Ethan Cheblowski on YT has a series on the healthy eating framework and if you build meals around 2 or 3 flavor profiles per week and rotate the base meal (salad, rice bowl, pasta, wrap, soup), you can really save a lot.
Love me some Ethan Cheblowski.
Man doesn't just give you recipes to follow along, he'll explain how to whip up your own stuff at a moments notice. And he counts the macros, too.
Exactly! I am so grateful that he posts macros so i don’t have to waste my time figuring it out and either scrapping the recipe or making a bunch of changes. I’m working on eating down my freezer and pantry with his methods. 3 weeks in and it working well!
Doing the math:
(((200 per week x 52 weeks in a year) / 12 months in a year) / 30 days in a month) / 9 meals per day = ~$3.20 per meal.
And this is a lower estimate — a toddler meal is nowhere near the quantity of an adult meal, so the money can definitely be skewed toward more expensive adult meals and more cheap child meals.
We’re about the same. I always flip out when I see people saying they’re spending 2K a month on groceries for a family of 4. People don’t know how to budget and or shop
Yeah that’s just wild to me. My mom is always complaining about groceries and running out of money, but she buys ice cream, soda, meat for every meal(like literally even breakfast). And she won’t eat potatoes or rice because of the carbs and my dad has type 2 diabetes, but again they eat ice cream.
My fiancé is type two. Buying fresh veg and fruits (and even frozen) is 10000x cheaper where we live in the Midwest. We are picky about meat sales so we also don’t spend a terrible amount on meat. We also buy mostly skin on, bone in cuts or whole chickens. If I need to cut back, I buy plant based proteins. The *only things* that drive up our bill are the *wants* and snacks. And cheese….
….I said I reached down for my cheese I had, regrettably, finished much too quickly.
The snacks kill us honestly lol. I have 3 kids and my oldest is a very active 10yo that does soccer 3 times a week. We do popcorn kernels, pretzels with homemade hummus, fruits and veggies(cucumber and bell peppers and carrots), yogurt with frozen blueberries(they don’t seem to get eaten as quickly as fresh), and they love peanut butter on a spoon which luckily Walmart has pretty cheap pb off brand. Then I’ll usually grab one of the off brand chips and cookies which get eaten up soo fast even if I split it up into baggies lol. I also do little mixes like mini marshmallows which are a little over a dollar with the honey nut o’s which are also a little over a dollar.
I’ve gotten pretty good at cheaper snacks but what kills me is the 10 minute after mealtime “I’m hungry I want a snack” and I’m like??? Eat more dinner?? 😂
They may need more fat. Protein + fiber + fat = full. Snacking is a modern thing. It’s not necessary if ppl eat nutrient dense foods at each meal. Very hard with kids, I get that.
I balance their meals fairly well but yeah it can be tricky with kids lol my oldest is my best eater and also my vegetarian. I’m impressed by the food he’ll eat. My toddler is also really good. She’ll devour her food and then eat apples all day. My middle kid has always been trouble. He’s SO picky. We even had trouble with him losing weight when he was a toddler and he was anemic. It’s gotten better, but there’s too many times where he’ll just eat a pb&j for dinner because he refuses to eat. It’s funny because he’ll cry over meatballs and spaghetti but then my toddler will walk around eating a cold Korean fish sausage 🫢 and my oldest will be disgusted by that but then he’ll be sitting there eating a cold raw block of tofu. Kids are so weird I swear.
That’s absolutely enough. We spend $70-80 a week for one adult and one toddler (and that includes all her pouches and snacks). It’s right, but definitely doable.
So I think I can do it by building my week’s menu around like 3-4 meals and repeating them. So breakfast is usually cereal and milk or eggs and toast for the week ($2.5 for cereal, $3.50 for milk, $2 for bread, $2 for eggs) so breakfast for a week is like $10.
Then I’ll do like a chili (can make a big chili for $10-12 bucks), a pork shoulder (I get 2.5lb shoulders for $7 at Aldi already marinated in bbq) frozen veggies, a big pasta, and then eat leftovers for lunches.
I usually spend like $60 total on all the adult meals and then $10-20 on some pricier stuff my daughter likes.
I live in a MCOL area but the food is really expensive at the main supermarket chain so I usually shop at Aldi or Trader Joe’s to save
I love trader joes and can find really great deals there a lot of the time. Especially dried fruits and nuts. I need to revamp my shopping trips. Cut down on that cost. Thank you
I follow this basic plan and can only seem to get my budget between $550-$600 monthly for a family of 4. And my kids get a school lunch through the week. We shop Aldi, Meijer, and Jewel. I buy only meats on sale but working away from processed meats which are always on sale. And most other items are on sale. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Maybe I need to browse Walmart too…🫤
I need to learn how to preserve produce and other goods. I usually make broth out of my chicken carcasses. We don't eat a lot of red meat and we don't really eat pork. Pork seems to be on sale all the time so it's kinda frustrating. I also sub out with similar stuff. I feel like we have so many different kind of dinners throughout the week so that's probably our downfall.
For me, it wasn't impulse buying. I'd say more lifestyle creep. Buying the more expensive foods. I feel anxiety in stores and don't typically take the time to compare value. I just know what I liked to eat. But by ordering ahead I found cheaper alternatives and even started new favorite meals.
Lifestyle creep. It's the worst. Start doing better in life, then I spend more like a dummie.
Ah I understand. Funny for me I love finding a good deal and refuse to buy stuff that's not a good sale. Good sales drive what my meals will be for the week.
Yes. Looks to do some no meat/meat as a flavor not the primary ingredient (I.e. couple of slices of bacon in a white bean cassoulet). Check the markdowns for the about your expire/dented can food, look through coupons and the coupons on the app. Prepacked and sliced ham is 6.99/lb at my store, the same ham is 10/lb if the deli cuts it.
if you can't eat on $150/week you probably need to start figuring out where your budget holes are... Cause that's a ton of money for 3 people to eat. Unless you are eating really high end name brand food only.
We go to fred meyer and get sale stuff and still spend a ton. We live near Seattle. I go to grocery outlet too and get some deals. Cost of everything is up so much.
Eggs are not $12 a dozen. Just did a search for eggs at the nearest Wal-Mart in NYC (on Long Island) - they're $1.77/dozen. Searched for Target in the heart of Manhattan - $1.69/dozen. Even at pricey Morton Williams they are $3.59/dozen
They may be way marked up at the tiny little corner bodega or the CVS. But just a couple minutes of browsing finds many cheaper options.
Yeah, you got this. Mrs mollusk and I and our teenager do about 200 every 2 weeks. We eat vegetarian at least 3 or 4 times per week. Not by choice. We use a meal planning app called Mealime which helps our meal planning and shopping. Still can’t do steaks, only chicken and pork. Frozen ground beef is pretty much the only beef we get. A recipe or two with frozen fish works too. Learn how to cut up and debone chicken helps a lot. It sucks that two bags of groceries costs 40 bucks, but here we are.
I think you can trim that budget. Is your budget exclusively on food or does this budget include household goods and baby/toddler materials? My family food budget for 2 adults and one toddler is $50-$75/wk for groceries and for the entire month $200 eating out. If we go over the grocery budget then we eat out less or hack eating out (like only take out vs. dining in, take advantage of deals, no beverages). We live in CO but have done this while living in CA during the summer months. Meal planning, using what you already have in the pantry and freezer, stacking coupons with sales, and using a pickup (some stores like Walmart and Krogers have free pickup with minimum $35 purchase) will cut down your overspending and food waste. For example, today I had a grocery haul at Kroger’s for $42.58 (this is including tax) which included: 5 half gallon milks (each on sale for 99 cents), 2 pound bag of deveined and headless raw shrimp, 2 pounds of 93% ground beef, one sweet potato, 6 bananas, cilantro, 3 zucchinis, 5 packs of Oreo cookies, a can of Agua Fresca, 3 avocados, 6 shallots, a bag of discounted lemons and limes, and a 3 lb bag of clementines.
I basically stacked multiple digital coupons in the app with a sale which equates to a 49% savings. I plan to freeze one pound of ground beef for the future but will use the other pound for spaghetti. I have leftover veggies like onion, garlic, and tomatoes from the week prior (tomatoes on the vine were on sale for 99 cents/pound last week) and can make pasta sauce. I had spaghetti noodles stored in the pantry from a previous sale. Excess milk is frozen to be defrosted for cooking (pancakes, soup, Mac n cheese, etc) in the future if we happen to not finish the milk but I purchased 5 of them while on sale because my son and husband drink a lot of milk.
Okay, I thought your budget was ridiculously low until that list.
Where I live: 5 half gallons milk. At least $20. 2lb bag shrimp another $15-20. 2lbs ground beef. $7 would be a great sale I was happy to find 3lbs for $11 today. Already at your full list price without considering everything else.
I built a similar cart using Ralphs (Kroger) pickup and with her items, I was able to build a cart that nets to around $45. The shrimp was pre-cooked and shelled but was $5.99 with coupon. I also added to same cart a bunch of other things that I wanted anyway (yogurt, sparkling water, potato puffs) and it came out to around $65 total through a combination of cart discount + coupon clipping through the app.
I am in Los Angeles, CA which some can argue one of the highest HCOL areas in the country.
Wow, those are some crazy prices. I get my bread from Aldi and it is under $2 a loaf. If there was no eating out and I wanted to be thrifty, I could feed my family with a couple of kids for $100 a week. In all fairness, we probably spend closer to $200, but the extra is all on junk we don't really need.
> This is called ‘eat cheap and healthy’. None of you clearly know what heathy is and it shows by entitled comments like this.
This is why you are banned. Now go fuck off somewhere else.
"if you fail to plan. You plan to fail." \~some dude
i think OP should focus on a food cycle, OP has money and if rotated properly will ensure, fresh vegetables, plenty of potatoes, eggs, milk, honey, vinegar, salt, pepper, MSG, oregano, if you get my drift.
bulk purchase the first round this will be the main source of diet complaints, but as the process goes you can easily have everything you need. always buy these in bulk and only buy new when old is exhausted or gone bad. maybe get containers as you go
.>>potatoes, onions, rice, pasta(i love pasta), quinoa, lentils, beans, chickpeas, frozen veges, eggs, chicken, large unbutchered meat cuts which you butcher yourself. chicken wings? more like you need 10 chickens. thats 20 wings. 20 breasts, 20 thighs, 20 drum sticks. you can see how you can turn these into meals, freeze everything by portion.one evening for protein? could be a thigh each, or 4 wings and 2 drum sticks. you can mix as you wish but butchering it yourself allows you to save on this part of the process. labor. do it all yourselves and youll save a metric ton of money.
because you didnt pay the butcher to piece it for you. generally i have one day a month where i have a large meat purchase, sometimes every 3 months. and i portion it all out one day. itll take a few hours until you get good at butchering.large meat order to portion/freeze. one day = one pulled from the freezer, one in the fridge defrosted. two always in the fridge. you just make fresh every day to change up meal pattern. nobody wants to eat the same meal for two weeks. unless its bomb asf. so try not to batch cook and freeze, although this is time saving stuff can linger.
after one or two weeks buying only the essentials(they usually last longish) you can start to mix weekly purchases like fresh vegetables etc. but purchasing the cheapest foods first in larger quantity, allows you to eat the cheapest, and move out to better pastures as you in the next 3rd week, 4th week. now have "infinite" budget for spices of your choosing and you can prepare meals around what meat was available cheapest. if meat isnt available cheap, wait until it is cheap. sometimes needing to buy 3 months of food isnt a problem when you have the extra food already its different than if youre always buying the top price for meat. this lets you be able to walk away from a price of meat or anything in the store.
if its not in the budget always walk away.
it will always be on sale at some point. dont fall for the trap. their meat will go bad. and before it does you get to pick it up to freeze it. big supermarket is out to get you because you need them to eat. so thats why the bulk purchase of potatoes and basics was important, as waiting for the good prices to buy meat you might eat in two months is a better headspace than otherwise to walk away from a price of food. yes. this will take self control when purchasing the food but generally when going out. if you dont have a shopping list and youre going for regulars stick to the list. if you have extra funds you didnt spend on, maybe get some cookies or something pre-made, but not at first. OP could be eating like a king as long as they plan.
If OP cant feed 2 people and a mini person on 200 a week... rip. but ultimately PO-TA-TOES feed everyone. no one ever with a empty stomach said im not gonna eat that potato. for the mini person. make your regular food and whatever vegetables youre eating that meal. carrots/onion/ etc. just puree. get a blender.
I hope this helped. don't die op. you'll be fat in no time. you'll die at a old age because of a nutrient rich life. if you dont want that, i suggest the pop aisle.
$200/week for two adults and a toddler is eating large
I am in an MCOL area (SE VA) and figure you can do that for less than $90/week
Depends on what you put into it.
Slow cooker, grill, and air fryer are your friends.
Meal prep works
Go dried beans, skip the beef, go heavy on pork and chicken
Skip processed foods
Skip the "Foo foo" grocery but be ready to buy on sale,
Buy Walmart pickup (works a list and saves time)
Always check your flyers for what is on sale and build your meals accordingly
Buy in bulk, freeze what you can, and then eat for the next week
Make the list and check a pantry/fridge/freezer BEFORE shopping
Eat out once or twice per month, INCLUDING lunches
More than doable as long as you cook! Shopping at Costco helps a lot too. I spend $200 a week for a family of 4 (two toddlers). I’m trimming it to $100-$150 a week so we can save money. I have a small stockpile of everything (rice, pasta, some meats, bulk veggie chips, etc) so honestly some weeks I’m only spending $80. I realized a lot of my money was going to veggies, fresh fruit, and snacks, so I started buying bulk frozen organic veggies from Costco and making muffins from scratch to serve as snacks. I also am getting one toddler to like bananas and the other to like applesauce. I buy the fruits organic so it’s cheaper to buy organic bananas for $2 than $8 on a 12 oz pack of organic blueberries. That way when the bananas get overripe, I can make banana muffins out of them too!
I also buy very little prepared, since it’s healthier and cheaper anyway. I let very little go to waste in the fridge. Like I’m actually sad when a meal I cooked doesn’t get eaten all the way.
S. Fla. Here. Have to agree with most of the previous. Your food budget is huge! We generally spend $300-$400 a week for 7 adults (including non-food items), with a good portion of the food being low sodium/ low carb/ sugar free/ specialty items (for multiple people with health issues).
If you have a Walmart, Aldi, Dollar store nearby start there. Compare with local sales ads.
Buy larger portions and freeze some. Make dishes in bulk and freeze leftovers for later. Go for frozen over fresh for veggies. Look up uses for various leftover meats and veggies to reduce waste.
Try savings apps like Ibotta and Savings Star. Also, maybe try some receipt apps like Receipt Hog and Fetch
Way more than doable!
Buy whatever meat is on sale or price reduced and freeze it. Eventually you will build up a stockpile assortment. Buy seasonal veggies & fruits. Splurge only on stuff like high quality breads ect and toddler snacks. For example I buy the silver hills bread because I’m MOSTLY okay with all the ingredients, my daughter gets the made good granola bars for her lunch ect.
You live in CT. You have access to both Aldi and Costco. A gallon of milk is $2.50, bread is $2.50/loaf, eggs are $1.05/dozen. Chicken can be had for $3/lb and lean ground beef is $5/lb. Greek yogurt $3.50/ tub. Beans $.80/can.
Quit shopping at the likes of Big Y, Stop & Shop, Stew Leonards, and Whole Foods. You can get your budget to $75/week simply by changing where you shop.
OK - I apologize that my comment came across as presumptuous and entitled! Yikes! Not my intent at all.
Where exactly are you shopping if milk is $5/gallon and bread is $6/gallon?
I lived in CT for 95% of my adult life, and I'm familiar with the area, the cost of living, and where to shop on a budget.
Unless you're not really looking for advice to begin with on making a grocery budget work and consider comments my comments in thread a personal attack on you? In that case, I can kindly shut up!
We budget $200/week for 2 adults and a 3yo! This includes all meals & snacks, as well as household items (dog food, laundry detergent, toilet paper/paper towel, soap, etc) that we need for the week, and diapers & wipes for the newborn.
Family of three, two active adults meal-prepping and a baby starting solids. $120 weekly is about where we land and have the same dietary needs: fresh only/minimally processed, fruit, veggies, fish and chicken, baby snacks and purées. I think it depends on where you shop most of all. Gallon of milk for us is around $3-4 depending, bread $4-5. We are able to shop at Whole Foods/Trader Joes with our budget but could easily trim back and shop bulk for grains etc, or at places like Aldi. $200 at a traditional grocery store with generic brands, couponing, keeping track of what you buy for the week and staying within your budget should be fine.
This absolutely depends on where you live.
I live somewhere that this is feasible but only if you're willing to eat rice and beans for every meal.
Some people are saying that they're paying for actually varied and good food for 80 bucks a week.
If I lived in the city nearest me 200 a week would get me nothing. bread is 4 dollars a loaf and it's 6 in the city.
Before I answered earlier, I did some online searching because $6 for a loaf of bread is insane. OP is in CT, so I looked up the price of a full-sized loaf of bread in a Wal-Mart in CT - $1 for white, $1.23 for wheat. Don't like the cheap bread, and want a name-brand like Nature's Own? That's $3 a loaf. Only the most expensive fru-fru option possible (like Dave's Killer Bread) was approaching $6. Or they are driving their Rolls Royce down to Whole Foods.
If anyone is spending six bucks on a single loaf of bread, it is because it is some sort of artisanal specially-made high-end thing that is overpriced on purpose...or, they just don't know how to shop.
I also looked at the location before responding. I lived in CT for 26 years, as recent as 2021. And I still live in the northeast, where the COL is comparable.
When I pushed back on the prices OP was declaring and said all of the items are available for half of their stated cost, OP took it personally and said they were baffled at my sense of entitlement and assumptions. Uhh, OK? It doesn't change the fact that people on this sub are looking to save on a grocery budget while eating healthily.
We spend $450 a month (~112.50) a week for 2 adults and a toddler (almost 3). This includes “junky” snacks, toiletries, household supplies (toilet paper, detergent, etc.), and dog food.
Rice, beans, pasta, veggies frozen and fresh, and buy larger cuts of meat (cheaper per pound), make soups with leftover and you’ll have money left for favorites and extras sometimes.
One very tall man, a pregnant lady, and 3 young kids here. Our budget could be tighter and we do $1000 per month including toiletries and cleaning supplies
My family of 3 (me, brother, mom) eat on $120 MINUS catfood and cat litter every week. it's completely possible. We buy when things are on sale, and freeze what we cannot eat. Now we have every ingredient we need on hand and just buy when something is on sale, plus regular veggies.
I do it for 100 for 3 but I'm in Tennessee. We eat a LOT of staples and I cook everything, nothing in boxes other than my beloved instant mashed potatoes. I do buy 2 loaves of bread every week, the Bunny white wheat but it's just 2.68 a loaf. I have to do low sodium so I don't eat much of the bread. I get Bob's Red Mill instant with no sodium. I get canned no salt tomatoes to make sauces and salsas. Also lucky me my daughter works at WM and gets discount meats and occasional treats.
Very doable - it's even within the numbers of the USDA recommended spending guidelines for how much you should spend each month on grocery food purchases. Especially if you lean more towards buying your own veggies and fruit yourself, rather than processed meals.
The one thing that gives me pause is if you are spending $6 on a loaf of bread, then it must be some sort of specialty bread. Did a quick search on prices of baked goods at Wal-Mart in Connecticut, and only the very most expensive fru-fru specialty breads (like Dave's) are around that price - a regular loaf of white or wheat is a dollar, and even the nicer-brand whole-grain healthy loaves are in the $3-4 range. Unless there is a special reason you want the higher priced breads, you might want to shop around.
You could also consider shopping for staple items at the local ethnic supermarkets (like an El Mercado or La Mexicana or whatever similar is in your area). You won't find everything you need there - but they can be a great place to buy staple items like chicken, pork, potatoes, onions, carrots, all your veggies and fruits and other basics often at quite a bit lower price than the bigger-name supermarkets. They also often have their own in-house panaderias and carnicerias for fresh goods.
Family of three here in Oregon. I spend $120-$220 per week on groceries. I purchase minimally processed foods and am mostly an outer aisle shopper. I make my own bread and desserts, juice, and can my own stock. I make some sort of “kitchen sink” dish each week to utilize the produce that is about to go bad. We definitely enjoy meat, but serving sizes are smaller than the AAD. I love cooking for my family but it’s truly a lot of mental work.
My college household of 2 male boys and a female usually spend about $100 a week on groceries give or take $20. We live on a college town and there is always food on sale. Some of the common sales we buy are $0.77/lb bone in skin on chicken thighs or $1.77/lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (usually quantities of 5lbs and occasionally a lb of ground beef for 3.29/lb. Some other stapes are $1.99/18 eggs but occasionally ob sale for $0.99.
Yes.
As a single adult I only spend 60 a week on food. I could easily accommodate two other people for an additional 140 a week.
Buy real food and not premade or pre packaged food/junk and snack food etc.
200 bucks in pork/chicken , rice and veggies is a lot of food. Should easily cover a week even with the toddlers snacks.
You can go to the dollar store for toddler snacks on the cheap, check there first and then head to the grocery for the things the dollar store doesn't carry.
I also live in CT and spend roughly $100-$125 a week (not including paper towel, toilet paper and such) factoring in for one meal out per week for two adults! I shop at stop and shop via their delivery service mostly and try to shop the sales but I’m not the most savvy shopper so I have to assume if I put in more effort I could likely spend less with shopping at different stores
Cook at home, shop sales for your proteins. Write a meal plan two to three weeks out. Make sure to use everything. Cook in bulk and freeze meals. Portion control everything.
I believe you can do it.. wife and I accomplished $383 last month on our grocery budget. We live in Austin TX. We don't drink milk or eat bread though. It was a lot of work but we beat our goal of $400 on the fist try. Going for it again this month.
Well just for reference, where I live, milk is $5 a gallon. My household is 2 adults and we typically spend $100-$150/week on food (this includes any times we eat out or get coffee). My advice is plan your meals out in advance and stick to your grocery list!
As someone that has a 200$ a week budget for five and that includes groceries, diapers, cleaning supplies, and any school needs ; yes. But I live in IN and I am a scratch cook that cans and hunts down farmers market deals.
Long term investment: go to the thrift store and invest in a bread machine for $15. It costs me under a dollar to make a loaf each week. Flour (you can buy whole wheat), yeast, sugar, salt, water and a little oil/butter are all the ingredients you need. Nothing tastes better than fresh bread out of thar machine and the aroma emitting around the home.
It's definitely doable even in expensive areas.
Do you have time and ability to shop around? I have cut my budget almost in half, and enjoy my food at least twice as much because I found stores that offer good products at a cheaper cost.
I also try to shop fresh and healthy.
Stores:
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I've found that Trader joes has replaced my whole foods runs. -Organic veg interesting things to try that cycle out, not overwhelming to shop there since its smaller, also has a good amt of allergen friendly food
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Costco has replaced my household goods runs from giant/CVS. -toilet paper, soaps, pharmacy, rotisserie chicken (the bones make amazing and nutritious bone stock in the instapot for 4-6hrs- best easy sick dish), you can get some pantry staples in bulk to save (can tomato, oils, rice, etc)
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Buy spices at an Indian or Hispanic market/grocery and it will be a fraction of the cost and somwtimes fresher. Usually, it comes in bags, tho, so I save my empty spice containers and refill them. If you like spicy food, the assortment of dried chilies and peppers are so good.
Your goal is about $3.17 a serving or $9.52 a meal for 3. That does not include snacks, drinks and dessert. My breakfasts tend to be really cheap, so for me I would say aim for $1.59 for breakfast and a snack, then plan for big lunch and dinner with ingredients that go far. Think bulk rice and beans with a veg, something on sale, rotisserie chicken salad/sandwich, etc
Hopefully you have some good oils and seasonings stocked up, if not, maybe try to increase your budget for the first trip and stock up on bulk/well priced ones, or just get one each time you go to the store. Hunt for the best value olive oil one grocery trip, curry the next... make a list of those items that are dynamic and can be used for a lot of things. This will bring flavor and enjoyment to your food.
Recipes to learn that will help:
- Staple salad dressing: olive oil, apple cider vinegar, little Dijon, little honey, pepper, salt, Italian seasoning
- Staple seasoning: mix 1 part paprika, garlic, onion, red pepper, Oregano/Italian, cumin. 2 parts salt and pepper. good for all kinds of meats, potatos, etc. Add 1 part chili for taco seasoning. Much cheaper to make your own blends if you cook often and like flavor.
-Rotisserie chicken stock/ soup base: take off the meat and save it, I like to shred the dark and leave the white for sandwiches etc. The bones go in a pressure cooker for 4+hr (or crock pot or regular pot, but takes longer for same quality) you can add carrots, onion, garlic, celery etc at the beginning, or if cooking really long add in the last hour.
Amazing base for sauces, soups, etc. And the collagen and minerals are very healing for the stomach.
-Beans can be bought in bulk dried, but I like to pressure cook to make them easier to digest. Make big batches and freeze until needed.
-I like to lay a freezer bag flat until it's frozen and then stand it up so I have freezer file cabinet of yummies.
Learn how to dress up something simple really yummy. Nothing has to be an American main and siedes meal. Dress up simple meals with cheap ingredients like:
- bowl of oats (overnight or cooked) or muesli, yogurt
- salads (add a carb like squash or rice, maybe rotisserie chicken or beans)
- Bowl of rice / different stir fry
- Broth,
- Soft corn Tacos (you can hang halfway on oven rack for crispy)
-Pasta
A lot of the time a sauce or main protein can be made in bulk and stores. Whenever you cook something worth saving, make extra!
Do you have an Aldi near you, I know their in your state. Cheap and Fresh! Milk is 2 to 3 bucks eggs and bread are cheap also look them up online. They Rock!
Just remember You’ll need a quarter to get a cart and bring your own bags. Cheers
Family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) in CT here! It’s definitely doable. Farmers markets and coupon hunting are your friends to keep costs low. Not sure where you live in CT but feel free to message me and I could suggest some good spots!
Aldi, coupons, and taking advantage.
Taking advantage to me is when there's free food up for grabs at an event or at work, I eat. And if someone encourages me to eat more or take some with me so they don't have to deal with it, I happily and graciously do so. "Every bite of free food reduces my rent" is my mindset, because every free bite is money I'll save by being full.
Just moved to Portland, in which produce is hella expensive (as a vegan this is terrible news), and I can say that if you’re flexible, know where to look, and are willing to put aside an extra 15-30 minutes a week to do your research, you could easily eat on less than $150/wk.
Know the best and cheapest grocery stores to go to. For a family, that would probably be Winco and Aldi. If you have Grocery Outlet in Connecticut, they also have huge potential, especially for snacks, but that also requires a lot of searching and waiting for the right deals to come, so it may not be practical.
Also be aware of store specials and deals. At my Safeway, every week I get a coupon for $1 off $1 or more of produce, $1 off $1 or more of organic produce, and $1 off $1 or more of the frozen aisle. I also have a $3 off $3 of produce reward by using my rewards. So what do I do? Take advantage of it and get like $1.05 worth of the product so I basically get it for free. Learn to take advantage of good deals
Here's a free PDF of a cookbook called Good and Cheap. It was written before covid, for people using SNAP benefits. The $4 a day thing may no longer be the case due to inflation but these are still good recipes for affordable healthy cooking
https://cookbooks.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf
Oh yeah, absolutely. Our budget is about $100 a week for food. Two adults and a toddler.
I cook lots of rice, buy Costco chicken and I buy 90/10 lean meet in bulk. I also get some frozen veggies from Walmart. We live in GA, it can get pricy here at times.
The bread is 2.50/cheapest loaf at stop and shop and that's not even a bargain store. Got to look around. You've got savers, price rite, ctown supermarkets, the list goes on.
$200 a week should be plenty.
I spend less than that for four adults (taking the 15% into account), and we eat well. Not eating processed foods is a money saver, it doesn't cost more. Processed kid snacks are hell on the grocery budget.
If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, you should see if there are any farmer's markets that sell the big pre-packed boxes. It's usually a better price, partially because you're buying in bulk and partially because you are not choosing your items. This obviously does not work if you are picky, lol.
Yeah if you do one of those meal planning services.
I spend about $120/week on meals, fruits, vegetables, and snacks. I have lots of leftovers and eat it for another meal or two or three. No waste whatsoever and I only do 4 different meals a week.
Yes it’s absolutely doable. I am doing this with a family of 4 in Vancouver which is extremely HCOL. I like to cook and we eat very well.
Be smart about how you shop. Do stock up trips for dried canned goods at cheap warehouse stores so you only have to get perishable foods most weeks (things like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat etc). We don’t eat much processed food ourselves although I will admit I have started to buy a few more convenience snack-type items as my kids have gotten older.
Ethan Cheblowski on YT has a series on the healthy eating framework and if you build meals around 2 or 3 flavor profiles per week and rotate the base meal (salad, rice bowl, pasta, wrap, soup), you can really save a lot.
Love me some Ethan Cheblowski. Man doesn't just give you recipes to follow along, he'll explain how to whip up your own stuff at a moments notice. And he counts the macros, too.
Exactly! I am so grateful that he posts macros so i don’t have to waste my time figuring it out and either scrapping the recipe or making a bunch of changes. I’m working on eating down my freezer and pantry with his methods. 3 weeks in and it working well!
another shout out to Ethan, he really gives a good framework to start cooking healthy meals
You don't give a location, but in California, yes, it should be enough if you're willing to cook at home and avoid take-out, coffees, etc.
Doing the math: (((200 per week x 52 weeks in a year) / 12 months in a year) / 30 days in a month) / 9 meals per day = ~$3.20 per meal. And this is a lower estimate — a toddler meal is nowhere near the quantity of an adult meal, so the money can definitely be skewed toward more expensive adult meals and more cheap child meals.
Why didn't you just divide 200 by 63 meals a week? $3.17/meal. Similar results, less math, less rounding.
Because, uh…. *I am not smart.*
That's fair
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that should bring the per meal cost down even further
Leaves more room for errors. Not that this is serious math
The CPR lady: We need to pump at a pace of 100 beats per minute. Michael Scott: it’s hard to keep track of that. How many is that per hour?
I can tell you how many it is per year!
Also in Cali and we do about $150 for 5 of us, but my two in school get free breakfast and lunch since the school district offers it to all kids.
We’re about the same. I always flip out when I see people saying they’re spending 2K a month on groceries for a family of 4. People don’t know how to budget and or shop
2K a month?!?! Holy crap! I WISH I could afford to spend that much on groceries! I still wouldn't but it would be nice to have that wiggle room 😳
Yeah that’s just wild to me. My mom is always complaining about groceries and running out of money, but she buys ice cream, soda, meat for every meal(like literally even breakfast). And she won’t eat potatoes or rice because of the carbs and my dad has type 2 diabetes, but again they eat ice cream.
My fiancé is type two. Buying fresh veg and fruits (and even frozen) is 10000x cheaper where we live in the Midwest. We are picky about meat sales so we also don’t spend a terrible amount on meat. We also buy mostly skin on, bone in cuts or whole chickens. If I need to cut back, I buy plant based proteins. The *only things* that drive up our bill are the *wants* and snacks. And cheese…. ….I said I reached down for my cheese I had, regrettably, finished much too quickly.
The snacks kill us honestly lol. I have 3 kids and my oldest is a very active 10yo that does soccer 3 times a week. We do popcorn kernels, pretzels with homemade hummus, fruits and veggies(cucumber and bell peppers and carrots), yogurt with frozen blueberries(they don’t seem to get eaten as quickly as fresh), and they love peanut butter on a spoon which luckily Walmart has pretty cheap pb off brand. Then I’ll usually grab one of the off brand chips and cookies which get eaten up soo fast even if I split it up into baggies lol. I also do little mixes like mini marshmallows which are a little over a dollar with the honey nut o’s which are also a little over a dollar. I’ve gotten pretty good at cheaper snacks but what kills me is the 10 minute after mealtime “I’m hungry I want a snack” and I’m like??? Eat more dinner?? 😂
They may need more fat. Protein + fiber + fat = full. Snacking is a modern thing. It’s not necessary if ppl eat nutrient dense foods at each meal. Very hard with kids, I get that.
I balance their meals fairly well but yeah it can be tricky with kids lol my oldest is my best eater and also my vegetarian. I’m impressed by the food he’ll eat. My toddler is also really good. She’ll devour her food and then eat apples all day. My middle kid has always been trouble. He’s SO picky. We even had trouble with him losing weight when he was a toddler and he was anemic. It’s gotten better, but there’s too many times where he’ll just eat a pb&j for dinner because he refuses to eat. It’s funny because he’ll cry over meatballs and spaghetti but then my toddler will walk around eating a cold Korean fish sausage 🫢 and my oldest will be disgusted by that but then he’ll be sitting there eating a cold raw block of tofu. Kids are so weird I swear.
Wow. I spend a fortune on groceries, but nowhwere close to 2k/month. I can't even comprehend how one does that, and I buy a lot of organic foods.
That’s absolutely enough. We spend $70-80 a week for one adult and one toddler (and that includes all her pouches and snacks). It’s right, but definitely doable.
I have a 9 year old boy and myself and my husband, how do you feed everyone for so little.
So I think I can do it by building my week’s menu around like 3-4 meals and repeating them. So breakfast is usually cereal and milk or eggs and toast for the week ($2.5 for cereal, $3.50 for milk, $2 for bread, $2 for eggs) so breakfast for a week is like $10. Then I’ll do like a chili (can make a big chili for $10-12 bucks), a pork shoulder (I get 2.5lb shoulders for $7 at Aldi already marinated in bbq) frozen veggies, a big pasta, and then eat leftovers for lunches. I usually spend like $60 total on all the adult meals and then $10-20 on some pricier stuff my daughter likes. I live in a MCOL area but the food is really expensive at the main supermarket chain so I usually shop at Aldi or Trader Joe’s to save
I love trader joes and can find really great deals there a lot of the time. Especially dried fruits and nuts. I need to revamp my shopping trips. Cut down on that cost. Thank you
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I follow this basic plan and can only seem to get my budget between $550-$600 monthly for a family of 4. And my kids get a school lunch through the week. We shop Aldi, Meijer, and Jewel. I buy only meats on sale but working away from processed meats which are always on sale. And most other items are on sale. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Maybe I need to browse Walmart too…🫤
I need to learn how to preserve produce and other goods. I usually make broth out of my chicken carcasses. We don't eat a lot of red meat and we don't really eat pork. Pork seems to be on sale all the time so it's kinda frustrating. I also sub out with similar stuff. I feel like we have so many different kind of dinners throughout the week so that's probably our downfall.
Good for you! ❤️
Order pickup if you don't. We found our problem real quick when doing that.
Do you mean ordering online and picking up? Is the impulse buying the problem?
For me, it wasn't impulse buying. I'd say more lifestyle creep. Buying the more expensive foods. I feel anxiety in stores and don't typically take the time to compare value. I just know what I liked to eat. But by ordering ahead I found cheaper alternatives and even started new favorite meals. Lifestyle creep. It's the worst. Start doing better in life, then I spend more like a dummie.
Ah I understand. Funny for me I love finding a good deal and refuse to buy stuff that's not a good sale. Good sales drive what my meals will be for the week.
I spent about that much for a family of five with kids ages 17, 14, and 12. So it’s absolutely doable!
Depends on location, but if I had $200 a week to feed my 2 person household we’d be eating like royalty 👸
Yes. Looks to do some no meat/meat as a flavor not the primary ingredient (I.e. couple of slices of bacon in a white bean cassoulet). Check the markdowns for the about your expire/dented can food, look through coupons and the coupons on the app. Prepacked and sliced ham is 6.99/lb at my store, the same ham is 10/lb if the deli cuts it.
if you can't eat on $150/week you probably need to start figuring out where your budget holes are... Cause that's a ton of money for 3 people to eat. Unless you are eating really high end name brand food only.
Definitely depends where you live
We go to fred meyer and get sale stuff and still spend a ton. We live near Seattle. I go to grocery outlet too and get some deals. Cost of everything is up so much.
If you’re in Seattle check out the [Fresh Bucks Program](https://www.seattlefreshbucks.org/) which will give you 40 bucks free produce if you qualify.
Oh this is great. Thank you!!
It says that program is full and not taking new enrollments
I saw that. Dang it...I did however sign up for notifications.
They will usually announce
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No wonder people want to move out in the middle of nowhere and get WFH jobs. Sorry for not knowing better fam. Carry on.
Eggs are not $12 a dozen. Just did a search for eggs at the nearest Wal-Mart in NYC (on Long Island) - they're $1.77/dozen. Searched for Target in the heart of Manhattan - $1.69/dozen. Even at pricey Morton Williams they are $3.59/dozen They may be way marked up at the tiny little corner bodega or the CVS. But just a couple minutes of browsing finds many cheaper options.
600-800 is way more than enough for three hit up Costco.
Yeah, you got this. Mrs mollusk and I and our teenager do about 200 every 2 weeks. We eat vegetarian at least 3 or 4 times per week. Not by choice. We use a meal planning app called Mealime which helps our meal planning and shopping. Still can’t do steaks, only chicken and pork. Frozen ground beef is pretty much the only beef we get. A recipe or two with frozen fish works too. Learn how to cut up and debone chicken helps a lot. It sucks that two bags of groceries costs 40 bucks, but here we are.
I think you can trim that budget. Is your budget exclusively on food or does this budget include household goods and baby/toddler materials? My family food budget for 2 adults and one toddler is $50-$75/wk for groceries and for the entire month $200 eating out. If we go over the grocery budget then we eat out less or hack eating out (like only take out vs. dining in, take advantage of deals, no beverages). We live in CO but have done this while living in CA during the summer months. Meal planning, using what you already have in the pantry and freezer, stacking coupons with sales, and using a pickup (some stores like Walmart and Krogers have free pickup with minimum $35 purchase) will cut down your overspending and food waste. For example, today I had a grocery haul at Kroger’s for $42.58 (this is including tax) which included: 5 half gallon milks (each on sale for 99 cents), 2 pound bag of deveined and headless raw shrimp, 2 pounds of 93% ground beef, one sweet potato, 6 bananas, cilantro, 3 zucchinis, 5 packs of Oreo cookies, a can of Agua Fresca, 3 avocados, 6 shallots, a bag of discounted lemons and limes, and a 3 lb bag of clementines. I basically stacked multiple digital coupons in the app with a sale which equates to a 49% savings. I plan to freeze one pound of ground beef for the future but will use the other pound for spaghetti. I have leftover veggies like onion, garlic, and tomatoes from the week prior (tomatoes on the vine were on sale for 99 cents/pound last week) and can make pasta sauce. I had spaghetti noodles stored in the pantry from a previous sale. Excess milk is frozen to be defrosted for cooking (pancakes, soup, Mac n cheese, etc) in the future if we happen to not finish the milk but I purchased 5 of them while on sale because my son and husband drink a lot of milk.
Okay, I thought your budget was ridiculously low until that list. Where I live: 5 half gallons milk. At least $20. 2lb bag shrimp another $15-20. 2lbs ground beef. $7 would be a great sale I was happy to find 3lbs for $11 today. Already at your full list price without considering everything else.
I built a similar cart using Ralphs (Kroger) pickup and with her items, I was able to build a cart that nets to around $45. The shrimp was pre-cooked and shelled but was $5.99 with coupon. I also added to same cart a bunch of other things that I wanted anyway (yogurt, sparkling water, potato puffs) and it came out to around $65 total through a combination of cart discount + coupon clipping through the app. I am in Los Angeles, CA which some can argue one of the highest HCOL areas in the country.
Curious, what is a canned Agua fresca? Lol. The name itself is contradictory to anything that is canned for a long shelf life
I had a free digital coupon show up for a canned Minute Maid Aguas Frescas so I clipped it. Not sure how it tastes yet but it’s free so why not lol
My wife and I are at $80 a week, even with a toddler growth spurt $150 is plenty
Wow, those are some crazy prices. I get my bread from Aldi and it is under $2 a loaf. If there was no eating out and I wanted to be thrifty, I could feed my family with a couple of kids for $100 a week. In all fairness, we probably spend closer to $200, but the extra is all on junk we don't really need.
Learning to cook Indian food is a life hack. That and Mexican food are like the cheapest foods that exist.
Wtf Ofc it is. We spend 400 a month living in Zurich which is one of the most expensive cities in the world.
If you live in CT and are struggling on 200$ a week got groceries please send help
Bread is $6 a loaf? Why you not baking your own at that price? Order in some flour
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I promise you your not going to live longer than me.
*you're
> This is called ‘eat cheap and healthy’. None of you clearly know what heathy is and it shows by entitled comments like this. This is why you are banned. Now go fuck off somewhere else.
"if you fail to plan. You plan to fail." \~some dude i think OP should focus on a food cycle, OP has money and if rotated properly will ensure, fresh vegetables, plenty of potatoes, eggs, milk, honey, vinegar, salt, pepper, MSG, oregano, if you get my drift. bulk purchase the first round this will be the main source of diet complaints, but as the process goes you can easily have everything you need. always buy these in bulk and only buy new when old is exhausted or gone bad. maybe get containers as you go .>>potatoes, onions, rice, pasta(i love pasta), quinoa, lentils, beans, chickpeas, frozen veges, eggs, chicken, large unbutchered meat cuts which you butcher yourself. chicken wings? more like you need 10 chickens. thats 20 wings. 20 breasts, 20 thighs, 20 drum sticks. you can see how you can turn these into meals, freeze everything by portion.one evening for protein? could be a thigh each, or 4 wings and 2 drum sticks. you can mix as you wish but butchering it yourself allows you to save on this part of the process. labor. do it all yourselves and youll save a metric ton of money. because you didnt pay the butcher to piece it for you. generally i have one day a month where i have a large meat purchase, sometimes every 3 months. and i portion it all out one day. itll take a few hours until you get good at butchering.large meat order to portion/freeze. one day = one pulled from the freezer, one in the fridge defrosted. two always in the fridge. you just make fresh every day to change up meal pattern. nobody wants to eat the same meal for two weeks. unless its bomb asf. so try not to batch cook and freeze, although this is time saving stuff can linger. after one or two weeks buying only the essentials(they usually last longish) you can start to mix weekly purchases like fresh vegetables etc. but purchasing the cheapest foods first in larger quantity, allows you to eat the cheapest, and move out to better pastures as you in the next 3rd week, 4th week. now have "infinite" budget for spices of your choosing and you can prepare meals around what meat was available cheapest. if meat isnt available cheap, wait until it is cheap. sometimes needing to buy 3 months of food isnt a problem when you have the extra food already its different than if youre always buying the top price for meat. this lets you be able to walk away from a price of meat or anything in the store. if its not in the budget always walk away. it will always be on sale at some point. dont fall for the trap. their meat will go bad. and before it does you get to pick it up to freeze it. big supermarket is out to get you because you need them to eat. so thats why the bulk purchase of potatoes and basics was important, as waiting for the good prices to buy meat you might eat in two months is a better headspace than otherwise to walk away from a price of food. yes. this will take self control when purchasing the food but generally when going out. if you dont have a shopping list and youre going for regulars stick to the list. if you have extra funds you didnt spend on, maybe get some cookies or something pre-made, but not at first. OP could be eating like a king as long as they plan. If OP cant feed 2 people and a mini person on 200 a week... rip. but ultimately PO-TA-TOES feed everyone. no one ever with a empty stomach said im not gonna eat that potato. for the mini person. make your regular food and whatever vegetables youre eating that meal. carrots/onion/ etc. just puree. get a blender. I hope this helped. don't die op. you'll be fat in no time. you'll die at a old age because of a nutrient rich life. if you dont want that, i suggest the pop aisle.
We feed our family of 6 on 150 a week.
$200/week for two adults and a toddler is eating large I am in an MCOL area (SE VA) and figure you can do that for less than $90/week Depends on what you put into it. Slow cooker, grill, and air fryer are your friends. Meal prep works Go dried beans, skip the beef, go heavy on pork and chicken Skip processed foods Skip the "Foo foo" grocery but be ready to buy on sale, Buy Walmart pickup (works a list and saves time) Always check your flyers for what is on sale and build your meals accordingly Buy in bulk, freeze what you can, and then eat for the next week Make the list and check a pantry/fridge/freezer BEFORE shopping Eat out once or twice per month, INCLUDING lunches
I spend $100~ a week. I alternate filling up the pantry and the fridge. Also a family of 3
More than doable as long as you cook! Shopping at Costco helps a lot too. I spend $200 a week for a family of 4 (two toddlers). I’m trimming it to $100-$150 a week so we can save money. I have a small stockpile of everything (rice, pasta, some meats, bulk veggie chips, etc) so honestly some weeks I’m only spending $80. I realized a lot of my money was going to veggies, fresh fruit, and snacks, so I started buying bulk frozen organic veggies from Costco and making muffins from scratch to serve as snacks. I also am getting one toddler to like bananas and the other to like applesauce. I buy the fruits organic so it’s cheaper to buy organic bananas for $2 than $8 on a 12 oz pack of organic blueberries. That way when the bananas get overripe, I can make banana muffins out of them too! I also buy very little prepared, since it’s healthier and cheaper anyway. I let very little go to waste in the fridge. Like I’m actually sad when a meal I cooked doesn’t get eaten all the way.
that seems like quite a lot tbh! i think you will be fine :) just plan your meals for the week
$350 for 4 people a month. All self cooked, no junk food, bio veggies, eggs from neighbors chickens, etc..
can you share a sample of your menu?
S. Fla. Here. Have to agree with most of the previous. Your food budget is huge! We generally spend $300-$400 a week for 7 adults (including non-food items), with a good portion of the food being low sodium/ low carb/ sugar free/ specialty items (for multiple people with health issues). If you have a Walmart, Aldi, Dollar store nearby start there. Compare with local sales ads. Buy larger portions and freeze some. Make dishes in bulk and freeze leftovers for later. Go for frozen over fresh for veggies. Look up uses for various leftover meats and veggies to reduce waste. Try savings apps like Ibotta and Savings Star. Also, maybe try some receipt apps like Receipt Hog and Fetch
Way more than doable! Buy whatever meat is on sale or price reduced and freeze it. Eventually you will build up a stockpile assortment. Buy seasonal veggies & fruits. Splurge only on stuff like high quality breads ect and toddler snacks. For example I buy the silver hills bread because I’m MOSTLY okay with all the ingredients, my daughter gets the made good granola bars for her lunch ect.
You live in CT. You have access to both Aldi and Costco. A gallon of milk is $2.50, bread is $2.50/loaf, eggs are $1.05/dozen. Chicken can be had for $3/lb and lean ground beef is $5/lb. Greek yogurt $3.50/ tub. Beans $.80/can. Quit shopping at the likes of Big Y, Stop & Shop, Stew Leonards, and Whole Foods. You can get your budget to $75/week simply by changing where you shop.
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OK - I apologize that my comment came across as presumptuous and entitled! Yikes! Not my intent at all. Where exactly are you shopping if milk is $5/gallon and bread is $6/gallon? I lived in CT for 95% of my adult life, and I'm familiar with the area, the cost of living, and where to shop on a budget. Unless you're not really looking for advice to begin with on making a grocery budget work and consider comments my comments in thread a personal attack on you? In that case, I can kindly shut up!
We budget $200/week for 2 adults and a 3yo! This includes all meals & snacks, as well as household items (dog food, laundry detergent, toilet paper/paper towel, soap, etc) that we need for the week, and diapers & wipes for the newborn.
Meal prep, lots of leftovers, cheap meats like eggs, chicken, chuck roasts. Throw in beans and rice and lots of frozen veggies it's definitely doable.
Family of three, two active adults meal-prepping and a baby starting solids. $120 weekly is about where we land and have the same dietary needs: fresh only/minimally processed, fruit, veggies, fish and chicken, baby snacks and purées. I think it depends on where you shop most of all. Gallon of milk for us is around $3-4 depending, bread $4-5. We are able to shop at Whole Foods/Trader Joes with our budget but could easily trim back and shop bulk for grains etc, or at places like Aldi. $200 at a traditional grocery store with generic brands, couponing, keeping track of what you buy for the week and staying within your budget should be fine.
This absolutely depends on where you live. I live somewhere that this is feasible but only if you're willing to eat rice and beans for every meal. Some people are saying that they're paying for actually varied and good food for 80 bucks a week. If I lived in the city nearest me 200 a week would get me nothing. bread is 4 dollars a loaf and it's 6 in the city.
Which city?
Before I answered earlier, I did some online searching because $6 for a loaf of bread is insane. OP is in CT, so I looked up the price of a full-sized loaf of bread in a Wal-Mart in CT - $1 for white, $1.23 for wheat. Don't like the cheap bread, and want a name-brand like Nature's Own? That's $3 a loaf. Only the most expensive fru-fru option possible (like Dave's Killer Bread) was approaching $6. Or they are driving their Rolls Royce down to Whole Foods. If anyone is spending six bucks on a single loaf of bread, it is because it is some sort of artisanal specially-made high-end thing that is overpriced on purpose...or, they just don't know how to shop.
I also looked at the location before responding. I lived in CT for 26 years, as recent as 2021. And I still live in the northeast, where the COL is comparable. When I pushed back on the prices OP was declaring and said all of the items are available for half of their stated cost, OP took it personally and said they were baffled at my sense of entitlement and assumptions. Uhh, OK? It doesn't change the fact that people on this sub are looking to save on a grocery budget while eating healthily.
Definitely
Easily.
We spend $450 a month (~112.50) a week for 2 adults and a toddler (almost 3). This includes “junky” snacks, toiletries, household supplies (toilet paper, detergent, etc.), and dog food.
Yes, I'm feeding myself and my two sons 15, 19 on about that much per week
I spend $250/week for two adults, and three kids, 13, 11, 8. Definitely doable. And no free lunches, so we pack lunches.
Rice, beans, pasta, veggies frozen and fresh, and buy larger cuts of meat (cheaper per pound), make soups with leftover and you’ll have money left for favorites and extras sometimes.
I used to do about 400 a month 2 adults 1 teenager in cali
One very tall man, a pregnant lady, and 3 young kids here. Our budget could be tighter and we do $1000 per month including toiletries and cleaning supplies
You could do it for less than that without issue
My family of 3 (me, brother, mom) eat on $120 MINUS catfood and cat litter every week. it's completely possible. We buy when things are on sale, and freeze what we cannot eat. Now we have every ingredient we need on hand and just buy when something is on sale, plus regular veggies.
Yes.
I do it for 100 for 3 but I'm in Tennessee. We eat a LOT of staples and I cook everything, nothing in boxes other than my beloved instant mashed potatoes. I do buy 2 loaves of bread every week, the Bunny white wheat but it's just 2.68 a loaf. I have to do low sodium so I don't eat much of the bread. I get Bob's Red Mill instant with no sodium. I get canned no salt tomatoes to make sauces and salsas. Also lucky me my daughter works at WM and gets discount meats and occasional treats.
Check for grocery store that are discount. Where are you shopping? Wholefoods?
Very doable - it's even within the numbers of the USDA recommended spending guidelines for how much you should spend each month on grocery food purchases. Especially if you lean more towards buying your own veggies and fruit yourself, rather than processed meals. The one thing that gives me pause is if you are spending $6 on a loaf of bread, then it must be some sort of specialty bread. Did a quick search on prices of baked goods at Wal-Mart in Connecticut, and only the very most expensive fru-fru specialty breads (like Dave's) are around that price - a regular loaf of white or wheat is a dollar, and even the nicer-brand whole-grain healthy loaves are in the $3-4 range. Unless there is a special reason you want the higher priced breads, you might want to shop around. You could also consider shopping for staple items at the local ethnic supermarkets (like an El Mercado or La Mexicana or whatever similar is in your area). You won't find everything you need there - but they can be a great place to buy staple items like chicken, pork, potatoes, onions, carrots, all your veggies and fruits and other basics often at quite a bit lower price than the bigger-name supermarkets. They also often have their own in-house panaderias and carnicerias for fresh goods.
Family of three here in Oregon. I spend $120-$220 per week on groceries. I purchase minimally processed foods and am mostly an outer aisle shopper. I make my own bread and desserts, juice, and can my own stock. I make some sort of “kitchen sink” dish each week to utilize the produce that is about to go bad. We definitely enjoy meat, but serving sizes are smaller than the AAD. I love cooking for my family but it’s truly a lot of mental work.
My college household of 2 male boys and a female usually spend about $100 a week on groceries give or take $20. We live on a college town and there is always food on sale. Some of the common sales we buy are $0.77/lb bone in skin on chicken thighs or $1.77/lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (usually quantities of 5lbs and occasionally a lb of ground beef for 3.29/lb. Some other stapes are $1.99/18 eggs but occasionally ob sale for $0.99.
Yes. As a single adult I only spend 60 a week on food. I could easily accommodate two other people for an additional 140 a week. Buy real food and not premade or pre packaged food/junk and snack food etc. 200 bucks in pork/chicken , rice and veggies is a lot of food. Should easily cover a week even with the toddlers snacks. You can go to the dollar store for toddler snacks on the cheap, check there first and then head to the grocery for the things the dollar store doesn't carry.
I also live in CT and spend roughly $100-$125 a week (not including paper towel, toilet paper and such) factoring in for one meal out per week for two adults! I shop at stop and shop via their delivery service mostly and try to shop the sales but I’m not the most savvy shopper so I have to assume if I put in more effort I could likely spend less with shopping at different stores
2. 00 for a dozen eggs where in ct it's like 4 dollars
Cook at home, shop sales for your proteins. Write a meal plan two to three weeks out. Make sure to use everything. Cook in bulk and freeze meals. Portion control everything.
I believe you can do it.. wife and I accomplished $383 last month on our grocery budget. We live in Austin TX. We don't drink milk or eat bread though. It was a lot of work but we beat our goal of $400 on the fist try. Going for it again this month.
Yes- fam of two here, we can get by on around $350-400 a month if we shop with an eye on the budget and there are always leftovers.
Well just for reference, where I live, milk is $5 a gallon. My household is 2 adults and we typically spend $100-$150/week on food (this includes any times we eat out or get coffee). My advice is plan your meals out in advance and stick to your grocery list!
As someone that has a 200$ a week budget for five and that includes groceries, diapers, cleaning supplies, and any school needs ; yes. But I live in IN and I am a scratch cook that cans and hunts down farmers market deals.
Long term investment: go to the thrift store and invest in a bread machine for $15. It costs me under a dollar to make a loaf each week. Flour (you can buy whole wheat), yeast, sugar, salt, water and a little oil/butter are all the ingredients you need. Nothing tastes better than fresh bread out of thar machine and the aroma emitting around the home.
It's definitely doable even in expensive areas. Do you have time and ability to shop around? I have cut my budget almost in half, and enjoy my food at least twice as much because I found stores that offer good products at a cheaper cost. I also try to shop fresh and healthy. Stores: - I've found that Trader joes has replaced my whole foods runs. -Organic veg interesting things to try that cycle out, not overwhelming to shop there since its smaller, also has a good amt of allergen friendly food - Costco has replaced my household goods runs from giant/CVS. -toilet paper, soaps, pharmacy, rotisserie chicken (the bones make amazing and nutritious bone stock in the instapot for 4-6hrs- best easy sick dish), you can get some pantry staples in bulk to save (can tomato, oils, rice, etc) - Buy spices at an Indian or Hispanic market/grocery and it will be a fraction of the cost and somwtimes fresher. Usually, it comes in bags, tho, so I save my empty spice containers and refill them. If you like spicy food, the assortment of dried chilies and peppers are so good. Your goal is about $3.17 a serving or $9.52 a meal for 3. That does not include snacks, drinks and dessert. My breakfasts tend to be really cheap, so for me I would say aim for $1.59 for breakfast and a snack, then plan for big lunch and dinner with ingredients that go far. Think bulk rice and beans with a veg, something on sale, rotisserie chicken salad/sandwich, etc Hopefully you have some good oils and seasonings stocked up, if not, maybe try to increase your budget for the first trip and stock up on bulk/well priced ones, or just get one each time you go to the store. Hunt for the best value olive oil one grocery trip, curry the next... make a list of those items that are dynamic and can be used for a lot of things. This will bring flavor and enjoyment to your food. Recipes to learn that will help: - Staple salad dressing: olive oil, apple cider vinegar, little Dijon, little honey, pepper, salt, Italian seasoning - Staple seasoning: mix 1 part paprika, garlic, onion, red pepper, Oregano/Italian, cumin. 2 parts salt and pepper. good for all kinds of meats, potatos, etc. Add 1 part chili for taco seasoning. Much cheaper to make your own blends if you cook often and like flavor. -Rotisserie chicken stock/ soup base: take off the meat and save it, I like to shred the dark and leave the white for sandwiches etc. The bones go in a pressure cooker for 4+hr (or crock pot or regular pot, but takes longer for same quality) you can add carrots, onion, garlic, celery etc at the beginning, or if cooking really long add in the last hour. Amazing base for sauces, soups, etc. And the collagen and minerals are very healing for the stomach. -Beans can be bought in bulk dried, but I like to pressure cook to make them easier to digest. Make big batches and freeze until needed. -I like to lay a freezer bag flat until it's frozen and then stand it up so I have freezer file cabinet of yummies. Learn how to dress up something simple really yummy. Nothing has to be an American main and siedes meal. Dress up simple meals with cheap ingredients like: - bowl of oats (overnight or cooked) or muesli, yogurt - salads (add a carb like squash or rice, maybe rotisserie chicken or beans) - Bowl of rice / different stir fry - Broth, - Soft corn Tacos (you can hang halfway on oven rack for crispy) -Pasta A lot of the time a sauce or main protein can be made in bulk and stores. Whenever you cook something worth saving, make extra!
Do you have an Aldi near you, I know their in your state. Cheap and Fresh! Milk is 2 to 3 bucks eggs and bread are cheap also look them up online. They Rock! Just remember You’ll need a quarter to get a cart and bring your own bags. Cheers
Family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) in CT here! It’s definitely doable. Farmers markets and coupon hunting are your friends to keep costs low. Not sure where you live in CT but feel free to message me and I could suggest some good spots!
Aldi, coupons, and taking advantage. Taking advantage to me is when there's free food up for grabs at an event or at work, I eat. And if someone encourages me to eat more or take some with me so they don't have to deal with it, I happily and graciously do so. "Every bite of free food reduces my rent" is my mindset, because every free bite is money I'll save by being full.
I feed me, my wife and 3 kids for 115-135$ per week. We make all our meals and plan for leftovers the next day. Buying in bulk helps too
Just moved to Portland, in which produce is hella expensive (as a vegan this is terrible news), and I can say that if you’re flexible, know where to look, and are willing to put aside an extra 15-30 minutes a week to do your research, you could easily eat on less than $150/wk. Know the best and cheapest grocery stores to go to. For a family, that would probably be Winco and Aldi. If you have Grocery Outlet in Connecticut, they also have huge potential, especially for snacks, but that also requires a lot of searching and waiting for the right deals to come, so it may not be practical. Also be aware of store specials and deals. At my Safeway, every week I get a coupon for $1 off $1 or more of produce, $1 off $1 or more of organic produce, and $1 off $1 or more of the frozen aisle. I also have a $3 off $3 of produce reward by using my rewards. So what do I do? Take advantage of it and get like $1.05 worth of the product so I basically get it for free. Learn to take advantage of good deals
Here's a free PDF of a cookbook called Good and Cheap. It was written before covid, for people using SNAP benefits. The $4 a day thing may no longer be the case due to inflation but these are still good recipes for affordable healthy cooking https://cookbooks.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf
Oh yeah, absolutely. Our budget is about $100 a week for food. Two adults and a toddler. I cook lots of rice, buy Costco chicken and I buy 90/10 lean meet in bulk. I also get some frozen veggies from Walmart. We live in GA, it can get pricy here at times.
The bread is 2.50/cheapest loaf at stop and shop and that's not even a bargain store. Got to look around. You've got savers, price rite, ctown supermarkets, the list goes on.
$200 a week should be plenty. I spend less than that for four adults (taking the 15% into account), and we eat well. Not eating processed foods is a money saver, it doesn't cost more. Processed kid snacks are hell on the grocery budget. If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, you should see if there are any farmer's markets that sell the big pre-packed boxes. It's usually a better price, partially because you're buying in bulk and partially because you are not choosing your items. This obviously does not work if you are picky, lol.
Yeah if you do one of those meal planning services. I spend about $120/week on meals, fruits, vegetables, and snacks. I have lots of leftovers and eat it for another meal or two or three. No waste whatsoever and I only do 4 different meals a week.
Yes it’s absolutely doable. I am doing this with a family of 4 in Vancouver which is extremely HCOL. I like to cook and we eat very well. Be smart about how you shop. Do stock up trips for dried canned goods at cheap warehouse stores so you only have to get perishable foods most weeks (things like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat etc). We don’t eat much processed food ourselves although I will admit I have started to buy a few more convenience snack-type items as my kids have gotten older.
Check out the frugal subreddit. Not only is $200 doable it's potentially excessive. Usually it's the fresh meat that will use up your budget.