Shoestring Meals Budget friendly ideas for healthy eating

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Old 01-26-2010, 01:22 PM   #1  
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I'm looking for the best way. To eat healthy can be expensive. I'm on a VERY tight budget. If you look in the sales papers and such...most of the cheaper or bulk items are preprocessed and not good for you. I try to stick the perimeter of the store but even then, it doesn't always work out best financially...

Any advice?
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Old 01-26-2010, 01:42 PM   #2  
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Buying frozen veggies and fruits can reduce spoilage and can be cheaper than fresh. Also, if you like beans, try buying them dry. I know it's more work, but that will save a lot of money. Eggs are an inexpensive form of protein. No need to buy egg beaters, just take the yolks out of regular old $1/dozen eggs. Try buying your chicken breast - not boneless, skinless. It's more work to take off the skin and bones, but it can save $$. Whole wheat pasta, in moderation, is another inexpensive food. I buy a can of diced tomatoes ($0.77) and add some dried italian seasoning and garlic seasoning to make my own pasta sauce. It's better for me and cheaper too.

I can only speak for myself, but when I look at my receipt, it's usually not food that runs up my grocery bill but the other miscellaneous items I bought.

I started making a menu for the week and making a list of which items I need to make those meals. I don't buy it if it's not on my list.

I think previous posters sugesstions of eating the same breakfast and lunches for the week can help. I have an egg over a whole wheat english muffin for breakfast every morning. The store brand english muffins are $1 for 6 and a dozen eggs is $1. So, I eat 6 breakfasts for $1.50/week. My lunch is usually leftovers from dinner with added fruit. I can buy a bag of mixed fruit (apples and oranges) for $4 that will work for lunch for the week. Then, I buy a box of Kashi bars. The box is $4 and I eat one per day. So, fruit a fiber bar and left over dinner for lunch. $8 for the week. Dinner is more variable, but you get the idea.

I have a husband and two daughters. I feed them all the same breakfast that I eat. The girls eat the school lunch. My husband eats out - I am trying to break him of this habit! I eat the above. For dinner, we all eat the same thing.

I spend about $60/week on actual food (not including the girls' school lunches and my husband's out lunches). We have saved so much lately by eating this way. No more restaurants and when I go to the store, I actually come home with food that makes meals instead of just pantry filling snack foods.
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Old 01-26-2010, 01:58 PM   #3  
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Well I hear you Amber. I try to stick to the perimeter of the store as well, and I'm with ya - sometimes I just have to venture into the middle. lol. The things that I would buy in the middle aisles in larger quantities esp. if on sale would include:
pasta - whole grain
rice - whole grain brown
chicken broth
olive oil - lots. it's really expensive but I look at it as an investment
natural peanut butter
canned tuna
granola, oatmeal
I'm all for fats as you can see and of course these are just examples of things I buy but I find they go a long long way. The thing about super healthy fresh fruits and vegetables is that they have a shorter life than a preservative-laden frozen meal, and they are not as convenient but I think the key is preparation and storage. I've managed to learn to love cooking from scratch as healthfully as possible but we always seem to struggle with food going bad and not freezing a lot of foods we should. I don't know if this helps or not; or what route to weight loss you have chosen, but there is my little two cents.
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Old 01-26-2010, 02:04 PM   #4  
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Do you have a produce junction near you? If so check it out. They sell eggs there pretty cheap along with fresh fruits and veggies for prices ive never seen in supermarkets. Also do you have an Aldi near you? i just discovered this stoe and LOVE it! They have their own brand of healthy food called "Fit and Active"
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Old 01-26-2010, 02:15 PM   #5  
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another vote for Aldi here! I LOVE aldi.......so much cheaper than other places and they've got great fresh fruits and veggies!
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Do you have a produce junction near you? If so check it out. They sell eggs there pretty cheap along with fresh fruits and veggies for prices ive never seen in supermarkets. Also do you have an Aldi near you? i just discovered this stoe and LOVE it! They have their own brand of healthy food called "Fit and Active"
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Old 01-26-2010, 02:43 PM   #6  
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Eating better cheaply is a challenge. It helps a lot, if you've got time and transportation.

I found the book, The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn, a great resource. There are actually three volumes of the Tightwad gazette. I borrowed all of them from the library and liked them so much that I bought the Complete Tightwad Gazette (which is all three volumes combined into one book) from either amazon.com used or at a garage sale, don't remember which.

There are similar books and websites too (Googe words like saving, thrift, budgeting, eating healthy cheaply, frugal living, frugal eating......)


Hubby and I are on disability, and a fairly tight budget (we've lived on much more and we've also lived on much less).

We start our shopping in a store much like Big Lots. We never know what we're going to find there, sometimes a lot of healthy foods, sometimes very little. But because the savings can be very large, we start there.

Then we go to an asian grocery store, because some foods we like are cheaper there (or fresher - so they last longer). I buy bean sprouts, cilantro, cabbages like nappa and bok toy, and green onions there because they're usually cheaper and fresher than in the grocery store. I also buy rice wine vinegar there because it's cheaper and better quality in larger bottles - rice wine vinegar or rice vinegar is much milder than other vinegars so you can use little or no oil in salad dressings.

We go to a health food store for tvp (textured vegetable protein, sometimes called tsp, textured soy protein. Recently though, we found that Walmart carries tvp cheaper than the local health food store, so now we buy it there. It looks a bit like grapenuts cereal (or beige gravel), and is a substitute for ground meat. I use it to extend ground beef.

I have the recipe, and other cheap, healthy recipes on my 3FC blog (on the right hand side, you'll find "Food and Recipes" under the heading Categories)


http://www.3fatchicks.com/diet-blogs/kaplods/


Dieting cheaply, is one of my passions, so you'll find that most of the recipes I put on my blog are also budget-conscious.

By combining dry tvp (which is about 1/2 to 1/4 the price of ground beef per serving) with cheap ground beef (the more fat in the beef, the more tvp I use), I can get the flavor of beef (or sometimes I use ground pork, chicken, or turkey), but lower the fat and calories.

You can use tvp to replace all of the ground meat in recipes, but doesn't have much flavor of it's own, so it works best in very flavorful dishes (added to spaghetti sauce or chili for example).

I don't mind using 100% tvp in dishes like that, but hubby prefers the beef/tvp combination so that's what I use most often.

We do most of our shopping between Aldi and Walmart, but we do watch the ads for specials. We have a Sams Club membership (mostly because it helps us save a lot of money on our prescription drugs), and we buy a few staples there. They have an organic spring greens salad mix or baby spinach in a large tub for about $4. It's a LOT of lettuce or spinach for the price.

You can often get free one day passes to Sams Club if you ask at the service desk of Sams Club or at Walmart.

I like Crystal Light powdered drink mix, so I buy the Aldi or Walmart version (half the price of the Crystal Light and at least as good). Walmart has a very large selection. Because the packaging and flavor choices are so similar, I believe that they're actually made in the same plant. Crystal Light recently changed the style and shape of their packaging, and I suspect it's to disguise that fact. Artificially sweetened drink mixes are by no means a necessity, but I like them, so I buy them occasionally. Often I mix them with tea. I'll buy green or black tea bags and brew some tea for ice tea, and mix 2 quarts of tea with 2 quarts of drink mix (one tub). It's half as sweet as the full mix (which I think is usually too sweet).

We buy the Walmart yellow sticker discounted meats and the family packs (the quality is good in our area, which isn't true of all Walmarts in other places we lived). We freeze them right away (breaking down the family packs into smaller packages using ziploc type freezer bags).

We buy generic and sale products (and have rarely had a quality problem). Walmart has a generous return policy, and Aldi has "double your money back, guarantee" on everything they sell. So if you try something and don't like it, definitely take it back. Walmart will match other store adds when the price is listed in the ad (buy one get one deals don't apply).


Aldi even has natural peanut butter now (no ingredients besides peanuts and salt). Their no sugar added fruit spreads are really good too.

Carrots, onion, cabbage, potatoes, and celery tend to be cheapest fresh and whole (if you're willing to peel carrots, you'll get a lot more and they'll last longer in the fridge than pre-peeled). If you like iceberg lettuce, buy it by the head - it lasts longer and tastes better than the stuff in the bag.

Large bags of vegetables and fruits are often much cheaper, but not always (take a calculator with you to compare prices - it does take a bit of math, but it's really worth it).

If you have a Dollar Tree Store, they may sell "green bags," (over with the kitchen foil pans and such). Ours does at 10 bags in a package for $1 - they work and they're only a fraction of the price of other green bag brands. They really do slow down the spoiling of fresh produce - remarkably so.

Frozen can be cheaper than fresh. I've never had a problem with store and generic brands, so we buy whatever's cheapest. California mix tends to be the most reliably cheapest (cauliflower, carrots, broccoli).

If I had to shop only one place, it would probably be Walmart, but I can save a lot more money by going to several stores. Also, shopping Walmart is the biggest pain, because the lines are always so long. As a result, we try to shop Walmart at hours most people aren't shopping. Very late on a weeknight for example (if you're working or going to school, this isn't always feasible).

I know I've written a book here, but saving money on healthy food is mostly a matter of many, many small choices. Unfortunately there isn't one place to go, or one trick to follow, or one thing to do to save. If you really want to drastically cut your food expenses, you've got to use dozens and dozens of little tricks.
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Old 01-26-2010, 02:51 PM   #7  
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Originally Posted by Amby876 View Post
I'm looking for the best way. To eat healthy can be expensive. I'm on a VERY tight budget. If you look in the sales papers and such...most of the cheaper or bulk items are preprocessed and not good for you. I try to stick the perimeter of the store but even then, it doesn't always work out best financially...

Any advice?
Like BeachBreeze, I make a menu every week and make my shopping list from there (after scouring my pantry as well). If it isn't on the list, I don't buy it, except for the monthly home and garden magazine.

Try growing your own vegetables and herbs; you'd be surprised at how much money you save and how much better your own food tastes. Lettuce can be grown year round if you've got sunlight and a few pots lying around. If you have a greenhouse, you can grow all kinds of vegetables in the dead of winter, provided there's enough heat at night (easiest way is to bring it in at night, that's why I suggest the small greenhouse). For $2 or $3, you can buy a packet of seeds that will give you heaps of food. There is an initial outlay- start saving for the greenhouse, just a small one to start with, and a few pots.

Speaking of veggies, don't throw the bad ones away yet. Make a stock; bung them all in a pot with some herbs from the garden, simmer for a few hours and voila! Instant stock that freezes well for up to a year or stays fresh in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Buy store brands on essentials, like rice, pasta, oils, bread, etc. I never buy the big expensive bottles of olive oil anymore; the store brand is 100% pure olive oil, same as the expensive brand. The cheap nuts I get for DH are made by the same outfit that makes the more expensive nuts. Store brands are usually made by more expensive brand manufacturers and wrapped in store brand bags.

Easiest way to save on chicken is to buy a whole one and learn to break down one yourself. I watched a few videos on youtube before attempting it and on my first attempt, I did pretty well. Make chicken stock out of the carcasses; bung it in a pot, simmer for a few hours and voila! Cool and skim the fat off the surface before freezing. Stays fresh for 3-4 days in the fridge. Great for making creamy risotto.

Cheaper cuts of meat and slow-cooking them as a casserole or stew is great for the autumn and winter.

Create a "must have for the pantry" list. These are things that MUST be in your pantry and you always buy when you've run out: bread, olive oil, rice, pasta, tinned peaches, tinned tomatoes, tinned tuna/salmon, onion, potato, beans (tinned and dried), corn, oatmeal (or since you're from the South, grits- can't go wrong with grits!), peanut butter, jam and eggs. I also keep 3-4 packages of onion soup mix. You can't go wrong with any of this.

If you're still struggling (or you don't like/know how to cook), sometimes food-in-a-packet is cheap as well. You know the stuff: just add chicken/beef and water (like the taco mix from Old El Paso- they make good tacos).
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Old 01-27-2010, 06:24 PM   #8  
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Well being in the south does not make things any easier. It's all about comfort foods...lots of fats...everything is fried...I mean seriously...who else would have thought about a deep fried Twinkies or Deep Fried Snickers?? My sister used to deep fry corn on the cob...

My BF(boyfriend) and I are doing this together. Which is going to make it ALOT easier to have the in house support. He has always lived in the south, and he's a meat and potatoes type of guy...But also, if I make it...he will eat it (his words not mine). I think his vice is going to be sodas and whole milk...I've talked him into 1% milk...I'm used to skim milk...but at $4/gal...it gets pricey when we can go through almost a whole gallon in a day.

Tonight is mashed potatoes and shake and bake with broccolli...nothing fried...
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Old 01-27-2010, 06:43 PM   #9  
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We have a family of 6 and my husband is the one with the full time job. I babysit pretty much for grocery money!

I think you are on the right track - lowfat dairy, frozen veggies and "in season" fruits. Lots of good suggestions here.

The only other thing I can think of is this. Sometimes we have to eat cheap. Hamburger Helper, Ramen Noodles, Peanut Butter and Jelly and Hot Dogs are frequent lunch meals around here. You can have these things, but do stuff like this: ground turkey in the helper, throw frozen veggies in the Ramen, buy reduced fat PB, and turkey hot dogs.

Also, if you are counting calories you can still have these things. You just can't have as MUCH as you used to. I have a PB&J about once a week. It's 410 calories (I have to buy the cheapest bread, PB and Jelly in the store) so I only eat one - with an apple.

Personally, I think portion sizing is as or more important that what you eat.
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Old 01-28-2010, 11:12 AM   #10  
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I totally stock up on things when they are on sale. Boneless, skinless chicken breast was 1.88 at the store recently, so I bought about 10 lbs of it. Pork loin was on sale for about $1.50/lb. just before Xmas, so we bought a huge one and I broke it down into about 10 chops, a couple of roasts, and a whole lot of meat for stir-frys or stews.
I second the frozen veggies idea - they go on sale for about $1/bag in my area.
Also, be flexible with brand names. I like the 100-calorie Thomas' English muffins or the Arnold sandwich thins for b-fast with some egg/veggie scramble, but if the store brand is on sale and has comperable nutrition, I buy the store brand.
I also agree that ethnic markets can have some great prices on things, but I have had a bad experience with meat at one, so I stick to produce or sauces.
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Old 01-28-2010, 11:20 AM   #11  
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My vote is for portion control.
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Old 01-28-2010, 11:39 AM   #12  
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Originally Posted by Amby876 View Post
Well being in the south does not make things any easier. It's all about comfort foods...lots of fats...everything is fried...I mean seriously...who else would have thought about a deep fried Twinkies or Deep Fried Snickers?? My sister used to deep fry corn on the cob...

My BF(boyfriend) and I are doing this together. Which is going to make it ALOT easier to have the in house support. He has always lived in the south, and he's a meat and potatoes type of guy...But also, if I make it...he will eat it (his words not mine). I think his vice is going to be sodas and whole milk...I've talked him into 1% milk...I'm used to skim milk...but at $4/gal...it gets pricey when we can go through almost a whole gallon in a day.

Tonight is mashed potatoes and shake and bake with broccolli...nothing fried...

I totally hear you...we live in Montgomery...When I met him, my husband thought he ate veggies because he ate potatoes, and he drinks 2-3 gals of milk a week by himself...the kids drink another 1-2 gals. My younger son thinks anything green is poison and my older son is just now (at 10) starting to eat lettuce and broccoli (2 bites with massive ranch dressing). I would do most anything to get a Trader Joe's in this state!

Last edited by AFChick; 01-28-2010 at 11:40 AM.
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Old 02-05-2010, 04:07 PM   #13  
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I live in the notheast...not much gardening this time of year and produce can get pretty costly, but frozen is a good option. Stock up when there's a sale on fresh meats and veggies. Bulk grains and dry beans are great. Baking bread and making soups saves money too. Working late ? Forget take out....Get a crockpot...it can cook while you are out and you'll have hot meal when you get home. Milk and eggs are usually cheaper at a convenience store than a supermarket. If you have a pet, get bulk chicken thighs or the manager's special boil it up with some barley, and put it through a food processor. It is much better for them, and cheaper... you can make a week's worth quickly, and you won't have to keep opening cans.

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Old 03-06-2010, 09:07 PM   #14  
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Amby and AFChick, it's so fustrating, and we have such a long growing season here for people to grow veggies. I think Subway is about as good as it gets if your eating out!
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Old 03-06-2010, 10:29 PM   #15  
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I "make my own Lean Cuisine" using ingredients like the ones people have mentioned, then freeze. especially TSP (Kaplods) and sale meats (Bettybooty).

I still have frozen tomatoes from my garden in my freezer, and salsa and tomato sauce that I canned myself. it may be lean pickings until you can get a garden up and going, but you can save so much money on veggies with a garden.

My #1 cheap dish is probably crock pot chili, or soups. I make it, eat it for a few days, and then freeze the rest in small portions (my "homemade lean cuisines")

Let's see. The large container of yogurt is cheaper than the tiny ones usually, and you can mix in fresh or frozen fruit (frozen fruit is a great deal).

Pop/soda is a huge expense. If you can wean yourself off of it, you can spend that money on something else. Tea is one suggestion, even Crystal Light is cheaper than pop (don't forget herbal teas, you can get hibiscus flowers at some stores, they make a wonderful red fruity tart tea that tastes like "kool-aid." If you must sweeten, splenda can be bought in bulk for much less than in the small boxes.)

Watch for the loss leaders (the 10/$10 sales, etc), sometimes they practically give away frozen veggies and things like lean cuisine, etc. You may find a convenience food that normally you wouldn't buy that you may want to get a few of and tuck away for an emergency.

Don't forget the day-old rack and the produce/dairy/butcher clearance section (some stores have them) - I have gotten some huge deals on things like:
- cheese: fresh mozzerella 50% off because it was close to sell by date
- fancy mushrooms 75% off because they were close to date (took 'em right home and threw them on the BBQ
- "fake crab" stuffed portabellas 75% off because they were close to date (had them for dinner that night)
- milk 50% off 3 days close to sell by date - no prob, kids drink it fast
- salad mix/romaine/spinach 50% off close to sell by date
- steak 50% off close to sell by date (took it home, put it in marinade, and had it on the BBQ the next day
- hummus 50% off (we get this all the time, for some reason nobody in our town eats hummus)
- rotisserie chicken (cooked!) 50% off. Turned out to be $3.50 or something? cheaper than a whole raw one. We ate it and then the skin and the bones went into the pot for stock.

Last edited by weebleswobble; 03-06-2010 at 10:33 PM.
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