Only have $150 a month for food, help!
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Also there is a food bank near me that has a once a week program with no qualifying or restrictions, where anyone can come and buy a food box for $20 using cash or SNAP. It's guaranteed to be worth $40 if you purchased it at a store. I used it for a couple years when things got bad for us financially but not bad enough that we qualified for anything besides WIC. There was a basic makeup to each box including frozen meats, canned goods, etc and they always had extras like bread, sometimes dairy, extra meats, "fresh" veggies that maybe weren't in the greatest shape but hey, they're free at that point. So check and see if there is anything like that near you.1
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I discovered ALDI and Lidl in my area. For staples they are super cheap - bread, milk, eggs, canned items, crackers, pretzels, tortillas, etc I don’t buy anything name brand and stick to the store brand.
I’m leaning towards ALDI being consistently cheaper than Lidl. I hit Lidl for their loss leaders. For instance sliced cheese was on sale for .71 last week.
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do you have a free farmers market in your community? We do here on the central coast where they have specific days you can get whatever you want, lots of fresh veggis, fruits, canned goods;-)
i Have lived on that for myself and 3 children, of course find out all the sales and build on that, 99cent stores have all the rice, beans, canned tomatoes and fresh veggies and fruit,, helps that most of my kiddos meals they had at school , but evenings and weekends...1 -
Do you have an aldi? You can buy staples from there for very cheap. Well actually everything there is cheap.
Rice and beans
Oatmeal (in the large canister)
Eggs
Frozen or canned veggies
Frozen chicken breasts or find meat that’s close to the expiration date and on sale
Whole chicken. You could cook that in a crock pot and make a few meals with thr meat, and make chicken stock with the bones..
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Most of the advice I would give has been given.
Here are a couple of threads from the debate forum where people give a lot of ideas and menus on eating healthfully for very little money. You might want to give them a glance.
Why is it more expensive to eat healthier?
Is veganism only possible with enough money?
I want to plug beans really quickly. I spent roughly 5 dollars on dried beans and lentils last time I shopped (navy beans, chickpeas, and two bags of lentils) and have thus far eaten a wide variety of dishes built around them. Beans don't have to mean plain beans, or chili, or burritos, not that there's anything wrong with those.
I've eaten a minestrone with a tomato broth, navy beans, potatoes, and frozen kale that was super cheap, a take on chicken piccata made with chickpeas that was delicious, a lentil, lemon, and greens soup, and a lentil and tomato stew. I got multiple meals out of all of them, still have leftovers of them in the fridge AND still have more cooked chickpeas and navy beans. Tomorrow I'm making a chickpea curry and a spiced lentil coconut milk soup. And although I definitely added other ingredients, like the lemons I used in the piccata and the soup, the potatoes that went into the minestrone and the stew, and the frozen greens that went into the soups and under the piccata, it's all based around that 5 dollar bean purchase, and they've all been different, even though I made my ingredients multitask. Beans are incredibly versatile. And incredibly cheap.3 -
Start with making a limited meal plan.
Low budget menu planning and recipes:
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/70dollarmenu.htm
http://www.budgetbytes.com
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/03/35-meatless-meals.html
http://www.meatlessmonday.com/favorite-recipes/
http://www.lentils.org/recipes-cooking/recipes/
Some MFP threads you may find useful:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10518784/healthy-food-choice-on-a-budget/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10500423/costing-a-lot-more-money-to-eat-healthier/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10490067/most-healthy-food-options-are-very-expensive-and-im-on-a-very-poor-budget-what-to-do/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10614805/need-quick-cheap-nutritious-food#latest
Low budget friendly foods where I live are oatmeal, tuna, whole chicken or chicken thighs, dry beans, lentils, rice, pasta, bread, peanut butter, eggs, potatoes, carrots, apples, ground turkey, cabbage, onions, canned tomatoes, canned vegetables, canned fruit, frozen vegetables, flour, powdered milk.
Buy produce in season. Look at what is on sale before you go if you can. Buy store brand or generic versions.
A big pot of bean or lentil soup is very economical.2 -
Also, this cookbook is written for a similar budget and is a free download: https://www.leannebrown.com/cookbooks/1
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I get $35.00 2 week for food for myself.
70% of my diet is Vegtables because they are inexpensive, I make soups/ stews. I get a entire 2weeks worth of food that gives me 2bowls a day of soup/stew. I make my own flatbread, (wheat flour, salt and water). and I can freeze it until I want to eat it. You can replace any of these items with other vegtables. I also do this with Fruits, you can make fruit soups or stews.
1 large onions
2 bell peppers
1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole). I can not have tomatoes so I don't use this.
5 Carrots
1 bunch celery
1 small cabbage
3 medium zucchini (optional). I use Squash~
1 package Lipton Onion Soup mix
Season to taste with pepper, parsley, garlic and onion powder. You can use any spices that you like. Don't limit yourself.
Put water in pan fill it up bring to a boil. place in your veggies you like or soup bones. You can ask the store if they have soup bones most will just give them to you! others will have you pay $3.00.
NOTE: I dice or put my veggies in a food processor to grind up. it makes more soup and I puree' them. The bigger chunks the less food you will get a week. If you dice you get 2 weeks worth.
You can buy dried beans, soak them over night and then make a 16bean soup, add ham hocks, this will give you 2weeks of soups. You can put what ever veggies you want in them. Its all up to you and what you like.
You can go to Wiki and look up Soups find the ones you like, You can do the same with Stew's they use potatoes most of the time.
for storage you can put them in Ziplock bags and place in the freezer until you are ready to eat them, I put them in one cup bags so I can take one out every day and put in the microwave.
Last a Bowl of Oatmeal is inexpensive! This is all I live on. I make all my meals with Veggies/ Fruits and grains, rice, beans. The one thing about the Depression in the 1920' 30's is your grandparents never out grow this kind of food once taught it is a life time eating~
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I get $35.00 2 week for food for myself.
70% of my diet is Vegtables because they are inexpensive, I make soups/ stews. I get a entire 2weeks worth of food that gives me 2bowls a day of soup/stew. I make my own flatbread, (wheat flour, salt and water). and I can freeze it until I want to eat it. You can replace any of these items with other vegtables. I also do this with Fruits, you can make fruit soups or stews.
1 large onions
2 bell peppers
1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole). I can not have tomatoes so I don't use this.
5 Carrots
1 bunch celery
1 small cabbage
3 medium zucchini (optional). I use Squash~
1 package Lipton Onion Soup mix
Season to taste with pepper, parsley, garlic and onion powder. You can use any spices that you like. Don't limit yourself.
Put water in pan fill it up bring to a boil. place in your veggies you like or soup bones. You can ask the store if they have soup bones most will just give them to you! others will have you pay $3.00.
NOTE: I dice or put my veggies in a food processor to grind up. it makes more soup and I puree' them. The bigger chunks the less food you will get a week. If you dice you get 2 weeks worth.
You can buy dried beans, soak them over night and then make a 16bean soup, add ham hocks, this will give you 2weeks of soups. You can put what ever veggies you want in them. Its all up to you and what you like.
You can go to Wiki and look up Soups find the ones you like, You can do the same with Stew's they use potatoes most of the time.
for storage you can put them in Ziplock bags and place in the freezer until you are ready to eat them, I put them in one cup bags so I can take one out every day and put in the microwave.
Last a Bowl of Oatmeal is inexpensive! This is all I live on. I make all my meals with Veggies/ Fruits and grains, rice, beans. The one thing about the Depression in the 1920' 30's is your grandparents never out grow this kind of food once taught it is a life time eating~
You are my hero0 -
So many great tips and links in this thread.
With some planning and avoiding wasting any food, that should be a pretty doable target to meet.
I spend $140-200 a month on food, but I’m usually in the $140-160 range. I used to spend a lot more. I still buy my fav name brands, spring water, and I don’t even feel like I’m eating cheaply. The main things I’ve changed are buying family packs of meat (saves a lot of money), not letting food go to waste before I can get to it, buying few prepared or frozen meals, and regularly eating several cheap staples that I enjoy (mixed with some more pricey meals during the month too).
For examples of cheap staples, the website budgetbytes has been mentioned. I highly rec checking it out. Her recipes are great!
If you eat meat, what I do for that is buy the family pack, cook it a up with basic seasoning, and then portion the meat out in 3 or 4 oz servings that I freeze. This brings down the cost per serving considerably and also makes life easier having it ready to go for various dishes.
If you like eggs, frittatas and egg bakes are relatively cheap and can be filled with tasty flavors you enjoy.
If you like oatmeal, that’ll help you a lot! So cheap per serving. Various ways that I love to eat it:
-topped with defrosted mixed berries
- half a serving of Nutella stirred in
- a serving of peanut butter stirred in
- salt, butter, and 1 or 2 fried eggs
I eat a lot of beans, but I use canned for convenience. I’ve found that route cheap enough for this budget.
I’m starting a PhD program in the fall, and I’d like to get my food budget even lower then due to expensive rent in my new city. So I’ll probably use dry beans at that point.
I eat pasta more often than rice, although I do LOVE me some rice and beans and burrito bowls. For pasta, it’s a little more expensive but I find the high protein kind worth it bc it fills me up more. A pretty cheap and tasty dinner to me is spaghetti with white beans, Parmigiano reggiano, greens (spinach or kale), and olive oil. It can be done for about $2 a serving, cheaper if using frozen spinach.
I used to regularly buy frozen foods like Kashi and Amy’s etc. Those can take a big bite of a budget. Eliminating those or just getting one very rarely helped me save a lot of money. Nowadays, the only frozen things I regularly buy are fruit and veg and ice cream.
I buy some pricey items where cheaper alternatives are available, like Irish butter, expensive milk, and Eggland’s Best eggs. I strongly prefer these and they fit in the budget. Not all items need to be really inexpensive to meet $150.
Good luck! If you don’t mind updating, I’d love to hear about how things go.
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37.50 weekly for one person. I do this and have for years. wal mart. shop smart. fruit. meat. potatoes vegies. oatmeal. bread, pasta. clam sauce.pasta sauce...and pb and j - my only indulgence is popsicles. 1.971
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Eggs . . .. eggs are definitely going to be the best bang for your buck. They are super healthy and pack a lot of protein plus there's so much you can do with them: scrambled, fried sandwiches, burritos with salsa, etc.
Beans - in the can are really cheap (black beans, chick peas, kidney beans, etc). Rice. Lentils. Canned and frozen veggies are just as nutritious as fresh and they are usually much cheaper.
This is one of my favourite recipes http://www.nutritionrx.ca/bean-rice-and-cheese-casserole/ and the recipe goes a long way. Plus you can use any veggies you want. Pair it with some frozen veggies, or salad and it's very filling. I add black beans to this recipe to make it go further and be even more filling.
I also make this one a lot https://skinnyms.com/no-bake-workout-bars-recipe/ for breakfast. It's very filling and you can put any fillings you want: raisins, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, nuts, etc. Really easy and the ingredients are all staples, nothing special (you can sub Natural PB for regular, and use almond milk).
I would also suggest looking for vegetarian meals . . . meat is very expensive and it consumes a lot of your grocery budget for little volume, especially high quality meats. I'd suggest using meat as a once in a while rather than with every meal. Or don't use it as a "main" and use it for a side, or mixing it in like casseroles.
Ground meat - beef, turkey, chicken - often goes pretty far too. Hopefully this help - I've been doing meal prep/planning for a very long time so I totally understand your frustrations.1 -
Get those cheap case of chicken leg quarters and a 50 lb. sack of white rice.1
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SaraLynnFiske wrote: »I only get $150 per month for myself to eat with. I don't know how to live off of $5 a day. I have tried watching videos online, and reading articles, but I'm having a hard time grasping at this and understanding what I can do. Does anyone have any really cheap recipes or meal plans??
I live in Western Massachusetts, and the stores nearby are Wal-Mart, Big Y, Dollar Tree and Stop&Shop
COSTCO. Life saver. Ground turkey + steamed frozen veggies. Eggs. Meal prepping will help save a BUNCH. Definitely will still be difficult but you can manage it.1 -
Costco is way too "RICH" for me or my family we can not afford those prices at any cost! We shop at Food for LESS that is all we can afford and "Sprouts" for Veggies and Fruits. When the Dollar Tree has cases of berries we buy quite a lot of them then freeze. Even walmart we never buy meat at walmart, I was a employee and I could not in good faith allow my adult kids knowing what I know.3
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I was a single mom with a limited food budget for a long time and some of my staples were eggs, pasta and sauce, ground beef and rice seasoned with Lipton Onion Soup mix, meatloaf seasoned the same way, macaroni and cheese, potatoes, and frozen or canned veggies.1
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I am in mass too, 30 min south of Boston. don't think market basket is out that far west. It's mostly north and south of Boston.
Stop and shop by me marks down their meats up to 70% the day before the sell by date. I keep an eye on the sell by date for the things I love, I stock up on the stuff I buy when they do this, chicken sausage, chicken thighs ground beef, and breasts. Last time I got a family pack of Perdue chicken thighs for 29¢/lb. 5 pounds of thighs (18) for $1.50. I bought a 5 pound bag of my favorite rice on sale for $5. They also have lots of free stuff in their app. Free day. I got a 32 oz cannon yogurt free, chobani yogurt, 48 oz organic almond milk, cottage cheese. Sign up for their emails.
Big y often does buy one get two free sales, pasta, some meats, thomasa English muffins, etc. they also have a dozen eggs for 19¢ right now if you load it to your card. They had 5 lb bag of red potatoes for 99¢ on this too. Keep an eye out for those.
Walmart is great for eggs. Canned goods are often cheaper there. Breads.
Ibotta gives you cash back on food purchases. I've earned over $20 in the last week since I've downloaded it. You can cash it in via venom or PayPal or get gift cards. I know Walmart is one of the cards you can get.
BJs has specials all the time for $25 for a year membership, might be worth it. Costco executive membership gives you 2% back, my membership always pays for itself with my cash back check.
Mass also has a law regarding price accuracy. If a grocery item rings up wrong, or different than ANY advertised price, it's free up to $10 or $10 off. Im very good at spotting these mistakes and end up gettting a lot of stuff, usually meat, free. Got a free Stubbs barbecue sauce yesterday, chicken breast the day before.
To be honest, I don't think I spend more than your allowance on my food for a month on myself. I meal prep about once a week. Roast potatoes, cook a bunch of rice and then 2-3 meats and mix and match them for meals.3 -
Make sure to check out coupon sites like coupons.com. You can really save a lot if you combine them with items already on sale. In Canada, we have an app called Checkout 51- not sure if you have it in the US but it can also save you some money. Use your store's loyalty card if they have one. A great, inexpensive-yet healthy dinner- is to cook chicken leg quarters in the oven and use the meat to make a chicken fajitas mixture- add in a can of black beans, onion/veg/seasonings. It can be served over rice or in tortillas (if you can grab them on sale). Another recipe is to buy pork chops on sale and cook up a large batch. Use the meat to make pork fried rice. Freezes well. I have some recipes I can share. Message me if you want me to forward them. Eggs are my go to. I also make a lot of lentil soup and oatmeal. Buy your spices in bulk. It can really add some flavor to your food and it often costs a lot less than the brand named spices. If you have a local discount/dollar store- they often have spices as well. Making your own bread/tortillas can be really inexpensive. 1
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Try to cook Greek food. Healthier food of the planet. I am Greek and we are two ppl in the house, 200euro for two easily.3
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Hit up Aldis girl!
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LiveInLeggings wrote: »Hit up Aldis girl!
...well there's one Aldi west of I-91 (without getting into New York) in Pittsfield; could be a bit of a drive.1 -
For free day this week Stop & Shop has a storebrand flip Greek yogurt and also a bag of Hersheys or Reese's candy crunch.1
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melissa6771 wrote: »I am in mass too, 30 min south of Boston. don't think market basket is out that far west. It's mostly north and south of Boston.
Stop and shop by me marks down their meats up to 70% the day before the sell by date. I keep an eye on the sell by date for the things I love, I stock up on the stuff I buy when they do this, chicken sausage, chicken thighs ground beef, and breasts. Last time I got a family pack of Perdue chicken thighs for 29¢/lb. 5 pounds of thighs (18) for $1.50. I bought a 5 pound bag of my favorite rice on sale for $5. They also have lots of free stuff in their app. Free day. I got a 32 oz cannon yogurt free, chobani yogurt, 48 oz organic almond milk, cottage cheese. Sign up for their emails.
Big y often does buy one get two free sales, pasta, some meats, thomasa English muffins, etc. they also have a dozen eggs for 19¢ right now if you load it to your card. They had 5 lb bag of red potatoes for 99¢ on this too. Keep an eye out for those.
Walmart is great for eggs. Canned goods are often cheaper there. Breads.
Ibotta gives you cash back on food purchases. I've earned over $20 in the last week since I've downloaded it. You can cash it in via venom or PayPal or get gift cards. I know Walmart is one of the cards you can get.
BJs has specials all the time for $25 for a year membership, might be worth it. Costco executive membership gives you 2% back, my membership always pays for itself with my cash back check.
Mass also has a law regarding price accuracy. If a grocery item rings up wrong, or different than ANY advertised price, it's free up to $10 or $10 off. Im very good at spotting these mistakes and end up gettting a lot of stuff, usually meat, free. Got a free Stubbs barbecue sauce yesterday, chicken breast the day before.
To be honest, I don't think I spend more than your allowance on my food for a month on myself. I meal prep about once a week. Roast potatoes, cook a bunch of rice and then 2-3 meats and mix and match them for meals.
Ya, I keep an eye out for these price errors as well.
Stores are supposed to post this on the register, but some don't and plead ignorant to the law, so here it is: https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2016/07/vr/price-accuracy-guarantee-form.pdf
I'm subscribed to Stop & Shop for Free Day and coupons as well. Free Day is a fun way to try new things, or get things I already buy free. I also like their digital coupons, which magically disappear when they expire!1 -
SaraLynnFiske wrote: »I only get $150 per month for myself to eat with. I don't know how to live off of $5 a day. I have tried watching videos online, and reading articles, but I'm having a hard time grasping at this and understanding what I can do. Does anyone have any really cheap recipes or meal plans??
I live in Western Massachusetts, and the stores nearby are Wal-Mart, Big Y, Dollar Tree and Stop&Shop
I'm from Wilbraham, living south of Boston now.
I'd probably get staples at Wal-Mart and check the Big Y and S&S flyers for sales. (I have a Market Basket so get staples there.)
Is there an Aldi's near you? Lots of posters here rave about it.
When my friend was on full SNAP benefits of $200/month in 2009 I did an experiment to see if I could feed myself on that and I can - and that included some organic produce, and meat and dairy that is all more humanely raised, so if you don't have those limitations $150 is doable for sure.- I didn't buy things like soda, boxed cereal, or alcohol.
- I ate a lot of chicken thighs and very little red meat or fish.
- I bought rice and beans in bulk.
- I bought a lot of produce from farmer's markets
- I cooked mostly from scratch - I would shop on Saturdays and spend a few hours on Sundays prepping lunches and dinners through Thursday.
So for example I would cook 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. 4 I'd make what I call Thai Tandoori, which is chicken marinated in @ a half cup of plain yogurt with a heaping teaspoon of Thai red curry paste, and then baked. At the same time I'd bake the other 4 chicken thighs dusted in Pepperidge Farms bread crumbs, and some baked potatoes. I'd cook a cup of rice. For lunches, I'd have the Thai chicken, rice, and green peas. For dinner I'd have the other chicken, potatoes, and make broccoli at that time cuz I don't like it microwaved.
I'd also make hard boiled eggs on the weekend and bring them to work for snacks. Plus I'd keep carrot sticks and cheese in the work frig, and almonds at my desk.
Oh, and I save chicken bones in the freezer and when I get a full quart ziplock bag I make stock for soups and stews in the crockpot.
The crockpot is great for cooking cheap cuts of meat, and dried beans. (Don't forget to either soak overnight or use the quick-soak method.)
Maybe get some Mark Bittman cookbooks from you library system? His recipes tend to be minimalistic and simple, so you don't have to spend a lot of money on odd ingredients.2 -
Oh, to save money on spices, you can buy a few that will cover a range. For example:
1. I often use Italian seasoning for any recipe that calls for dried Oregano, Marjoram, Thyme, Rosemary, Basil, Sage.
2. I have used pumpkin pie spice for any recipe that calls for Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, Nutmeg.
Fresh herbs can get pricey at the store and it can be hard to use them all before they go bad. But this time of year everyone is selling them in containers. Just make sure you are watering appropriately, and give them enough sun, and a $3 or $4 pot of an herb should last you for months.2
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