 small jar) Miracle Whip $2.00
(1 bag) Chocolate rice cakes $2.00
(1 4-pack) Hunt’s sugar free jello $1.00
(1 box) Generic fiber bars - Great Value (Wal-Mart brand) are only $2
(1 box) Philly Swirlz Delites $1.98 OR fat free/low fat ice cream - usually around $3.50 on sale
(1 bag) Generic fat free mini pretzel twists $1.50
(1 box) Act II or Orville Redenbacher 94% fat free popcorn $3.48
(1 case) of bottled water $2.47 (Wal-Mart brand) (I always refill bottles from the water cooler at work throughout the day!)
About $50.00 per week
- From the list above, you have choice of toast & jelly or oatmeal (or you can have both) for breakfast. Bananas go really well with breakfast or a snack between breakfast/lunch.
- For lunch, PB&J, PB& Banana, or tuna fish salad sandwich, or, when you make the chicken, save a few ounces to make a grilled chicken salad. Multiple snack options are available for lunch (jello, popcorn, pretzels, etc.).
- For dinner, spaghetti with salad, grilled chicken breast with steamed veggies and salad, or TV dinner.
- For dessert, Philly Swirlz bar (these are only 14 calories for the Delites) or a dish of ice cream.
Invest in the Ziploc vacuum seal kit. It’s only $7.00 and you can suck the air out of the Ziploc bags to freeze individual meals. For example, you could cook an entire box of pasta and can of sauce, toss in some chicken breast, maybe a few mushrooms, then separate into individual portions, put in a Ziploc vacuum baggie, suck out the air and freeze!!! My husband actually does this.0 -
This is an amended version of what my husband and I buy for ourselves every week. I pared it down to fit a single person just to offer you an example of what you could have on a budget that’s healthy and offers snack options.
(1 box) Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta $1.50
(1 can) Hunt’s spaghetti sauce $1.00
(1 package) Chicken breast (it always seems to be on sale lately) $5.00 for 2.5 lbs (@ 1.99 lb)
(1 bag) Steam-in-bag broccoli (or other veggie) $1.52
(3 each) Healthy Choice TV dinners $7.44 (2.48 ea)
(2 cans) tuna $1.50
(1 loaf) Nickle’s 35 calorie white or wheat bread $1.98
(1 jar)Peanut butter (any brand) $2.19
(1 jar) Generic sugar free jelly $1.76
(1 bottle )Parkay spray butter $1.88
(1 box) generic instant oatmeal packets $2.50
(2 ea) Iceberg lettuce $2.50 for 2
(2 lbs) Tomato $3.38 for 2 lbs (@$1.69/lb)
(2 ea) Cucumber $1.58 for 2
(3 lbs) Bananas $1.62 for 3 lbs (@ $0.54/lb)
Small bag baby carrots $1.00
(1 small jar) Miracle Whip $2.00
(1 bag) Chocolate rice cakes $2.00
(1 4-pack) Hunt’s sugar free jello $1.00
(1 box) Generic fiber bars - Great Value (Wal-Mart brand) are only $2
(1 box) Philly Swirlz Delites $1.98 OR fat free/low fat ice cream - usually around $3.50 on sale
(1 bag) Generic fat free mini pretzel twists $1.50
(1 box) Act II or Orville Redenbacher 94% fat free popcorn $3.48
(1 case) of bottled water $2.47 (Wal-Mart brand) (I always refill bottles from the water cooler at work throughout the day!)
About $50.00 per week
- From the list above, you have choice of toast & jelly or oatmeal (or you can have both) for breakfast. Bananas go really well with breakfast or a snack between breakfast/lunch.
- For lunch, PB&J, PB& Banana, or tuna fish salad sandwich, or, when you make the chicken, save a few ounces to make a grilled chicken salad. Multiple snack options are available for lunch (jello, popcorn, pretzels, etc.).
- For dinner, spaghetti with salad, grilled chicken breast with steamed veggies and salad, or TV dinner.
- For dessert, Philly Swirlz bar (these are only 14 calories for the Delites) or a dish of ice cream.
Invest in the Ziploc vacuum seal kit. It’s only $7.00 and you can suck the air out of the Ziploc bags to freeze individual meals. For example, you could cook an entire box of pasta and can of sauce, toss in some chicken breast, maybe a few mushrooms, then separate into individual portions, put in a Ziploc vacuum baggie, suck out the air and freeze!!! My husband actually does this.
Thanks!0 -
If you have a local farmers market, try that for all your non-meat things (veggies, fruits, etc etc) I've started going to mine and most are all home grown, no chemicals, and reasonably priced. $20 got me a lot of stuff, and that was after I gave a kid $12 for two pieces of biscotti to help send him to college...0
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Shop the sales and clip your coupons. Stock up on staple items like canned beans, brown rice, whole wheat pasta. Try to avoid those smaller packaged meats, and buy bigger. You get more bang for your buck that way. Just freeze single servings in bags and use as needed.0
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Frozen veggies are very cost effective.
Bird’s Eye Normandy Blend & Low cal spaghetti sauce is a cheap easy meal. Add chicken & garlic if you for extra flavor!0 -
I'll share the one scrumptious receipe I have for the canned chicken:
Chicken Quesadillas
1 oz of the can of chicken
1 Mission whole wheat carb balance torilla
1 wedge garlic & herb laughing cow
1/2 oz pepper jack cheese
cut the torilla in half, break up the chunked chicken & the pepper jack, and LC wedge and distribute between the the two sides of the torilla. Microwave for 30 seconds, then put the two sides together for another 30 seconds. Then cut the the torilla so you have two wedges. Enjoy~0 -
We usually shop at Aldi or Save a Lot. You can get fresh fruit and vegetables a lot cheaper than a regular grocery store. The main difference is the selection isn't as big but you can still get the things you need. We try to get everything at Aldi/Save a Lot and only buy certain things at a regular grocery store that the other doesn't have (which isn't much). I can feed my family of 4 for 2 full weeks (3 meals a day) at Aldi for $150.
I would love a list of the foods you bought and/ or the menu for the two weeks Please0 -
When you find out, let me know too!!! LOL. Seriously, eating healthy is expensive as all get out. I spent $20 on frickin' cherries the other day. Fresh fruit is expensive! And I'm trying to avoid pre-packaged foods because of all the sodium... it's practically impossible to eat well and not spend a fortune.
Use frozen berries in Fiber One Cereal. Frozen is cheaper...0 -
Bags of dry beans, cheaper than the cans.
Bulk rice
Look for deals on meat, or anything that is normally a little pricey. Keep a sales flier on you and build your week around it.0 -
Get costco or bjs membership, it's like $50 for a year or year and a half; but you'll save that much in your first month or sooner. I get steak for like $4 a lb, and the local supermarket same steak is like $70
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Frozen chicken breast has been my best friend. But I just always keep an eye on sales. I have 3 main stores that I shop at so it keeps things pretty cheap. Pasta is always on sale and in my stores frozen veggies are usually a good deal. Just a few days ago I picked up 30 lbs of split chicken breast because at $0.99/lb it was HALF the price of what I usually pay for chicken. I just deboned it and froze it into small portions.
For 1 month I spend $200 which feeds 2 regularly, and 3 about half the time. And as weeks go by I am getting better at finding deals. It just takes a little time and patience.0 -
This is an amended version of what my husband and I buy for ourselves every week. I pared it down to fit a single person just to offer you an example of what you could have on a budget that’s healthy and offers snack options.
(1 box) Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta $1.50
(1 can) Hunt’s spaghetti sauce $1.00
(1 package) Chicken breast (it always seems to be on sale lately) $5.00 for 2.5 lbs (@ 1.99 lb)
(1 bag) Steam-in-bag broccoli (or other veggie) $1.52
(3 each) Healthy Choice TV dinners $7.44 (2.48 ea)
(2 cans) tuna $1.50
(1 loaf) Nickle’s 35 calorie white or wheat bread $1.98
(1 jar)Peanut butter (any brand) $2.19
(1 jar) Generic sugar free jelly $1.76
(1 bottle )Parkay spray butter $1.88
(1 box) generic instant oatmeal packets $2.50
(2 ea) Iceberg lettuce $2.50 for 2
(2 lbs) Tomato $3.38 for 2 lbs (@$1.69/lb)
(2 ea) Cucumber $1.58 for 2
(3 lbs) Bananas $1.62 for 3 lbs (@ $0.54/lb)
Small bag baby carrots $1.00
(1 small jar) Miracle Whip $2.00
(1 bag) Chocolate rice cakes $2.00
(1 4-pack) Hunt’s sugar free jello $1.00
(1 box) Generic fiber bars - Great Value (Wal-Mart brand) are only $2
(1 box) Philly Swirlz Delites $1.98 OR fat free/low fat ice cream - usually around $3.50 on sale
(1 bag) Generic fat free mini pretzel twists $1.50
(1 box) Act II or Orville Redenbacher 94% fat free popcorn $3.48
(1 case) of bottled water $2.47 (Wal-Mart brand) (I always refill bottles from the water cooler at work throughout the day!)
About $50.00 per week
- From the list above, you have choice of toast & jelly or oatmeal (or you can have both) for breakfast. Bananas go really well with breakfast or a snack between breakfast/lunch.
- For lunch, PB&J, PB& Banana, or tuna fish salad sandwich, or, when you make the chicken, save a few ounces to make a grilled chicken salad. Multiple snack options are available for lunch (jello, popcorn, pretzels, etc.).
- For dinner, spaghetti with salad, grilled chicken breast with steamed veggies and salad, or TV dinner.
- For dessert, Philly Swirlz bar (these are only 14 calories for the Delites) or a dish of ice cream.
Invest in the Ziploc vacuum seal kit. It’s only $7.00 and you can suck the air out of the Ziploc bags to freeze individual meals. For example, you could cook an entire box of pasta and can of sauce, toss in some chicken breast, maybe a few mushrooms, then separate into individual portions, put in a Ziploc vacuum baggie, suck out the air and freeze!!! My husband actually does this.
GREAT LIST! Thanks a bunch!0 -
Cheap healthy food:
Eggs, rice, chicken in a can, tuna in a pouch, green leaf lettuce, apples, 93% lean beef in a tube (cheaper than the stuff on the platter things, which is weird), store brand whole wheat pasta, canned no salt veggies, celery, carrots.0 -
I forgot about that. Milk is up to almost $4 a gallon here, and at BJs I can get it for $2. 25 gallons of milk later and the membership pays for itself. Not to mention how much it saves on other foods and gas.Get costco or bjs membership, it's like $50 for a year or year and a half; but you'll save that much in your first month or sooner. I get steak for like $4 a lb, and the local supermarket same steak is like $70 -
BUMP BUMP0
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Get costco or bjs membership, it's like $50 for a year or year and a half; but you'll save that much in your first month or sooner. I get steak for like $4 a lb, and the local supermarket same steak is like $7
Better yet, find a friend to split the membership cost with! You each get a card and save $25. You have to be careful with fresh produce at Costco or any bulk place like that. Only get stuff that you can freeze or you can split the cost and share with a friend. I buy the strawberries and freeze them for smoothies. The frozen chicken breasts that come two to a vacuum sealed pack are great and I get a rotisserie chicken from then almost every week. I shred it up and use it in salads, sandwiches, pasta, and even homemade pizza.0 -
Bump Bump bump!!!0
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Didn't read the whole thread so forgive me if I'm repeating.
Buy things that take a long time to "spoil"
Bulk: grains, beans, seeds, sale meats/fish (if not veg, freeze and save)
Frozen: veggies, fruits, sale meats/fish
Plan your weekly meals around the weekly ads; fresh foods are usually on the outside of the circulars.0 -
If you have a local farmers market, try that for all your non-meat things (veggies, fruits, etc etc) I've started going to mine and most are all home grown, no chemicals, and reasonably priced. $20 got me a lot of stuff, and that was after I gave a kid $12 for two pieces of biscotti to help send him to college...
LOL you are a good person, sir.0
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