Eating clean(ish) on a budget. HELP!

Hmm - see if there's an ethnic market in your town. They tend to have better prices, sometimes MUCH better prices - on produce, meats, whole foods. Eat in-season produce, or stuff that's on sale. Or sometimes you can find grocery stores or farmer's markets that have a discount table - produce that you have to eat right away because it's fully ripe, but it's fine as long as you eat it then.

Cheap, nutritious thrills that come to mind are oatmeal instead of cereal, big bags of frozen chicken breasts instead of fresh (to me they're just as good). Frozen veggies are good, and can be found pretty cheaply at discount grocery stores. You can get fruits and veggies in-season at a farmer's market, and freeze them so you have them year-round - that saved me a lot of money on peaches. Popcorn is much cheaper bought as kernels and microwaved in a plain brown bag, than bought in the usual prepackaged bags.

Add: Pinto beans (bought dried) are a great cheap thrill too. Make a big batch with onions and you can eat on that for weeks.

Another add: I also like making split peas (dried), and adding chicken, curry powder, and a little cayenne pepper. Good dish, and cheap. French onion soup is great, easy to make, filling. Sautee 2 big yellow onions in olive oil til they're sweet, then add 4 cans beef broth. Season with Italian seasoning and pepper, eat it with bread/cheese if you want to.

Edit: Biggest advice - keep searching, don't compromise! I think there are ways of eating healthy on a budget, not eating pasta all the time. It unfortunately takes some creativity, but keep at it, you're on the right track!

Good luck!!

As far as greens, buy them separately in bundles, not in a plastic bagged salad mix. If you don't have an ethnic market, Wal Mart (I hate to say it) has the best deals on produce - and pretty much everything else, too - and you surely have one of those.

Trader Joe's can be cheap for packaged things - frozen entrees, grains, etc - though they're expensive for most produce.

Another idea... a friend of mine on a raw diet and a budget shops at several different grocery stores. He's scoped out exactly what's cheapest at which stores.

I'd try Craigslist for produce from farmers, also - and people are always giving away food they didn't like or aren't going to use, if that doesn't sketch you out.

Lots of great ideas here so far, so I'l just add a few snack ideas:
- buy fruit that is in season. Strawberries are going to cost a fortune in winter, but apples are probably cheap(er). Check out to see what is on special each week and buy a few of those, leave the others until they come in season or the price drops.
- buy almonds in bulk and package them into little snack sized packs yourself. You don't need a lot for a snack so although they look pretty pricey they last a long time (I eat about 10 almonds at a time and that is enough for a snack).
- that goes for just about anything, individual servings are much more expensive. Yoghurt for example - buy plain natural yoghurt in a big tub and just serve out a little bit each day.
- veggies in season make good snacks too. Buy whatever is cheap and either eat them raw (carrots, celery) or lightly steamed (broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potato).
- a can of chickpeas or bean blended up with a bit of lemon juice, a dash of oil and chilli powder (if you like it) is a great dip, and cheap as chips. Maybe give the chips a miss though, and eat it with veggies instead!

meant to say as well, if you have a market nearby go and get meat in bulk. I get 16 portions of mince for £10, and 11 chicken breasts for £10. Chicken done under the grill with some reggae reggae sauce spread on it, with homemade coleslaw and corn on the cob is lovely. You can then use any leftover coleslaw for sandwiches, salad or baked potato and cheese the next day.

make your own yoghurt bring a pint of milk to the boil and allow to cool to body temp stir in one spoonful of shop bought live yogurt put that in a vacuum flask of an evening and it is ready for the next day then make the next batch using one tablespoon of your home made yoghurt great of toasted oats with some fruit for a delicious dessert or breakfast - add honey if you have a sweet tooth

Hi there. Not sure what "cleanish" means... but, there are things on my grocery list that I will “splurge” on, even when I’m “financially embarrassed”. Here is a short list of what I cannot do without, in order of importance. (I’m a low carber, so keep that in mind.)

1) Eggs. A big bang for the buck -- both financially and nutritionally.


2) Picsweet frozen trio of pre-chopped onion, celery & bell pepper. I throw this into virtually everything I cook but it makes omelets, in particular, a snap!


3) Soy milk. A cup of West Soy’s Organic Unsweetened Soy Milk has only 1 net carb per cup. It’s about $3.50 for a half gallon but I dilute mine w/ 50% water, so it turns out to cost about the same as a gallon of cow’s milk.

4) Cheese. I can’t be without cottage cheese, string cheese or slices of swiss cheese.
 Look at the unit price per ounce to figure out which one is the best buy.

5) Raw Almonds. I buy raw almonds in the 2 pound bag. It costs $10 but it will last me an entire month. I eat a few everyday in some way, shape or form.

5) Rotisserie chicken. Less than $5? And I don’t have to cook? Sold! I cube the white meat & freeze it for recipes (turns a $1 boxed rice/pasta side dish into an entree).

6) Greek Yogurt. This stuff has a decent amount of protein & it’s like eating cheesecake. Yeah, it costs a dollar a serving but if I’m splurging for it, it must be worth it. Try Oikos or Chobani.


7) Frozen shrimp. I throw this in canned soup and, like the rotisserie chicken, add it to boxed rice/pasta side dishes, thereby morphing a side dish into an entree. I can get 4 servings out of one $5 bag? Cha-ching!

I enjoyed reading everyone else’s short list of essentials!

/P2P

pasta is a great option, eggs, whole wheat bread, cheap storebrand yogurts, oatmeal, and shredded wheat are my staples. I also get bananas and apples/oranges for fruit and carrots for veggies

Do you have an ALDI grocery store where you live? Check it out if you do. Just bring your own bags and a quarter for the cart when you go. I have a large family and that grocery store has saved us from going back to cheap processed junk. Great deal on everything and its a world wide company. Much healthier generic foods. Higher in quality than walmart brands ext...

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I never do well with huge grocery lists! It's too much to pay for at once and it's difficult to use up everything before they start going bad.

Note that we live in Barcelona, Spain, and things are set up differently here. Everyone goes to the market at least every other day to get fresh food (veggies, fruit, fish, meat, cheese, and olives). There are several bakeries, cheese stands, wine stands, everything stands just steps from our front door, so it's easier for us to grab what we want for that night on the way home. You would need to tweak things a bit for U.S. living, but it can be done! It just takes some planning. Given that, here are my suggestions:

- Invest in a good cookbook and cook everything from scratch. Alternatively, you can check one out from the library, usually for a month at a time, which is enough time to get the hang of cooking from scratch. I know I've talked about him a lot in other posts, but I like cookbooks by Mark Bittman. He places a lot of emphasis on cooking from scratch and making it simple. The recipes usually include things you already have in the pantry. Every week, tag a few recipes that you would like to make for that week. See what you have and don't have in your pantry/fridge. Get what you need just for that week.

- Plan on having leftovers. There's this lentil and potato curry dish I make that I make for dinner and I eat for lunch all week. All it takes is a couple of cups of lentils, a couple of potatoes, coconut milk, veggie stock, and curry powder! Easy, healthy, and yummy!

- Go get basics from a supermarket once a month. I go to our local supermarket once a month and get enough dry goods (rice, dried legumes, and pasta) for the month. I oftentimes get this from the local Asian supermarket, where there is more of a variety and they are cheaper.

- Get veggies/fruit every couple of days. I used to do our grocery shopping once a week, and things would usually start going bad by midweek. By shopping a few times a week instead, you minimize waste. We use up all of our veggies and fruit now, and I rarely throw anything away.

- Learn some "cleanup" recipes, like soup and/or stirfry. Learning how to make a basic soup or stirfry and winging it is a great way to use up random veggies that are still hanging out in your fridge.

Our food budget actually went DOWN whenever we started minimizing processed food. It just takes some strategy to make it work! Good luck!