$20 a week.

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  • kerriberry74
    kerriberry74 Posts: 62 Member
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    You could do a real simple stir fry with a small amount of beef/chicken- marinate in a bit of water (1/4 to 1/2c.), a tablespoon or so of soy sauce & cornstarch, it comes out really tender-, onion, garlic, soy sauce some pepper & any other veggies you may have hanging out in the fridge- sauté meat first then add in the veggies. Add a bit of water or soy sauce if it seems too dry & have that w/rice.

    Chick peas are good to have around- hummus, in soups, on salads (they're also pretty filling, which is nice).

    Stale bread items could be re-purposed into soup (i've made some pretty good tomato & bread soup in the past & recently used a hot dog bun for the bread in some cucumber soup!), toasted & made into croûtons for soup/salads or run through a food processor, seasoned & made into bread crumbs to be used sometime in the future ie. homemade chicken strips.

    It's not easy to have such a low budget and still eat healthy, but with a lot of planning & keeping waste to a minimum- freezing leftovers can end up making for a good lunch later in the week/month- you'll be able to do it.
  • distantvampire
    distantvampire Posts: 2
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    I know how troubling it can be trying to do this! I second the chicken tortilla recipe above, it's similar to my own and will feed my SO and I for a week!

    If you have an Alberstons near you, they are AWESOME for stocking up on meats. They have a buy one get 2 for free so you'll walk out with three sets of meat, and usually have chicken, lean pork, and lean steaks on this sale. They also usually have a buy one get one for free if you browse their meat and poultry departments. .

    What I do is usually buy the meats in one grocery trip because a lot of their items tend to be more expensive, and then the veggies and other groceries the next trip.
  • mrsnathanandrew
    mrsnathanandrew Posts: 631 Member
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    First off look for sales, make HUGE batches of stuff and try to buy generic brands when they're cheaper. I'd use the $20 to buy:

    2 dozen eggs--have an omelet for 1 meal.

    baby carrots and make some hummus--like $2-3 for enough to last the week

    pound of beans, pound of frozen onions and peppers, can of stewed tomatoes, and a pound of ground turkey--all about $6-8 and will last for 1 meal for the entire week

    container of oatmeal--$2-3 and will last the week

    few pounds of bananas

    1 loaf of bread

    1 jar of peanut butter

    What she said ^^^
  • Gidzmo
    Gidzmo Posts: 904 Member
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    Beans... You can also get a bag of frozen chicken breasts for like $6. And that could last a couple of weeks. also for fresh fruit and veggies, try a local farmers market or if you know anyone who has a garden, they might give you some for free. I give away our extra veggies from our garden.

    Melann, I must go shopping in your neighborhood. No chicken breasts, frozen or otherwise, for $6.00 (unless you meant $6.00/pound) here in Los Angeles.

    We don't have Aldi's here, but we do have 99-Cent Stores (aka Dollar Stores). You can get a somewhat decent assortment of canned stuff there. Some even carry produce.

    Another budget food: ramen noodles. Sometimes you can pick up a six-pack of Top Ramen for a dollar. Good to use with leftovers. One downside: the seasoning packet is loaded with sodium. Use sparingly, if at all.
  • weevil66
    weevil66 Posts: 600 Member
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    If you have a crockpot you can make yogurt. Freeze some fresh fruit when they are on sale and use them later. Oatmeal is good. Watch the sales, cut the coupons, join the supermarket club things. Sometimes i am able to save a lot that way. There were times when we git 5 boxes of oatmeal for the price of two.
  • DantiaX
    DantiaX Posts: 23 Member
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    I would eat as little meat as possible. Look for local grocery stores. In my area they always stock farmers market veggies and I only buy what is in season( right now yellow squash, corn, and eggplant are really cheap in my area). I take care of my mom (and I'm super cheap) and she can't have very much cholesterol so we eat very little meat. I use whatever veggies are in season and frozen ones when they go on sale. Try not to shop at Walmart as they are not very cheap in the end for food (unless you have coupons). Maybe it's just in my area but the produce really sucks there too.Try to look for any helpful coupons. Dollar Tree (or any 1$ or less store) always has some awesome canned options (but keeps on eye on them as some things are not a good deal). Try buying bagged rice, a very little can go a long way, throw in some seasonal veggies and some chicken bullion and cook it up in a skillet. Beans are super cheap and good for you too ( and you can do the same thing in a skillet). If you live on the coast seafood can probably be found very cheaply at a fish market. Use lettuce (like red leaf or green) instead of bread or tortilla and have a nice crunchy wrap. It's usually around .40 cents where I live and it will last you all week. Tuna and hot dogs are always super cheap. Having salad for dinner can be pretty inexpensive if you work it right and use sale veggies. I feed three people, four animals, and purchase cleaning supplies and toiletries on a 120$ bucks a week and I don't really cut coupons. I just keep an eye out. You can do it, you just have to be a bit crafty. =)
  • JoyTLA
    JoyTLA Posts: 18
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    I found this article "How to Lose Weight on $10 a Week": With recipes

    http://quickiechick.com/2011/07/how-to-lose-weight-on-10-a-week/
  • Tender78
    Tender78 Posts: 119 Member
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