Grocery shopping! Need help! Please :))

when I shop I buy off-brand healthy stuff, (wal-mart has cheap whole-wheat pasta) I also shop around, I go to two or three different stores to make sure I can stretch my $$ and still get what I need. I would say the best thing I've ever done is plan out every single meal I am going to cook, count out how many days until we get paid again (1st/15th usually) and figure out what I need to buy from that list. Healthy eating doesn't have to be expensive and you shouldn't have to limit your choices. I buy my vegetables frozen instead of canned (for lower sodium) I also buy big packs of meat which are usually cheaper than buying the smaller ones, I divide them up into sections and freeze them. It takes time but it saves money.

For dinner - chicken, lean beef, tortilla, fat free grated cheese, eggs, and tons of veggies. Some cereal and milk for fast breakfast. With a tight budget, you really do need to plan your meals out and buy accordingly. Frozen fruit is nutritious and lasts a long time. Processed foods (in a box or can) are not as healthy and don't keep you as full for as long (in my experience).

cereal (oatmeal or box)
milk 1/2 gal
eggs doz
Turkey lunch meat
Cheese slice and shredded
loaf bread
Chicken 1 lb
Beef 1 lb
Br rice or box of pasta
package of Tortilla
head lettuce
2 tom
2 onion
asparagus
broccoli
bag carrots
Sauce-2 (spagetti/salsa)

The above list can be purchased for just around $50 in my region. And that includes organic, all natural chicken/beef. Divide them into 4oz serving sizes and there are 8 servings there. The eggs, cereal, milk or an omelette for breakfast, tortilla with turkey lettuce and tomato for lunch and rice or pasta with protein and veggies for dinner. Delish!

I like to purchase alot of raw fruits and veggies, which can get very expensive, so I collect grocery ads from all my surrounding towns (within a 45 mile radius) and scour them for sales on the items I need. Then I ad match at Walmart since I have a Walmart just a few miles from my house.

PLAN! PLAN! PLAN! And I agree about oatmeal and eggs being wonderful choices. Much more filling and cost effective than normal cereal. Also, I don't know if you have an Aldi, but I just went shopping there today for almond milk, fruits and veggies, salmon and chicken!

Oh, and I'm really big into precooking. My favorite recipe right now is a cottage cheese chicken enchilada...I prepare it and freeze them so they are all set to throw in the oven individually. It saves on waste and I have an accurate calorie count really easily by saving it in my recipes! I also do chicken/veggie casseroles topped with a little stove top stuffing. Oh, so good and comfort food at its finest!

Baby carrots
Celery
Cucumber
Grape Tomatos
onions
mushrooms
green pepper
Lettuce
Apples
Bananas
Oranges
eggs
chicken breast boneless skinless
greek yogurt
ground turkey
Pork chops or ground pork
rolled oats

Best advice...plan, plan, plan. Make a menu for the paycheck/payperiod you are buying in that week. Then make a shopping list of EVERY ingrediant (even if you know you have it). Then take that list and go through your kitchen crossing off everything you already have in the house. Take what is left and go through the coupons in the paper or search online. I also have gone to Safeway or Alberstons online to get pricing. Online ordering is, most of the time, higher but it gives me an idea if what I have to purchase fits in the budget (I don't buy/order online but I use it for pricing estimates). If not, adjust meals accordingly. You may have to re-inventory your kitchen if you need to adjust the meal, and it is a lot of work, but you will leave the house with an exact list of what to get, where to get it and how much it should cost.

I love to do freezer meals on the weekends for future meals as well. Also,soups and chilis in the crockpot that I can portion out for lunches. All homemade with fresh ingrediants and I get several meals from one pot. I once spent a weekend and made 5 different recipes that was lunch for over a month when mixed in with an occaisional salad or business event. I no longer purchase the frozen diet meals..not nearly as healthy as they appear. They were not bad to help me jump start into the eating changes (especially portion control) but I eventually moved to cooking at home and freezing.

A bag of potatoes
Frozen veggies
Low sodium beans (for chili)
Low sodium canned tomatoes (for chili)
A big box of cereal like Corn Flakes
Milk
Sandwich meat
Whole grain bread
Pitas
Pasta
Sauce (can be used to make pita pizzas, too)
Tuna
Eggs
Brown rice
Peanut butter
Light mozzarella

Light salad dressing, chili powder, ketchup, sugar...whatever other extras you need.

I'm on a very tight budget, and personally, I can't afford chicken or ground turkey very often, so I rely on beans/peanut butter for protein, and frozen chicken meatballs to go with pasta. You do what you must when you're on a budget AND a "diet."

I'm sure you've heard this before, but the #1 tip is stick to the perimeter of the grocery store, that's where you'll find the whole, relatively unprocessed foods (remember, more processing = more expensive and less nutritious).

Also, when you're buying fresh produce keep in mind what produce is in season, those things will be much cheaper, more nutritious and tastier. In the summer, u-picks are an awesome option (especially if you have room to freeze stuff), you can often get stuff for less than $1/pound plus you're supporting local farmers!

As others have said, buy frozen fruits and veggies when you can't afford fresh (buy fresh when you can, it's more nutritious and tastes better) they're cheaper and keep longer.

While I was in university and shopping on a *super* tight budget, I never bought meat at full price. I would buy large quantities while on sale (where I live, there's a different type of meat ~50% off every week on approx a 2 month rotation) and parcel it out into individual servings (make sure to label with the date and type of meat!) and freeze it. Shopping the flyers (and planning my meals around what was on sale) got me through University.

Casseroles and slow cooker meals (if you don't have one, I bought mine for ~$20 at Walmart) are a huge cost saver as well.

I bought a 1,000 count box of Dry Waxed Patty Paper at Cabela's for a nominal amount and use it in a variety of ways to keep my frozen food tasting good:

Homemade grain/pumpkin pancakes - Use them to separate each pancake, put in a sandwich freezer bag. Frost stays off of them and they are easy to just two from the bag. 150 calories

When making a dish that stays together well such as wheat pasta mac n cheese with pumpkin sauce for most of the cheese I cool the dish, cut into portioned squares and stack them in a freezer container with the paper between.

When putting a soup in the freezer but it doesn't fill the container, I press a piece of the paper to the top of the soup to keep out air.

I really dislike the taste the freezer gives to meat so I will also place cooked meat servings and cover them completely with vegitable broth or chicken broth to keep out air.

Hope that helps. Like you, I really dislike freezer taste and damage to my food.