I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas for good-for-you foods when you're on a budget. My hubby and I are both using slim fast for morning / afternoon. That adds up to about $20 a week. We are looking for ideas for dinner, mainly, that are budget friendly.
DH and I are on a budget for food, too. We eat a lot of meatless meals, things like stirfry and chili are really good without meat. When we do eat meat it's mostly chicken. We are also big on leftovers, we eat them 2-3 days per week. I don't throw much food away. If it's not going to be eaten in the next 5 days I will freeze it in individual portions and pull it out when I need a quick meal.
I've found that I just have to suck it up and pay for fresh veggies and fruit. They're more expensive than some of the other snack foods I used to buy, but since I'm not buying the junk anymore I have room in our budget to splurge a little more on fresh stuff. If you're really tight, stick to in-season fruit and veggies, the stuff that will be on sale. This week, plums are on sale for 99 cents per pound, nectarines are $2.99 per pound. So, if I were really tight this week, plums it is.
Watch for sales. I always buy milk on sale and never pay more than $2/gallon. I buy canned fruit (in 100% juice) and veggies when they're on sale and stock up. Same for juice, frozen veggies, tuna, tomato sauce, etc.
Since you're only talking about one meal a day (and snacks?), you may be able to spend a bit more on that meal. It's just something you're going to have to experiment with.
You probably know the cardinal rules of grocery shopping, but I'll recap the most important ones for you. These are the only things that keep me within out budget.
1) NEVER go to the store hungry. Ever.
2) Always take a list and stick to it. If I find something I just "have to have" then I write it down and get it next time I'm at the store.
3) Plan your menus. This will be what you create your list from and it will keep you from "grazing" your way through the store.
Good luck! Keep on experimenting, eating healthily on a budget can be done.
Gale--$2 a gallon for milk? Really? ON SALE it's $3.29 here!
Another cardinal rule of budget shopping: NO BRAND LOYALTY*. Take your coupons,and buy what's cheapest, no matter WHAT brand it is. And remember to compare prices with the store brands--most times they're cheapest, even compared to coupons/sales, and they're the exact same thing as the pricier brands!
*Brand loyalty is allowed in one case: laundry detergent. Trust me, if you've ever had contact dermatitis from changing brands, you'll understand!
Have you did a search for frugal meals on google? You might be surprised what you find, also you can buy a share in a farm through CSA? and they give you weekly boxes of fruits/veggies. Grow your own veggies in the summer, if possible.
Here are some ideas:
Fat free refried beans( well semi refried)... We buy cans of black beans and this is how we prepare them:
We chop up an onion, garlic, pepper, and even a tomato, and fry it down( you can use a tbs of olive oil, pam , or even some type of broth. when the onions are translucent we add the can of beans with liquid and cook it down until some of the liquid evaporates, you can make burritos, with these, or use it as a side dish. I eat it with a salad and top it with fat free sourcream .
I also make black bean soup, I just buy dry black beans, and cook them in a pot full of water, add chopped onion, garlic, add cumin, oregano, red pepper, and I cook for a few hours until the beans are soft, I serve this with rice( brown), fat free sour cream.
I know for me it is hard to be on a budget, because I am the only one in my house doing this, so I need to buy extra food for me.
cheryl
Beans and rice is always a good one for me. I like to cook the beans with onions and soy sauce. I always add in a number of other spices, garlic ect... Just add what you like. Then mix it all together with rice. I read a good article on how you can eat healthy on a budget. I posted it here on my blog.
I second the stir fry. I make that for my family--with a big array of veggies, and then use one chicken breast to add some protein, and serve it with brown rice.
And we do a lot of things with beans and rice, too. One of our favorite recipe from The Biggest Loser program is brown rice, black beans and salsa. And you can add a dollup of ff sour cream to it. It's YUMMMMMY. Also I have another recipe (I'll have to look it up) that calls for rice, celery, white beans and some other things--and FF Italian dressing. I love it because it has CRUNCH and it's really really yummy.
I also like chinese chicken salad. I have a recipe that I use and I cut out the fatty stuff and it's yummy yummy yummy.
As far as what fruits and veggies I buy--it usually depends on what's on sale. If it's on sale--it's in my cart. If not, I have to wait.
Best of luck to you. If you'd like--I can send you some of the recipes that I have collected from doing the Biggest Loser Sight. They have one chili recipe that is TO DIE FOR.
I love shopping at the produce store and seeing what's inexpensive for that partiular week. The prices vary so much week to week. Sometimes the asparagus is $1.49 a lb, sometimes over $3.00. So some weeks it 's lots of asparagus - other, well not so much. I find what's lower priced and that's what I buy for the week.
Chicken cutlets are very often on sale. You can buy them up in large quantities, freeze them individually and have them ready to go as you need them. I eat lots of chicken breast stir fries, throwing in whatever veggies I have on hand.
Tuna fish also goes on sale often. That's a great start to a healthy meal. It goes great in a large salad. Cootage cheese goes on sale, as does yogurt. Shop around and see what's available at the best prices.
Homemade soup is quite inexpensive as well. You can make a big pot and have it for the entire week. It's very filling and a great start to a healthy meal.
I actually find eating healthy to be less expensive then not. Eating out is expensive. So is all that processed food.
Remember frozen veggies. If you buy the store brand, you can get them for $1 a bag or less.
When a meat is on sale, stock up if possible. We have an extra freezer and do this.
How about a garden? Even if you simply do a container or two of tomatoes, that will cut down on buying tomatoes.
Another thing that goes a long way is cabbage. If you use a head of cabbage in a soup (you can add other things), it will stretch it pretty far. You can even freeze some if you don't think you'll eat it right away.
I concur on the beans! I also love lentils and they're very inexpensive when dried. Tuna fish is also good and you can buy cans of tuna in bulk. If you have a Costco, etc in your area, it might be worth the member fee. You can buy tons of frozen veggies and other non-perishables for good prices.
We LOVE our garden. I plant a ton of lettuce early in the year and we have salad all summer long. It saves us a ton of money because we're lettuce snobs and like the field greens, etc. Same goes with tomatoes. A five buck tomato plant and a little labor will save you so much in the long term.
Eggs can also be a good source of inexpensive protein. I like to make a frittata out of 8 egg whites and 4 whole eggs, a couple of cups of onion, whatever green vegetable is on sale or at the farmer's market (greens, broccoli, zucchini, etc.), and a couple of ounces of cheese. It makes 4 servings and keeps well for leftovers.
I hardly ever buy frozen or canned fruits and veggies. I purchase whatever fruit or veggies are in season for very, very cheap. Also check out the sales ads before you go shopping and plan menus aroung that.
If you check some of the small town meat stroes, you can save. there is one about 13miles from us in New Washington, Ohio that have meat bundles from $20 to $100. All are listed what's in it and how many pounds each. We got a $30 this week as we were really thight. I get my canned tomatoes and soups mostly from Dollar General. 10 for $10 at Kroger and WalMart for boxed Talapia fish, store brand vitimins, and other deals like women's tops for $7.88, tennis shoes for $15-23. I like their jeans with stiched front pockets. They streach and my lower fat roll over doesn't show as much as my old jeans.
If gas is low, I shop at the best store for that week. We have a big garden too. I pressure can and freeze. Tomatos can be picked, top pulled off, rinse them off good, and put them in a freezer bag and freeze. When you want one, take it out, run water over the skin, it will peel off. Eat half thawed, it taste like fresh, thawed, use as canned.
I have a farmer's market group that I pay a yearly fee to and get bimonthy delivery of farm fresh goodies all year long. Then I buy alot of store brand foods insted of name brands, stock up on chicken and meat when they are on saleand I also tend to shop at my local grocery outlet stores.
Eating on a budget
ON SALE it's $3.29 here! 
