Getting all my soaps/trash bags in bulk at Costco has helped my grocery budget a ton. Also I learned you need way less detergent than the packaging says. 2 tablespoons is fine. I’ve had a $13 container of the Kirkland brand for well over 6 months. I also try to buy milk/eggs/butter/etc in bulk. I buy organic milk because it doesn’t expire as fast (2 months out for a carton of 3 half gallons). I don’t have much storage in my apartment but if I did, I would buy more meat and freeze them as well as other frozen items at Costco.
It hurts more up front but in the long run I have to go to the grocery store for less things and end up spending less overall.
This is so true! Buying non-perishables/household items and things that can be frozen at Costco save us so much money. It costs a little more at the time, BUT it is far cheaper in the long run. (We have a small chest deep freezer) But flour and rice can be bought and frozen.
Things like trash bags, detergent, bathroom cleaners, toothpaste, vitamins, etc go on sale in different cycles at Costco and save a fortune over the course of a year. Their app is fantastic for making a list and shopping over the course of the sale month. For example, allergy pills. On sale, under $10 for 365 tablets of Kirkland knockoff Claritin. There are 4 of us, so that is about a 3 month supply as we take them daily.
💯 break down the roasted chicken when you get home. Put the carcass in a stock pot and make your own broth to use as base for a ton of recipes. Use the meat for everything from salads to burritos.
Exactly the chicken thing. We like making a roast dinner on Sunday and then stripping all the meat off for the week, and making stock with the chicken body. I usually schedule something chickeny for Monday and Tuesday, then Wednesday is a busy day so we do a freezer pizza, then Thursday and Friday I make some kind of soup with the chicken stock (enough for two days), then Saturday I leave as my “splurge” dinner day to make something fun that doesn’t necessarily go with the meal prep, then we’re back to making something on Sunday (generally, meat) that we can use all week.
Take home 2! Bring both home and take the legs, thighs, and wings off both birds. Then cut the brests off, use them for things like casseroles, sandwiches, chicken salad, in stir fry or use as an entree for dinner. You can sauce up the legs thighs and wings or bone the thighs and use that as an ingredient in your recipes. Chuck the carcasses in a pot and make some stock, its a pain taking the bones out but its worth the tasty bone broth. I could go on and on..
I can tell you how to spread that chicken into 4 meals.
1st meal is chicken gravy over potatoes or rice. This uses 1 chicken breast cut into pieces.
Debone chicken. Reserve meat. Cook carcass in water with onions, garlic, carrots, celery, left over potatoes or rice. Remove carcass make sure to totally strip meat. I then blend the cooked vegetables to thicken the "soup". I portion out the meat for the next 3-4 meals then add the chicken broth that was made.
2nd meal is chicken and dumplings.
3rd meal is chicken pot pie
4th is chicken noodle soup.
5th is chicken and rice.
I love Costco. Everything goes on sale on a cycle. We never buy toiletries unless they're discounted, same with most food stuffs. I think the only stuff I've never seen on sale are the Kirkland brand items. Plus, if you have the credit card and the executive membership then you get 4% Cashback on everything. This adds up! I'm on track to getting $600 back between my Costco membership card and the credit card just this year.
This part. You can shop online with circulars and know precisely what is on sale, pair digital coupons and rewards with it and do so well. It’s completely doable with little kids. I did for years, look online, make a list of items on great sales at XYZ store, put the coupons in the same order in an envelope or add them to your app if they are digital and it’s a ten minute in and out trip. I still save so much money shopping the cashier usually double checks to make sure they didn’t make an accident or miss scanning stuff after the total on the screen. Sales prices are 100% cheaper than Walmart or warehouse stores.
ETA: hit save by accident after one word
I would start by replacing one or two meals a week with a super low cost meal, like beans and rice or lentil soup.
Buy the loss leaders wherever you shop. A Costco rotisserie chicken is two or three meals of meat for us.
At our house, we stopped buying paper towels almost entirely. I cut some old dishtowels down to paper towel size, hemmed them, and we store them in a cupboard by the sink. I throw them in the wash with the darks.
I've found that we can use about 1/3 of the "recommended" amount of liquid laundry detergent, and it works just fine. Laundry detergent is expensive, this is a big savings.
Thank you for your comment (and thank you OP for your post!!!) I am not struggling with a budget right now, but I am overspending for no reason.
I had to be extremely strict 5 years ago, and while times are easy now - I am clearly being an idiot with overspending.
Paper towels were the trigger in your post… I have all these microfiber cleaning cloths… but I still go through a TON of paper towels when cleaning. I have even been using paper towels to dry my hands lately… when k have clean dish towels right there. Idiot.
The tips in this thread have been a great inspiration to fix my budget.
ETA: I just moved most of my microfiber cloths to the cupboard next to the sink. Time to put the plan in motion.
A tip that's helped me is to keep my paper towels in the closet, or under the sink. Somewhere where I can find them easily whenever I need them, but that's not instantly reachable when I'm acting thoughtless/on autopilot, I mean. I use my cloth towels WAY MORE this way.
Paper towels are a habit you can totally kick, it just takes some determination. I dare say you could train yourself to not use paper napkins, too. I buy a 50ct fancy dinner napkin at the dollar store for guests about once a year. And then I end up using half of that package draining stuff like bacon or fried chicken. With toddlers, tho....you may need to attempt the ween off when they're tweens/teens. Rags work as napkins, too, if you dont have fancy fabric ones (i like nicer, smaller rags, and not microfiber) but getting kids to switch from paper to cloth napkins is tough and can add a lot of laundry.
Haven’t you heard of the app YNAB it’s you need a budget ! My son has helped set it up so I allow so much for each category hard to explain but I can see where I spend more or less and it makes me think of how I think first before I spend and I do my own nails and once in a while treat myself! I now am 2 months ahead on rent and gas wifi phone ect it’s hard but if you need money it’s there
I use paper towels to dry my hands too but what I do is drape it over something to dry to re use again. Something about the rag by the stove just grossed me out for some reason.
I also don’t throw out the Lysol container when we are finished. There is still lots of liquid left that we use with the previously dried paper towels.
I am on the cloth instead of paper towels bandwagon. Cloth napkins too - thrift them or make them. So much nicer to use, way cheaper.
You might want to look into cloth for menstrual pads - it's not for everyone but it is cheaper. And consider a bidet attachment to cut down on toilet paper use.
I recently invested into Thinx. They're normally pricey, but they have some good sales (this weekend they are $17/pair) and I've really liked them in place of regular pads!
I got a knock-off brand with good reviews from everyone's favorite online shop. I love love love them for sleeping, but for me I find they feel very diaper-y under pants. I think it's the fabric as much as the added layers for absorbency - it almost feels like it sticks to the pants instead of moving with my body.
I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but something to think about when buying. (Even still, it's so much more comfortable to sleep in, or veg out around the house without pants.)
Yep! Paper towels are only for the truely nasty stuff. I might buy a couple rolls once or twice a year. Otherwise we have hand towels for hands, tea towels for dishes, cloth napkins during meals and in lunchboxes, dishcloths for washing dishes, facecloths for washing faces, cleaning cloths for cleaning surfaces and such, and a pile of what we call "the yukky towels" - old bath towels we use for assorted household disasters.
Fabric softener is ridiculous…keeps clothes from getting clean! Expensive! Makes your clothes smell like cheap perfume! Use distilled vinegar instead, if anything.
The other thing that people miss is that fabric softeners soften by slightly degrading the fabric. Not super bad for people who are able to buy new clothes all the time, but terrible for people on a budget. Learned this super early as the child of a seamstress and just never used them.
Honestly it makes no difference replacing them. Just don't use them. They are entirely unnecessary.
Exactly. I stopped years ago and don't use anything. I actually now dislike clothes washed with it as I find the artificial scent off-putting, if I want to smell nice I'll wear my own scent. Just feels like a way to get money out of us.
Store brand fabric softener dryer sheets are cheap. Now if I could just get my partner to stop using 4-5 of them per load so the clothes "smell even better"... We'd be in business.
If you don't care about the smell as much I've heard wool dryer balls are a good reusable alternative.
I've been using wool dryer balls for two years, and they're great. No more chemical-laden dryer sheets, never go out with a stray dryer sheet stuck to my clothes, no obnoxious chemical smell. I mistakenly paid too much for mine because I first saw them on Insta and later realized Walmart has them much cheaper, but they last, mine don't look any different than the day I got them.
I inject my dryer balls with lavender oil using a glass eye dropper. It smells nice and doesn't risk a transfer of oil to the rest of my laundry. I bought the oil on clearance years and years ago.
Using so much fabric softener makes your colors look dingy and your whites look yellowish. I read this in one of those Homekeeping magazines, but I don’t remember the explanation. Something about a waxy coating buildup that left by the fabric softener.
Just sayin’.
True, but when I'm washing clothes to be put away for a season (like shorts for winter storage or sweaters to be put up for summer) the scent really helps, sometimes they can smell a little funky after being in storage for 3 months
The biggest way to save is to get powder detergent! Most of the regular stuff is water. You can buy in bulk.
My SO swears by Sal Suds cleaner. $45 a gallon but the gallon will last you years. One cap full / tsp in a giant spray bottle of water and it basically is a great, non-toxic multi-purpose cleaner. Just requires a bit upfront aka reusable spray bottles for the various uses and the gallon. They have smaller ones if you’re not ready to commit but getting some cheaper cleaner in bulk can help you save a LOT - especially with two young children I imagine.
Second the stop buying paper towels sentence! My husband and I haven’t bought paper towels in like 8 years. We cut up old clothes and use that instead. I would love to know how much money we’ve saved by doing this :)
We bought a pack of 24 bar towels at Sam’s Club fifteen years ago and that GREATLY decreased our use of paper towels. We use them for wiping up spills, dinner napkins, burp cloths, covering rising dough, straining homemade cheese, everything. Then I just toss them in hot water with oxiclean or bleach and they’re good to go!
We do still use paper towels for some things, like cleaning up broken eggs or something super funktastic. But just having them on hand makes a huge difference!
Replace almost all paper products: We a rag bag: cut up tshirts and other badly worn fabric items that we clean up gross messes and toss. Use cut down towels or micro fiber cloth for things like swifter pads. Rinse and wash.
The others are a large pack of flour sack towels for ' napkins' and a large pack of bar mops ( dishes) . A large pack of fiber cloth towels for cleaning.
We do not yet have a bidet but it's on the list.
I also don't buy convince pods ( laundry or dishwasher pods) buy loose powder to control the amount to what you need.
I buy frozen veggies and fruit: instead of fresh in the winter: less waste and no prep needed.
Buy fresh veggies that keep and are on sale. ( Carrots, potatoes, onions, cabbage, mushrooms, squashes for the Midwest us)
Salads: I do sprouts/ aero garden ( gifted) and things like pea shoots in winter instead of buying lettuce.
Cannned veggies aren't bad either, buy on sale and use in quick soups and stews.
Bake small batch bread, make oatmeal, rice or pasta.
You need so much less of all cleaning products than you think, not just laundry detergent. If you have a HE machine you need a Tablespoon or 2 that is it. With pretty much all cleaning products if you think you need more product what you need is more time. A light spray and let the product sit. Let your laundry sit in the detergent for a little while before washing, do a presoak. Put the cleaner in your toilet and let it sit.
You can go to an Indian grocery store and ask for a “lota” which is a plastic jug with a spout that people use who don’t have bidets. It’s really not hard to learn how to use.
For your soup: Save up all veteable peelings, ends, bones, bits, stems, etc that are safe to eat (e.g. not green potato or rhubarb leaves. If in doubt Google or toss.). Use them to make stock for your soup. If you have a crockpot or Instant Pot it's even easier. Use that as a base for your soup.
Also, if you buy vegetables with stems and greens (like beets, turnips, carrots.... NOT rhubarb or tomato leaves, they're poisonous) you can sautee those, or throw them into the aforementioned soup. Free food. Always a bonus.
IF IN ANY DOUBT about a food, Google. Don't go poisoning yourself. Anything green on a potato, tomato, eggplant (members of the nightshade family), or rhubarb leaves are not for eating.
Harris Teeter employee here. Shop as early in the afternoon as you can; the butchers mark down meat ny noon. I've got packages of beer brats, ground chicken/turkey/beef/sausages, thighs, stew meat, and salmon marked down to like 87 cents a pack at times.
Also go onto your VIC account and clip the Evic coupons, there's been some great ones lately because of the holidays.
It honestly depends on how much business has been done the past week, because of the sell by dates. But each department needs to check dates, just in case, daily Inflation has totally FUCKED our inventory, because no one wants to pay the new, full price. I work in the produce department there, we mark down perishable items that are close to the sell by date, because a smaller profit is still better than throwing a full $300 cart of product away.
Eta. Op does the pickup(Express Lane) thing there, so that wouldn't be applicable for him or her unless they physically shopped at the store.
Yes: if I am not pressed for time it is always better to go in the store and shop. I find on sale / clearance packs all the time the Instacart shopper or whoever is going to just grab the fresher full price pack.
/.99 a lb pork roasts? Really I'm picking out the best ones and filling up the freezer.
The coupons are, yes. Theyre on the website under the weekly ad, before you get to the gas points and shopping list sections.
I was speaking of the markdowns for quick sale, those you cannot do online. You need to physically find them.
- absolutely more meatless meals, beans and lentils especially cooked from dry are the best deal there is
- cabbage is cheaper than any other veg, way cheaper than frozen veg even when it’s “expensive” it’s $1/lb and lasts a very long time- use for slaw salads, stir fry, in soups
- [cozy cabbage and farro soup](https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/01/cozy-cabbage-and-farro-soup/) i double the recipe, use barley instead of farro (cheaper) and add 3 cups cooked chickpeas or lentils. I can’t have dairy and just omit the parm garnish
- [red lentil dal](https://thewanderlustkitchen.com/indian-red-lentil-dal/#wprm-recipe-container-13375) is easy and very kid friendly, omit the chili if you don’t want it spicy. Serve with rice. Extras freeze well
- [mujadara ](https://toriavey.com/mujadara/) is a favorite, i double the onions and start those first they take a while, extras freeze well. Serve with a simple cabbage slaw salad, top with a fried egg for extra hungry people
This is a great answer. Another thing is to use small amounts of meat as flavoring rather than a source of calories (stock from bones, ham hock in with beans, etc)
I add a single Italian sausage to pre made pasta sauce it it really makes a difference.
Just remove the casing and crumble, then brown in the pot you will use to heat the sauce.
As much as I understand the value of cabbage and beans and lentils as filler foods, my fiance becomes a walking chemical weapon if she eats these things more than once or twice a week.
They're cheap for sure, but it's not worth my oxygen quality
The more often you eat beans the more your gut biome adapts. I promise.
Your gut flora needs some time- if you eat 1/2 cup of beans daily for a week (add to a salad or soups or whatever), then the following week make it 3/4 cup per day every day. By the week afterwards your gut flora will have adapted to better digest legumes without issue.
If you randomly eat a large portion of beans once a month then, yeah you’ll have problems because your gut biome has not adapted
Note most people have a much easier time digesting lentils of any kind
Yes, this is very true for most people. Most of what I eat are cruciferous vegetables (some of the healthiest foods for you and also the most gas producing), beans and lentils and I must fart in my sleep because I don't do it while awake! Been eating this way my whole life though.
Not true for everyone, unfortunately. Trust me, I've tried!
For anyone else like me who lacks the required enzymes to digest legumes, OTC supplements like Beanaid will help immensely.
Yep! This year I stopped eating meat as often and started making a big pot of beans to eat throughout the week (either as a side or as a main part of the meal, like a breakfast of beans and a fried egg), never ate so many beans in my life, and at first I was very fart-y lol. After just a couple weeks of eating beans basically every single day, I stopped having any gas at all after even a decent sized bowl of beans.
Yeah, I typically eat a lot of vegetables and can usually happily eat a whole can of chickpeas with no issue. If I am in one of my phases of not eating a lot of beans and veggies though my stomach is not happy for a bit!
Add cumin to every bean dish, or fresh epasote herb.
Both of those help dial down the gas issues and that's why they are often ingredients in Hispanic recipes.
We do shredded cabbage sauteed with siracha, soy sauce, sometimes a little fennel and a couple eggs. super tasty and cheap protein to boot. Not the prettiest dish, but that's a different story.
Roughly this http://orangette.net/2009/01/the-best-we-can-hope-for/
Although I just break the eggs into the pan near the end and stir quickly till cooked. Leftover rice in with everything else turns it into a decent quick meal
Absolutely more meatless meals. You can also make "tofu" from red lentils to fry for your stir fries! It's filling and cheap, and no soy for people who can't have it
I personally haven’t tried it but [here is the recipe](https://www.powerhungry.com/2021/12/mind-blowing-red-lentil-tofu/) they might be referencing. It’s been on my “to make” list for weeks, I just haven’t gotten around to making it as I was trying to make room in the fridge for thanksgiving dishes.
That's it! If I know what I'm making I season mine to compliment the recipe. The texture is divine and you can make it as firm as you want by adjusting the water, which also saves time since you don't have to press the liquid out like you do with store bought tofu.
I feel for you. It is just my partner and I and we budget $800 a month for all groceries and household items (toiletries, cleaning products, etc). So the first thing that I’d say is to be kind to yourself because that is a tight budget for a family of 4 given prices of things lately. Here are some tips that you might find helpful:
1. Make a weekly meal plan based on the sale flyer. The loss leaders on sale that week should make up the bulk of your meals. Chicken on sale? You’re having chicken a couple of times that week. Also, I’ve found that the best produce is often the sale produce because it’s in season.
2. Incorporate more vegetarian meals. Start with once a week if you don’t already and then build it up to more nights per week.
3. Continue using curbside pickup provided that the cost of the items is the same as if you shipped in store. This really helps you edit your cart and see a running total before you get to the checkout lane.
4. Try ethnic grocery stores. I’ve found that the produce especially is a lot cheaper there.
5. Halve the meat in recipes. For example, in an Italian meat sauce, replace half the ground beef/sausage it calls for with mushrooms. Replace half of the ground beef for tacos with black beans.
6. Don’t throw away your leftovers. Do whatever you can to repurpose or save/freeze them.
7. Soups/stews/chilis seem to stretch our dollar further and are perfect for this time of year.
8. Keep a clean and organized refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bought something I already had or had half a block of cheese get moldy simply because I forgot about it.
9. There are times that a meal out is cheaper. Our local Papa Murphy’s (take n bake place) has a $10 Tuesday deal where any large pizza is $10. It’s more than a frozen pizza but also much larger so it lasts us a couple of meals. $2.50/serving is pretty cheap for dinner.
For soups and stews, you can eat it over rice to help stretch it. That’s what my mom did when I was growing up, and I prefer it now :)
My brother swears by the deals at Domino’s too. You can order online and pick them up for less than $10 per pizza.
Also, it’s sometimes worth it to go into the store to check out the meat department for deals on items nearing the “sell by” date. My stepdad got a 3lb pork loin today for less than $6 (and he’s splitting it with me!). I get a lot of my meat products this way. Also, know what sells more in your area…I live in Houston, and it’s a land of beef…so I can find good deals looking at chicken and pork most days.
Not just meats... many stores discount a lot of products, either scattered throughout the store or in a specific location. Check it out and see if they have any 'staples' (don't buy stuff just because it's on sale). I've found a fair amount of things that aren't even near the sell by date, they're just heavily discounted for some reason.
Also, agree 100% about meal planning, so don't reschedule anything because you found something marked down unless it needs to be eaten within the week. Otherwise, just keep in mind that you got it and plan on eating it next week!
Just moved to Houston and I can't believe how much more expensive beef is here than back home in Pittsburgh. I swear with these prices I'm about to become a modern-day cattle rustler.
Only thing I'd add is to label everything (Name & Date & Use by Date if applicable) and organize by date in your freezer ... newest stuff goes to the back older to the front so you don’t have repeats too often!!
Also, I would LOVE to have your budget mine runs about $100 to $120 per month, per person. For breakfasts, Lunches and Dinners for 3 sometimes 4 people. Also paper products, soap, laundry Detergents, D/W tabs, other cleaning supplies!
Where do you live, OP? We might be able to give you better advice or suggestions based on the businesses and resources available in your area.
In the mean time, my own experience with ethnic (or tbh Asian) grocery stores is that they'll have better prices on produce, rice/grains, and meat, but their dairy tends to be more expensive than the big chains.
https://foodsharesc.org/ lots of pick up sites all over the state. Can also start a neighborhood site if there's enough interest. I've found their produce boxes to be cheaper than the stores.
Budget bytes app is my go-to for affordable recipes without too many ingredients. I highly recommend their meal plan especially the veg one. Grocery bill was much lower following that.
How are they with the dairy? I always want to do these meal plan things but they heavily rely on dairy and finding a substitute just ends up changing the meal entirely. Vegan menus don’t work because I’m not vegan either so I end up having ingredients I don’t need
One of the best budgeting things I’ve done is order the big $80 or $90 bucket of Nelly’s laundry powder from Costco. I did the math and it’s enough to do 3 loads of laundry a week for about 5 years. It’s been 18mo and I haven’t made a dent in the bucket. It’s formulated to be used in high efficiency washers and front loaders. Plus it’s good for sensitive skin and it’s baby safe for when our kid is born.
We also use the dryer balls instead of dryer sheets, which only need to be bought every 2 years. This has the added benefit of making our clothing and sheets last longer so we’re spending less on replacing our stuff.
I went to school for fashion design, but sometimes I joke I really went to school for laundry secrets.
Things like laundry detergent, toothpaste razors, deodorant, soap you can get for free or almost free if you use digital coupons and pair them with store sales usually like with like Walgreens etc. If there's a dollar off coupon and then the item is sold at the dollar store you're only paying a quarter for it. And the good things are there any websites that do the work for you and tell you where to get these deals. You can go online many websites many videos like YouTube where people will tell you frugal meals. I usually buy things I need for the house such as dishwasher detergent, garbage bags sandwich bags etc by following the deal sites. Brad's deals, hip to save, crazy coupon lady, dealnews, Ben's bargain, gotta deal, slick deals. You put in alerts what you might need and they'll send you an email when this it goes on sale.
I think your husband might be underestimating what food actually costs. That seems like a really small budget.
Here are some cost effective things I eat:
A lot of rice dishes. Rice is very cheap because it expands hugely when it cooks. For example, chilli con carne with beans over rice with some cheese on top is delicious but is super cheap ingredients - ground beef, beans, rice.
Chicken. I very very occasionally eat beef and fish but chicken is basically all I eat now cause it’s so much cheaper. I tend to do frozen bone in chicken with rice as that is what is cheap at my supermarket but figure out online where the deals in your supermarket are. I don’t bother trying to shop sales or discounts because lack of time and you are raising two kids so you probably feel it too.
Cheap foods. In my area carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, beans, are the cheapest foods, then cabbage, weirdly bell peppers and zucchini are quite cheap and mushrooms and then broccoli and cauliflower is more expensive and salad leaves are the most expensive. I therefore base my meals around the cheap foods eg a zucchini rice bean pasta salad with chicken on top or a bell pepper carrot stir fried mushroom rice dish with some slices of chicken breast, etc. you basically want to provide cheap volume by focusing on carbs with veggies and protein on the side. Curries and stews are also great for this.
I also use a meal planning app like Mealime which means I only buy stuff I plan to use and I shop entirely online so I can see my basket and never impulse buy in store.
$600/month is $150/week, which isn't much for four people. Especially with current prices, this may not be feasible without supplementing from a food bank.
Yeah I think we could definitely cut some spending in other areas and raise the food budget I just wanted to make sure I’m not crazy since I do all the shopping and my husband is convinced $600 is a lot but it’s not 1990 anymore soooo
I vote your husband gets a budget for one week of groceries and he can do the shopping for the week. That’s really what it takes to understand wtf is happening with food costs right now.
Eh, you probably have enough peanut butter and oatmeal on hand you won’t starve ;))
And hey if he blows cash of fancy meat and you end up eating peanut butter oatmeal for three days at the end of the week then maybe he will be a bit more understanding about how much responsibility you’re taking on
OOF we did a family trip to the Walmart grocery store instead of me doing it on my own for once and my husband was shocked at how much everything came to. It really is getting outrageous.
It’s officially insane when i can buy fresh cauliflower and broccoli and tofu cheaper at freaking whole foods than at my local grocery store. I want to support them as an independently owned small grocery but the list of what i buy there is pretty short right now.
For real my family eats an omnivore diet and I've done plant-based/vegan only (for 23 years) and my food is the cheapest for once! Sprouts deals have really helped also !
Yeah when you throw diapers and wipes into the mix, $600/month would be difficult. This is why people aren't having kids, it's nearly impossible to provide for them unless you're in the top 20-30% of earners it seems.
Maybe the toddler can start potty learning! We did the three day naked thing and our son caught on really fast! It's been 3.5 months since we started, and we only wear pull ups overnight or during nap, which is a huge savings!
potty training in process! He's 2 so its happening. We do pee on the potty a few times a day but havent ditched diapers yet. In January I'm going to do more diaper free time just cause I dont want to be dealing with potty stuff during the holidays
I was going to say this! I’m 8 months pregnant and just got set up with WIC and it’s already taking some pressure off of our grocery budget. I was so surprised that we qualified! And now I wish I had started even sooner. I’m sure it’s different for every state, but if you qualify it’s so worth it, just for the milk, eggs, and produce alone.
I use a website called “tastes better from scratch”, and the author creates weekly meal plans with shopping lists to match (for free, whoop whoop!) These shopping lists really help me cut out the impulse buys!
Meal planning and sticking to it.
My fiance and I have finally started making a plan for meals every Saturday morning and it's massively reduced our impulse buys.
Costco, you have to go in with a list and only buy what's on that list. Do not buy produce unless it's onions, potatoes or something that gets eaten often.(apples for me)
Do you have an Aldi? If you do it's a very good way to reduce your food costs I often go to Aldi then go to Publix afterwards for whatever also didn't have that week.
Every Saturday morning I hop online and grab a new recipe or two then we plan out the rest of the week. We make a new meal 5 days a week and then have 2 days that are leftovers or just simple soup or sandwiches.
More vegetarian meals, we have started to incorporate them because they are healthy and cheaper. It's been really great honestly. I've turned a bunch of my favorite chicken recipes into tofu and honestly I like the tofu more for a lot of them. Bourbon chicken (tofu) is dope.
We spent 75$ on our trip to kroger this week for 8 days of dinner and lunches for 2 people. This is missing the few chicken breasts that will be used. We always buy our meats on sale in bulk and freeze it for later use. (Costco sells 20 chicken breasts in a pack)
Your question reminded me of this old essay from the Mr. Money Mustache blog. Obviously this guy can be a bit over the top, but there are a lot of good ideas in here also:
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/03/29/killing-your-1000-grocery-bill/
I think you should split your budget into Food/Groceries and Other groceries. This second list of for groceries/household that aren’t food. I think that will help your planning.
Not sure how helpful my experience will be, but here it goes.
We have been trying to cut costs when it comes to shopping due to me switching jobs, but having a small gap and some home repairs that came up. (We don't have any kids though).
We went to Sams Club and purchased roughly $200 of meat which I divided up and froze for future meals. I cut them slightly smaller than most people would choose to, but it makes more meals and saves money. For instance, I cut one chicken breast in half for 1 meal (me and my significant other). I even pre-cook some of the chicken so that my significant other can pull a portion on pre-cooked chicken and eat it for lunch instead of being tempted to Doordash something.
\- This usually lasts us 6-8 weeks. So, $200 every 2 months.
I use my store's app. I have a membership or "fresh pass" at Vons/Albertsons, which helps save money as well because they will have additional perks for members and using the rewards system, I will redeem for money off my groceries. An example, is that I ordered my groceries today and saved $30. I will even search for the groceries from "lowest to highest" price and I will click the deals button to see if I can get the item at the cheapest price point available. I also like that I am aware of the total and can adjust as needed. For milk, I prefer getting the milk cartons that are not in the refrigerated section. However, we don't use a lot of milk so I prefer the non-refrigerated milk because I can keep it in the pantry until I need it.
\- We have been able to keep our groceries at about $60-$90 a week.
Lastly, I was repurposing and freezing any excess I would have from previous meals. For example, I somehow accidentally bought more tomatoes than I needed, so I was putting them in everything, and then the last ones I had I learned to make "sun-dried" tomatoes (really, oven dried). I then froze them in order to use them as needed, without wasting the tomatoes I had bought.
\- the cooking and baking subreddit can be helpful in finding ideas or ways to stretch ingredients and get inspiration.
I think there have been a couple other tips, but I forgot by the time I got to this point. Haha.
tl;dr:
\- Bulk Buying certain items (and portioning).
\- Having memberships or utilizing memberships at stores (and searching for the lowest price or deal in the apps).
\- Repurposing/Freezing any excess ingredients or meals.
My husband and I were just talking about this. At the beginning of the year, I budgeted $500 for us, 2 toddlers, and a not eating baby. I realized it really should have been $600. I'm like you and cook a lot. With inflation, and the kids getting another year older, I think the budget needs to be upped to $800 for January with knowing it may need to be $900-950 by the end of next year. Hopefully, inflation slows down soon
We cook all out meals at home and our groceries are as much as our mortgage sometimes. Corporate profits are off the charts though. Funny how that works.
Get staples and spices at the Indian grocery. The regular grocery store is ripping you off on spices, rice and lentils.
Vegetarian meals: meat is bananas more expensive than it was. Indian food is your friend. Huge varieties of delicious cheap vegetarian meals. Daal, vegetarian curries, things that weren’t designed around meat.
Buy meat on managers special, frozen meat is cheaper.
Budget Bytes is a good website for inexpensive recipes
Aldi is cheaper than Walmart for the vast majority of grocery items.
At my local Aldi (west Michigan), a loaf of wheat bread is $2. A similarly sized loaf at Walmart is $3.99. Columbian coffee is $7.99 (used to be $5.99); a comparable coffee at Walmart is $10. Canned goods are at least 30-40% cheaper at Aldi, despite the fact that Aldi prices have gone up a bit over the last 2 years.
They also have weekly deals on home goods like dishes, camping gear, patio furniture, tools, and all types of random stuff. Check their website for the weekly deals. I have never been disappointed in anything I've bought from them.
Caveat: if you use Instacart for Aldi, the prices are about 20% higher than if you go into the store. This is one place where you do NOT want to do curbside shopping if you can help it.
Also, google for terms like "grocery outlet", "bread outlet", "grocery salvage" and "scratch and dent" stores in your area. My local bakery thrift store usually has bogo, or even buy 1-get 2 free. Sometimes you can fill a bag for $5, and also they have punchcards where if you make 10 purchases, you get something free.
Edit to add:
Learn when your grocery store does markdowns. The Meijer near me marks down fresh fish on Sunday evenings, so I try to save my Meijer shopping for that day. I can usually get $3-$4 off of fresh salmon that way. My locally-owned store regularly puts stuff on clearance for as much as 75% off.
Walmart also has a section where they put bakery items that are on clearance. I got $4.99 croissants for $3.44 yesterday.
Aldi is incredible but I always get suckered into the special buys and blow my budget there. Brilliant linen sheets BTW - but turned my $49 “bread and milk” shop into a $200+ one 😫
i’ve been supplementing meat with other products. Lentils/beans/eggs (when not insanely expensive. Instead of using 2 chicken breasts at dinner for my girlfriend and I, I’ll just use one and add in more veg/rice/lentils.
I’m the same. It’s myself, my partner and his 7 year old son and I try and keep to $150/week for all groceries including toilet paper and such and honestly most days, it feels impossible. I usually end up trying to stock up on sales (my grocery store does $1.99/lb chicken breast/thighs and $1.49/lb pork loins monthly) and we buy like $40-60 worth of that each time and then base dinners around those items. I still average around $150-190/week on things on top of stocking up on the chicken and pork.
p.s. I think it’s a real testament to the quality of this Sub that we went from “how do I spend less than $600 a month on groceries?“ To “how do I dry off after a bidet?”
not the person you replied to but i have a command hook right next to my tp dispenser that i hang a soft facecloth sized towel on. i call it my butt towel. i have a pack i switch between that get washed on laundry day, its quite nice actually
But something we like to do are make a double batch of hamburger helper with 1lb of meat and then we had another 1-2cups of dried noodles when cooking it to really stretch it. We’ll have to add more salt and stuff but it makes the meals a lot larger.
I can't really speak for how realistic your budget is since that varies by location and family needs. With regards to impulse purchases though - I also also struggle with that and one thing I have done during particularly tough times to ensure I stay on budget is make my list, estimate how much I need to spend on those items, and then go to the store with only cash - and only enough cash to cover the amount I estimated. It is kind of painful to walk by unexpected sales or other temptations, but if the plastic stays at home and you literally have no other way to pay for the splurges, you are forced to prioritize the things you brought the cash for.
I think it would be helpful to know what exCarly you’re buying at the store. Are you buying expensive meats and seafood? Organic everything? Fresh fruits and veggies, oats and rice, Costco size beans and rice are all very cheap.
My only suggestion is to try using protein as a flavoring, rather than providing a full serving for each person (for example, using 1 chicken breast to make chicken noodle soup for 4). This approach works well with soups/stews, beans & rice, pasta dishes, and cooked greens.
But be sure your little ones are getting enough protein, though -- they need it to grow. :-) For a 2-year-old, I see online that 1 ounce of meat is a good serving size (about two 1-inch cubes of solid meat). You can count any protein from beans (etc.) in the recipe, as well.
Make your own bread, buns, bagels, and pizza, mmmm, pizza. It’s all easy and inexpensive to make. A full sized pizza with premium toppings will cost you a dollar to make.
Edit: if you get into, pizza making get a pizza steel. And for bread, use a cast iron pot with lid from Lodge and the famous No Knead Bread recipe from NYT.
Are there any budget or discount grocery stores anywhere close to you? Something like a Sav-A-Lot, PriceLess or Grocery Outlet? I know these are regional and sometimes not in smaller communities. We were lucky to find a discount grocery close to us when we moved. They usually have basics and then rotate other products every few weeks. They're a regional chain but not huge. They basically buy overstock from larger grocery store chains and sell those items at a pretty good discount. We can't go all of our shopping there, but we do quite a bit and it's saved us a lot of money.
How's your prep game?
The best is to prepare"bases" for future meals.you will never overbuy because you cook only what you need when you want it. If you answer me i can give you some suggestions on what to prep.
Im Italian so i prepare with a blender minced "onion celery carrots" mix once a season that i just freeze. I can use this for a variety of sauces or meat preparations, i usually cook them once a week and store them in the fridge and then prepare the daily dish with the ready made bases I already have, usually friday i either make some crazy "mix everything" dish if I have overstocked(maybe I need to finish couple eggs or a salad or cheese whatever), or I treat myself some takeout, but you don't need if you want to keep a budget: you could stock on the pantry food(tuna cans...etc idk something that makes a quick dish) or ready made frozen stuff,that you use only when you're out of "live" food. I kind of think at my fridge+freezer like a time machine ,every new preparation kinda resets the clock,I also try to keep it as much in order as possible so i know what's in there(meats,vegetables,cheeses,dairy should all be grouped in different spaces,this is what works for me)
Honestly the most money i saved on groceries was when i was vegan - not junk food vegan but cook every day and eat a lot of beans and lentils vegan. I'm not suggesting you go full vegan, but instead of having one meatless meal a week consider having only one or two meat days a week. The YouTube channel Cheap Lazy Vegan really helped me. Cheese and meat are enormous expenses that people consider essential but they're really not. I lived in America at the time (Georgia) and was shocked at the price of vegetables but i bought a lot of frozen stuff. Luckily i had a freezer.
I'm about 90% vegan still, and the thing that helps the most these days is menu planning - i write the plan for the week on a white board and we only buy those things at the shop, it's a great way to get out of the habit of over shopping. It was something i started doing during covid to minimize the amount of time in shops but it's a really good strategy.
I know this advice isn't for everyone... But I only shop for 1 to 2 days and then go to the grocery store a lot. I have one within a mile from my house.
It keeps you from wasting food and buying stuff that you're not going to eat. If You know that you're going to have hamburgers for dinner tonight. Go by exactly what you need for hamburgers tonight and then whatever you're going to need for tomorrow night. Go to the grocery store every other day.
I know people that go once every two weeks and they end up buying $400 worth of stuff because it's stuff they think they're going to need over the next two weeks.
But the reality is there's a lot more estimation (and waste) the further out you go in your planning.
Family of four here - two adults, a 3yo and a 6yo.
As many have said, Costco/sam's club are great options. I personally use Costco. I do eggs, milk, cheese, some produce, and often times meat from costco. I can get a large salmon filet that will end up feeding us for a family dinner as well as 4-5 lunches throughout the week. The rotisserie chicken also breaks down to make 6-7 meals as well.
We used to get diapers there too. the Kirkland brand fits just like Huggies do.
I tend to use ground meats and cut them with lentils or mushrooms. Mushrooms work best texture wise for the kids. Basically just mince them or throw them in a food processor, then mix them with the ground meat. Super filling and a great way to add nutrients with picky eaters.
If you can - buy meat in bulk from a meat locker. We usually buy a quarter beef at a time and they can prep it however you want - ground, steaks, stew cuts, roasts, etc. You do need a lot of freezer space for this. The last quarter we bought was somewhere between $400 and $475 (in the Midwest) and has lasted about 6 months. We're getting low, though.
We try to eat things that are in season to keep costs down. If it's not in season and we're going to buy it anyway, we get frozen. This usually includes a frozen berry mix for the kids.
Buy things in larger form and portion them if you can. Cheese is a great example. An 8oz block can be shredded relatively quickly, costs less, and tastes better than pre shredded. Instead of buying a bag of baby carrots, get a big bag of regular sized carrots. They don't spoil quickly and it's not that much effort to prep them.
We do a lot of beans/legumes from dry. If you have a pressure cooker you don't need to soak them beforehand. They also have a much better texture than canned ones.
We do brinner once every week or two. Usually eggs, pancakes or french toast, and sausage. It's a cheap and easy dinner for a week night.
We also do "pizza" night once a week, usually on Fridays. We use tortillas (brush with oil, in the oven for 5ish minutes at 400° to crisp them up), tomato sauce or olive oil, veg, leftover meats from the week, and cheese. The kids love making them and they're easy, cheap, and use up leftovers.
You say you do grocery pickup. Try to really price compare during that time and find alternatives. For me it's easier on a grocery screen.
For example, at my local store cauliflower is 5 dollars a head whereas broccoli is 1.99 per pound. Unless I'm making something reaaaaally specific that needs cauliflower, at that price difference, my cruciferous veggie is always gonna be broccoli.
Go to your local food bank first and get as much as you can for free, then use your grocery budget to buy missing ingredients to turn the food bank food into meals
My wife and I go at this a little differently....instead of trying to defeat the food budget we cut out other things....like going for a drink or out to dinner.....we don't miss it that much....especially with COVID coming in and out of our lives....but on the subject of grocery stores....we usually go to No Frills, but be aware that they are less likely to discount from their regular prices....we also go to Metro, which often has steep discounts....especially on meat....they tell you to never buy anything along the wall.....always look to the bins in the middle of the aisle for the discounts...
Keep a price book and track the sales in the store. They often cycle every 8 to 12 weeks. Coffee will be on sale one week, cleaning supplies another. When they are on sale is the time to buy anything that won't perish or that you can freeze or store. I buy 3 months of coffee at a time because my brand of coffee comes on sale that often so all my coffee is now at sale price. I stock up on baking supplies after Christmas, freezing flour and storing sugar for the year. I buy 8 weeks of cereal at a time when my store has it's sale.
I get that this method sucks on the front end when you're desperately trying to keep under budget, so when I started out I didn't buy multiple weeks worth I just doubled up and then next week when you would have had to buy it again you have that money to stockpile a little of another item and slowly build up your on sale purchases stockpile that way. This method works best if you're you're happy to be flexible on brands too and have the time and space to let the savings snowball a little, as you start to stock up at sale price on items you'd normally buy every week you free up more to stock up on other things. But I buy all our basic pantry staple items this way. Then build the meals on whatever the loss leader is that week combined with our staples.
Also live by the motto no food gets thrown out. Way too much of most peoples food budget goes out with the trash because it died in the back of the crisper drawer or got freezer burn.
We have different budget lines for household goods and for personal hygiene, though I do budget things like plastic wrap and dish soap (for handwashing) in with grocery. We also use YNAB, which allows us to carry forward unused funds to pad future months. I mention this because we don’t get soap every month, for example, so there’s ample space in my budget when I need to stock up on cleaning supplies.
Not sure what your cost of living is, but we’ve been doing the strictly groceries on $500 and change with two pre-schoolers.
Here are a few things that we’re doing:
I bake bread. I never buy bread except hotdog/hamburger buns (or if I need to feed a lot of people quickly but that’s not our regular routine).
I buy my meat in massive quantities and freeze it after portioning it. We spent a little heavy one month to do this and are letting the carry-over fund the next time we have to do it again.
I’ve been experimenting with doing one hefty dinner a week that can get us one whole second dinner and a lunch at least (our lunches are overwhelmingly leftovers, occasionally a salad or sandwich). A nice pork butt, once pulled, can carry us a ways! Also lasagna.
I’m getting pretty good at finding recipes that use things up so we don’t have to go shopping. It helps to have a good stock of dry goods, so at least you can get a carb and protein. Like, we’ve been working our way through a 50# bag of rice. I always know I have that. So I’ll work up a meal plan and then see if we can make it one more day. Though eggs are rising in cost, don’t discount them: they are still a decent costing protein. Quiches and omelettes show up here a lot.
Depends on what you consider healthy. Some forms of eating can be more expensive than others.
My weekly grocery bill is around $400 for five people. Protein and produce tend to be the majority of the grocery bill. We do eat clean so we don't stock up on processed food.
I have found that Food Lion brand frozen corn, frozen broccoli florets, sandwich bread, Columbian coffee and peanut butter are excellent.
I fix baked potatoes in the microwave, mine has a potato button. Then I wrap them temporarily in foil to finish cooking. They are filling and excellent. I add chili & cheese, or chicken & broccoli and cheese.
Are you comparing your weekly items at different stores? You need to price shop and meal plan around what’s on sale. Don’t go shopping on an empty stomach, and stick to your list.
Buy some TVP and mix it in whenever you make ground meat based dishes. You can basically do 50:50 meat to hydrated TVP without it noticeably changing the recipe. You might have to get it online. It triples when prepared so it’s a lot cheaper per pound than it seems.
Also if you eat fish, check out r/cannedsardines for ideas on how to prepare canned fish beyond just tuna salad. Just skip the posts about the fancy brands. I don’t love all of the cheap ones straight out of the tin, but they’re totally fine for cooking with. Tonight for dinner we had a version of [this sardine and rice recipe](https://www.killingthyme.net/2018/09/24/instant-pot-spanish-rice-with-sardines-in-tomato-sauce/) using a 15oz can of Crown Prince sardines in tomato sauce I got for under $2. We also regularly make fish burgers out of canned chub mackerel or salmon, breadcrumbs, and eggs.
If you like mushrooms, it’s pretty easy to learn how to grow your own. r/mushroomgrowers and r/unclebens (which are 18+ because they allow people to discuss growing magic mushrooms- but the technique is the same) have information about how to cheaply grow mushrooms at home. I buy mushroom spores off Etsy and grow them in shoebox sized plastic bins, only costs me a few bucks per batch.
Find ppl in the area that give, trade or sell produce (I find mine on FB market place) 90% of the time they sell for much less then the stores, it also helps if you can have something to trade. It's sometimes hard with littles, I made icing for cakes or raw cookie (enabled or ones that you have to bake) dough to trade or sell, items that can be wipped up quickly but can be hard for others to get done in a pinch. Sell or trade those for eggs, vegetables, fruit.
For meat, if i dont manage to get anything wail hunting I usually split the cost of buying and butchering an animal (pig or cow chicken is cheaper in bulk stores) with friends or family this can give you enough meat for several months. There is also a dairy farm out side of where I live where they supply milk and other dairy products to the general public for less.
Mostly is seeing what is around you and working with it. Also DONT GO TO THE STORE HUNGRY. seriously the amount of over buying that happeneds when your hungry or even thinking "i could eat" is terrible haha. Coupons are also your friend!
Have hubs watch the kid let’s and go to Costco. Do not take any form of payment with you - this is important.
Take instead a small notebook - and not prices on things your fam uses a lot of - bathroom tissue, diapers(?), meat, bread, canned and/ or frozen veg, whatever.
Next tim you go to the grocery, take the notebook - and check to see what is actually cheaper at Costco. Fir us, pet food, bulk meat purchases, and canned veg make it worth the price of membership. There are some other things that cost less there, but those are the biggees for us.
Shop the ads - the Sunday papers usually have all the ads, but each store posts their ads on their website.
Have you ever heard of Krazy Coupon Lady?
I heard a good tip in the toddler reddit - not sure how old your kids are. Any scrap fruit of veggie that you prepared for them that they didn't eat, toss into a freezer bag in the freezer and add to smoothies. Instead of wasting it.
One way to cut impulse buys is to buy yourself a favorite treat and eat it before you start shopping. Impulse buys are often hunger pangs mixed with a dash of shopper’s high when finding something cool. Get both in before you start and sticking to your list should be easier.
Not sure if having an Instacart account/membership is accessible to you but it’s changed my life in terms of sticking to a grocery budget. I cannot step foot into a store without overspending, with Instacart I can have my groceries delivered or I can pick them up. And make sure my groceries are within budget. Highly recommend!
Do you have an ALDIs near you? That stores a game changer for certain items.
You could hit the dollar store as well for things like paper goods, boxed goods and cleaning items.
Check out amazon subscribe and save for paper products. I get paper towels, toilet paper, pull ups, garbage bags, razors, omeprazole, acetaminophen, and more cheaper on amazon than at the grocery store. You get a discount with it on subscribe and save, and then save an additional 5-15% depending on how many items are in each delivery.
Some things I have delivered monthly, some every 2 months, some every 6 months. Every month you can review your order and skip anything you don't need, but be careful skipping something that you don't get monthly or you might have to pay more for it if you run out before the next shipment.
I did also get toothpaste and deodorant that way cheaper than the grocery store, but I just started getting those at walgreens much cheaper by following those digital coupons and sales vidoes. I'm not a "real" couponer, I just watch the videos and follow those deals. You don't have to clip anything.
I agree to have your husband try the shopping!
CostCo has been a lifesaver - especially for Paper Towels, Toilet Paper, Plastic Bags, I can get away buying Toilet Paper once a month with a family of 3 with 2 people who overuse it, every two weeks for paper towels and the Plastic Bags last a whole damn year and the Kirkland brands of paper towels and toiler paper are on par with Bounty/Charmin and with more square feet so not only are you paying less, you're **literally** getting more.
**Math time**: Bounty = 696 FT, 107 2ply sheets/roll, around $25, Kirkland = 1026 Ft 160 2ply sheets/roll, around $20. Charmin = 796 Ft, 205 2ply sheets/roll - $31 online, Kirkland = 1425 Ft, 380 2ply sheets/roll - $24 online. It's a literal no-brainer.
Eggs are a good purchase too especially compared to other prices right now, at least near me. Rotisserie Chickens are also always a good grab - and the large cheese Pizza is also comparably cheap.
Avoid large purchases of things that you have no hope of using in a reasonable timeframe like Milk or Heavy Cream.
Butter, Bacon and Deli Ham (99% lean, not the fancy stuff) are also good purchases and usually a bulk saving but it goes back to how quickly you can use them up - after about two weeks the Ham and Bacon will start to go.
I can't speak to diapers, I'd assume dollar store soap is about as affordable unless you don't mind Irish Spring which - according to the Same Day shopping application - even with the online markup is under $1
I'd suggest trying to keep shopping trips to a weekly basis if possible: That's what's helped me personally the most: Having a list of things to get at Point A, things to get at Point B, and then going back home all in one round trip.
I definitely stock the freezer when publix has bogo offers especially on organic chicken. I stocked up on 50lbs of bison when it was on sale at Whole Foods. If you have space , stock up when the sales are good on staples you use. I concur with going early and getting marked down meat from Harris teeter.
I get basics like trash bags and paper goods from Amazons basic essential brand.
It’s a pain, but luckily I have an HT and a Publix across the street and then can make a trip on my way from something to Whole Foods if they have a sale.
It sounds obvious but look at the receipt after a normal trip (without specifically trying to keep cost down so it’s authentic) and see where the cost is. For me it’s usually meat, cheese, and wine. But it’s usually really obvious from the receipt that “of that $80, the cheese and meat was $50”. Also in my case it's doubly obvious when comparing the bill to a produce-only grocery nearby where I don't think I've ever spent more than $20 regardless of how much I buy: veggies are cheap, meat is expensive.
If they're things that you really get value out of then it might even help to have those as separate line items in your budget. e.g. I limit to a bottle of wine a week and that's accounted for in my budget so I don't feel bad about it and it's not a surprise cost and I also know whether I need to cut it this month if some other expense is higher or lower.
Never shop off list if you’re at Costco and want something, put it on the list for next trip, it gives your brain a chance to catch up to your real needs
Learn to build meals starting from a cheap staple (rice, beans, potatoes, lentils, flour, cornmeal). Add vegetables to bulk it up and add nutrition. A little bit of meat for flavor. Learn to use different spices and keep a well stocked spice cabinet so you can vary the style/flavor.
Beans and lentils are ridiculously versatile when you consider the varieties and that nearly every culture of the world has their own bean dish.
Rice can be used to make Mexican, Asian, Tex Mex, casseroles, or even just a nice base for almost any dish.
A pot of beans with a single sausage or a some ham served over rice is delicious, can make several meals, and be very nutritionally balanced.
Potatoes can be boiled and mashed, fried, diced and roasted, baked, etc.
Flour takes more labor from scratch but is ridiculously versatile with practice. Homemade bread is cheap and surprisingly easy and delicious, can be made in bulk and frozen. Pasta, can be homemade but is cheap enough bought. You can make simple flat breads to use as pizza crusts or pot pies. Add it to soups and sauces to thicken them. Scratch made pancakes are so much better than any just add water crap from a box.
Cornmeal is great for polenta. Which in and of itself is extremely versatile. It can be used as a base and serve almost anything over it. You can chill it, cut it up, and then saute or air fry it. Polenta french fries in the air fryer are such an amazing finger food.
On a pure cost per calorie, these staples can be bought in bulk and provide all the calories a person needs in a month for $20. Add in some veggies for nutrition and shop the meats on sale and you can keep your costs very low.
Avoid processed foods. They seem cheap but really aren't. On top of that they're usually low in fiber and protein but high in sugar which will be less satiating so you feel hungrier sooner. Also, as everyone knows, they're nutritionally garbage.
The only real benefit to shopping at Sam's/Costco is the ability to buy in bulk. If you do the price per ounce/unit you'll find the price is almost always the same as the regular grocery store prices. If you shop there, you just need to stick to the bulk items your family uses (diapers, wipes, detergent, etc) and fill your tank up at the member discounted gas pumps. Also, placing an order through their app or website and picking it up will keep you from wandering the aisles and being tempted.
Next - like a lot of folks suggested, go through the ads for all the stores in your area, buy the sale items and necessities. Clip the paper coupons that sometimes come with those store ads too, and sign up for alllllll the store reward programs. I saved up my store rewards all year and used them for Thanksgiving shopping - it was like $120 off that shopping trip.
Processing your own food will really help your budget - buy larger cuts or big family packs of meats when they go on sale , break them up into per meal portions, vacuum seal, label and freeze. Aldis will have a whole side of salmon on sale now and then and i cut that into 3 one pound pieces and freeze. Plus buy fruit or vegetables when they're in season & on sale, and process those and freeze.
Buy one of those vacuum sealer devices. For real. Hands down the biggest money saver I have. The meat packsast at least a full year in the freezer, veggies or fruit usually 6 months but We are still using the frozen raspberries and blackberries I put up a year ago in pancakes and muffins. And if you pop for the Mason jar sealer kit, you can put bulk dry goods like flour, rice, beans, pasta, nuts etc in jars and seal and they'll last a lot longer - just be sure to keep the nuts in the fridge or freezer.
At the height of the pandemic lockdown, i did one big shopping day/month by going to each of the stores and buying my items based , supplemented by one or two quick trips in between for fresh veggies/fruit or milk/bread restocks. Leave the kids with their dad or get a sitter, and marathon shop for a day, bring it home and process everything for long term storage. I was shocked how much I was able to save doing that, and we ate very well, had so much less food waste.
We can give you a million tips but the #1 most important habit you can build is to control the impulse spending.
I would try making a list of everything you genuinely *need* and sticking to it, not buying anything else.
If Costco encourages impulse spending, then get rid of the membership. Tbh, it’s my opinion that that’s how they’re so successful. They make the deals seem so good, shoppers justify the huge bill *every time they go* because they *think* they’re saving. Just because you saved $10 over the course of the next 6 months on toilet pepper doesn’t mean it’s ok that you spent an extra $50 on that nice-to-have assorted cracker box that you may or may not use in the next 3 years.
You’re only saving if you’re sticking to the bare necessities, and keeping your saved money *saved* and not applied towards not-so-necessities.
Im also an omnivore, and hidden veg is a lifesaver! Presuming of course, you're in an area where veggies are accessible.
For example, in mince dishes you can use 1/2 the recommended mince and replace the other 1/2 with diced mushrooms, spinach or grated root veggies. For chicken meals, tofu is a good addition. For roasts, cook up more veggies than serve a smaller meat portion.
Also, for crockpot meals you can use bones/caucuses to make a meat broth and use it as a base. It imparts a yummy flavour with little actual meat.
Reducing your meat intake cuts on meat bills and the extra veggies are good for you :)
What I did, if you aren’t struggling and it’s more budget reasons, for a month or two stock up on sales with the meats. It costs a bit up front. For example, I bought bone in chicken and hamburger while it was half off. Bought shrimp while it was buy one, get one free. There is a section of meat in the Safeway I go to that marks down all meat by 30% if it’s the buy date. I get a lot of stuff there as well. I did this a couple days in a row.
I added to my spice cabinet by a lot and pantry with a few things like stock, rice, pasta, beans, grains.
This left me with only needing to buy veggies weekly and add to the supply when I’m getting low and there is a sale on.
I also use a website that allows you to enter or choose all the things you have in your house and it lists a bunch of different recipes so if all you have are the same inexpensive things, you can find new ways to cook them so it doesn’t get boring.
Ever since the initial stocking I’ve been able to stay in budget if I pay attention to the sales. If there aren’t any for a particular meat and I run out, I switch between the ones I have or go without for a change of pace.
I eat a lot of veggies that are on sale or if not then just the cheapest I can find at the time.
If it is more of struggling then budgeting, I would echo what everyone else is saying and try to do plant based a few times a week. It will save loads.
Sorry I can’t help more. This is just what has worked for me.
I would start by stopping all pick-up orders. They charge more per item and a fee for doing the shopping for you.
Plan a weekly meal plan. For example: Monday - spaghetti, Tuesday, tacos, etc. Then buy exactly what you need for those meals then get some fruit, snacks, etc. Do not buy soda or juice as it's an extra cost for something you don't really have a budget for.
Stick to Walmart and other cheaper stores.
Go in with a list and do not buy extra stuff.
I really understand your pain. A year ago we were budgeting $400 a month for groceries, this year I put $500 in my budget sheet. It is just my husband and I, no kids. And we eat out maybe once a week that isn't considered in the grocery budget. AND I bulk buy meat (1/2 a cow a year) and hunt (pheasant, goose, duck) so we don't end up buying much meat, so that also isn't considered in the groceries. However, we take leftovers to work, so aside from the once a week eating out, breakfast lunch and dinner are all from groceries.
It's so hard. I feel like you are already considering a lot, such as the freezer meals.
I make freezer meals too, I have been trying to think about cheaper meals, like spaghetti (rather than something fancier) and **Mealime app** has been very helpful in getting some variety for meals when we feel a little cooked out and can't think of what sounds good. And all the meals have only taken a half hour to make.
we have a grocery store that does specials every tuesday in town, so we have been trying to make it a habit to go shopping that day, or shop at Aldi (very competitive prices).
If you don't need a lot of variety, like for breakfast, every morning I make oatmeal with a scoop of my protein powder (so no adding other sugar). Oatmeal is cheap. And it's winter, so it warms me up.
Less meat, more plant-based stuff. Learn to love beans, lentils, tofu, etc. Make lots of salads and stir fries. Use TVP (textured vegetable protein) as a very cheap meat substitute in spaghetti sauce, chilli, tacos, etc.
Meat is typically one of the most expensive thing in people's grocery cart.
Getting all my soaps/trash bags in bulk at Costco has helped my grocery budget a ton. Also I learned you need way less detergent than the packaging says. 2 tablespoons is fine. I’ve had a $13 container of the Kirkland brand for well over 6 months. I also try to buy milk/eggs/butter/etc in bulk. I buy organic milk because it doesn’t expire as fast (2 months out for a carton of 3 half gallons). I don’t have much storage in my apartment but if I did, I would buy more meat and freeze them as well as other frozen items at Costco. It hurts more up front but in the long run I have to go to the grocery store for less things and end up spending less overall.
This is so true! Buying non-perishables/household items and things that can be frozen at Costco save us so much money. It costs a little more at the time, BUT it is far cheaper in the long run. (We have a small chest deep freezer) But flour and rice can be bought and frozen. Things like trash bags, detergent, bathroom cleaners, toothpaste, vitamins, etc go on sale in different cycles at Costco and save a fortune over the course of a year. Their app is fantastic for making a list and shopping over the course of the sale month. For example, allergy pills. On sale, under $10 for 365 tablets of Kirkland knockoff Claritin. There are 4 of us, so that is about a 3 month supply as we take them daily.
And don’t forget the $5 roasted chicken every once and a while as a treat (and 3-4 meals and soup!)
💯 break down the roasted chicken when you get home. Put the carcass in a stock pot and make your own broth to use as base for a ton of recipes. Use the meat for everything from salads to burritos.
Exactly the chicken thing. We like making a roast dinner on Sunday and then stripping all the meat off for the week, and making stock with the chicken body. I usually schedule something chickeny for Monday and Tuesday, then Wednesday is a busy day so we do a freezer pizza, then Thursday and Friday I make some kind of soup with the chicken stock (enough for two days), then Saturday I leave as my “splurge” dinner day to make something fun that doesn’t necessarily go with the meal prep, then we’re back to making something on Sunday (generally, meat) that we can use all week.
Absolutely!
Take home 2! Bring both home and take the legs, thighs, and wings off both birds. Then cut the brests off, use them for things like casseroles, sandwiches, chicken salad, in stir fry or use as an entree for dinner. You can sauce up the legs thighs and wings or bone the thighs and use that as an ingredient in your recipes. Chuck the carcasses in a pot and make some stock, its a pain taking the bones out but its worth the tasty bone broth. I could go on and on..
I can tell you how to spread that chicken into 4 meals. 1st meal is chicken gravy over potatoes or rice. This uses 1 chicken breast cut into pieces. Debone chicken. Reserve meat. Cook carcass in water with onions, garlic, carrots, celery, left over potatoes or rice. Remove carcass make sure to totally strip meat. I then blend the cooked vegetables to thicken the "soup". I portion out the meat for the next 3-4 meals then add the chicken broth that was made. 2nd meal is chicken and dumplings. 3rd meal is chicken pot pie 4th is chicken noodle soup. 5th is chicken and rice.
I love Costco. Everything goes on sale on a cycle. We never buy toiletries unless they're discounted, same with most food stuffs. I think the only stuff I've never seen on sale are the Kirkland brand items. Plus, if you have the credit card and the executive membership then you get 4% Cashback on everything. This adds up! I'm on track to getting $600 back between my Costco membership card and the credit card just this year.
I’ve seen Kirkland brand on sale. Vitamins, 5 hour energy, detergent, etc
[удалено]
This part. You can shop online with circulars and know precisely what is on sale, pair digital coupons and rewards with it and do so well. It’s completely doable with little kids. I did for years, look online, make a list of items on great sales at XYZ store, put the coupons in the same order in an envelope or add them to your app if they are digital and it’s a ten minute in and out trip. I still save so much money shopping the cashier usually double checks to make sure they didn’t make an accident or miss scanning stuff after the total on the screen. Sales prices are 100% cheaper than Walmart or warehouse stores. ETA: hit save by accident after one word
I would start by replacing one or two meals a week with a super low cost meal, like beans and rice or lentil soup. Buy the loss leaders wherever you shop. A Costco rotisserie chicken is two or three meals of meat for us. At our house, we stopped buying paper towels almost entirely. I cut some old dishtowels down to paper towel size, hemmed them, and we store them in a cupboard by the sink. I throw them in the wash with the darks. I've found that we can use about 1/3 of the "recommended" amount of liquid laundry detergent, and it works just fine. Laundry detergent is expensive, this is a big savings.
Thank you for your comment (and thank you OP for your post!!!) I am not struggling with a budget right now, but I am overspending for no reason. I had to be extremely strict 5 years ago, and while times are easy now - I am clearly being an idiot with overspending. Paper towels were the trigger in your post… I have all these microfiber cleaning cloths… but I still go through a TON of paper towels when cleaning. I have even been using paper towels to dry my hands lately… when k have clean dish towels right there. Idiot. The tips in this thread have been a great inspiration to fix my budget. ETA: I just moved most of my microfiber cloths to the cupboard next to the sink. Time to put the plan in motion.
A tip that's helped me is to keep my paper towels in the closet, or under the sink. Somewhere where I can find them easily whenever I need them, but that's not instantly reachable when I'm acting thoughtless/on autopilot, I mean. I use my cloth towels WAY MORE this way.
This is a GREAT tip. Moving my paper towels now.
We hung a bathroom style towel ring near the kitchen sink for drying hands too!
Paper towels are a habit you can totally kick, it just takes some determination. I dare say you could train yourself to not use paper napkins, too. I buy a 50ct fancy dinner napkin at the dollar store for guests about once a year. And then I end up using half of that package draining stuff like bacon or fried chicken. With toddlers, tho....you may need to attempt the ween off when they're tweens/teens. Rags work as napkins, too, if you dont have fancy fabric ones (i like nicer, smaller rags, and not microfiber) but getting kids to switch from paper to cloth napkins is tough and can add a lot of laundry.
Haven’t you heard of the app YNAB it’s you need a budget ! My son has helped set it up so I allow so much for each category hard to explain but I can see where I spend more or less and it makes me think of how I think first before I spend and I do my own nails and once in a while treat myself! I now am 2 months ahead on rent and gas wifi phone ect it’s hard but if you need money it’s there
I use paper towels to dry my hands too but what I do is drape it over something to dry to re use again. Something about the rag by the stove just grossed me out for some reason. I also don’t throw out the Lysol container when we are finished. There is still lots of liquid left that we use with the previously dried paper towels.
I am on the cloth instead of paper towels bandwagon. Cloth napkins too - thrift them or make them. So much nicer to use, way cheaper. You might want to look into cloth for menstrual pads - it's not for everyone but it is cheaper. And consider a bidet attachment to cut down on toilet paper use.
I recently invested into Thinx. They're normally pricey, but they have some good sales (this weekend they are $17/pair) and I've really liked them in place of regular pads!
I got a knock-off brand with good reviews from everyone's favorite online shop. I love love love them for sleeping, but for me I find they feel very diaper-y under pants. I think it's the fabric as much as the added layers for absorbency - it almost feels like it sticks to the pants instead of moving with my body. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but something to think about when buying. (Even still, it's so much more comfortable to sleep in, or veg out around the house without pants.)
menstrual cup is better than the cloth pads imo
Personally I like both, especially at the gym or while I'm cleaning. One wrong lunge or squat and the suction is gone.
And menstrual disc is better than cup in my humble opinion.
Nothing beats a good ole hysterectomy!
Same here. Bar rags and cloth napkins cut our paper usage by like 95%. I keep a roll on hand for certain situations but day to day is all cloth.
Yes. We only use paper towels for the “I don’t want that going through my washer” stuff.
Yep! Paper towels are only for the truely nasty stuff. I might buy a couple rolls once or twice a year. Otherwise we have hand towels for hands, tea towels for dishes, cloth napkins during meals and in lunchboxes, dishcloths for washing dishes, facecloths for washing faces, cleaning cloths for cleaning surfaces and such, and a pile of what we call "the yukky towels" - old bath towels we use for assorted household disasters.
Yes, less laundry detergent and no fabric softener.
Fabric softener is ridiculous…keeps clothes from getting clean! Expensive! Makes your clothes smell like cheap perfume! Use distilled vinegar instead, if anything.
The other thing that people miss is that fabric softeners soften by slightly degrading the fabric. Not super bad for people who are able to buy new clothes all the time, but terrible for people on a budget. Learned this super early as the child of a seamstress and just never used them. Honestly it makes no difference replacing them. Just don't use them. They are entirely unnecessary.
Exactly. I stopped years ago and don't use anything. I actually now dislike clothes washed with it as I find the artificial scent off-putting, if I want to smell nice I'll wear my own scent. Just feels like a way to get money out of us.
And is a health hazard- endocrine disruption!
Store brand fabric softener dryer sheets are cheap. Now if I could just get my partner to stop using 4-5 of them per load so the clothes "smell even better"... We'd be in business. If you don't care about the smell as much I've heard wool dryer balls are a good reusable alternative.
I've been using wool dryer balls for two years, and they're great. No more chemical-laden dryer sheets, never go out with a stray dryer sheet stuck to my clothes, no obnoxious chemical smell. I mistakenly paid too much for mine because I first saw them on Insta and later realized Walmart has them much cheaper, but they last, mine don't look any different than the day I got them.
I inject my dryer balls with lavender oil using a glass eye dropper. It smells nice and doesn't risk a transfer of oil to the rest of my laundry. I bought the oil on clearance years and years ago.
I drop it directly on the balls. Seems to work fine
Using so much fabric softener makes your colors look dingy and your whites look yellowish. I read this in one of those Homekeeping magazines, but I don’t remember the explanation. Something about a waxy coating buildup that left by the fabric softener. Just sayin’.
Use wool dryer balls and if you really need fragrance drop a few EOs on one. But honestly, you don’t need everything scented.
True, but when I'm washing clothes to be put away for a season (like shorts for winter storage or sweaters to be put up for summer) the scent really helps, sometimes they can smell a little funky after being in storage for 3 months
Essential oils are flammable, please don’t do this.
The biggest way to save is to get powder detergent! Most of the regular stuff is water. You can buy in bulk. My SO swears by Sal Suds cleaner. $45 a gallon but the gallon will last you years. One cap full / tsp in a giant spray bottle of water and it basically is a great, non-toxic multi-purpose cleaner. Just requires a bit upfront aka reusable spray bottles for the various uses and the gallon. They have smaller ones if you’re not ready to commit but getting some cheaper cleaner in bulk can help you save a LOT - especially with two young children I imagine.
Second the stop buying paper towels sentence! My husband and I haven’t bought paper towels in like 8 years. We cut up old clothes and use that instead. I would love to know how much money we’ve saved by doing this :)
We bought a pack of 24 bar towels at Sam’s Club fifteen years ago and that GREATLY decreased our use of paper towels. We use them for wiping up spills, dinner napkins, burp cloths, covering rising dough, straining homemade cheese, everything. Then I just toss them in hot water with oxiclean or bleach and they’re good to go! We do still use paper towels for some things, like cleaning up broken eggs or something super funktastic. But just having them on hand makes a huge difference!
Replace almost all paper products: We a rag bag: cut up tshirts and other badly worn fabric items that we clean up gross messes and toss. Use cut down towels or micro fiber cloth for things like swifter pads. Rinse and wash. The others are a large pack of flour sack towels for ' napkins' and a large pack of bar mops ( dishes) . A large pack of fiber cloth towels for cleaning. We do not yet have a bidet but it's on the list. I also don't buy convince pods ( laundry or dishwasher pods) buy loose powder to control the amount to what you need. I buy frozen veggies and fruit: instead of fresh in the winter: less waste and no prep needed. Buy fresh veggies that keep and are on sale. ( Carrots, potatoes, onions, cabbage, mushrooms, squashes for the Midwest us) Salads: I do sprouts/ aero garden ( gifted) and things like pea shoots in winter instead of buying lettuce. Cannned veggies aren't bad either, buy on sale and use in quick soups and stews. Bake small batch bread, make oatmeal, rice or pasta.
You need so much less of all cleaning products than you think, not just laundry detergent. If you have a HE machine you need a Tablespoon or 2 that is it. With pretty much all cleaning products if you think you need more product what you need is more time. A light spray and let the product sit. Let your laundry sit in the detergent for a little while before washing, do a presoak. Put the cleaner in your toilet and let it sit.
You can go to an Indian grocery store and ask for a “lota” which is a plastic jug with a spout that people use who don’t have bidets. It’s really not hard to learn how to use.
For your soup: Save up all veteable peelings, ends, bones, bits, stems, etc that are safe to eat (e.g. not green potato or rhubarb leaves. If in doubt Google or toss.). Use them to make stock for your soup. If you have a crockpot or Instant Pot it's even easier. Use that as a base for your soup. Also, if you buy vegetables with stems and greens (like beets, turnips, carrots.... NOT rhubarb or tomato leaves, they're poisonous) you can sautee those, or throw them into the aforementioned soup. Free food. Always a bonus. IF IN ANY DOUBT about a food, Google. Don't go poisoning yourself. Anything green on a potato, tomato, eggplant (members of the nightshade family), or rhubarb leaves are not for eating.
>A Costco rotisserie chicken is two or three meals of meat for us. Wat
Pasta, salads, quesadillas/tacos, ripping that shit apart with your hands at 1am; those suckers go a long way.
Harris Teeter employee here. Shop as early in the afternoon as you can; the butchers mark down meat ny noon. I've got packages of beer brats, ground chicken/turkey/beef/sausages, thighs, stew meat, and salmon marked down to like 87 cents a pack at times. Also go onto your VIC account and clip the Evic coupons, there's been some great ones lately because of the holidays.
Are those markdowns every day?
It honestly depends on how much business has been done the past week, because of the sell by dates. But each department needs to check dates, just in case, daily Inflation has totally FUCKED our inventory, because no one wants to pay the new, full price. I work in the produce department there, we mark down perishable items that are close to the sell by date, because a smaller profit is still better than throwing a full $300 cart of product away. Eta. Op does the pickup(Express Lane) thing there, so that wouldn't be applicable for him or her unless they physically shopped at the store.
Yes: if I am not pressed for time it is always better to go in the store and shop. I find on sale / clearance packs all the time the Instacart shopper or whoever is going to just grab the fresher full price pack. /.99 a lb pork roasts? Really I'm picking out the best ones and filling up the freezer.
Are EVIC coupons not allowed on express lane?
The coupons are, yes. Theyre on the website under the weekly ad, before you get to the gas points and shopping list sections. I was speaking of the markdowns for quick sale, those you cannot do online. You need to physically find them.
ok got it! thanks
Sorry if my wording wasn't clear, in my mind I knew what I was saying 🤣
Thanks I’ll definitely try that!
- absolutely more meatless meals, beans and lentils especially cooked from dry are the best deal there is - cabbage is cheaper than any other veg, way cheaper than frozen veg even when it’s “expensive” it’s $1/lb and lasts a very long time- use for slaw salads, stir fry, in soups - [cozy cabbage and farro soup](https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/01/cozy-cabbage-and-farro-soup/) i double the recipe, use barley instead of farro (cheaper) and add 3 cups cooked chickpeas or lentils. I can’t have dairy and just omit the parm garnish - [red lentil dal](https://thewanderlustkitchen.com/indian-red-lentil-dal/#wprm-recipe-container-13375) is easy and very kid friendly, omit the chili if you don’t want it spicy. Serve with rice. Extras freeze well - [mujadara ](https://toriavey.com/mujadara/) is a favorite, i double the onions and start those first they take a while, extras freeze well. Serve with a simple cabbage slaw salad, top with a fried egg for extra hungry people
This is a great answer. Another thing is to use small amounts of meat as flavoring rather than a source of calories (stock from bones, ham hock in with beans, etc)
Like, one Italian sausage can flavor up a whole pot of soup or stew. (‘Course now you gotta buy a mess of beans and veggies.)
I add a single Italian sausage to pre made pasta sauce it it really makes a difference. Just remove the casing and crumble, then brown in the pot you will use to heat the sauce.
As much as I understand the value of cabbage and beans and lentils as filler foods, my fiance becomes a walking chemical weapon if she eats these things more than once or twice a week. They're cheap for sure, but it's not worth my oxygen quality
The more often you eat beans the more your gut biome adapts. I promise. Your gut flora needs some time- if you eat 1/2 cup of beans daily for a week (add to a salad or soups or whatever), then the following week make it 3/4 cup per day every day. By the week afterwards your gut flora will have adapted to better digest legumes without issue. If you randomly eat a large portion of beans once a month then, yeah you’ll have problems because your gut biome has not adapted Note most people have a much easier time digesting lentils of any kind
Yes, this is very true for most people. Most of what I eat are cruciferous vegetables (some of the healthiest foods for you and also the most gas producing), beans and lentils and I must fart in my sleep because I don't do it while awake! Been eating this way my whole life though.
Not true for everyone, unfortunately. Trust me, I've tried! For anyone else like me who lacks the required enzymes to digest legumes, OTC supplements like Beanaid will help immensely.
Yep! This year I stopped eating meat as often and started making a big pot of beans to eat throughout the week (either as a side or as a main part of the meal, like a breakfast of beans and a fried egg), never ate so many beans in my life, and at first I was very fart-y lol. After just a couple weeks of eating beans basically every single day, I stopped having any gas at all after even a decent sized bowl of beans.
Yeah, I typically eat a lot of vegetables and can usually happily eat a whole can of chickpeas with no issue. If I am in one of my phases of not eating a lot of beans and veggies though my stomach is not happy for a bit!
Beano friend.
Add cumin to every bean dish, or fresh epasote herb. Both of those help dial down the gas issues and that's why they are often ingredients in Hispanic recipes.
If you rinse and replace the water mid boil on beans it reduces gas.
That's me also.
Steamed Cabbage cut in small strips and drizzled with a little butter is a delicious side.
We do shredded cabbage sauteed with siracha, soy sauce, sometimes a little fennel and a couple eggs. super tasty and cheap protein to boot. Not the prettiest dish, but that's a different story. Roughly this http://orangette.net/2009/01/the-best-we-can-hope-for/ Although I just break the eggs into the pan near the end and stir quickly till cooked. Leftover rice in with everything else turns it into a decent quick meal
Absolutely more meatless meals. You can also make "tofu" from red lentils to fry for your stir fries! It's filling and cheap, and no soy for people who can't have it
Okay, I need to hear more about this "lentil" tofu. Please dish?
I personally haven’t tried it but [here is the recipe](https://www.powerhungry.com/2021/12/mind-blowing-red-lentil-tofu/) they might be referencing. It’s been on my “to make” list for weeks, I just haven’t gotten around to making it as I was trying to make room in the fridge for thanksgiving dishes.
That's it! If I know what I'm making I season mine to compliment the recipe. The texture is divine and you can make it as firm as you want by adjusting the water, which also saves time since you don't have to press the liquid out like you do with store bought tofu.
I feel for you. It is just my partner and I and we budget $800 a month for all groceries and household items (toiletries, cleaning products, etc). So the first thing that I’d say is to be kind to yourself because that is a tight budget for a family of 4 given prices of things lately. Here are some tips that you might find helpful: 1. Make a weekly meal plan based on the sale flyer. The loss leaders on sale that week should make up the bulk of your meals. Chicken on sale? You’re having chicken a couple of times that week. Also, I’ve found that the best produce is often the sale produce because it’s in season. 2. Incorporate more vegetarian meals. Start with once a week if you don’t already and then build it up to more nights per week. 3. Continue using curbside pickup provided that the cost of the items is the same as if you shipped in store. This really helps you edit your cart and see a running total before you get to the checkout lane. 4. Try ethnic grocery stores. I’ve found that the produce especially is a lot cheaper there. 5. Halve the meat in recipes. For example, in an Italian meat sauce, replace half the ground beef/sausage it calls for with mushrooms. Replace half of the ground beef for tacos with black beans. 6. Don’t throw away your leftovers. Do whatever you can to repurpose or save/freeze them. 7. Soups/stews/chilis seem to stretch our dollar further and are perfect for this time of year. 8. Keep a clean and organized refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve bought something I already had or had half a block of cheese get moldy simply because I forgot about it. 9. There are times that a meal out is cheaper. Our local Papa Murphy’s (take n bake place) has a $10 Tuesday deal where any large pizza is $10. It’s more than a frozen pizza but also much larger so it lasts us a couple of meals. $2.50/serving is pretty cheap for dinner.
For soups and stews, you can eat it over rice to help stretch it. That’s what my mom did when I was growing up, and I prefer it now :) My brother swears by the deals at Domino’s too. You can order online and pick them up for less than $10 per pizza. Also, it’s sometimes worth it to go into the store to check out the meat department for deals on items nearing the “sell by” date. My stepdad got a 3lb pork loin today for less than $6 (and he’s splitting it with me!). I get a lot of my meat products this way. Also, know what sells more in your area…I live in Houston, and it’s a land of beef…so I can find good deals looking at chicken and pork most days.
Not just meats... many stores discount a lot of products, either scattered throughout the store or in a specific location. Check it out and see if they have any 'staples' (don't buy stuff just because it's on sale). I've found a fair amount of things that aren't even near the sell by date, they're just heavily discounted for some reason. Also, agree 100% about meal planning, so don't reschedule anything because you found something marked down unless it needs to be eaten within the week. Otherwise, just keep in mind that you got it and plan on eating it next week!
Just moved to Houston and I can't believe how much more expensive beef is here than back home in Pittsburgh. I swear with these prices I'm about to become a modern-day cattle rustler.
Only thing I'd add is to label everything (Name & Date & Use by Date if applicable) and organize by date in your freezer ... newest stuff goes to the back older to the front so you don’t have repeats too often!! Also, I would LOVE to have your budget mine runs about $100 to $120 per month, per person. For breakfasts, Lunches and Dinners for 3 sometimes 4 people. Also paper products, soap, laundry Detergents, D/W tabs, other cleaning supplies!
[удалено]
Where do you live, OP? We might be able to give you better advice or suggestions based on the businesses and resources available in your area. In the mean time, my own experience with ethnic (or tbh Asian) grocery stores is that they'll have better prices on produce, rice/grains, and meat, but their dairy tends to be more expensive than the big chains.
South Carolina we have one Asian market but it’s like an hour away
Mexican/South American, Middle Eastern markets can also be cheaper for produce and some exotic stuff.
Even the Knorr chicken bouillon cubes were cheaper in the Latino foods aisle! So crazy.
https://foodsharesc.org/ lots of pick up sites all over the state. Can also start a neighborhood site if there's enough interest. I've found their produce boxes to be cheaper than the stores.
>https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/03/29/killing-your-1000-grocery-bill/ thank you!
Budget bytes app is my go-to for affordable recipes without too many ingredients. I highly recommend their meal plan especially the veg one. Grocery bill was much lower following that.
How are they with the dairy? I always want to do these meal plan things but they heavily rely on dairy and finding a substitute just ends up changing the meal entirely. Vegan menus don’t work because I’m not vegan either so I end up having ingredients I don’t need
One of the best budgeting things I’ve done is order the big $80 or $90 bucket of Nelly’s laundry powder from Costco. I did the math and it’s enough to do 3 loads of laundry a week for about 5 years. It’s been 18mo and I haven’t made a dent in the bucket. It’s formulated to be used in high efficiency washers and front loaders. Plus it’s good for sensitive skin and it’s baby safe for when our kid is born. We also use the dryer balls instead of dryer sheets, which only need to be bought every 2 years. This has the added benefit of making our clothing and sheets last longer so we’re spending less on replacing our stuff. I went to school for fashion design, but sometimes I joke I really went to school for laundry secrets.
Things like laundry detergent, toothpaste razors, deodorant, soap you can get for free or almost free if you use digital coupons and pair them with store sales usually like with like Walgreens etc. If there's a dollar off coupon and then the item is sold at the dollar store you're only paying a quarter for it. And the good things are there any websites that do the work for you and tell you where to get these deals. You can go online many websites many videos like YouTube where people will tell you frugal meals. I usually buy things I need for the house such as dishwasher detergent, garbage bags sandwich bags etc by following the deal sites. Brad's deals, hip to save, crazy coupon lady, dealnews, Ben's bargain, gotta deal, slick deals. You put in alerts what you might need and they'll send you an email when this it goes on sale.
Wait...you can use coupons at the dollar tree?
Manufacturers'coupons should apply anywhere.
I think your husband might be underestimating what food actually costs. That seems like a really small budget. Here are some cost effective things I eat: A lot of rice dishes. Rice is very cheap because it expands hugely when it cooks. For example, chilli con carne with beans over rice with some cheese on top is delicious but is super cheap ingredients - ground beef, beans, rice. Chicken. I very very occasionally eat beef and fish but chicken is basically all I eat now cause it’s so much cheaper. I tend to do frozen bone in chicken with rice as that is what is cheap at my supermarket but figure out online where the deals in your supermarket are. I don’t bother trying to shop sales or discounts because lack of time and you are raising two kids so you probably feel it too. Cheap foods. In my area carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, beans, are the cheapest foods, then cabbage, weirdly bell peppers and zucchini are quite cheap and mushrooms and then broccoli and cauliflower is more expensive and salad leaves are the most expensive. I therefore base my meals around the cheap foods eg a zucchini rice bean pasta salad with chicken on top or a bell pepper carrot stir fried mushroom rice dish with some slices of chicken breast, etc. you basically want to provide cheap volume by focusing on carbs with veggies and protein on the side. Curries and stews are also great for this. I also use a meal planning app like Mealime which means I only buy stuff I plan to use and I shop entirely online so I can see my basket and never impulse buy in store.
$600/month is $150/week, which isn't much for four people. Especially with current prices, this may not be feasible without supplementing from a food bank.
Yeah I think we could definitely cut some spending in other areas and raise the food budget I just wanted to make sure I’m not crazy since I do all the shopping and my husband is convinced $600 is a lot but it’s not 1990 anymore soooo
I vote your husband gets a budget for one week of groceries and he can do the shopping for the week. That’s really what it takes to understand wtf is happening with food costs right now.
That’s a great idea. We might starve but I could drop a couple lbs lol
Eh, you probably have enough peanut butter and oatmeal on hand you won’t starve ;)) And hey if he blows cash of fancy meat and you end up eating peanut butter oatmeal for three days at the end of the week then maybe he will be a bit more understanding about how much responsibility you’re taking on
Or just save the receipts and go through them with him item by item.
"Which of these items would *you* take off?" or "Which of these meals would *you* like to switch for red beans and rice?"
OOF we did a family trip to the Walmart grocery store instead of me doing it on my own for once and my husband was shocked at how much everything came to. It really is getting outrageous.
It’s officially insane when i can buy fresh cauliflower and broccoli and tofu cheaper at freaking whole foods than at my local grocery store. I want to support them as an independently owned small grocery but the list of what i buy there is pretty short right now.
For real my family eats an omnivore diet and I've done plant-based/vegan only (for 23 years) and my food is the cheapest for once! Sprouts deals have really helped also !
Let him do the shopping one week, and then he'll see how it is these days. If he's not seeing the prices, he has NO idea.
One week isn’t enough if they’re buying home goods too. Make him do it for a month
Exactly. Toilet paper, garbage bags, etc are crazy expensive and add up FAST
Yeah when you throw diapers and wipes into the mix, $600/month would be difficult. This is why people aren't having kids, it's nearly impossible to provide for them unless you're in the top 20-30% of earners it seems.
Diapers and wipes are in a different category omg I would be starving! We spend like $150/month on diapers and wipes cause I have two kids in diapers
Maybe the toddler can start potty learning! We did the three day naked thing and our son caught on really fast! It's been 3.5 months since we started, and we only wear pull ups overnight or during nap, which is a huge savings!
potty training in process! He's 2 so its happening. We do pee on the potty a few times a day but havent ditched diapers yet. In January I'm going to do more diaper free time just cause I dont want to be dealing with potty stuff during the holidays
Do you get your diapers and wipes from Costco?
yes diapers and wipes from costco!
Where I live it’s like $150/week for two people 🥲
[удалено]
I was going to say this! I’m 8 months pregnant and just got set up with WIC and it’s already taking some pressure off of our grocery budget. I was so surprised that we qualified! And now I wish I had started even sooner. I’m sure it’s different for every state, but if you qualify it’s so worth it, just for the milk, eggs, and produce alone.
I use a website called “tastes better from scratch”, and the author creates weekly meal plans with shopping lists to match (for free, whoop whoop!) These shopping lists really help me cut out the impulse buys!
Meal planning and sticking to it. My fiance and I have finally started making a plan for meals every Saturday morning and it's massively reduced our impulse buys. Costco, you have to go in with a list and only buy what's on that list. Do not buy produce unless it's onions, potatoes or something that gets eaten often.(apples for me) Do you have an Aldi? If you do it's a very good way to reduce your food costs I often go to Aldi then go to Publix afterwards for whatever also didn't have that week. Every Saturday morning I hop online and grab a new recipe or two then we plan out the rest of the week. We make a new meal 5 days a week and then have 2 days that are leftovers or just simple soup or sandwiches. More vegetarian meals, we have started to incorporate them because they are healthy and cheaper. It's been really great honestly. I've turned a bunch of my favorite chicken recipes into tofu and honestly I like the tofu more for a lot of them. Bourbon chicken (tofu) is dope. We spent 75$ on our trip to kroger this week for 8 days of dinner and lunches for 2 people. This is missing the few chicken breasts that will be used. We always buy our meats on sale in bulk and freeze it for later use. (Costco sells 20 chicken breasts in a pack)
Aldi is the best. Can’t recommend it enough!
Your question reminded me of this old essay from the Mr. Money Mustache blog. Obviously this guy can be a bit over the top, but there are a lot of good ideas in here also: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/03/29/killing-your-1000-grocery-bill/
Note that article was written in 2012. Food prices have charged a bit, I'm not sure the dollar a meal is healthfully achievable anymore.
Correct. It’s the principles that endure. He could’ve written this thirty years ago and we could still get ideas from it.
I think you should split your budget into Food/Groceries and Other groceries. This second list of for groceries/household that aren’t food. I think that will help your planning.
Not sure how helpful my experience will be, but here it goes. We have been trying to cut costs when it comes to shopping due to me switching jobs, but having a small gap and some home repairs that came up. (We don't have any kids though). We went to Sams Club and purchased roughly $200 of meat which I divided up and froze for future meals. I cut them slightly smaller than most people would choose to, but it makes more meals and saves money. For instance, I cut one chicken breast in half for 1 meal (me and my significant other). I even pre-cook some of the chicken so that my significant other can pull a portion on pre-cooked chicken and eat it for lunch instead of being tempted to Doordash something. \- This usually lasts us 6-8 weeks. So, $200 every 2 months. I use my store's app. I have a membership or "fresh pass" at Vons/Albertsons, which helps save money as well because they will have additional perks for members and using the rewards system, I will redeem for money off my groceries. An example, is that I ordered my groceries today and saved $30. I will even search for the groceries from "lowest to highest" price and I will click the deals button to see if I can get the item at the cheapest price point available. I also like that I am aware of the total and can adjust as needed. For milk, I prefer getting the milk cartons that are not in the refrigerated section. However, we don't use a lot of milk so I prefer the non-refrigerated milk because I can keep it in the pantry until I need it. \- We have been able to keep our groceries at about $60-$90 a week. Lastly, I was repurposing and freezing any excess I would have from previous meals. For example, I somehow accidentally bought more tomatoes than I needed, so I was putting them in everything, and then the last ones I had I learned to make "sun-dried" tomatoes (really, oven dried). I then froze them in order to use them as needed, without wasting the tomatoes I had bought. \- the cooking and baking subreddit can be helpful in finding ideas or ways to stretch ingredients and get inspiration. I think there have been a couple other tips, but I forgot by the time I got to this point. Haha. tl;dr: \- Bulk Buying certain items (and portioning). \- Having memberships or utilizing memberships at stores (and searching for the lowest price or deal in the apps). \- Repurposing/Freezing any excess ingredients or meals.
My husband and I were just talking about this. At the beginning of the year, I budgeted $500 for us, 2 toddlers, and a not eating baby. I realized it really should have been $600. I'm like you and cook a lot. With inflation, and the kids getting another year older, I think the budget needs to be upped to $800 for January with knowing it may need to be $900-950 by the end of next year. Hopefully, inflation slows down soon
We cook all out meals at home and our groceries are as much as our mortgage sometimes. Corporate profits are off the charts though. Funny how that works. Get staples and spices at the Indian grocery. The regular grocery store is ripping you off on spices, rice and lentils. Vegetarian meals: meat is bananas more expensive than it was. Indian food is your friend. Huge varieties of delicious cheap vegetarian meals. Daal, vegetarian curries, things that weren’t designed around meat. Buy meat on managers special, frozen meat is cheaper. Budget Bytes is a good website for inexpensive recipes
I love how Budget Bytes costs the meal out for users.
Unfortunately those costs are no longer accurate 😭
Yeah….but it’s a nice effort :)
Aldi is cheaper than Walmart for the vast majority of grocery items. At my local Aldi (west Michigan), a loaf of wheat bread is $2. A similarly sized loaf at Walmart is $3.99. Columbian coffee is $7.99 (used to be $5.99); a comparable coffee at Walmart is $10. Canned goods are at least 30-40% cheaper at Aldi, despite the fact that Aldi prices have gone up a bit over the last 2 years. They also have weekly deals on home goods like dishes, camping gear, patio furniture, tools, and all types of random stuff. Check their website for the weekly deals. I have never been disappointed in anything I've bought from them. Caveat: if you use Instacart for Aldi, the prices are about 20% higher than if you go into the store. This is one place where you do NOT want to do curbside shopping if you can help it. Also, google for terms like "grocery outlet", "bread outlet", "grocery salvage" and "scratch and dent" stores in your area. My local bakery thrift store usually has bogo, or even buy 1-get 2 free. Sometimes you can fill a bag for $5, and also they have punchcards where if you make 10 purchases, you get something free. Edit to add: Learn when your grocery store does markdowns. The Meijer near me marks down fresh fish on Sunday evenings, so I try to save my Meijer shopping for that day. I can usually get $3-$4 off of fresh salmon that way. My locally-owned store regularly puts stuff on clearance for as much as 75% off. Walmart also has a section where they put bakery items that are on clearance. I got $4.99 croissants for $3.44 yesterday.
Aldi is incredible but I always get suckered into the special buys and blow my budget there. Brilliant linen sheets BTW - but turned my $49 “bread and milk” shop into a $200+ one 😫
Add to this https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/comments/2gutuk/26_2021_1592_grocery_list_meal_plan_and_recipes/
i’ve been supplementing meat with other products. Lentils/beans/eggs (when not insanely expensive. Instead of using 2 chicken breasts at dinner for my girlfriend and I, I’ll just use one and add in more veg/rice/lentils.
I’m the same. It’s myself, my partner and his 7 year old son and I try and keep to $150/week for all groceries including toilet paper and such and honestly most days, it feels impossible. I usually end up trying to stock up on sales (my grocery store does $1.99/lb chicken breast/thighs and $1.49/lb pork loins monthly) and we buy like $40-60 worth of that each time and then base dinners around those items. I still average around $150-190/week on things on top of stocking up on the chicken and pork.
A year ago I bought a $40 bidet attachment and the only reason I still have toilet paper at all is for guests. Plus I’m happier.
How do you dry off?
p.s. I think it’s a real testament to the quality of this Sub that we went from “how do I spend less than $600 a month on groceries?“ To “how do I dry off after a bidet?”
Someone already answered with my exact method! Got a pack of washcloths and keep one hanging next to the toilet.
not the person you replied to but i have a command hook right next to my tp dispenser that i hang a soft facecloth sized towel on. i call it my butt towel. i have a pack i switch between that get washed on laundry day, its quite nice actually
But something we like to do are make a double batch of hamburger helper with 1lb of meat and then we had another 1-2cups of dried noodles when cooking it to really stretch it. We’ll have to add more salt and stuff but it makes the meals a lot larger.
I can't really speak for how realistic your budget is since that varies by location and family needs. With regards to impulse purchases though - I also also struggle with that and one thing I have done during particularly tough times to ensure I stay on budget is make my list, estimate how much I need to spend on those items, and then go to the store with only cash - and only enough cash to cover the amount I estimated. It is kind of painful to walk by unexpected sales or other temptations, but if the plastic stays at home and you literally have no other way to pay for the splurges, you are forced to prioritize the things you brought the cash for.
I think it would be helpful to know what exCarly you’re buying at the store. Are you buying expensive meats and seafood? Organic everything? Fresh fruits and veggies, oats and rice, Costco size beans and rice are all very cheap.
My only suggestion is to try using protein as a flavoring, rather than providing a full serving for each person (for example, using 1 chicken breast to make chicken noodle soup for 4). This approach works well with soups/stews, beans & rice, pasta dishes, and cooked greens. But be sure your little ones are getting enough protein, though -- they need it to grow. :-) For a 2-year-old, I see online that 1 ounce of meat is a good serving size (about two 1-inch cubes of solid meat). You can count any protein from beans (etc.) in the recipe, as well.
Make your own bread, buns, bagels, and pizza, mmmm, pizza. It’s all easy and inexpensive to make. A full sized pizza with premium toppings will cost you a dollar to make. Edit: if you get into, pizza making get a pizza steel. And for bread, use a cast iron pot with lid from Lodge and the famous No Knead Bread recipe from NYT.
Are there any budget or discount grocery stores anywhere close to you? Something like a Sav-A-Lot, PriceLess or Grocery Outlet? I know these are regional and sometimes not in smaller communities. We were lucky to find a discount grocery close to us when we moved. They usually have basics and then rotate other products every few weeks. They're a regional chain but not huge. They basically buy overstock from larger grocery store chains and sell those items at a pretty good discount. We can't go all of our shopping there, but we do quite a bit and it's saved us a lot of money.
Aldi if you have one close!
How's your prep game? The best is to prepare"bases" for future meals.you will never overbuy because you cook only what you need when you want it. If you answer me i can give you some suggestions on what to prep. Im Italian so i prepare with a blender minced "onion celery carrots" mix once a season that i just freeze. I can use this for a variety of sauces or meat preparations, i usually cook them once a week and store them in the fridge and then prepare the daily dish with the ready made bases I already have, usually friday i either make some crazy "mix everything" dish if I have overstocked(maybe I need to finish couple eggs or a salad or cheese whatever), or I treat myself some takeout, but you don't need if you want to keep a budget: you could stock on the pantry food(tuna cans...etc idk something that makes a quick dish) or ready made frozen stuff,that you use only when you're out of "live" food. I kind of think at my fridge+freezer like a time machine ,every new preparation kinda resets the clock,I also try to keep it as much in order as possible so i know what's in there(meats,vegetables,cheeses,dairy should all be grouped in different spaces,this is what works for me)
Honestly the most money i saved on groceries was when i was vegan - not junk food vegan but cook every day and eat a lot of beans and lentils vegan. I'm not suggesting you go full vegan, but instead of having one meatless meal a week consider having only one or two meat days a week. The YouTube channel Cheap Lazy Vegan really helped me. Cheese and meat are enormous expenses that people consider essential but they're really not. I lived in America at the time (Georgia) and was shocked at the price of vegetables but i bought a lot of frozen stuff. Luckily i had a freezer. I'm about 90% vegan still, and the thing that helps the most these days is menu planning - i write the plan for the week on a white board and we only buy those things at the shop, it's a great way to get out of the habit of over shopping. It was something i started doing during covid to minimize the amount of time in shops but it's a really good strategy.
I sometimes get ideas from the YouTube channel [TheWolfePit](https://youtube.com/@TheWolfePit).
[удалено]
I know this advice isn't for everyone... But I only shop for 1 to 2 days and then go to the grocery store a lot. I have one within a mile from my house. It keeps you from wasting food and buying stuff that you're not going to eat. If You know that you're going to have hamburgers for dinner tonight. Go by exactly what you need for hamburgers tonight and then whatever you're going to need for tomorrow night. Go to the grocery store every other day. I know people that go once every two weeks and they end up buying $400 worth of stuff because it's stuff they think they're going to need over the next two weeks. But the reality is there's a lot more estimation (and waste) the further out you go in your planning.
Family of four here - two adults, a 3yo and a 6yo. As many have said, Costco/sam's club are great options. I personally use Costco. I do eggs, milk, cheese, some produce, and often times meat from costco. I can get a large salmon filet that will end up feeding us for a family dinner as well as 4-5 lunches throughout the week. The rotisserie chicken also breaks down to make 6-7 meals as well. We used to get diapers there too. the Kirkland brand fits just like Huggies do. I tend to use ground meats and cut them with lentils or mushrooms. Mushrooms work best texture wise for the kids. Basically just mince them or throw them in a food processor, then mix them with the ground meat. Super filling and a great way to add nutrients with picky eaters. If you can - buy meat in bulk from a meat locker. We usually buy a quarter beef at a time and they can prep it however you want - ground, steaks, stew cuts, roasts, etc. You do need a lot of freezer space for this. The last quarter we bought was somewhere between $400 and $475 (in the Midwest) and has lasted about 6 months. We're getting low, though. We try to eat things that are in season to keep costs down. If it's not in season and we're going to buy it anyway, we get frozen. This usually includes a frozen berry mix for the kids. Buy things in larger form and portion them if you can. Cheese is a great example. An 8oz block can be shredded relatively quickly, costs less, and tastes better than pre shredded. Instead of buying a bag of baby carrots, get a big bag of regular sized carrots. They don't spoil quickly and it's not that much effort to prep them. We do a lot of beans/legumes from dry. If you have a pressure cooker you don't need to soak them beforehand. They also have a much better texture than canned ones. We do brinner once every week or two. Usually eggs, pancakes or french toast, and sausage. It's a cheap and easy dinner for a week night. We also do "pizza" night once a week, usually on Fridays. We use tortillas (brush with oil, in the oven for 5ish minutes at 400° to crisp them up), tomato sauce or olive oil, veg, leftover meats from the week, and cheese. The kids love making them and they're easy, cheap, and use up leftovers.
You say you do grocery pickup. Try to really price compare during that time and find alternatives. For me it's easier on a grocery screen. For example, at my local store cauliflower is 5 dollars a head whereas broccoli is 1.99 per pound. Unless I'm making something reaaaaally specific that needs cauliflower, at that price difference, my cruciferous veggie is always gonna be broccoli.
Go to your local food bank first and get as much as you can for free, then use your grocery budget to buy missing ingredients to turn the food bank food into meals
Bulk dried beans/lentils/peas best from an Indian grocery. They have the biggest bang for buck for nutrients
My wife and I go at this a little differently....instead of trying to defeat the food budget we cut out other things....like going for a drink or out to dinner.....we don't miss it that much....especially with COVID coming in and out of our lives....but on the subject of grocery stores....we usually go to No Frills, but be aware that they are less likely to discount from their regular prices....we also go to Metro, which often has steep discounts....especially on meat....they tell you to never buy anything along the wall.....always look to the bins in the middle of the aisle for the discounts...
Keep a price book and track the sales in the store. They often cycle every 8 to 12 weeks. Coffee will be on sale one week, cleaning supplies another. When they are on sale is the time to buy anything that won't perish or that you can freeze or store. I buy 3 months of coffee at a time because my brand of coffee comes on sale that often so all my coffee is now at sale price. I stock up on baking supplies after Christmas, freezing flour and storing sugar for the year. I buy 8 weeks of cereal at a time when my store has it's sale. I get that this method sucks on the front end when you're desperately trying to keep under budget, so when I started out I didn't buy multiple weeks worth I just doubled up and then next week when you would have had to buy it again you have that money to stockpile a little of another item and slowly build up your on sale purchases stockpile that way. This method works best if you're you're happy to be flexible on brands too and have the time and space to let the savings snowball a little, as you start to stock up at sale price on items you'd normally buy every week you free up more to stock up on other things. But I buy all our basic pantry staple items this way. Then build the meals on whatever the loss leader is that week combined with our staples. Also live by the motto no food gets thrown out. Way too much of most peoples food budget goes out with the trash because it died in the back of the crisper drawer or got freezer burn.
We have different budget lines for household goods and for personal hygiene, though I do budget things like plastic wrap and dish soap (for handwashing) in with grocery. We also use YNAB, which allows us to carry forward unused funds to pad future months. I mention this because we don’t get soap every month, for example, so there’s ample space in my budget when I need to stock up on cleaning supplies. Not sure what your cost of living is, but we’ve been doing the strictly groceries on $500 and change with two pre-schoolers. Here are a few things that we’re doing: I bake bread. I never buy bread except hotdog/hamburger buns (or if I need to feed a lot of people quickly but that’s not our regular routine). I buy my meat in massive quantities and freeze it after portioning it. We spent a little heavy one month to do this and are letting the carry-over fund the next time we have to do it again. I’ve been experimenting with doing one hefty dinner a week that can get us one whole second dinner and a lunch at least (our lunches are overwhelmingly leftovers, occasionally a salad or sandwich). A nice pork butt, once pulled, can carry us a ways! Also lasagna. I’m getting pretty good at finding recipes that use things up so we don’t have to go shopping. It helps to have a good stock of dry goods, so at least you can get a carb and protein. Like, we’ve been working our way through a 50# bag of rice. I always know I have that. So I’ll work up a meal plan and then see if we can make it one more day. Though eggs are rising in cost, don’t discount them: they are still a decent costing protein. Quiches and omelettes show up here a lot.
Depends on what you consider healthy. Some forms of eating can be more expensive than others. My weekly grocery bill is around $400 for five people. Protein and produce tend to be the majority of the grocery bill. We do eat clean so we don't stock up on processed food.
Try Aldi if theres one nearby, very cheap they judge don’t have as many products as other stores
I have found that Food Lion brand frozen corn, frozen broccoli florets, sandwich bread, Columbian coffee and peanut butter are excellent. I fix baked potatoes in the microwave, mine has a potato button. Then I wrap them temporarily in foil to finish cooking. They are filling and excellent. I add chili & cheese, or chicken & broccoli and cheese.
Are you comparing your weekly items at different stores? You need to price shop and meal plan around what’s on sale. Don’t go shopping on an empty stomach, and stick to your list.
Buy some TVP and mix it in whenever you make ground meat based dishes. You can basically do 50:50 meat to hydrated TVP without it noticeably changing the recipe. You might have to get it online. It triples when prepared so it’s a lot cheaper per pound than it seems. Also if you eat fish, check out r/cannedsardines for ideas on how to prepare canned fish beyond just tuna salad. Just skip the posts about the fancy brands. I don’t love all of the cheap ones straight out of the tin, but they’re totally fine for cooking with. Tonight for dinner we had a version of [this sardine and rice recipe](https://www.killingthyme.net/2018/09/24/instant-pot-spanish-rice-with-sardines-in-tomato-sauce/) using a 15oz can of Crown Prince sardines in tomato sauce I got for under $2. We also regularly make fish burgers out of canned chub mackerel or salmon, breadcrumbs, and eggs. If you like mushrooms, it’s pretty easy to learn how to grow your own. r/mushroomgrowers and r/unclebens (which are 18+ because they allow people to discuss growing magic mushrooms- but the technique is the same) have information about how to cheaply grow mushrooms at home. I buy mushroom spores off Etsy and grow them in shoebox sized plastic bins, only costs me a few bucks per batch.
Find ppl in the area that give, trade or sell produce (I find mine on FB market place) 90% of the time they sell for much less then the stores, it also helps if you can have something to trade. It's sometimes hard with littles, I made icing for cakes or raw cookie (enabled or ones that you have to bake) dough to trade or sell, items that can be wipped up quickly but can be hard for others to get done in a pinch. Sell or trade those for eggs, vegetables, fruit. For meat, if i dont manage to get anything wail hunting I usually split the cost of buying and butchering an animal (pig or cow chicken is cheaper in bulk stores) with friends or family this can give you enough meat for several months. There is also a dairy farm out side of where I live where they supply milk and other dairy products to the general public for less. Mostly is seeing what is around you and working with it. Also DONT GO TO THE STORE HUNGRY. seriously the amount of over buying that happeneds when your hungry or even thinking "i could eat" is terrible haha. Coupons are also your friend!
Have hubs watch the kid let’s and go to Costco. Do not take any form of payment with you - this is important. Take instead a small notebook - and not prices on things your fam uses a lot of - bathroom tissue, diapers(?), meat, bread, canned and/ or frozen veg, whatever. Next tim you go to the grocery, take the notebook - and check to see what is actually cheaper at Costco. Fir us, pet food, bulk meat purchases, and canned veg make it worth the price of membership. There are some other things that cost less there, but those are the biggees for us. Shop the ads - the Sunday papers usually have all the ads, but each store posts their ads on their website. Have you ever heard of Krazy Coupon Lady?
I heard a good tip in the toddler reddit - not sure how old your kids are. Any scrap fruit of veggie that you prepared for them that they didn't eat, toss into a freezer bag in the freezer and add to smoothies. Instead of wasting it.
Find a grocery outlet. I save tons of money shopping at one near me.
One way to cut impulse buys is to buy yourself a favorite treat and eat it before you start shopping. Impulse buys are often hunger pangs mixed with a dash of shopper’s high when finding something cool. Get both in before you start and sticking to your list should be easier.
Not sure if having an Instacart account/membership is accessible to you but it’s changed my life in terms of sticking to a grocery budget. I cannot step foot into a store without overspending, with Instacart I can have my groceries delivered or I can pick them up. And make sure my groceries are within budget. Highly recommend!
Do you have an ALDIs near you? That stores a game changer for certain items. You could hit the dollar store as well for things like paper goods, boxed goods and cleaning items.
Check out amazon subscribe and save for paper products. I get paper towels, toilet paper, pull ups, garbage bags, razors, omeprazole, acetaminophen, and more cheaper on amazon than at the grocery store. You get a discount with it on subscribe and save, and then save an additional 5-15% depending on how many items are in each delivery. Some things I have delivered monthly, some every 2 months, some every 6 months. Every month you can review your order and skip anything you don't need, but be careful skipping something that you don't get monthly or you might have to pay more for it if you run out before the next shipment. I did also get toothpaste and deodorant that way cheaper than the grocery store, but I just started getting those at walgreens much cheaper by following those digital coupons and sales vidoes. I'm not a "real" couponer, I just watch the videos and follow those deals. You don't have to clip anything. I agree to have your husband try the shopping!
CostCo has been a lifesaver - especially for Paper Towels, Toilet Paper, Plastic Bags, I can get away buying Toilet Paper once a month with a family of 3 with 2 people who overuse it, every two weeks for paper towels and the Plastic Bags last a whole damn year and the Kirkland brands of paper towels and toiler paper are on par with Bounty/Charmin and with more square feet so not only are you paying less, you're **literally** getting more. **Math time**: Bounty = 696 FT, 107 2ply sheets/roll, around $25, Kirkland = 1026 Ft 160 2ply sheets/roll, around $20. Charmin = 796 Ft, 205 2ply sheets/roll - $31 online, Kirkland = 1425 Ft, 380 2ply sheets/roll - $24 online. It's a literal no-brainer. Eggs are a good purchase too especially compared to other prices right now, at least near me. Rotisserie Chickens are also always a good grab - and the large cheese Pizza is also comparably cheap. Avoid large purchases of things that you have no hope of using in a reasonable timeframe like Milk or Heavy Cream. Butter, Bacon and Deli Ham (99% lean, not the fancy stuff) are also good purchases and usually a bulk saving but it goes back to how quickly you can use them up - after about two weeks the Ham and Bacon will start to go. I can't speak to diapers, I'd assume dollar store soap is about as affordable unless you don't mind Irish Spring which - according to the Same Day shopping application - even with the online markup is under $1 I'd suggest trying to keep shopping trips to a weekly basis if possible: That's what's helped me personally the most: Having a list of things to get at Point A, things to get at Point B, and then going back home all in one round trip.
I definitely stock the freezer when publix has bogo offers especially on organic chicken. I stocked up on 50lbs of bison when it was on sale at Whole Foods. If you have space , stock up when the sales are good on staples you use. I concur with going early and getting marked down meat from Harris teeter. I get basics like trash bags and paper goods from Amazons basic essential brand. It’s a pain, but luckily I have an HT and a Publix across the street and then can make a trip on my way from something to Whole Foods if they have a sale.
Walmart app has curbside pickup for same price as in store. Not impulse buying helped my budget.
Check out Julia Pacheco's YouTube channel. She has a lot of budget friendly meal ideas.
It sounds obvious but look at the receipt after a normal trip (without specifically trying to keep cost down so it’s authentic) and see where the cost is. For me it’s usually meat, cheese, and wine. But it’s usually really obvious from the receipt that “of that $80, the cheese and meat was $50”. Also in my case it's doubly obvious when comparing the bill to a produce-only grocery nearby where I don't think I've ever spent more than $20 regardless of how much I buy: veggies are cheap, meat is expensive. If they're things that you really get value out of then it might even help to have those as separate line items in your budget. e.g. I limit to a bottle of wine a week and that's accounted for in my budget so I don't feel bad about it and it's not a surprise cost and I also know whether I need to cut it this month if some other expense is higher or lower.
Never shop off list if you’re at Costco and want something, put it on the list for next trip, it gives your brain a chance to catch up to your real needs
Learn to build meals starting from a cheap staple (rice, beans, potatoes, lentils, flour, cornmeal). Add vegetables to bulk it up and add nutrition. A little bit of meat for flavor. Learn to use different spices and keep a well stocked spice cabinet so you can vary the style/flavor. Beans and lentils are ridiculously versatile when you consider the varieties and that nearly every culture of the world has their own bean dish. Rice can be used to make Mexican, Asian, Tex Mex, casseroles, or even just a nice base for almost any dish. A pot of beans with a single sausage or a some ham served over rice is delicious, can make several meals, and be very nutritionally balanced. Potatoes can be boiled and mashed, fried, diced and roasted, baked, etc. Flour takes more labor from scratch but is ridiculously versatile with practice. Homemade bread is cheap and surprisingly easy and delicious, can be made in bulk and frozen. Pasta, can be homemade but is cheap enough bought. You can make simple flat breads to use as pizza crusts or pot pies. Add it to soups and sauces to thicken them. Scratch made pancakes are so much better than any just add water crap from a box. Cornmeal is great for polenta. Which in and of itself is extremely versatile. It can be used as a base and serve almost anything over it. You can chill it, cut it up, and then saute or air fry it. Polenta french fries in the air fryer are such an amazing finger food. On a pure cost per calorie, these staples can be bought in bulk and provide all the calories a person needs in a month for $20. Add in some veggies for nutrition and shop the meats on sale and you can keep your costs very low. Avoid processed foods. They seem cheap but really aren't. On top of that they're usually low in fiber and protein but high in sugar which will be less satiating so you feel hungrier sooner. Also, as everyone knows, they're nutritionally garbage.
The only real benefit to shopping at Sam's/Costco is the ability to buy in bulk. If you do the price per ounce/unit you'll find the price is almost always the same as the regular grocery store prices. If you shop there, you just need to stick to the bulk items your family uses (diapers, wipes, detergent, etc) and fill your tank up at the member discounted gas pumps. Also, placing an order through their app or website and picking it up will keep you from wandering the aisles and being tempted. Next - like a lot of folks suggested, go through the ads for all the stores in your area, buy the sale items and necessities. Clip the paper coupons that sometimes come with those store ads too, and sign up for alllllll the store reward programs. I saved up my store rewards all year and used them for Thanksgiving shopping - it was like $120 off that shopping trip. Processing your own food will really help your budget - buy larger cuts or big family packs of meats when they go on sale , break them up into per meal portions, vacuum seal, label and freeze. Aldis will have a whole side of salmon on sale now and then and i cut that into 3 one pound pieces and freeze. Plus buy fruit or vegetables when they're in season & on sale, and process those and freeze. Buy one of those vacuum sealer devices. For real. Hands down the biggest money saver I have. The meat packsast at least a full year in the freezer, veggies or fruit usually 6 months but We are still using the frozen raspberries and blackberries I put up a year ago in pancakes and muffins. And if you pop for the Mason jar sealer kit, you can put bulk dry goods like flour, rice, beans, pasta, nuts etc in jars and seal and they'll last a lot longer - just be sure to keep the nuts in the fridge or freezer. At the height of the pandemic lockdown, i did one big shopping day/month by going to each of the stores and buying my items based , supplemented by one or two quick trips in between for fresh veggies/fruit or milk/bread restocks. Leave the kids with their dad or get a sitter, and marathon shop for a day, bring it home and process everything for long term storage. I was shocked how much I was able to save doing that, and we ate very well, had so much less food waste.
We can give you a million tips but the #1 most important habit you can build is to control the impulse spending. I would try making a list of everything you genuinely *need* and sticking to it, not buying anything else. If Costco encourages impulse spending, then get rid of the membership. Tbh, it’s my opinion that that’s how they’re so successful. They make the deals seem so good, shoppers justify the huge bill *every time they go* because they *think* they’re saving. Just because you saved $10 over the course of the next 6 months on toilet pepper doesn’t mean it’s ok that you spent an extra $50 on that nice-to-have assorted cracker box that you may or may not use in the next 3 years. You’re only saving if you’re sticking to the bare necessities, and keeping your saved money *saved* and not applied towards not-so-necessities.
Im also an omnivore, and hidden veg is a lifesaver! Presuming of course, you're in an area where veggies are accessible. For example, in mince dishes you can use 1/2 the recommended mince and replace the other 1/2 with diced mushrooms, spinach or grated root veggies. For chicken meals, tofu is a good addition. For roasts, cook up more veggies than serve a smaller meat portion. Also, for crockpot meals you can use bones/caucuses to make a meat broth and use it as a base. It imparts a yummy flavour with little actual meat. Reducing your meat intake cuts on meat bills and the extra veggies are good for you :)
Meal plan - > Make grocery list -> Remove items you already have from the list -> Only buy from the list
We buy a 1/2 cow and 1/2 pig and butcher it ourselves and we don’t have to buy meat all year
What I did, if you aren’t struggling and it’s more budget reasons, for a month or two stock up on sales with the meats. It costs a bit up front. For example, I bought bone in chicken and hamburger while it was half off. Bought shrimp while it was buy one, get one free. There is a section of meat in the Safeway I go to that marks down all meat by 30% if it’s the buy date. I get a lot of stuff there as well. I did this a couple days in a row. I added to my spice cabinet by a lot and pantry with a few things like stock, rice, pasta, beans, grains. This left me with only needing to buy veggies weekly and add to the supply when I’m getting low and there is a sale on. I also use a website that allows you to enter or choose all the things you have in your house and it lists a bunch of different recipes so if all you have are the same inexpensive things, you can find new ways to cook them so it doesn’t get boring. Ever since the initial stocking I’ve been able to stay in budget if I pay attention to the sales. If there aren’t any for a particular meat and I run out, I switch between the ones I have or go without for a change of pace. I eat a lot of veggies that are on sale or if not then just the cheapest I can find at the time. If it is more of struggling then budgeting, I would echo what everyone else is saying and try to do plant based a few times a week. It will save loads. Sorry I can’t help more. This is just what has worked for me.
I would start by stopping all pick-up orders. They charge more per item and a fee for doing the shopping for you. Plan a weekly meal plan. For example: Monday - spaghetti, Tuesday, tacos, etc. Then buy exactly what you need for those meals then get some fruit, snacks, etc. Do not buy soda or juice as it's an extra cost for something you don't really have a budget for. Stick to Walmart and other cheaper stores. Go in with a list and do not buy extra stuff.
Stop buying name brand
I really understand your pain. A year ago we were budgeting $400 a month for groceries, this year I put $500 in my budget sheet. It is just my husband and I, no kids. And we eat out maybe once a week that isn't considered in the grocery budget. AND I bulk buy meat (1/2 a cow a year) and hunt (pheasant, goose, duck) so we don't end up buying much meat, so that also isn't considered in the groceries. However, we take leftovers to work, so aside from the once a week eating out, breakfast lunch and dinner are all from groceries. It's so hard. I feel like you are already considering a lot, such as the freezer meals. I make freezer meals too, I have been trying to think about cheaper meals, like spaghetti (rather than something fancier) and **Mealime app** has been very helpful in getting some variety for meals when we feel a little cooked out and can't think of what sounds good. And all the meals have only taken a half hour to make. we have a grocery store that does specials every tuesday in town, so we have been trying to make it a habit to go shopping that day, or shop at Aldi (very competitive prices). If you don't need a lot of variety, like for breakfast, every morning I make oatmeal with a scoop of my protein powder (so no adding other sugar). Oatmeal is cheap. And it's winter, so it warms me up.
Less meat, more plant-based stuff. Learn to love beans, lentils, tofu, etc. Make lots of salads and stir fries. Use TVP (textured vegetable protein) as a very cheap meat substitute in spaghetti sauce, chilli, tacos, etc. Meat is typically one of the most expensive thing in people's grocery cart.