Eating healthy on a really tight budget?

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sburesh93
sburesh93 Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm an unemployed student, and the lady I live with gets a limited income...what's some great stuff we can get at Wal-Mart? She eats all fruits and veggies, but I can't, I have problems with my iron.

Any suggestions on food/recipes/cooking methods?

Replies

  • IveLanded
    IveLanded Posts: 797 Member
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    Dark greens are LOADED with iron.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    Dried beans
  • sburesh93
    sburesh93 Posts: 12
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    What qualifies as dark greens besides spinach? I'm not a big fan of it lol
  • Kl3ve008
    Kl3ve008 Posts: 6
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    You need to coupon... anything in the produce obviously doesn't require coupons. But look for specials "Buy one get one free" Get one for the half the price. Then go on harristeeter.com or whatever grocery store you use and see whats on sale for the week. Go on KrazyKouponlady.com and get the coupons she provides for whatever store. Print them, and save!
  • sburesh93
    sburesh93 Posts: 12
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    Thanks!! :)
  • debi_f
    debi_f Posts: 330 Member
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    My husband and I have a tiny garden in the back where we grow leafy lettuce, strawberries and tomatoes, etc. The seeds were cheap, and it's definitely not too late to plant a few things. (I love going out just before lunch and "picking" my salad!)
  • bartleby9
    bartleby9 Posts: 30
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    I find that shopping at Costco is fantastic for saving the bucks if you are smart about it. I buy a huge bag of frozen veggies and it lasts me about a week and a half. I eat about 2 heaping cups of veggies from that bag 2x a day to give you some idea of how long it lasts me. The bag is about 7 bucks. I was spending 4 bucks at the grocery for a bag of mixed frozen veggies and that lasted me 2 days tops.
  • shvrngrl
    shvrngrl Posts: 205 Member
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    I'm anemic and I really don't eat red meat. Here is a list of good sources of iron. Also if you buy whole foods, the grocery bills are pretty cheap. Thats what I try to do. I cook for the week every Sunday and it saves so much time. And I agree with some of the others Costco's is fantastic for savings. I buy alot of fresh fruits and veg from there. At the end of the week if I haven't used everything I make soups and freeze the fruits for future smoothies.

    Iron Content of Selected Vegan Foods

    Soybeans, cooked 1 cup 8.8
    Blackstrap molasses 2 Tbsp 7.2
    Lentils, cooked 1 cup 6.6
    Spinach, cooked 1 cup 6.4
    Quinoa, cooked 1 cup 6.3
    Tofu 4 ounces 6.0
    Bagel, enriched 3 ounces 5.2
    Tempeh 1 cup 4.8
    Lima beans, cooked 1 cup 4.4
    Swiss chard, cooked 1 cup 4.0
    Black beans, cooked 1 cup 3.6
    Pinto beans, cooked 1 cup 3.5
    Turnip greens, cooked 1 cup 3.2
    Chickpeas, cooked 1 cup 3.2
    Potato 1 large 3.2
    Kidney beans, cooked 1 cup 3.0
    Prune juice 8 ounces 3.0
    Beet greens, cooked 1 cup 2.7
    Tahini 2 Tbsp 2.7
    Veggie hot dog 1 hot dog 2.7
    Peas, cooked 1 cup 2.5
    Black-eyed peas, cooked 1 cup 2.3
    Cashews 1/4 cup 2.1
    Brussels sprouts, cooked 1 cup 1.9
    Bok choy, cooked 1 cup 1.8
    Bulgur, cooked 1 cup 1.7
    Raisins 1/2 cup 1.6
    Almonds 1/4 cup 1.5
    Apricots, dried 15 halves 1.4
    Veggie burger, commercial 1 patty 1.4
    Watermelon 1/8 medium 1.4
    Soy yogurt 6 ounces 1.1
    Tomato juice 8 ounces 1.0
    Green beans, cooked 1 cup 1.2
    Kale, cooked 1 cup 1.2
    Sunflower seeds 1/4 cup 1.2
    Broccoli, cooked 1 cup 1.1
    Millet, cooked 1 cup 1.1
    Sesame seeds 2 Tbsp 1.0
    Sources: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 18, 2005 and Manufacturer's information.

    The RDA for iron for vegetarians is 14 mg/day for adult men and for post-menopausal women and 33 mg/day for pre-menopausal women.
  • SuperSexyDork
    SuperSexyDork Posts: 1,669 Member
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    I typically feed a family for 4 on $200 for 3 weeks. Sometimes, I stretch that to a whole month. I feel like that is pretty frugal.

    I don't use coupons, instead I buy whole foods that I can cook. I also pay close attention to the grocery store ads. I tend to do most of my shopping at Food Lion and I will sit down with the Food Lion ad and work my menu plans around that ad... It's especially important to find meat when it's on sale, so don't buy it at Wal-Mart because their meat is never on sale. The exceptions may be that you can often buy a large bag of frozen chicken breasts for very cheap and most of their seafood is cheaper than elsewhere.

    However, use Wal-Mart to buy produce (as long as it's cheaper than grocery stores near you-you'd be surprised how often it's more expensive), beans, rice, bread products and other staples.
  • knittingbandmom
    knittingbandmom Posts: 190 Member
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    However, use Wal-Mart to buy produce (as long as it's cheaper than grocery stores near you-you'd be surprised how often it's more expensive), beans, rice, bread products and other staples.
    ]

    Hey did you know you can take all of your grocery store sales ads for the week, go through each of them and select the best sales prices of what you want. Make your list and take it and the ads with you to Wal-Mart and they will match the price. It's awesome. They will not do a buy one get one free unless it clearly has the final price but other than that it's a great way to save some serious moola.
  • ConstableOdo
    ConstableOdo Posts: 104
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    However, use Wal-Mart to buy produce (as long as it's cheaper than grocery stores near you-you'd be surprised how often it's more expensive), beans, rice, bread products and other staples.
    ]

    Hey did you know you can take all of your grocery store sales ads for the week, go through each of them and select the best sales prices of what you want. Make your list and take it and the ads with you to Wal-Mart and they will match the price. It's awesome. They will not do a buy one get one free unless it clearly has the final price but other than that it's a great way to save some serious moola.

    At the Wal-Mart I used to shop at, they used to do this automatically. Each week the cashiers would get a new list of things on sale elsewhere.
  • builtforlife
    builtforlife Posts: 259
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    Just watched this the other day. http://youtu.be/m48LUaQOwtY
  • SuperSexyDork
    SuperSexyDork Posts: 1,669 Member
    Options
    However, use Wal-Mart to buy produce (as long as it's cheaper than grocery stores near you-you'd be surprised how often it's more expensive), beans, rice, bread products and other staples.
    ]

    Hey did you know you can take all of your grocery store sales ads for the week, go through each of them and select the best sales prices of what you want. Make your list and take it and the ads with you to Wal-Mart and they will match the price. It's awesome. They will not do a buy one get one free unless it clearly has the final price but other than that it's a great way to save some serious moola.

    At the Wal-Mart I used to shop at, they used to do this automatically. Each week the cashiers would get a new list of things on sale elsewhere.

    Mine will not do it with meats... It has to be exact brand and cut. They do not carry many of the same brands for meat as Food Lion here.

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