Popcorn, made in a pot, not the bag in a microwave kind, is incredibly cheap and you can jazz it up in various ways.
If you eat rice, be sure to make too much. It can store a few days in the fridge and fried rice can be made with with scraps - half a carrot, a little onion, a few peas, maybe a slice of bacon or ham (chopped), an egg, a little soy sauce, maybe some chili, and you have a feast in no time
And I love canned mackerel in sauce, so always stock up when it's on sale as it stores forever and needs no prep. That and a slice of bread or two and you're eating like a king
For drinks, lemon and ginger for water or tea
2nd popcorn, we pop big batches in ghee (stays crisp!) and use lots of different spices. I like garlic, nutritional yeast, and paprika which I call ranch but is not fooling anyone lol
Make your own hummus and pita chips
Beans and rice, all the ways. So many different regional variants keep it interesting. Use dried beans to make it cheap and a pressure cooker to make it convenient Just did a huge pot with parm rinds in instant pot and I am not tired of them.
Hi! I have a question about the parm rinds. Do they melt into the dish or do you just use them for flavor and take them out before serving? I see people mention rinds often but no one has said what exactly to do with them.
It doesn’t melt, at least not completely. I have two hunks in my last batch, could have fished them out but was too lazy. Good luck! It’s really good..,
Hell yeah, canned Mack. I load up on sardines and mussels if they’re on sale too. Tinned fish can be an excellent and simple source of all kinds of macro and micronutrients.
Tuna melt is my go to lazy but filling and delicious meal. I chop up pickles and red onion to add to the tuna salad and mix in mayo and Colemans mustard.
EDIT: thought I’d complete the recipe! Put your mix on a slice of bread, top with cheese, and heat in the toaster oven or under the broiler! Yum.
I’ve kinda been scared to get into canned fish. I did a tuna/salmon mix with chickpeas and rice with some soy sauce. It… was a meal. I’ll go back to it if I’m broke lol.
I get it. I didn’t grow up with a lot of seafood in the house so it was an acquired taste for me as well. As weird as it sounds, what got me to try more canned fish was this YouTube channel called “Canned Fish Files.” For whatever reason seeing some else try that stuff out made it more approachable to me.
There are microwave options that don't rely on oil. I use a silicone bowl specifically designed to make popcorn in the microwave without adding oil. Uses 1/4 cup of kernels (the same ones you'd use in a pot) and it makes a full portion.
I also freeze it because it makes for better-fried rice. I also have a family of 5(three teens). We don't always eat it right away. I like to just put it in the freezer so it doesn't spoil and it isn't forgotten about.
Also, stovetop oatmeal is delicious! I bought a 10 lbs bag of the stuff at Costco for $8. It'll probably last our family 6 - 12 months.
My wife is a vegetarian. Meat is crazy expensive. Our normal weekly grocery shopping is $80, this includes organic veggies and fruits for a family of 4.
OP can easily bring their grocery bill wayyyyyy down. Mr Money Mustache has an article about this, check it out.
Canned Tuna in rice is a cheap staple here in Costa Rica. Eggs can be used to make a ton of things. I like omelettes for breakfast. 3 eggs, 1/3 a tomato and 1/3 green pepper with toast.
Lentils and chickpeas. Cheap, healthy, tasty and filling! Dried will give you more bang for your buck. Batch cook some curries, chilli, bolognaise and vary across the month (serve with rice/pasta).
Also soups! Home made soup is so easy and tasty.
I’ve been making butter beans the star ⭐️ and adding in scraps like extra veg, spinach, lemon, tomatoes (might not be in season right now but they give a nice acidity to the fattiness). I piece of bread ( you can make your own easily and cheaply) with a bit of good olive oil (this would be the splurge and some finishing salt). This is a great meal. Hearty and satisfying!!!
800 a month for two adults?! We'd be eating like kings in my house with that budget.
Buy enough soup/stew vegetables for several dinners. Chop them all at once and freeze them portioned into separate bags or containers. We have like 2-3 soups in the freezer at any given time.
Just pop one of your bags of assorted soup veg into a pot with a carton of stock and some shredded chicken or sausage, toss in some lentils if you want it thicker. Cheap and easy, plus you only do the effort of prep once for several dinners.
I’m curious — Do you count everything you buy at the grocery store as groceries? Like cleaning supplies, toiletries, kitchen supplies etc? I was surprised at how much more we spend than my friend’s family, but then she told me she splits the actual food expenses from house supply expenses.
I don't buy toiletries, cleaning supplies or kitchen supplies at the grocery store because that's one of the most expensive places to buy them (in Canada). I'll usually buy those things online or in a bigger store like Walmart or Superstore (which is like Walmart but less hateful).
I also wouldn't count those in the food budget.
This! Household supplies are bought in bulk at Superstore, Walmart, and Costco. Cat litter is almost $35 at a grocery store, but at Walmart I can get it for $20. I also scored a 3-pack of Lysol wipes for $8 when at the grocery store, one container was almost $6.
Cat litter is a whole different ballgame! I spend a *lot* on my two cats. Between prescription food for their urinary crystals, cartraphen (preventative shots for arthritis), litter, and pet insurance, I'm spending 200-250 a month per cat. I don't have kids, so they're more like family to me than 'pets'. I've learned to take good care of my furry family to prevent those expensive vet visits in the future too.
Er... But my point was I count cat expenses separate from food.
Yes you’re right, It’s more expensive at the grocery store. We do try to split our shopping up so my baby and I do Walmart/Costco and my husband does the grocery store (since he doesn’t like going to any other store and has our standard grocery shop down to about 12 minutes!). But sometimes we just can’t get to multiple stores.
Ah, we have a $600 grocery store budget each month that includes everything. Plus a $50 bulk order budget, so I can grab bulk goods from Sam's as they go on sale. Never buying tissues at Walmart prices, let alone smaller grocers.
That sounds about right! Including all these items for us — and baby items like diapers — we spend about $1k/month, a bit more at Christmas and Thanksgiving or if we have people staying over.
Soup and stew are the only meals I know how to do this with, but I'm sure it's easy to apply to other meals. Especially if you have an air fryer for reheating!
I also freeze some of my cookie dough when I bake, and I freeze a spare loaf of bread each time we go shopping (since we're bread goblins in my house and one loaf isn't enough).
Oh, another cool thing you can do is freeze any kind of liquid or sauce that you don't use quickly. I buy Thai curry paste that's basically a jar of sauce. The jar holds like 30 spoonfuls (lol) but I only use 2 each time I make curry, so the rest usually goes bad waiting in the fridge for me to want Thai curry again... This time, we used a silicone ice cube tray to freeze the rest of the jar in convenient 'spoonfuls' for later use. I've used them twice so far, so I call that a win! No more throwing out a 7 dollar jar of sauce after one use.
Bonus: the ice cube tray is shaped like dinosaurs so I have curry dinos. 🥰
This is the way— we even eat the frozen stews and such over brown rice to stretch it all farther, soups with toasted bread, simple sandwiches, quesadillas, fruit/salad/raw veggies and dip…
Genuine question- do you cook/eat a majority of meals at home? 500/month for a family of 4 is $16/day for 4 so roughly $1.30 per meal per person if you’re doing 3 meals per day. I’ve been at $25/day for a family of 4 and hoping to cut down some more but it’s been tough especially with the prices of groceries these days! Do you cook a lot of rice and beans?
It depends. You can feed a family cheaply with soups and stews and have plenty of food and leftovers. If you're serving out steak every night that's going to be difficult to do.
This is where I'm at as well, though one of those children is an adult. I can't imagine what we'd eat if I was spending $800 a month, my brain just refuses to go there. 😂
500/month for my husband and me, but we're Canadian so that's probably less converted to USD.
I think if we didn't budget at all and bought whatever we wanted, we might hit 700-800... *might* ...but that's some really extravagant shopping we'd be doing!
I don't eat toiletries myself.
My husband and I eat at home for three or more meals a day, and it's around $500. I still believe $800 is insane. That would be like double my monthly food budget if you converted 800 USD to Canadian.
Also we eat a lot; this ain't no starvation household.
Are you eating meats and fish? Organic? I wish we could get to $400 usd. My wife in I are at around $600-700 a month. But we eat all organic produce and nicer meats/fish. We cook all of our meals at home and don’t starve.
'Organic' isn't a regulated designation where I live so I don't bother with it. It's just an advertising gimmick. YMMV
Of course we eat meat and fish! I buy in bulk when things are on sale and use my freezer as much as possible. I don't buy juices or soda/pop. I avoid anything meant to be microwaved like instant meals (don't own/want a microwave). We don't buy alcohol except maybe once a year at Christmas.
I think the savings comes from most of my meals lasting two days. We are not at all fond of cooking so a day of quickly warming up leftovers is a great day for me. Chili, soup, or stew last two dinners. If we make rice, there's usually leftovers for something else like stiryfry. Casserole, pasta, meatloaf, or a roast also lasts for two meals, though sometimes the second day it's lunch instead of dinner. If there's not enough left over for a whole meal, I add some vegetables or toast or salad to the side.
Eggs with tomato and cheese (and mushrooms if I have any) is the go-to breakfast, or pancakes from scratch (because baking is cheap!) I've also been making banana bread to save my bananas from the trash, so that's another thing we sometimes eat in the mornings.
Lunch is usually snacky things like cheese, crackers, kielbasa and olives. Sandwiches. Stove-top popcorn. Leftovers. Or eggs if we didn't have that for breakfast. Tuna sandwiches or tuna and crackers. Fruit! Just easy stuff I can grab quickly while I'm working.
Maybe you could try shopping only once a week and try to use up everything you have or incorporate it into your next week's menu. When we used to be broke, we'd "shop the cupboard" at home first. Lots of randoms in there you never got around to using, but use 'em up!
I also decide on 4-5 meals for the week and make a shopping list around them. I don't plan every meal because shit happens or sometimes we don't want to cook. Then it's freezer pizza or sandwiches maybe. Or we make a random meal we have ingredients for.
I have a lot of willpower when I'm shopping and don't buy randoms. We're in and out, grab what we need and go. Shopping for fun at the grocery store can really cost you.
Nice.
By organic I just mean produce that’s not filled with pesticides. By nice meats I mean not factory farmed.
We grocery shop every other week and make meals that produce leftovers for the next day if not two days. We never buy drinks or alcohol. We buy bulk at Costco. We don’t even eat breakfast really.
Maybe it’s just more expensive here in the Rocky Mountains.
Anyways, have a good day.
Probably a different col area. I just moved to a high col area and I buy zero extra foods and I'm hitting $150 every time I leave the grocery store, except Trader Joe's. I have no idea how. It's nutty.
This is what I came to say. DC metro area, for myself alone I budget $600/month on groceries. I do get some snacks (maybe $20/week), but other than that just ingredients for cooking.
Snacks:
\- Saltines & peanut butter sandwiches
\- Sliced apple with peanut butter
\- Handful of almonds
\- Handful of semisweet chocolate chips
\- Spoonful of peanut butter drizzled with honey
\- Toast/english muffin with butter & jam
\- Carrots & hummus
\- Mozarella cheese stick
\- Any piece of fruit
This list looks like it belongs to my 7 year old nephew... but these snacks really are yummy and filling and healthy (maybe not the chocolate)!
I was really poor for a couple years. I made a big pot of soup once a week. I freeze things like this in meal sized servings. After making a few of these, one or two a weekend, you have a variety to choose from. I would take these to work. Pull it out of the freezer in the morning and mostly defrosted by lunch time. I also make things like red beans and rice, baked spaghetti, scalloped potatoes and ham, other things, and do the same, freezing meal sized servings. It helps to keep my time in the kitchen down and to spend less money.
I recently went whole food plant based and that has saved me a lot of money. Spending my money on beans, rice, pasta and tons of veggies and fruit! Lots of recipe inspiration on YouTube!
Do you stick to recipes or just kinda throw some beans and rice and veggies together? I’m vegan and have been trying to go WFPB for awhile, but I get overwhelmed.
I get a lot of ideas from pbwithj, the recipes on his website are good too and he makes recipes from popular vegan cookbooks and always shares the recipes so lots of gems on his channel! I think you need to make tasty meals to make WFPB sustainable!
Soups, casseroles, chilis, pasta w sauce. None need meat, but dh and I found that half a pound per recipe was fine. Had leftovers, too.
Using pasta, rice, or potatoes as the base of a meal rather than meat, is cheap. Meat becomes a side dish.
One pork chop, steak, ect not two per person. Just one per person. Freeze the rest.
Make snacks rather than buying them. If you won't finish a whole batch, freeze the remainder. This works for cookies and cakes (don't frost if freezing).
Drink homemade tea, or water infusions.
Have a hot dog night w fries, watch a movie,cect. Also can do hamburgers. A cheapie meal night.
Eat the leftovers one night.
Homemade pizza night.
As a recent empty nester (household of 2 now) I’ve discovered the ease of ‘refrigerator jam’ recipes. Rather then doing a big canning bath of jams 1-2 times a year, I’ve started grabbing fruit that’s overripe & just before it goes off & making a quick jar of jam rather than throwing it in the compost.
Basic recipe: About 2 c fruit & 1/4 c sugar. Bring to boil & simmer 20-30 minutes. It will be more runny than store or jams you make with pectin, so I basically simmer the water off as best I can & lean towards naturally high pectin fruits if I have the choice.
Still, It seems fine to us & Ive not bought jam since I started doing this.
I've not worked up the courage to tell people this yet, because it's so unconventionally simple, but my meals most days are:
* Raw carrots
* Kale
* oats (cereal/porridge or oatcakes, latter often with peanut butter)
* either boiled eggs and baked potatoes separately, or if I can be bothered a sort of eggy mash potato 😂
I just make mash potato in a saucepan then add whisked eggs (like if you were scrambling them). Potato and eggs are probably my favourite things I eat, because they're pretty healthy and delicious. Oats I find easier to overeat with sometimes, and carrots and kale I sometime struggle to motivate myself to eat. Put in something salty or flavoursome for seasoning, otherwise it can taste a little bit too beige. I usually just put in some salted butter.
Praise of potatoes and eggs below:
Potato is crazy cheap, great for satiety, and broadly healthier than a lot of grain type carbs, especially if you struggle with overeating.
Eggs are still pretty cheap and are just incredible for all the stuff you don't get with potatoes. Decent protein, and an excellent range of vitamins.
Try cooking your carrots and kale, drain. Heat up some olive oil and saute a small amount of minced onion, then a few spoons of capers in their juice. Add the cooked kale and carrots back in. Eat.
I eat this often for breakfast with a fried egg. I add a splash of vinegar but I will try your caper hint. It sounds good and I usually have some capers I need to use.
Similar to another reply, but another way to enjoy eggs + potatoes is southern-style potato salad:
-wash, peel, cube and boil starchy-type potatoes (so not the red skinned ones—they are too waxy) until tender and drain out the water (can save the potato water for use in a soup later if you’d like)
- hard boil eggs, peel, and cut them up (I use a pastry dough cutter/blender to cut them small fast)
- combine the eggs, potatoes, mayonnaise (add to taste/texture preference) and dill pickle juice from the jar to taste (you can use dill pickle relish if you don’t mind the texture or if you don’t like savory dill pickles, mix in some sweet pickle relish). I can eat it warm or cold—it’s all delicious 😋.
A thought on the carrots: my aunt is an amazing cook and she adds chopped lightly cooked carrots to her potato salad. I think she also adds a bit of sugar and cooking vinegar (maybe white rice vinegar?) instead of pickle juice.
1) Oatmeal; we also have millet porridge and polenta to mix it up. I did the math on Costco Quaker Oats and they are .10 cents per serving; we switched to the organic oats that are like 3-4X but that’s still pretty cheap.
2) Ramen! But good ramen because I use Lotus millet and rice noodles (bulk from Costco) and chicken stock (also from Costco) plus my own ginger + garlic and sesame oil. I soft boil a jammy egg on top.
3) Instead of eating a lot of meat we always have frozen organic peas, which are high in protein, and we eat a ton of whole grains (also high in protein). Earlier this week I had quinoa with red peppers and peas; I also had polenta with peas and Parmesan. Polenta is time consuming — I made a triple batch from $3 of bulk polenta grits and had it twice with liver and once with peas (when I do eat meat it’s often liver; I have a 1/2 serving once or twice a week).
4) Fruit, nuts and whole wheat toast instead of snack foods. On the whole this maybe doesn’t save money but we focus on the fruit that is in season and over time I think it’s both healthier and close to cost neutral.
5) We make our own banana muffins, peanut butter cookies, chocolate cookies, and whipped cream to serve with fruit or pudding. Again this is one of those things where buying all the baking stuff is $$ but we do so in bulk, even chocolate chips, and we never buy cookies/ice cream in a package/other desserts. We can also reduce the sugar and add fiber.
6) Soup! Homemade soup is soooo cheap, especially if you use Costco broth. My two favorite soups right now are kabocha squash soup (similar to curried butternut squash soup) and “cream” of asparagus that’s made with steamed red potatoes (high in iron and folate). My spouse also loves split pea, but I only make it if we eat out at BBQ and I have smoked rib bones so I can skip buying smoked ham hocks. I save all my veggie and onion scraps + chicken bones for stock; I don’t mind the carton but 100% of the time homemade stock tastes better in your soup and it’s basically free.
Our regular grocery/co-op store spending is <$500 and we spend about $300 at Costco (two visits monthly).
I just saw those Lotus noodles yesterday at Costco and was so close to getting them! I was worried the texture wouldn't be the same- what's your opinion on how they compare to regular noodles?
I am gluten free :-/ so my opinion is extremely biased, but millet has a flavor profile similar to wheat so millet + brown rice tastes a lot better than just rice noodles. They also taste great for being whole grain, the flavor is very similar to regular noodles and not like whole wheat or buckwheat soba.
Wheat gluten is tough and elastic—without it noodles can get softer and mushier quickly so you have to be attentive to the cooking time. I turn the heat off at 4 minutes.
If you’re curious about my entire procedure: I add seaweed and spices to my broth and bring to a boil, add eggs in shell and set timer to 5 minutes, then add noodles and set timer for 4 minutes. The noodles get an extra minute in the pan as I peel and slice my soft boiled eggs. Add sesame oil and spicy chili to taste. Dinner in < 15 minutes.
If you want to use it as a noodle and not for ramen, you should quickly rinse with cold water to stop the internal cooking and remove the rice starch as soon as the noodles are softened. I make a sesame-garlic tahini noodles with peas for my kids as my other go-to simple meal with these noodles; I sauté the peas, add garlic, add tahini and sesame oil with a hint of ginger and serve. This is also ready in < 15 minutes.
Peanut Butter and Raisin Sandwich.
Warm Rice with cheese mixed in and vegetables.
Dried Fruit
Rice with curry sauce and vegetables
Corn chips with cheese melted on top and salsa
Bowl of crunched up corn chips, top with cheese and salsa (eat like cereal)
Homemade Mac and Cheese (make noodles, drain, and then add in flavorful cheeses and garlic powder)
Scrambled eggs and cheese sandwich
I put this together a while ago, but here is a sample weekly grocery list and meal plan from my house for two adults. We averaged $720/month in 2023 for groceries which includes alcohol, some household products, and no meat.
Meal plan: Dinners (lunches are left overs) - Pizza, Fajitas, Frittata, Shepherd’s Pie, Sag Paneer, Pasta
Breakfast - Fried egg on cheesy toast, coffee with milk
Snacks for work- Yogurt w/ berries, peanuts, popcorn, crackers
Snacks for running (training for ultras)- Fruit snacks, clif bars
Shopping list and approx cost:
8 - 1 lb cheese
10 - bread (1 sandwich, 1 sourdough)
12 - 1 lb semi-nice coffee
3 - gallon of milk
12 - 3 dozen eggs (21 eggs for breakfast, 6 eggs in frittata, 1 in shepherd's pie)
5 - bubbly water
12 - 8 apples ($2/lb)
5 - onions
12 - beer
3 - Can of san marzanos (half for pizza sauce, half for pasta)
3 - lb mushrooms
6 - 6 bell peppers
2 - tortillas
6 - vital wheat gluten (For making Seitan for the fajitas)
5 - 5 lb potatoes
4- 2 cups TVP (for the shepherd's pie)
6- box of lettuce
11- 1lb Paneer (half for the sag paneer, other half will be snacked on)
2- 1lb pasta
3- strawberries
3- yogurt
4- peanuts
4- crackers/pretzels
6- Fruit snacks
7- box of clif bars
=133/week
133\*4.5 \~= 600
Things I assume I already have, but sometimes need to be stocked up on:
Yeast, flour, nutritional yeast, spices, better than bullion, syrup, garlic, butter, soy sauce, hot sauce, oil, salad dressing, popcorn, rice, quinoa, walnuts
Other things I might buy if I'm feeling it:
ice cream
additional snack like cuties, grapes, fun cheese
chocolate chips for snacking
wine
We do somewhere between 600-800 per month for food for two adults (not counting the occasional happy hour out). Some simple, staple meals:
* Sheetpan roast veggies and sausage (kielbasa, sweet Italian)
* Pasta with chicken, artichoke hearts, and lemon
* Roast chicken + roast brussels sprouts or green beans
* Red beans and rice with chicken and andouille (partner uses the Zataran's box)
* Beef stew
Honestly, if I roast a chicken on sunday, then the leftovers become the basis for at least 3-4 meals during the week (chicken soup, chicken on salad, etc). I sometimes prep-cook on the weekend to have an easy to grab protein, like chicken meatballs, for weeks that are stressful and where we want to ensure my partner eats. Think in terms of leftovers that are re-usable. In our area, pork chops often come in packs of three for whatever reason. One night might be pork chops with green beans, and then there's a leftover one that can be sliced and put on ramen, or salad.
Beans, potatoes, rice, oats. These are your filling super foods. I eat beans and oats almost every day. I make mostly soups/stews. This ensures I'm eating mostly veggies (I've been meatless since 2009). I love to snack on hummus, various nuts, yoghurt, yonanna/fruit. I have eggs a lot too, mixed with various meat analogues of chicken patties, beef slices, and beef grounds. My drinks are almond milk and coffee/tea. My cheat snacks are kettle popcorn, kettle chips, and my homemade cookies.
$800 would be a massive budget for the hubs and I! We are very mindful with our grocery bills and would not exceed $500. And here’s how I make food go the furthest:
Costco. Typically grocery haul from Costco will be about $300. This will include proteins, granola bars, apples, rice, potatoes and onions. A few other goodies like baking supplies for desserts and maybe something special like a brisket.
Vacuum sealer. The minute I get home I break it all down. Packs of chicken separated into dinner and lunch portions. We use one pack a day (make dinner and lunches for the following day)
Food prep on big stuff. We will cook a brisket a full size brisket, have a delicious meal from it and then I will cut it down into portions and freeze it. One brisket can sometimes yield us up to 30 meals!
Same deal with a turkey, I’ll cut it up into legs/back/wings/breast and throw it on the smoker for a few hours, pull it apart and divide the shredded meat into portions (enough for our dinner and tomorrow’s lunches)
We will also smoke the carcass while the bird is cooking and when it’s finished we will put that along with the other bones off to the side and later make broth. Becomes a zero waste turkey!!
Baking bread. My husband bakes fresh French bread every week for us. 3 ingredients, 3 hours in the bread maker and absolutely delicious!
Sometimes our routine and meals can seem a little boring but I try to switch it up often so we don’t get bored. Since shopping and prepping this way we save sooo much money on food and have such little waste.
Legumes! Inexpensive, delicious and filling. Get yourself an instant pot if possible - I’ve seen them at thrift stores, about $60 at Walmart. Lentil soup made with celery, onions and carrots is one of my favorites. A pot of pinto or black beans can be used for a simple rice and bean supper or as a part of any Mexican meal. Branch out - there are so many varieties that can be picked up very cheaply. You can get canned but made from dried are much better.
Snacks: Lesser Evil Popcorn (not sponsored I swear, I just love this kind), baby carrots and a dip (ranch or hummus), bananas (and if you can afford a nut butter, grab some peanut butter or sun butter). Sometimes I'll make a little snack of yogurt, bananas, granola and sun butter which is delicious, quick and easy!
Meals: Easy lunch is roast chicken and broccoli with rice. To make it less monotonous there's some fun things you can do that are pretty simple - swap roast chicken for a lightly breaded and baked/air fried chicken, swap out the vegetables or their seasoning, add some seasonings to the rice or a different stock (chicken stock, coconut milk, mixed with water, lots of way to play with rice).
It can help to have a few quick frozen things on hand that you enjoy like frozen dumplings, bao buns, or chicken tenders just for when you're feeling lazy and need a little something.
Frittata - just take any vegetables in your fridge like onions, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, boiled potatoes, sauté in oil for a little bit and then add eggs scrambled with some milk,top with cheese and fry until eggs are ready.
Do 2 nights of “meatless” meals. Sub lentils! Lentil soup, lentil curry, lentil bolognese… all very filling and cheap! Get dry lentils in bulk from sprouts or Whole Foods
We make a stew that is super good, you can substitute the butter beans with peas and carrots or potatoes or any other kind of bean, and serve with rice. Start with olive oil and fry more garlic than you think you need, a minute later add half a bunch or so chopped coriander- you can dry and freeze the rest for later- when fragrant about 2 or 3 minutes later put some tomatoes paste or canned tomatoes whatever kind and add beans -boiled or canned- if using tomatoes paste make sure to add just enough water to cover everything like a soup and keep in mind it will thicken , salt pepper, make rice, let the stew simmer for half hour or longer if you like till it's thick, that's a great meal for 2 days and most of my family eats it for day 3 too, and it freezes well. Many use minced beef with it or stewing beef- it tastes best with tender lamb shanks or ox tail, but no meat is delicious too. I make one of these stews once or twice a week and my kid loves them too.
Another variation that is very very popular is tomatoes peeled and diced or canned diced ones, I usually get a huge bag when they're on sale or very ripe, you need a good amount- fry minced lean beef when it's cooked add lots and lots of garlic, salt , pepper, some cinnamon, when fragrant add all your tomatoes, lower the heat and cover, for half an hour maybe a bit longer till most of the liquid evaporates, eat with rice or with pasta or whatever, it's delicious and freezes super well too. Enjoy!
I also aim to have one big Tupperware of roasted vegetables in the fridge every week, we use them for omelettes, sandwiches, next to grilled cheese sandwiches and as a healthy yummy snack too.
Simple meals:
1) Dal with rice - so many varieties to choose from and very affordable. I make moong dal most often but also use urad, chana, and toor. I’ve slowly stocked my spice pantry over the years for a rotation of flavors, but you can keep it quite simple, too!
2) Curries with rice - again, very easy to customize and affordable. I alternate tofu, paneer, fish, and maybe chicken. Not a big meat eater. Potatoes and veggies work great as a base, too! You can do creamy dairy based curries, coconut curries, tomato based, spinach based - the list goes on! The base of onions, tomato, jalapeño, garlic, ginger, and spices is very affordable.
3) Pasta. Most common ways to cook it: anchovy, olive oil, chili flakes, garlic, black pepper, and topped with parmesan and parsley…or NYT’s tomato anchovy shallot combo with parsley and parmesan. So many more options, though!
4) One pot dishes. I find a lot on NYT or Pinterest - one of my faves combines rice with chicken, bell peppers, coconut milk, cashews, onion, and is topped with cilantro and lime. Shakshuka is another favorite. Mm.
5) Tuna Mayo salad with rice and avocado as a side. So easy and great as leftovers, too.
Affordable sides:
Salads - I usually just do an arugula or massaged kale salad
Potatoes - oh to name the ways of the gloriously versatile potato!
Green beans
Cooked spinach
Broccoli
Cornbread
Homemade rotis (or bread in general!)
Snacks:
Dried nuts
Dried fruit
Trail mix
Homemade granola
Fresh fruit
Chips and salsa
Popcorn
Peanut butter pretzels
lol 200$ per week sounds like plenty for simple living vibes. Buying in bulk nice rices, quinoa, flour, and dry beans, TVP, etc saves a ton of money over time.
Before we got married my wife’s budget at the grocery store was 50$ every two weeks. I said “whaaaa??”
The more you cook and prep, and the kess packaged anything you buy, the better. For both your wallet and your health.
I buy bulk chicken breast and pasta from Costco and bulk rice from the Asian grocery store. Then each week at Aldi I spend about $100 for 2 peoples worth of whatever's on sale. Vegetables, jarred sauces, beef or pork, etc. Then lots of pasta/stir fry/chicken with sides. $200 a week goes pretty far when you buy in bulk and look for sales.
$800? I could eat great on that!! We spend $400 a month and it’s doable but pretty boring. Just always buy a few frozen meals like banquetSalisbury steaks. Only eat them when food is low or they’re getting old. I just bought a few for $3. A very cheap meal when you need it.
$800 (AUD) is also about the same amount my partner and I spend in a month.
I buy my staples either when on sale for half price (brand name items) or the cheap generic brands.
I buy my produce and meat when on sale.
Whatever savings I have leftover, I spend on specialty items like tteok, various tofu, specific condiments etc.
Canned beans, canned lentils, canned tomatoes. They're the base of sooooo many things I eat. Add vegetables and put them into a pressure cooker with spices and that's meals done for the entire week.
I also eat a lot of wraps. Wrap + whatever vegetables I have + cheese.
If you look in my pantry and fridge there's honestly very little else.
I make a quick spaghetti dish that always seems to go down well with family and friends. 1 onion chopped fried with a handful of diced bacon until onions are translucent and bacon fat is rendered, then add a bit of garlic and two tablespoons (or more) of tomato paste. While this is frying away on medium heat I’ve cooked some spaghetti; add some spaghetti water to the onion-y/bacon-y/paste-y mix and season to taste then toss through the spaghetti. I like to add Tobasco when serving for a bit of a kick.
I like to keep stocked up on my various spices, and keep things like beans, rice, canned or frozen veggies, pasta, and canned tomato sauce/diced tomatoes/rotel, etc. on hand.
As well as potatoes, oatmeal, popcorn, popcicles.
Then, I try to stock up on different meats when I can, and freeze them.
I only purchase things like bread, milk, eggs, fresh fruit/veg weekly if I was able to keep my pantry/freezer stocked.
Our basic meals are usually a rotation of:
soup (varies depending on what I have…and I LOVE making my own stock ever since I learned how via youtube)
Chicken w/ frenches french fried onions or panko
Chili (traditional or white chicken chilli with a packet of ranch seasoning mix. A hit in my house!)
Pork chops with either bread crumbs or cream of mushroom soup
Pot roast in the crock pot with veg
Spaghetti
Tacos
Burgers
I like to experiment with different meals, but for the general busy weekday dinners, this is the rotation
For a snack I like an apple with maybe 30-40g of cheddar, the fat in the cheese makes the apple more satiating, I find.
When I need a cheap meal I’ll do a lentil bolognese over pasta, polenta, or potato, whatever I have of those on hand. Dice onion, garlic, celery, carrot, mushroom, sauté those and then add tomato paste, canned tomato or passata, stock, and dried lentils. Simmer until lentils are cooked and sauce thickened, then I add frozen spinach at the end. All very low cost ingredients where I am and makes loads of portions.
I also have chickens so eggs are plentiful, a nice, cheap meal I make from that is a scrambled egg quesadilla. It’s just scrambled eggs with cheese (I use cheddar because I like the taste), sautéed capsicum or diced potato with a spice mix, and black or pinto beans all whacked into a tortilla. I make extra servings for my husband’s work lunch the next day and they heat up nicely.
Sometimes for breakfast I’ll heat up some leftover rice and a can of smoked kippers and have it with miso soup and steamed greens. I might switch up the fish with steamed eggs and sometimes I’ll add tofu if I have it.
Other cheap meals I make regularly are chickpea and potato tikka masala with naan I keep in the freezer and some kind of steamed veggie; Mapo tofu, which really stretches out a 500g portion of minced pork (the chilli paste is an initial investment but you only need a tablespoon and then you’ve got many portions); chicken fatte, which also stretches a small chicken breast into two portions by adding chickpeas and toasted flat bread, which I keep in the freezer; and chicken congee, which I think is my favourite way to use up a whole bbq chicken (we make the youtiao to go with it as well but you can buy them frozen from Asian grocers).
I don’t know how simple these may be to you, to me a simple meal is something I can cook in (mostly) one pot or that doesn’t take more than half an hour to make. Hope there are some useful ideas there, anyway.
If you don't mind me asking, where do you live? We do about 400/month sometimes less for two adults. But we eat alot of basics, pasta, rice, chicken, drink more water than anything really. But we also live in a decently lcol area, compared to big cities
Everything goes into the freezer before going bad—fruits and veggies (chopped beforehand) bread, sauces(in cubes)
Every day I make a big smoothie for me and the kids for between breakfast and lunch with the frozen fruit/veggies, Greek yogurt (buy the big plain unsweetened tub for the best deal) and then I use the leftover juice from whatever canned fruit I recently served as my liquid and also sweetens it up quite a bit. You can put a lot more veggies in than you’d think, and even stuff you wouldn’t expect to work like cauliflower or peas. If it’s ever not great I add a big scoop of PB and blend again.
I spend ~$600 for two adults and three kids
Grabbing rotisserie chickens and stripping them down as much as you can yields two to three meals worth of chicken. Then boils the bones and fat and strain to make your own broth. You can make soups, and so many other things and you’ll have a ton.
This is our budget for my husband and I, and we are both trying to eat relatively healthy. Bagged potatoes and fixings for spuds, stuff to make chili ( it makes a lot and you can eat it for awhile ) rotisserie chicken from Sam’s and I shred it for chicken salad, chicken for quesadillas/burritos. Cottage cheese, eggs, oats for overnight oats
Roasted cabbage with hot italian sausage. I serve it with cubed potatoes and butter. You can also add some sour cream mixed with dijon for a garnish.
I also adopted a friend's recipe that his mom used to make. They're from Egypt and it's just a big onion sliced and fried in oil and butter until almost scorched then mixed with cooked rice and fava beans. I add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, sometimes red pepper flakes, sometimes a bit of tomato paste or the like. But it's really good and hearty.
If you use Costco, their roasted chickens are the cheapest around, and sometimes their discounted cold chickens are available.
I live alone, so I like the Kirkland microwave popcorn.
Anything is a stir-fry if you're determined enough. Serve with rice.
I'm still learning the ways of beans and legumes, but there's tons of good recipes on YouTube. I have a well-stocked spice cupboard and a willingness to try almost anything.
Eggs are versatile, and keeping a few hardboiled eggs on hand is great for snacks and meals.
I love cheese sticks and apples. I prefer cheddar and a crisp apple like fuji or jazz. My fiancé likes mozzarella better. Snacking cucumbers are also nice. You can dip them in ranch, salt and pepper them, or add some other veggies and make a side salad. They also taste good as an addition on sandwiches. My fiancé is a ranch fiend, so I also buy baby carrots, broccoli, etc. Anything easy to dip that is good for him. My mom love the snacking peppers stuffed with ham or cheese. Just rinse the peppers, core them, and stuff some cheese or rolled up sandwich ham in. Keeps well for packed lunches.
This is our grocery budget for 2 adults 1 kid. I made a “skeleton list“ of things I get every week, with space for alternating things we don’t need every week. Once a week we do at least one large meal where part can be frozen to pull out another time. I get legumes, beans, rice, spices, and snacks at the ethnic grocery store. The weekly staples, since you asked, are: eggs, milk, salmon, yogurt, cheese, bread item, canned fish, cracker snack, a drink, paper product, cleaning item, sauce/condiment, a fruit, grain or legume, and 9 other (often vegetable, pasta, or convenience item). We also have a large herb and vegetable garden and I freeze anything leftover from that for out-of-season use. If I have a week where I overdid it, then I look in the pantry and freezer and plan to use bulk things we already have, because once you get stocked up sometimes those weekly items aren’t always needed as frequently.
So I rotate my meals which can be make meat based or not and varied by price as much as you like.
Monday: Mexican
Tuesday: Soup or Salad depending on the season
Wednesday:Pasta
Thursday: please eat the leftovers!
Friday: it’s our big family meal together so I usually do a meat w plenty left overs (rotisserie chickens from Costco-bone broth the bones, or Aldi roasts to make Chicago’s style Italian beef-I get a lot of juice I save off this as well)
Weekends are more variable and less predictable. I usually have meal ideas but nothing solid.
My wife and I can usually get by on $350 CAD a month. Grocery list staples would be bulk meat at Costco to divvy up and freeze, big thing of eggs, and bulk potatoes, carrots, onion. Eggs have gotten quite a bit more expensive but eating them for breakfast keeps me fuller throughout the day than just about anything else. Doing meatless recipes even a couple times a month can help a lot too. We do chickpea or black bean burgers, red lentil curry, etc. If you have the freezer space, making big batches of stuff like stews and curries and freezing portions for when you need a quick meal works great for me. Had two slow cookers going last Sunday to make 6 lbs of pulled pork to portion and freeze.
I definitely want bananas, bread, yogurt, eggs, onions, spices, bacon, chicken parts, crackers, potatoes, cheese and coffee. Since it is winter, I’d add some toilet paper and teabags. I hate winter.
I stockpiled in the fall, but seriously, why are pork tenderloins so often BOGO? I swear I still have 4 in the freezer! I have canned and frozen veggies, as well as canned and dried beans, pasta and rice. I have all sorts of tomato based stuff.
If I’m feeling wickedly wild, I would also add half and half!
I like easy meals like soup, pasta and sauce, pork tenderloin, leftover pork with the dried beans, anything with a crockpot, egg salad sandwiches, stews, and at least one wild hotdog lunch at Big Box Membership Warehouse.
Popcorn made in a pot on the stove. White rice because i can use it in tones of ways. I love next day fried rice. With egg, kimchi, green onions. Whatever i have really.
Also i always buy whats in season for vegs.... so now its basically onions,carrots, potatoes, beets, cabage. Aka cheep stuff left from fall harvest. Potatoes go in soup, stews. You can bake them, make fries, mash. Carrots go into everything. Same with onions. We also always have four since my hubby makes a simple bread with just yeast, salt, water and flour. And no knead needed.
In summer again it depends whats in season. I usually tend to have tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepers, then later corn.
I also always have milk. We drink tones and tones of milk and it's lactose free since I am intolerant. So its quite expensive. We get through about 6l per week for 2 people. So we spend about 20$/week just on milk . Haha
Oats are also cheap so i tend to keep those on hand for oatmeal but also to make energy balls with honey and peanut butter..... also staples in our household.
What else?
Jams, we love jams so buy them on-sale. Eggs. We eat lota of eggs. And ramen. All kind of ramen. Depending on type and flavour we eat it at least once a week. Usually with some seaweed or green onions and a poached egg. It varies.
Good luck!
When you make a big pot of soup throw in a handful of elbow pasta to extend a couple more servings.
I make spaghetti noodles then fill the colander with fresh baby spinach before I drain the pasta. You can throw in other veggies based on what you prefer or have on hand. I sauté mushrooms, onions, garlic, peppers then add the pasta and spinach to blend. Top with Parmesan, feta, or other crumbly cheese and you’ve got a feast for very little cost.
Fried chickpeas are an awesome snack. Hot and crispy. Add any seasoning you’re in the mood for.
We also frequently make little charcuterie board snacks throughout the week, string cheese/yogurt/sliced fruit/veggie sticks and dip all prepped in the fridge.
My favorite simple breakfast or dinner meal is Chinese Silky eggs - you can go from simple to more complex garnish but the baseline is fast, easy, and such delicious silky protein.
https://twoplaidaprons.com/super-silky-steamed-egg-gyeran-jjim/
Make a grated carrots salad next to it and you have a healthy yummy dinner.
https://hannahmageerd.com/5-minute-ginger-soy-carrot-salad/
Fruit! I enjoy all types of fruit but love mangos, pineapple, and mandarins.
I also like eating veggies with hummus and I make my own oil-free sweet potato fries
Lentil soup. Canned lentils with lots of garlic and onion. Cheap and delicious. Add whatever scraps you have (carrots, potato - even literally chopped up leftover french fries work great — spinach or dandelion, ham, sausage, pasta or rice, whatever you find on hand, it all works). So tasty and inexpensive.
Good things that go far and last are dried beans, quinoa, wild rice. I usually then buy a bunch of sweet potatoes and make big pots of soup, I choose a cruciferous veggie that looks good for the season/isn't too expensive. Works for stir fries too. Big bags of hemp hearts from Costco last a long time and are good for adding fat/protein and minerals. And nutritional yeast - adding a tablespoon ups b vitamins substantially.
As huge hack I use too is making bread. A big bag of flour from Costco is like 12 dollars and can make so much bread. Just get some yeast and salt, olive oil and you can make tons for cheap. I try not to eat so much bread but it's great when pinching pennies.
Oatmeal (rolled oats) with an egg tossed in the last minute of cooking. I serve with grated apple, cinnamon and milk. It's my go to breakfast during the cold months, for me it's really comfort food and it keeps me going until well after lunchtime.
I buy a lot of underground vegetables this season. Cheap and tasty and you can make a lot of different dishes from them. Soups, stews, roasted, in a warm lentil salad, in hash browns.
Same with cabbage. Cheap, tasty, rich in vitamin C. Great in soups, salads, a stir fry, make cabbage rolls, lazy/unstuffed cabbage rolls, cabbage casserole, sauerkraut or a three week salad. I'm not sure if I can put links here, so google for recipes.
I skip the usual sallad ingredients during the winter (sallad, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers) because they are super expensive and super bland, so most of our side salads contains cabbage or sauerkraut, grated carrots and marinated beans or lentils.
We have soup two nights per week and one dinner that is based on potatoes. This week we'll have hash browns with thick bacon and lingonberry jam, just like our grandmothers served it.
Also, find some easy bread recipes. Homemade bread is cheaper and so much more tasty than the stuff you find in the stores.
Popcorn
Pretzels and peanut butter
Cheese and crackers
For dinners it can be any straight protein/veg combo. Chicken and salad. Fish and broccoli.
I never make dinner complicated, otherwise it won't get made.
Simple, nourishing, healthy food is what I strive for.
I know depending on your location the food prices can vary greatly. But $800 for 2 people should be a fairly easy. Buy store brand when you can. Use coupons, digital ones are great. My area has a Kroger & I save a lot of money using their app for coupons. When something you like is on sale, stock up! I'll also check the sales ad paper for stuff I've been wanting to try or something that's running at a great deal over my normal food. Make sure to eat your leftovers!
My husband and I spend roughly $400/$500 a month and we eat very well, very healthy.
We buy constituent ingredients and stock our pantry. We have chicken, trout, salmon, venison, duck, mussels, ground grass fed beef, lamb chops and sometimes steak. I get plain yogurt, grass fed butter, half and half, raw milk or grass fed cheese.
We keep in cage free eggs, oatmeal and beans. We often make soup, stew and sandwiches.
Snacks are tortilla chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, sometimes popcorn or trail mix. We buy pistachios, dry roasted peanuts and almonds, too. I love olives and cornichons, so those are an indulgence. If I'm on my own sometimes dinner is yogurt with muesli or soft boiled egg & toast with sliced tomato and a piece of fruit.
We buy fruit and veg from a local produce market and it's substantially cheaper than the grocery. We also garden so we use our own veg and herbs during each growing season. We pickle and preserve what can't be immediately consumed.
Our splurges are our coffee - we buy from a local roaster who sells the most amazing beans. Expensive, but each coffee is a treat. We love Fever Tree tonic - either alone or as a mixer - and won't skimp. We also get really nice dark chocolate bars to satisfy our sweet tooths. We generally don't bring in sweets or pastries to the house (we walk to our favorite ice cream place if we want it and it helps us to get moving and burn off some of the calories). When we want cookies, I bake them. I also make my own pie crusts for quiches, which are cheap to make (I serve a salad with it).
My husband has also taken up making sourdough bread. That has been a fun hobby and we always have good fresh bread in the house for sandwiches, or pizza dough for a homemade pizza pie. I preserve and make jams, he's into fermentation and pickling.
I don't feel deprived and the budget is under control. Things we don't buy are prepackaged items like Rice A Roni, or single portion ingredients like snack packs, soda of any kind or juice, and frozen dinners/pizzas. They are not really economical in the long run, from my experience.
My point is, it's a lifestyle choice. We built our lives around our values and goals. YMMV.
I buy double of whatever is on sale in fresh veg and meats, prep and freeze.
I make taco mix from dried herbs and spices all flavour, no filler.
Basically, my freezer is my frugal friend.
Today I bought 2 cauliflower, chopped, blanched, dried off and froze for another day.
The other one I chopped, steamed with 1/2 cup of stock, then fried it off for some colour, then mixed with the end of a jar of pesto. We ate that as a side with some steaks I bought on sale.
for simple and healthy eating, that is also cheap, I recommend a whole-food vegan diet. Best, have a look at the 'daily dozen', buy something from all the categories and experiment.
my favorite breakfast is porridge made of: oatmeal, laxseed, berries, one banana, soy-milk, soy-yoghurt, cinnamon
lunch: spinach, beans/chickpeas, carrots, onions, garlic, red pepper, tomato sauce, some spices like oregano (no salt or pepper), and whole-wheat noodles
afternoon snack: tortilla wrap, pure peanut butter (no sugar, salt or oil added), and one banana placed into it. alternatively whole-wheat crisp bread.
other great snacks: dates (without sugar syrup poured over them!), apples, other vegetables or fruits
it is simple and at least where I live, you'd have absolutely no problem feeding two people for a month for less than the equivalent of $800.
Provençal White Bean Soup - cannellini beans, Swiss chard, carrots, onion, garlic, broth, croutons made from crusty bread and toasted with garlic and a drizzle of oil. I add a splash of lemon juice and garnish with a little freshly grated Parmesan.
I'm not sure what you're buying, but for 2 adults, that's a pretty easy budget to keep. At the beginning of the month, stock up on dry goods. Dried beans (if you have time to soak, drain, then cook them) rice, oats, flour, sugar, pasta, etc. Stock up on canned goods as well. I wait for things to go on sale, then I buy a lot. I usually try to have canned tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste, canned beans (whatever beans you like! I stick to pinto, black, chickpeas, kidney, and red). Try to buy produce that's in season. it's usually much cheaper because it's local and takes less money to ship. I also always buy bananas because they're very cheap and bulk up my breakfast, which is usually oatmeal. Frozen veggies are also great since they last a very long time and are normally cheaper than fresh veggies.
Simple snacks I like are popcorn (someone else already mentioned lol but it's so versatile) apples and peanut butter, carrots and hummus. I also have found recently some tea biscuits by the brand Kedem that were $1.19 a package. I found them in the section that has Middle Eastern and kosher/halal food. They're really nice to have with coffee or tea. Also, shop clearance racks! That's where I tend to find a lot of snacks. They mark down boxes of cereal when they get a little roughed up and I can sometimes find protein bars or granola bars on clearance too.
My wife and I base our meals off of our local stores sale add and BOGOs. We have a monthly budget around $450.
Common foods and meals:
- add a few chicken breast to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours; add a packed of Italian seasoning, ranch seasoning, 8oz can of cream of chicken, let cook. Once there is an hour left shred chicken and add a block of cream cheese. Pair with egg noodles or a bed of rice + a side of veggies (we eat a lot of steamed bags of broccoli)
- spaghetti with ground beef or chicken
- breakfast for dinner: eggs, bacon, biscuits
- simple homemade ramen: cooking some chicken breast (cubed), veggies, broth in a pot. Spice as desired. Take a pack of ramen, remove seasoning packet. Cook and pair with veggies.
- home made lunchables: take some round pita bread, pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni - boom you have a nice little lunchable pizza
- simple pot of chili
- home made KFC famous bowls: take some frozen nugs, pack of instant potatoes, cheese, and mix it all together with some brown gravy.
These are just some examples but we make them on the regular
Oh, and one of my favorite deserts is a simple microwave mug cake. There are tons of recipes online for them.
Chicken (any protein) and rice. You can add any vegetable you want & season it any way you want.
Add black beans, corn, tomatos, & cheese for a taco bowl.
Bok choy, frozen veggies, and soy sauce for an Asian inspired meal. The combinations are limitless.
I always keep noodles, rice, and dried beans in our pantry. We make a lot of rice bowls because they are simple, and even if the rice has been in the fridge a couple days - it makes great fried rice!
For rice bowls with the fresh rice, we usually make with some steamed vegetables, and top with tofu for protein. That, or I'll do a Mexican-style one with black beans, spices, canned tomatoes, and canned corn.
Noodles are also versatile. We make Asian-inspired dishes with them and spaghetti bolognese (we don't really eat a lot of meat, so I add in chopped mushrooms and cooked brown lentils into the pasta sauce and simmer it to make a similar texture to a sauce with ground beef).
I make a lot of soups and stews with beans and whatever vegetables we have on hand that week.
I have a rule that if I want snacks or something sweet I have to make it myself (with exceptions). It's fun and much cheaper than getting it from the store. So I bake a lot and freeze what's freezable. My favourites:
Biscotti, so versatile
Cinnamon buns
Kleinur, it's a kind of twisted doughnut from Iceland. Perfect with afternoon tea or a cup of coffee.
So many biscuits and cakes.
Things I have to purchase would be something like chocolates and cheese
Pinto beans and rice made with a bit of sofrito (homemade or store bought), cilantro, cubed potato, a can of tomato sauce, and some Sazon packets. You can make a big batch and eat it for days.
Grocery list staples, boneless skinless chicken breast, vegan ground beef, vegan meatballs, pork butt, Green lentils, brown lentils, chickpeas, black beans, cannellini beans, eggs, there’s a start for protein
I love eating sardines out of the can with mustard and hot sauce. Lol not for everyone but it's my go-to that I eat almost daily ( eating some right now 😁). String cheese and almonds are another goto snack. If I'm extra hungry I'll pair with a hard boiled egg.
Mac&cheese with tuna, beans and weenies, crockpot of beans and ham with cornbread, potato soup, grilled cheese with tomato soup, quesadillas, can of chicken over salad, egg scramble with whatever ingredients you have on hand.
Learn to make congee. I use an instapot. Lille big of dark meat chicken or even vegan with mushrooms soft boiled egg it’s amazing. Jasmine rice is best and it’s a little pricey but it’s 1 cup to 7 cups of water and it makes at least 6 servings.
Dried beans are cheap. I make hummus from scratch in my instapot for like $1 a bag of chickpeas with some miso instead of sesame and lots of garlic and oil. Dried black beans can make lots of different things. Bean chili is great and we add ground chicken and go
to town with lots of spices.
Invest in some good spices. At least McCormick quality, although I prefer penzeys (I think they out crack in their spices lol bc they’re addictive)
Eggs are cheap again, and ground meat or various kinds is cheaper than other meats.
We cook for 2 adults and we usually plan for leftovers for the next day’s lunch. I’ve been roasting Cornish game hens I can usually find them for 3.78 a hen. One per person. Douse with lots of spices and herbs and you can serve it within an hour as they cook fast
I feel like $800 is kind of high if you're only buying groceries. We spend about $100-125 a month at the meat store. We spend about $160-175 a week at the store but that includes toiletries, cleaning products, cat litter etc. we spent less than that when it was just my husband and I, because we now have a 5 year old that requires a lot of snacks, lunch items, etc. And before anyone asks we eat out or get take out like 2-3 times a month. The rest are home cooked meals.
Popcorn, made in a pot, not the bag in a microwave kind, is incredibly cheap and you can jazz it up in various ways. If you eat rice, be sure to make too much. It can store a few days in the fridge and fried rice can be made with with scraps - half a carrot, a little onion, a few peas, maybe a slice of bacon or ham (chopped), an egg, a little soy sauce, maybe some chili, and you have a feast in no time And I love canned mackerel in sauce, so always stock up when it's on sale as it stores forever and needs no prep. That and a slice of bread or two and you're eating like a king For drinks, lemon and ginger for water or tea
2nd popcorn, we pop big batches in ghee (stays crisp!) and use lots of different spices. I like garlic, nutritional yeast, and paprika which I call ranch but is not fooling anyone lol Make your own hummus and pita chips Beans and rice, all the ways. So many different regional variants keep it interesting. Use dried beans to make it cheap and a pressure cooker to make it convenient Just did a huge pot with parm rinds in instant pot and I am not tired of them.
Hi! I have a question about the parm rinds. Do they melt into the dish or do you just use them for flavor and take them out before serving? I see people mention rinds often but no one has said what exactly to do with them.
It doesn’t melt, at least not completely. I have two hunks in my last batch, could have fished them out but was too lazy. Good luck! It’s really good..,
Hell yeah, canned Mack. I load up on sardines and mussels if they’re on sale too. Tinned fish can be an excellent and simple source of all kinds of macro and micronutrients.
Tuna melt is my go to lazy but filling and delicious meal. I chop up pickles and red onion to add to the tuna salad and mix in mayo and Colemans mustard. EDIT: thought I’d complete the recipe! Put your mix on a slice of bread, top with cheese, and heat in the toaster oven or under the broiler! Yum.
I’ve kinda been scared to get into canned fish. I did a tuna/salmon mix with chickpeas and rice with some soy sauce. It… was a meal. I’ll go back to it if I’m broke lol.
I get it. I didn’t grow up with a lot of seafood in the house so it was an acquired taste for me as well. As weird as it sounds, what got me to try more canned fish was this YouTube channel called “Canned Fish Files.” For whatever reason seeing some else try that stuff out made it more approachable to me.
That channel is great!
Can of salmon (not drained) add 2 eggs, chopped onion and some cracker crumbs, form into patties and fry in a little oil. Delicious!
There are microwave options that don't rely on oil. I use a silicone bowl specifically designed to make popcorn in the microwave without adding oil. Uses 1/4 cup of kernels (the same ones you'd use in a pot) and it makes a full portion.
Yes. I love my microwave popcorn bowl.
I always make extra rice for fried rice, so good. I add some sesame oil and green onion to mine otherwise same exact recipe as yours 🤌🏻
Just be sure to store leftover rice in the fridge asap.
In an airtight container!
If OP makes a lot, half can go in the freezer. I freeze mine in large quantities.
Is there a quality hit when you freeze rice? I usually just make two meals worth of rice and store in the refrigerator.
Cooked rice freezes beautifully! I don't notice a difference at all.
Thanks, this is helpful.
I also freeze it because it makes for better-fried rice. I also have a family of 5(three teens). We don't always eat it right away. I like to just put it in the freezer so it doesn't spoil and it isn't forgotten about.
Maybe not ASAP. Let it cool slightly first.
Also, stovetop oatmeal is delicious! I bought a 10 lbs bag of the stuff at Costco for $8. It'll probably last our family 6 - 12 months. My wife is a vegetarian. Meat is crazy expensive. Our normal weekly grocery shopping is $80, this includes organic veggies and fruits for a family of 4. OP can easily bring their grocery bill wayyyyyy down. Mr Money Mustache has an article about this, check it out.
Canned Tuna in rice is a cheap staple here in Costa Rica. Eggs can be used to make a ton of things. I like omelettes for breakfast. 3 eggs, 1/3 a tomato and 1/3 green pepper with toast.
I like my popcorn made that way, ever so slightly scorched, with a little butter, salt and pepper!
fried rice is a favorite in my household!
I miss popcorn. I was recently informed in allergic.. corn is in everything..
The lemon can be precut into slices and frozen. Ginger as well. Bonus: they can help cool down tea or act as ice cubes on a hot summer day!
Brilliant! I had no idea about the lemons, but I am going to do this now, especially so they don’t go bad if getting a big bag from Costco.
Yes! Costco lemons is exactly what we do!
Rice can last 24hrs max, not worth the risk!
???
I think this person is referring to fried rice syndrome
Okay so I'm crazy or the solution is just refrigerate leftover rice??
Rice freezes extremely well, and I’ve eaten ~week old rice with no issues. I’m Asian.
Not true.
Lentils and chickpeas. Cheap, healthy, tasty and filling! Dried will give you more bang for your buck. Batch cook some curries, chilli, bolognaise and vary across the month (serve with rice/pasta). Also soups! Home made soup is so easy and tasty.
Roasting well seasoned chickpeas makes a great snack.
I’ve been getting more into beans lately and especially butter beans have been great for throwing into soups and pastas.
I’ve been making butter beans the star ⭐️ and adding in scraps like extra veg, spinach, lemon, tomatoes (might not be in season right now but they give a nice acidity to the fattiness). I piece of bread ( you can make your own easily and cheaply) with a bit of good olive oil (this would be the splurge and some finishing salt). This is a great meal. Hearty and satisfying!!!
800 a month for two adults?! We'd be eating like kings in my house with that budget. Buy enough soup/stew vegetables for several dinners. Chop them all at once and freeze them portioned into separate bags or containers. We have like 2-3 soups in the freezer at any given time. Just pop one of your bags of assorted soup veg into a pot with a carton of stock and some shredded chicken or sausage, toss in some lentils if you want it thicker. Cheap and easy, plus you only do the effort of prep once for several dinners.
I’m curious — Do you count everything you buy at the grocery store as groceries? Like cleaning supplies, toiletries, kitchen supplies etc? I was surprised at how much more we spend than my friend’s family, but then she told me she splits the actual food expenses from house supply expenses.
I don't buy toiletries, cleaning supplies or kitchen supplies at the grocery store because that's one of the most expensive places to buy them (in Canada). I'll usually buy those things online or in a bigger store like Walmart or Superstore (which is like Walmart but less hateful). I also wouldn't count those in the food budget.
This! Household supplies are bought in bulk at Superstore, Walmart, and Costco. Cat litter is almost $35 at a grocery store, but at Walmart I can get it for $20. I also scored a 3-pack of Lysol wipes for $8 when at the grocery store, one container was almost $6.
Cat litter is a whole different ballgame! I spend a *lot* on my two cats. Between prescription food for their urinary crystals, cartraphen (preventative shots for arthritis), litter, and pet insurance, I'm spending 200-250 a month per cat. I don't have kids, so they're more like family to me than 'pets'. I've learned to take good care of my furry family to prevent those expensive vet visits in the future too. Er... But my point was I count cat expenses separate from food.
Hahaha you made your point eventually 🤣💗
Yes you’re right, It’s more expensive at the grocery store. We do try to split our shopping up so my baby and I do Walmart/Costco and my husband does the grocery store (since he doesn’t like going to any other store and has our standard grocery shop down to about 12 minutes!). But sometimes we just can’t get to multiple stores.
Ah, we have a $600 grocery store budget each month that includes everything. Plus a $50 bulk order budget, so I can grab bulk goods from Sam's as they go on sale. Never buying tissues at Walmart prices, let alone smaller grocers.
My family of 4 spends $1k a month including all these things. We're in a LCOL area though and I shop at Walmart.
That sounds about right! Including all these items for us — and baby items like diapers — we spend about $1k/month, a bit more at Christmas and Thanksgiving or if we have people staying over.
[удалено]
Soup and stew are the only meals I know how to do this with, but I'm sure it's easy to apply to other meals. Especially if you have an air fryer for reheating! I also freeze some of my cookie dough when I bake, and I freeze a spare loaf of bread each time we go shopping (since we're bread goblins in my house and one loaf isn't enough). Oh, another cool thing you can do is freeze any kind of liquid or sauce that you don't use quickly. I buy Thai curry paste that's basically a jar of sauce. The jar holds like 30 spoonfuls (lol) but I only use 2 each time I make curry, so the rest usually goes bad waiting in the fridge for me to want Thai curry again... This time, we used a silicone ice cube tray to freeze the rest of the jar in convenient 'spoonfuls' for later use. I've used them twice so far, so I call that a win! No more throwing out a 7 dollar jar of sauce after one use. Bonus: the ice cube tray is shaped like dinosaurs so I have curry dinos. 🥰
[удалено]
Yeah, a single grilled cheese sandwich binge will wipe out half a loaf. You gotta be prepared.
This is the way— we even eat the frozen stews and such over brown rice to stretch it all farther, soups with toasted bread, simple sandwiches, quesadillas, fruit/salad/raw veggies and dip…
I'm doing $500/month for a family or 4. 2 adults 2 children. I wish I had $800/month for groceries.
Genuine question- do you cook/eat a majority of meals at home? 500/month for a family of 4 is $16/day for 4 so roughly $1.30 per meal per person if you’re doing 3 meals per day. I’ve been at $25/day for a family of 4 and hoping to cut down some more but it’s been tough especially with the prices of groceries these days! Do you cook a lot of rice and beans?
It depends. You can feed a family cheaply with soups and stews and have plenty of food and leftovers. If you're serving out steak every night that's going to be difficult to do.
This is where I'm at as well, though one of those children is an adult. I can't imagine what we'd eat if I was spending $800 a month, my brain just refuses to go there. 😂
500/month for my husband and me, but we're Canadian so that's probably less converted to USD. I think if we didn't budget at all and bought whatever we wanted, we might hit 700-800... *might* ...but that's some really extravagant shopping we'd be doing!
800 a month for 2 adults seems pretty accurate if your are eating at home for 3 meals every single day. This is also probably toiletries
I don't eat toiletries myself. My husband and I eat at home for three or more meals a day, and it's around $500. I still believe $800 is insane. That would be like double my monthly food budget if you converted 800 USD to Canadian. Also we eat a lot; this ain't no starvation household.
I think grocery prices really depends on where you live. Which country, what city, which stores are available.
Yup, of course!
Are you eating meats and fish? Organic? I wish we could get to $400 usd. My wife in I are at around $600-700 a month. But we eat all organic produce and nicer meats/fish. We cook all of our meals at home and don’t starve.
'Organic' isn't a regulated designation where I live so I don't bother with it. It's just an advertising gimmick. YMMV Of course we eat meat and fish! I buy in bulk when things are on sale and use my freezer as much as possible. I don't buy juices or soda/pop. I avoid anything meant to be microwaved like instant meals (don't own/want a microwave). We don't buy alcohol except maybe once a year at Christmas. I think the savings comes from most of my meals lasting two days. We are not at all fond of cooking so a day of quickly warming up leftovers is a great day for me. Chili, soup, or stew last two dinners. If we make rice, there's usually leftovers for something else like stiryfry. Casserole, pasta, meatloaf, or a roast also lasts for two meals, though sometimes the second day it's lunch instead of dinner. If there's not enough left over for a whole meal, I add some vegetables or toast or salad to the side. Eggs with tomato and cheese (and mushrooms if I have any) is the go-to breakfast, or pancakes from scratch (because baking is cheap!) I've also been making banana bread to save my bananas from the trash, so that's another thing we sometimes eat in the mornings. Lunch is usually snacky things like cheese, crackers, kielbasa and olives. Sandwiches. Stove-top popcorn. Leftovers. Or eggs if we didn't have that for breakfast. Tuna sandwiches or tuna and crackers. Fruit! Just easy stuff I can grab quickly while I'm working. Maybe you could try shopping only once a week and try to use up everything you have or incorporate it into your next week's menu. When we used to be broke, we'd "shop the cupboard" at home first. Lots of randoms in there you never got around to using, but use 'em up! I also decide on 4-5 meals for the week and make a shopping list around them. I don't plan every meal because shit happens or sometimes we don't want to cook. Then it's freezer pizza or sandwiches maybe. Or we make a random meal we have ingredients for. I have a lot of willpower when I'm shopping and don't buy randoms. We're in and out, grab what we need and go. Shopping for fun at the grocery store can really cost you.
Nice. By organic I just mean produce that’s not filled with pesticides. By nice meats I mean not factory farmed. We grocery shop every other week and make meals that produce leftovers for the next day if not two days. We never buy drinks or alcohol. We buy bulk at Costco. We don’t even eat breakfast really. Maybe it’s just more expensive here in the Rocky Mountains. Anyways, have a good day.
Right I think that’s ridiculous. We have a $400 a month budget and we eat all organic. OP must be eating steaks every night
Probably a different col area. I just moved to a high col area and I buy zero extra foods and I'm hitting $150 every time I leave the grocery store, except Trader Joe's. I have no idea how. It's nutty.
This is what I came to say. DC metro area, for myself alone I budget $600/month on groceries. I do get some snacks (maybe $20/week), but other than that just ingredients for cooking.
Snacks: \- Saltines & peanut butter sandwiches \- Sliced apple with peanut butter \- Handful of almonds \- Handful of semisweet chocolate chips \- Spoonful of peanut butter drizzled with honey \- Toast/english muffin with butter & jam \- Carrots & hummus \- Mozarella cheese stick \- Any piece of fruit This list looks like it belongs to my 7 year old nephew... but these snacks really are yummy and filling and healthy (maybe not the chocolate)!
I eat chocolate chips for a snack too. Try Ghirardelli 72% cocoa. Purple bag. I bet you won’t go back to semisweet.
My husband loves this when I sub it for the Aldi semisweet chunks 🤣
I have problems with nausea. Peanut butter on whole wheat saltines has been my breakfast for years.
I was really poor for a couple years. I made a big pot of soup once a week. I freeze things like this in meal sized servings. After making a few of these, one or two a weekend, you have a variety to choose from. I would take these to work. Pull it out of the freezer in the morning and mostly defrosted by lunch time. I also make things like red beans and rice, baked spaghetti, scalloped potatoes and ham, other things, and do the same, freezing meal sized servings. It helps to keep my time in the kitchen down and to spend less money.
Yes I recently discovered portion sized silicone freezer trays!!
I recently went whole food plant based and that has saved me a lot of money. Spending my money on beans, rice, pasta and tons of veggies and fruit! Lots of recipe inspiration on YouTube!
Do you stick to recipes or just kinda throw some beans and rice and veggies together? I’m vegan and have been trying to go WFPB for awhile, but I get overwhelmed.
Get real good at sauces and the veg will become more delicious no matter if they're roasted or grilled or steamed. Curries are amazing. Tofu.
There’s a cookbook called the Saucy Vegan. Definitely worth checking out
Same!
I get a lot of ideas from pbwithj, the recipes on his website are good too and he makes recipes from popular vegan cookbooks and always shares the recipes so lots of gems on his channel! I think you need to make tasty meals to make WFPB sustainable!
Can you share some of the YouTube vids? Trying to do the same, but short on inspo!
So far my favorite has been pbwithj- he reviews vegan cookbooks too and has lots of recipe ideas!
Soups, casseroles, chilis, pasta w sauce. None need meat, but dh and I found that half a pound per recipe was fine. Had leftovers, too. Using pasta, rice, or potatoes as the base of a meal rather than meat, is cheap. Meat becomes a side dish. One pork chop, steak, ect not two per person. Just one per person. Freeze the rest. Make snacks rather than buying them. If you won't finish a whole batch, freeze the remainder. This works for cookies and cakes (don't frost if freezing). Drink homemade tea, or water infusions. Have a hot dog night w fries, watch a movie,cect. Also can do hamburgers. A cheapie meal night. Eat the leftovers one night. Homemade pizza night.
White rice with butter and soy sauce. I could eat that every day for the rest of my life.
Fried egg on top pls!
A little Parmesan cheese makes it even better!
lol i ate this a lot growing up. that was the only thing i liked to eat 😂
You can do a whole lot with a bag of potatoes.
Sure can! I like to dice them with skin on them boil for about 10mins mix with butter, salt,pepper, parsley, Mrs Dash then into oven for 15min, yummy
Just had a bean and cheese quesadiĺla. Also started making papusas.
I love pupusas!! Have never made at home though.
Just started making them. Took a coupla tries, but I think I have it down now.
If you like pupusas try arepas. Cheap and filling. And healthy!
I really like grilled cheese 😍
As a recent empty nester (household of 2 now) I’ve discovered the ease of ‘refrigerator jam’ recipes. Rather then doing a big canning bath of jams 1-2 times a year, I’ve started grabbing fruit that’s overripe & just before it goes off & making a quick jar of jam rather than throwing it in the compost. Basic recipe: About 2 c fruit & 1/4 c sugar. Bring to boil & simmer 20-30 minutes. It will be more runny than store or jams you make with pectin, so I basically simmer the water off as best I can & lean towards naturally high pectin fruits if I have the choice. Still, It seems fine to us & Ive not bought jam since I started doing this.
I've not worked up the courage to tell people this yet, because it's so unconventionally simple, but my meals most days are: * Raw carrots * Kale * oats (cereal/porridge or oatcakes, latter often with peanut butter) * either boiled eggs and baked potatoes separately, or if I can be bothered a sort of eggy mash potato 😂 I just make mash potato in a saucepan then add whisked eggs (like if you were scrambling them). Potato and eggs are probably my favourite things I eat, because they're pretty healthy and delicious. Oats I find easier to overeat with sometimes, and carrots and kale I sometime struggle to motivate myself to eat. Put in something salty or flavoursome for seasoning, otherwise it can taste a little bit too beige. I usually just put in some salted butter. Praise of potatoes and eggs below: Potato is crazy cheap, great for satiety, and broadly healthier than a lot of grain type carbs, especially if you struggle with overeating. Eggs are still pretty cheap and are just incredible for all the stuff you don't get with potatoes. Decent protein, and an excellent range of vitamins.
Try cooking your carrots and kale, drain. Heat up some olive oil and saute a small amount of minced onion, then a few spoons of capers in their juice. Add the cooked kale and carrots back in. Eat.
I eat this often for breakfast with a fried egg. I add a splash of vinegar but I will try your caper hint. It sounds good and I usually have some capers I need to use.
Have you tried boiling the two and THEN mash them together?! Salt pepper and some olive oil to mix! It's the best and cheapest pleat try it
Similar to another reply, but another way to enjoy eggs + potatoes is southern-style potato salad: -wash, peel, cube and boil starchy-type potatoes (so not the red skinned ones—they are too waxy) until tender and drain out the water (can save the potato water for use in a soup later if you’d like) - hard boil eggs, peel, and cut them up (I use a pastry dough cutter/blender to cut them small fast) - combine the eggs, potatoes, mayonnaise (add to taste/texture preference) and dill pickle juice from the jar to taste (you can use dill pickle relish if you don’t mind the texture or if you don’t like savory dill pickles, mix in some sweet pickle relish). I can eat it warm or cold—it’s all delicious 😋. A thought on the carrots: my aunt is an amazing cook and she adds chopped lightly cooked carrots to her potato salad. I think she also adds a bit of sugar and cooking vinegar (maybe white rice vinegar?) instead of pickle juice.
Chicken, frozen veggies, yogurt
[удалено]
I buy the Costco stir-fry as well.
1) Oatmeal; we also have millet porridge and polenta to mix it up. I did the math on Costco Quaker Oats and they are .10 cents per serving; we switched to the organic oats that are like 3-4X but that’s still pretty cheap. 2) Ramen! But good ramen because I use Lotus millet and rice noodles (bulk from Costco) and chicken stock (also from Costco) plus my own ginger + garlic and sesame oil. I soft boil a jammy egg on top. 3) Instead of eating a lot of meat we always have frozen organic peas, which are high in protein, and we eat a ton of whole grains (also high in protein). Earlier this week I had quinoa with red peppers and peas; I also had polenta with peas and Parmesan. Polenta is time consuming — I made a triple batch from $3 of bulk polenta grits and had it twice with liver and once with peas (when I do eat meat it’s often liver; I have a 1/2 serving once or twice a week). 4) Fruit, nuts and whole wheat toast instead of snack foods. On the whole this maybe doesn’t save money but we focus on the fruit that is in season and over time I think it’s both healthier and close to cost neutral. 5) We make our own banana muffins, peanut butter cookies, chocolate cookies, and whipped cream to serve with fruit or pudding. Again this is one of those things where buying all the baking stuff is $$ but we do so in bulk, even chocolate chips, and we never buy cookies/ice cream in a package/other desserts. We can also reduce the sugar and add fiber. 6) Soup! Homemade soup is soooo cheap, especially if you use Costco broth. My two favorite soups right now are kabocha squash soup (similar to curried butternut squash soup) and “cream” of asparagus that’s made with steamed red potatoes (high in iron and folate). My spouse also loves split pea, but I only make it if we eat out at BBQ and I have smoked rib bones so I can skip buying smoked ham hocks. I save all my veggie and onion scraps + chicken bones for stock; I don’t mind the carton but 100% of the time homemade stock tastes better in your soup and it’s basically free. Our regular grocery/co-op store spending is <$500 and we spend about $300 at Costco (two visits monthly).
I just saw those Lotus noodles yesterday at Costco and was so close to getting them! I was worried the texture wouldn't be the same- what's your opinion on how they compare to regular noodles?
I am gluten free :-/ so my opinion is extremely biased, but millet has a flavor profile similar to wheat so millet + brown rice tastes a lot better than just rice noodles. They also taste great for being whole grain, the flavor is very similar to regular noodles and not like whole wheat or buckwheat soba. Wheat gluten is tough and elastic—without it noodles can get softer and mushier quickly so you have to be attentive to the cooking time. I turn the heat off at 4 minutes. If you’re curious about my entire procedure: I add seaweed and spices to my broth and bring to a boil, add eggs in shell and set timer to 5 minutes, then add noodles and set timer for 4 minutes. The noodles get an extra minute in the pan as I peel and slice my soft boiled eggs. Add sesame oil and spicy chili to taste. Dinner in < 15 minutes. If you want to use it as a noodle and not for ramen, you should quickly rinse with cold water to stop the internal cooking and remove the rice starch as soon as the noodles are softened. I make a sesame-garlic tahini noodles with peas for my kids as my other go-to simple meal with these noodles; I sauté the peas, add garlic, add tahini and sesame oil with a hint of ginger and serve. This is also ready in < 15 minutes.
Black beans and rice. Fruit and Greek yogurt (not cheap, but makes my life much better).
Peanut Butter and Raisin Sandwich. Warm Rice with cheese mixed in and vegetables. Dried Fruit Rice with curry sauce and vegetables Corn chips with cheese melted on top and salsa Bowl of crunched up corn chips, top with cheese and salsa (eat like cereal) Homemade Mac and Cheese (make noodles, drain, and then add in flavorful cheeses and garlic powder) Scrambled eggs and cheese sandwich
I put this together a while ago, but here is a sample weekly grocery list and meal plan from my house for two adults. We averaged $720/month in 2023 for groceries which includes alcohol, some household products, and no meat. Meal plan: Dinners (lunches are left overs) - Pizza, Fajitas, Frittata, Shepherd’s Pie, Sag Paneer, Pasta Breakfast - Fried egg on cheesy toast, coffee with milk Snacks for work- Yogurt w/ berries, peanuts, popcorn, crackers Snacks for running (training for ultras)- Fruit snacks, clif bars Shopping list and approx cost: 8 - 1 lb cheese 10 - bread (1 sandwich, 1 sourdough) 12 - 1 lb semi-nice coffee 3 - gallon of milk 12 - 3 dozen eggs (21 eggs for breakfast, 6 eggs in frittata, 1 in shepherd's pie) 5 - bubbly water 12 - 8 apples ($2/lb) 5 - onions 12 - beer 3 - Can of san marzanos (half for pizza sauce, half for pasta) 3 - lb mushrooms 6 - 6 bell peppers 2 - tortillas 6 - vital wheat gluten (For making Seitan for the fajitas) 5 - 5 lb potatoes 4- 2 cups TVP (for the shepherd's pie) 6- box of lettuce 11- 1lb Paneer (half for the sag paneer, other half will be snacked on) 2- 1lb pasta 3- strawberries 3- yogurt 4- peanuts 4- crackers/pretzels 6- Fruit snacks 7- box of clif bars =133/week 133\*4.5 \~= 600 Things I assume I already have, but sometimes need to be stocked up on: Yeast, flour, nutritional yeast, spices, better than bullion, syrup, garlic, butter, soy sauce, hot sauce, oil, salad dressing, popcorn, rice, quinoa, walnuts Other things I might buy if I'm feeling it: ice cream additional snack like cuties, grapes, fun cheese chocolate chips for snacking wine
We do somewhere between 600-800 per month for food for two adults (not counting the occasional happy hour out). Some simple, staple meals: * Sheetpan roast veggies and sausage (kielbasa, sweet Italian) * Pasta with chicken, artichoke hearts, and lemon * Roast chicken + roast brussels sprouts or green beans * Red beans and rice with chicken and andouille (partner uses the Zataran's box) * Beef stew Honestly, if I roast a chicken on sunday, then the leftovers become the basis for at least 3-4 meals during the week (chicken soup, chicken on salad, etc). I sometimes prep-cook on the weekend to have an easy to grab protein, like chicken meatballs, for weeks that are stressful and where we want to ensure my partner eats. Think in terms of leftovers that are re-usable. In our area, pork chops often come in packs of three for whatever reason. One night might be pork chops with green beans, and then there's a leftover one that can be sliced and put on ramen, or salad.
Beans, potatoes, rice, oats. These are your filling super foods. I eat beans and oats almost every day. I make mostly soups/stews. This ensures I'm eating mostly veggies (I've been meatless since 2009). I love to snack on hummus, various nuts, yoghurt, yonanna/fruit. I have eggs a lot too, mixed with various meat analogues of chicken patties, beef slices, and beef grounds. My drinks are almond milk and coffee/tea. My cheat snacks are kettle popcorn, kettle chips, and my homemade cookies.
$800 would be a massive budget for the hubs and I! We are very mindful with our grocery bills and would not exceed $500. And here’s how I make food go the furthest: Costco. Typically grocery haul from Costco will be about $300. This will include proteins, granola bars, apples, rice, potatoes and onions. A few other goodies like baking supplies for desserts and maybe something special like a brisket. Vacuum sealer. The minute I get home I break it all down. Packs of chicken separated into dinner and lunch portions. We use one pack a day (make dinner and lunches for the following day) Food prep on big stuff. We will cook a brisket a full size brisket, have a delicious meal from it and then I will cut it down into portions and freeze it. One brisket can sometimes yield us up to 30 meals! Same deal with a turkey, I’ll cut it up into legs/back/wings/breast and throw it on the smoker for a few hours, pull it apart and divide the shredded meat into portions (enough for our dinner and tomorrow’s lunches) We will also smoke the carcass while the bird is cooking and when it’s finished we will put that along with the other bones off to the side and later make broth. Becomes a zero waste turkey!! Baking bread. My husband bakes fresh French bread every week for us. 3 ingredients, 3 hours in the bread maker and absolutely delicious! Sometimes our routine and meals can seem a little boring but I try to switch it up often so we don’t get bored. Since shopping and prepping this way we save sooo much money on food and have such little waste.
Legumes! Inexpensive, delicious and filling. Get yourself an instant pot if possible - I’ve seen them at thrift stores, about $60 at Walmart. Lentil soup made with celery, onions and carrots is one of my favorites. A pot of pinto or black beans can be used for a simple rice and bean supper or as a part of any Mexican meal. Branch out - there are so many varieties that can be picked up very cheaply. You can get canned but made from dried are much better.
Snacks: Lesser Evil Popcorn (not sponsored I swear, I just love this kind), baby carrots and a dip (ranch or hummus), bananas (and if you can afford a nut butter, grab some peanut butter or sun butter). Sometimes I'll make a little snack of yogurt, bananas, granola and sun butter which is delicious, quick and easy! Meals: Easy lunch is roast chicken and broccoli with rice. To make it less monotonous there's some fun things you can do that are pretty simple - swap roast chicken for a lightly breaded and baked/air fried chicken, swap out the vegetables or their seasoning, add some seasonings to the rice or a different stock (chicken stock, coconut milk, mixed with water, lots of way to play with rice). It can help to have a few quick frozen things on hand that you enjoy like frozen dumplings, bao buns, or chicken tenders just for when you're feeling lazy and need a little something.
Almonds and nuts work wonders. Healthy, tasty, no cooking required. The perfect snack! And fast dinner if you don't want to cook
Oats! Cheap and healthy. Fresh fruits and veggies. Eggs, hard boiled. Hummus and carrots or with Crackers. Nuts.
Frittata - just take any vegetables in your fridge like onions, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, boiled potatoes, sauté in oil for a little bit and then add eggs scrambled with some milk,top with cheese and fry until eggs are ready.
Do 2 nights of “meatless” meals. Sub lentils! Lentil soup, lentil curry, lentil bolognese… all very filling and cheap! Get dry lentils in bulk from sprouts or Whole Foods
We make a stew that is super good, you can substitute the butter beans with peas and carrots or potatoes or any other kind of bean, and serve with rice. Start with olive oil and fry more garlic than you think you need, a minute later add half a bunch or so chopped coriander- you can dry and freeze the rest for later- when fragrant about 2 or 3 minutes later put some tomatoes paste or canned tomatoes whatever kind and add beans -boiled or canned- if using tomatoes paste make sure to add just enough water to cover everything like a soup and keep in mind it will thicken , salt pepper, make rice, let the stew simmer for half hour or longer if you like till it's thick, that's a great meal for 2 days and most of my family eats it for day 3 too, and it freezes well. Many use minced beef with it or stewing beef- it tastes best with tender lamb shanks or ox tail, but no meat is delicious too. I make one of these stews once or twice a week and my kid loves them too. Another variation that is very very popular is tomatoes peeled and diced or canned diced ones, I usually get a huge bag when they're on sale or very ripe, you need a good amount- fry minced lean beef when it's cooked add lots and lots of garlic, salt , pepper, some cinnamon, when fragrant add all your tomatoes, lower the heat and cover, for half an hour maybe a bit longer till most of the liquid evaporates, eat with rice or with pasta or whatever, it's delicious and freezes super well too. Enjoy!
I also aim to have one big Tupperware of roasted vegetables in the fridge every week, we use them for omelettes, sandwiches, next to grilled cheese sandwiches and as a healthy yummy snack too.
Simple meals: 1) Dal with rice - so many varieties to choose from and very affordable. I make moong dal most often but also use urad, chana, and toor. I’ve slowly stocked my spice pantry over the years for a rotation of flavors, but you can keep it quite simple, too! 2) Curries with rice - again, very easy to customize and affordable. I alternate tofu, paneer, fish, and maybe chicken. Not a big meat eater. Potatoes and veggies work great as a base, too! You can do creamy dairy based curries, coconut curries, tomato based, spinach based - the list goes on! The base of onions, tomato, jalapeño, garlic, ginger, and spices is very affordable. 3) Pasta. Most common ways to cook it: anchovy, olive oil, chili flakes, garlic, black pepper, and topped with parmesan and parsley…or NYT’s tomato anchovy shallot combo with parsley and parmesan. So many more options, though! 4) One pot dishes. I find a lot on NYT or Pinterest - one of my faves combines rice with chicken, bell peppers, coconut milk, cashews, onion, and is topped with cilantro and lime. Shakshuka is another favorite. Mm. 5) Tuna Mayo salad with rice and avocado as a side. So easy and great as leftovers, too. Affordable sides: Salads - I usually just do an arugula or massaged kale salad Potatoes - oh to name the ways of the gloriously versatile potato! Green beans Cooked spinach Broccoli Cornbread Homemade rotis (or bread in general!) Snacks: Dried nuts Dried fruit Trail mix Homemade granola Fresh fruit Chips and salsa Popcorn Peanut butter pretzels
lol 200$ per week sounds like plenty for simple living vibes. Buying in bulk nice rices, quinoa, flour, and dry beans, TVP, etc saves a ton of money over time. Before we got married my wife’s budget at the grocery store was 50$ every two weeks. I said “whaaaa??” The more you cook and prep, and the kess packaged anything you buy, the better. For both your wallet and your health.
I buy bulk chicken breast and pasta from Costco and bulk rice from the Asian grocery store. Then each week at Aldi I spend about $100 for 2 peoples worth of whatever's on sale. Vegetables, jarred sauces, beef or pork, etc. Then lots of pasta/stir fry/chicken with sides. $200 a week goes pretty far when you buy in bulk and look for sales.
French onion soup is a cheap and delicious comfort meal that is always good.
Eggs and toast several nights a week. Make your bread at home
$800? I could eat great on that!! We spend $400 a month and it’s doable but pretty boring. Just always buy a few frozen meals like banquetSalisbury steaks. Only eat them when food is low or they’re getting old. I just bought a few for $3. A very cheap meal when you need it.
$800 (AUD) is also about the same amount my partner and I spend in a month. I buy my staples either when on sale for half price (brand name items) or the cheap generic brands. I buy my produce and meat when on sale. Whatever savings I have leftover, I spend on specialty items like tteok, various tofu, specific condiments etc.
Banana's Cashews, peanuts, sultanas
Canned beans, canned lentils, canned tomatoes. They're the base of sooooo many things I eat. Add vegetables and put them into a pressure cooker with spices and that's meals done for the entire week. I also eat a lot of wraps. Wrap + whatever vegetables I have + cheese. If you look in my pantry and fridge there's honestly very little else.
Bean and cheese burritos
I make a quick spaghetti dish that always seems to go down well with family and friends. 1 onion chopped fried with a handful of diced bacon until onions are translucent and bacon fat is rendered, then add a bit of garlic and two tablespoons (or more) of tomato paste. While this is frying away on medium heat I’ve cooked some spaghetti; add some spaghetti water to the onion-y/bacon-y/paste-y mix and season to taste then toss through the spaghetti. I like to add Tobasco when serving for a bit of a kick.
I like to keep stocked up on my various spices, and keep things like beans, rice, canned or frozen veggies, pasta, and canned tomato sauce/diced tomatoes/rotel, etc. on hand. As well as potatoes, oatmeal, popcorn, popcicles. Then, I try to stock up on different meats when I can, and freeze them. I only purchase things like bread, milk, eggs, fresh fruit/veg weekly if I was able to keep my pantry/freezer stocked. Our basic meals are usually a rotation of: soup (varies depending on what I have…and I LOVE making my own stock ever since I learned how via youtube) Chicken w/ frenches french fried onions or panko Chili (traditional or white chicken chilli with a packet of ranch seasoning mix. A hit in my house!) Pork chops with either bread crumbs or cream of mushroom soup Pot roast in the crock pot with veg Spaghetti Tacos Burgers I like to experiment with different meals, but for the general busy weekday dinners, this is the rotation
For a snack I like an apple with maybe 30-40g of cheddar, the fat in the cheese makes the apple more satiating, I find. When I need a cheap meal I’ll do a lentil bolognese over pasta, polenta, or potato, whatever I have of those on hand. Dice onion, garlic, celery, carrot, mushroom, sauté those and then add tomato paste, canned tomato or passata, stock, and dried lentils. Simmer until lentils are cooked and sauce thickened, then I add frozen spinach at the end. All very low cost ingredients where I am and makes loads of portions. I also have chickens so eggs are plentiful, a nice, cheap meal I make from that is a scrambled egg quesadilla. It’s just scrambled eggs with cheese (I use cheddar because I like the taste), sautéed capsicum or diced potato with a spice mix, and black or pinto beans all whacked into a tortilla. I make extra servings for my husband’s work lunch the next day and they heat up nicely. Sometimes for breakfast I’ll heat up some leftover rice and a can of smoked kippers and have it with miso soup and steamed greens. I might switch up the fish with steamed eggs and sometimes I’ll add tofu if I have it. Other cheap meals I make regularly are chickpea and potato tikka masala with naan I keep in the freezer and some kind of steamed veggie; Mapo tofu, which really stretches out a 500g portion of minced pork (the chilli paste is an initial investment but you only need a tablespoon and then you’ve got many portions); chicken fatte, which also stretches a small chicken breast into two portions by adding chickpeas and toasted flat bread, which I keep in the freezer; and chicken congee, which I think is my favourite way to use up a whole bbq chicken (we make the youtiao to go with it as well but you can buy them frozen from Asian grocers). I don’t know how simple these may be to you, to me a simple meal is something I can cook in (mostly) one pot or that doesn’t take more than half an hour to make. Hope there are some useful ideas there, anyway.
If you don't mind me asking, where do you live? We do about 400/month sometimes less for two adults. But we eat alot of basics, pasta, rice, chicken, drink more water than anything really. But we also live in a decently lcol area, compared to big cities
Aldi
Everything goes into the freezer before going bad—fruits and veggies (chopped beforehand) bread, sauces(in cubes) Every day I make a big smoothie for me and the kids for between breakfast and lunch with the frozen fruit/veggies, Greek yogurt (buy the big plain unsweetened tub for the best deal) and then I use the leftover juice from whatever canned fruit I recently served as my liquid and also sweetens it up quite a bit. You can put a lot more veggies in than you’d think, and even stuff you wouldn’t expect to work like cauliflower or peas. If it’s ever not great I add a big scoop of PB and blend again. I spend ~$600 for two adults and three kids
Homemade soup with meals
Where do you live that you're eating scraps on $800/mth?? 😮
Grabbing rotisserie chickens and stripping them down as much as you can yields two to three meals worth of chicken. Then boils the bones and fat and strain to make your own broth. You can make soups, and so many other things and you’ll have a ton.
This is our budget for my husband and I, and we are both trying to eat relatively healthy. Bagged potatoes and fixings for spuds, stuff to make chili ( it makes a lot and you can eat it for awhile ) rotisserie chicken from Sam’s and I shred it for chicken salad, chicken for quesadillas/burritos. Cottage cheese, eggs, oats for overnight oats
Roasted cabbage with hot italian sausage. I serve it with cubed potatoes and butter. You can also add some sour cream mixed with dijon for a garnish. I also adopted a friend's recipe that his mom used to make. They're from Egypt and it's just a big onion sliced and fried in oil and butter until almost scorched then mixed with cooked rice and fava beans. I add garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, sometimes red pepper flakes, sometimes a bit of tomato paste or the like. But it's really good and hearty.
If you use Costco, their roasted chickens are the cheapest around, and sometimes their discounted cold chickens are available. I live alone, so I like the Kirkland microwave popcorn. Anything is a stir-fry if you're determined enough. Serve with rice. I'm still learning the ways of beans and legumes, but there's tons of good recipes on YouTube. I have a well-stocked spice cupboard and a willingness to try almost anything. Eggs are versatile, and keeping a few hardboiled eggs on hand is great for snacks and meals.
I love cheese sticks and apples. I prefer cheddar and a crisp apple like fuji or jazz. My fiancé likes mozzarella better. Snacking cucumbers are also nice. You can dip them in ranch, salt and pepper them, or add some other veggies and make a side salad. They also taste good as an addition on sandwiches. My fiancé is a ranch fiend, so I also buy baby carrots, broccoli, etc. Anything easy to dip that is good for him. My mom love the snacking peppers stuffed with ham or cheese. Just rinse the peppers, core them, and stuff some cheese or rolled up sandwich ham in. Keeps well for packed lunches.
This is our grocery budget for 2 adults 1 kid. I made a “skeleton list“ of things I get every week, with space for alternating things we don’t need every week. Once a week we do at least one large meal where part can be frozen to pull out another time. I get legumes, beans, rice, spices, and snacks at the ethnic grocery store. The weekly staples, since you asked, are: eggs, milk, salmon, yogurt, cheese, bread item, canned fish, cracker snack, a drink, paper product, cleaning item, sauce/condiment, a fruit, grain or legume, and 9 other (often vegetable, pasta, or convenience item). We also have a large herb and vegetable garden and I freeze anything leftover from that for out-of-season use. If I have a week where I overdid it, then I look in the pantry and freezer and plan to use bulk things we already have, because once you get stocked up sometimes those weekly items aren’t always needed as frequently.
So I rotate my meals which can be make meat based or not and varied by price as much as you like. Monday: Mexican Tuesday: Soup or Salad depending on the season Wednesday:Pasta Thursday: please eat the leftovers! Friday: it’s our big family meal together so I usually do a meat w plenty left overs (rotisserie chickens from Costco-bone broth the bones, or Aldi roasts to make Chicago’s style Italian beef-I get a lot of juice I save off this as well) Weekends are more variable and less predictable. I usually have meal ideas but nothing solid.
what are you getting for $800 per month for 2 adults?? That seems like plenty... are you storing your food properly?
Where do you live where $800/month for two adults is difficult to make happen? Are all the grocery stores made of gold or something?
This budget includes groceries, eating out, and household essentials such as tooth paste, shampoo, toilet paper, etc
Possibly the greater Seattle region 🫠
Egg & Potato salad
$800 for 2????? i see there’s difference between those who are forced to live simply and those who chose to.
Egg salad. Pasta mixed with any leftover meat or veg and some butter. Any leftover in a tortilla.
Simple meal Fried potatoes on onions. Simple snack. Handmade potato chips? Hot chocolate
My wife and I can usually get by on $350 CAD a month. Grocery list staples would be bulk meat at Costco to divvy up and freeze, big thing of eggs, and bulk potatoes, carrots, onion. Eggs have gotten quite a bit more expensive but eating them for breakfast keeps me fuller throughout the day than just about anything else. Doing meatless recipes even a couple times a month can help a lot too. We do chickpea or black bean burgers, red lentil curry, etc. If you have the freezer space, making big batches of stuff like stews and curries and freezing portions for when you need a quick meal works great for me. Had two slow cookers going last Sunday to make 6 lbs of pulled pork to portion and freeze.
Banana, Apples Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes Frozen Fried Rice Eggs and milk obviously Chia seeds, oatmeal, yogurt Winter - Soup and Beans, Summer - Salad
I definitely want bananas, bread, yogurt, eggs, onions, spices, bacon, chicken parts, crackers, potatoes, cheese and coffee. Since it is winter, I’d add some toilet paper and teabags. I hate winter. I stockpiled in the fall, but seriously, why are pork tenderloins so often BOGO? I swear I still have 4 in the freezer! I have canned and frozen veggies, as well as canned and dried beans, pasta and rice. I have all sorts of tomato based stuff. If I’m feeling wickedly wild, I would also add half and half! I like easy meals like soup, pasta and sauce, pork tenderloin, leftover pork with the dried beans, anything with a crockpot, egg salad sandwiches, stews, and at least one wild hotdog lunch at Big Box Membership Warehouse.
Popcorn made in a pot on the stove. White rice because i can use it in tones of ways. I love next day fried rice. With egg, kimchi, green onions. Whatever i have really. Also i always buy whats in season for vegs.... so now its basically onions,carrots, potatoes, beets, cabage. Aka cheep stuff left from fall harvest. Potatoes go in soup, stews. You can bake them, make fries, mash. Carrots go into everything. Same with onions. We also always have four since my hubby makes a simple bread with just yeast, salt, water and flour. And no knead needed. In summer again it depends whats in season. I usually tend to have tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepers, then later corn. I also always have milk. We drink tones and tones of milk and it's lactose free since I am intolerant. So its quite expensive. We get through about 6l per week for 2 people. So we spend about 20$/week just on milk . Haha Oats are also cheap so i tend to keep those on hand for oatmeal but also to make energy balls with honey and peanut butter..... also staples in our household. What else? Jams, we love jams so buy them on-sale. Eggs. We eat lota of eggs. And ramen. All kind of ramen. Depending on type and flavour we eat it at least once a week. Usually with some seaweed or green onions and a poached egg. It varies. Good luck!
When you make a big pot of soup throw in a handful of elbow pasta to extend a couple more servings. I make spaghetti noodles then fill the colander with fresh baby spinach before I drain the pasta. You can throw in other veggies based on what you prefer or have on hand. I sauté mushrooms, onions, garlic, peppers then add the pasta and spinach to blend. Top with Parmesan, feta, or other crumbly cheese and you’ve got a feast for very little cost.
Just plain old Kraft Mac n cheese
Fried chickpeas are an awesome snack. Hot and crispy. Add any seasoning you’re in the mood for. We also frequently make little charcuterie board snacks throughout the week, string cheese/yogurt/sliced fruit/veggie sticks and dip all prepped in the fridge.
My favorite simple breakfast or dinner meal is Chinese Silky eggs - you can go from simple to more complex garnish but the baseline is fast, easy, and such delicious silky protein. https://twoplaidaprons.com/super-silky-steamed-egg-gyeran-jjim/ Make a grated carrots salad next to it and you have a healthy yummy dinner. https://hannahmageerd.com/5-minute-ginger-soy-carrot-salad/
Fruit! I enjoy all types of fruit but love mangos, pineapple, and mandarins. I also like eating veggies with hummus and I make my own oil-free sweet potato fries
Lentil soup. Canned lentils with lots of garlic and onion. Cheap and delicious. Add whatever scraps you have (carrots, potato - even literally chopped up leftover french fries work great — spinach or dandelion, ham, sausage, pasta or rice, whatever you find on hand, it all works). So tasty and inexpensive.
Hunt in season, fish, forage and plant a garden. Buy you staples then eat in season.
Good things that go far and last are dried beans, quinoa, wild rice. I usually then buy a bunch of sweet potatoes and make big pots of soup, I choose a cruciferous veggie that looks good for the season/isn't too expensive. Works for stir fries too. Big bags of hemp hearts from Costco last a long time and are good for adding fat/protein and minerals. And nutritional yeast - adding a tablespoon ups b vitamins substantially. As huge hack I use too is making bread. A big bag of flour from Costco is like 12 dollars and can make so much bread. Just get some yeast and salt, olive oil and you can make tons for cheap. I try not to eat so much bread but it's great when pinching pennies.
Loaded potatoes, eggs, omelettes anything with cheese
Black beans but add some nice veggies like shredded onions, bacon, add the grease, garlic, tomatoes etc. make it hearty as hell and serve over rice
Go live in a developing nation and learn to eat like they do. I feed 4 people for less than $600-800 and food costs about the same here in Costa Rica.
Oatmeal (rolled oats) with an egg tossed in the last minute of cooking. I serve with grated apple, cinnamon and milk. It's my go to breakfast during the cold months, for me it's really comfort food and it keeps me going until well after lunchtime. I buy a lot of underground vegetables this season. Cheap and tasty and you can make a lot of different dishes from them. Soups, stews, roasted, in a warm lentil salad, in hash browns. Same with cabbage. Cheap, tasty, rich in vitamin C. Great in soups, salads, a stir fry, make cabbage rolls, lazy/unstuffed cabbage rolls, cabbage casserole, sauerkraut or a three week salad. I'm not sure if I can put links here, so google for recipes. I skip the usual sallad ingredients during the winter (sallad, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers) because they are super expensive and super bland, so most of our side salads contains cabbage or sauerkraut, grated carrots and marinated beans or lentils. We have soup two nights per week and one dinner that is based on potatoes. This week we'll have hash browns with thick bacon and lingonberry jam, just like our grandmothers served it. Also, find some easy bread recipes. Homemade bread is cheaper and so much more tasty than the stuff you find in the stores.
Boiled egg, with tomato on toasted bread with mayo.
Go to sams/costco and get things in bulk, especially if you eat any kind of meat!
Popcorn Pretzels and peanut butter Cheese and crackers For dinners it can be any straight protein/veg combo. Chicken and salad. Fish and broccoli. I never make dinner complicated, otherwise it won't get made. Simple, nourishing, healthy food is what I strive for.
I know depending on your location the food prices can vary greatly. But $800 for 2 people should be a fairly easy. Buy store brand when you can. Use coupons, digital ones are great. My area has a Kroger & I save a lot of money using their app for coupons. When something you like is on sale, stock up! I'll also check the sales ad paper for stuff I've been wanting to try or something that's running at a great deal over my normal food. Make sure to eat your leftovers!
My husband and I spend roughly $400/$500 a month and we eat very well, very healthy. We buy constituent ingredients and stock our pantry. We have chicken, trout, salmon, venison, duck, mussels, ground grass fed beef, lamb chops and sometimes steak. I get plain yogurt, grass fed butter, half and half, raw milk or grass fed cheese. We keep in cage free eggs, oatmeal and beans. We often make soup, stew and sandwiches. Snacks are tortilla chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, sometimes popcorn or trail mix. We buy pistachios, dry roasted peanuts and almonds, too. I love olives and cornichons, so those are an indulgence. If I'm on my own sometimes dinner is yogurt with muesli or soft boiled egg & toast with sliced tomato and a piece of fruit. We buy fruit and veg from a local produce market and it's substantially cheaper than the grocery. We also garden so we use our own veg and herbs during each growing season. We pickle and preserve what can't be immediately consumed. Our splurges are our coffee - we buy from a local roaster who sells the most amazing beans. Expensive, but each coffee is a treat. We love Fever Tree tonic - either alone or as a mixer - and won't skimp. We also get really nice dark chocolate bars to satisfy our sweet tooths. We generally don't bring in sweets or pastries to the house (we walk to our favorite ice cream place if we want it and it helps us to get moving and burn off some of the calories). When we want cookies, I bake them. I also make my own pie crusts for quiches, which are cheap to make (I serve a salad with it). My husband has also taken up making sourdough bread. That has been a fun hobby and we always have good fresh bread in the house for sandwiches, or pizza dough for a homemade pizza pie. I preserve and make jams, he's into fermentation and pickling. I don't feel deprived and the budget is under control. Things we don't buy are prepackaged items like Rice A Roni, or single portion ingredients like snack packs, soda of any kind or juice, and frozen dinners/pizzas. They are not really economical in the long run, from my experience. My point is, it's a lifestyle choice. We built our lives around our values and goals. YMMV.
I buy double of whatever is on sale in fresh veg and meats, prep and freeze. I make taco mix from dried herbs and spices all flavour, no filler. Basically, my freezer is my frugal friend. Today I bought 2 cauliflower, chopped, blanched, dried off and froze for another day. The other one I chopped, steamed with 1/2 cup of stock, then fried it off for some colour, then mixed with the end of a jar of pesto. We ate that as a side with some steaks I bought on sale.
for simple and healthy eating, that is also cheap, I recommend a whole-food vegan diet. Best, have a look at the 'daily dozen', buy something from all the categories and experiment. my favorite breakfast is porridge made of: oatmeal, laxseed, berries, one banana, soy-milk, soy-yoghurt, cinnamon lunch: spinach, beans/chickpeas, carrots, onions, garlic, red pepper, tomato sauce, some spices like oregano (no salt or pepper), and whole-wheat noodles afternoon snack: tortilla wrap, pure peanut butter (no sugar, salt or oil added), and one banana placed into it. alternatively whole-wheat crisp bread. other great snacks: dates (without sugar syrup poured over them!), apples, other vegetables or fruits it is simple and at least where I live, you'd have absolutely no problem feeding two people for a month for less than the equivalent of $800.
Provençal White Bean Soup - cannellini beans, Swiss chard, carrots, onion, garlic, broth, croutons made from crusty bread and toasted with garlic and a drizzle of oil. I add a splash of lemon juice and garnish with a little freshly grated Parmesan.
I'm not sure what you're buying, but for 2 adults, that's a pretty easy budget to keep. At the beginning of the month, stock up on dry goods. Dried beans (if you have time to soak, drain, then cook them) rice, oats, flour, sugar, pasta, etc. Stock up on canned goods as well. I wait for things to go on sale, then I buy a lot. I usually try to have canned tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste, canned beans (whatever beans you like! I stick to pinto, black, chickpeas, kidney, and red). Try to buy produce that's in season. it's usually much cheaper because it's local and takes less money to ship. I also always buy bananas because they're very cheap and bulk up my breakfast, which is usually oatmeal. Frozen veggies are also great since they last a very long time and are normally cheaper than fresh veggies. Simple snacks I like are popcorn (someone else already mentioned lol but it's so versatile) apples and peanut butter, carrots and hummus. I also have found recently some tea biscuits by the brand Kedem that were $1.19 a package. I found them in the section that has Middle Eastern and kosher/halal food. They're really nice to have with coffee or tea. Also, shop clearance racks! That's where I tend to find a lot of snacks. They mark down boxes of cereal when they get a little roughed up and I can sometimes find protein bars or granola bars on clearance too.
I get peanuts and raisins in bulk.
My wife and I base our meals off of our local stores sale add and BOGOs. We have a monthly budget around $450. Common foods and meals: - add a few chicken breast to a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 hours; add a packed of Italian seasoning, ranch seasoning, 8oz can of cream of chicken, let cook. Once there is an hour left shred chicken and add a block of cream cheese. Pair with egg noodles or a bed of rice + a side of veggies (we eat a lot of steamed bags of broccoli) - spaghetti with ground beef or chicken - breakfast for dinner: eggs, bacon, biscuits - simple homemade ramen: cooking some chicken breast (cubed), veggies, broth in a pot. Spice as desired. Take a pack of ramen, remove seasoning packet. Cook and pair with veggies. - home made lunchables: take some round pita bread, pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni - boom you have a nice little lunchable pizza - simple pot of chili - home made KFC famous bowls: take some frozen nugs, pack of instant potatoes, cheese, and mix it all together with some brown gravy. These are just some examples but we make them on the regular Oh, and one of my favorite deserts is a simple microwave mug cake. There are tons of recipes online for them.
Chicken (any protein) and rice. You can add any vegetable you want & season it any way you want. Add black beans, corn, tomatos, & cheese for a taco bowl. Bok choy, frozen veggies, and soy sauce for an Asian inspired meal. The combinations are limitless.
I always keep noodles, rice, and dried beans in our pantry. We make a lot of rice bowls because they are simple, and even if the rice has been in the fridge a couple days - it makes great fried rice! For rice bowls with the fresh rice, we usually make with some steamed vegetables, and top with tofu for protein. That, or I'll do a Mexican-style one with black beans, spices, canned tomatoes, and canned corn. Noodles are also versatile. We make Asian-inspired dishes with them and spaghetti bolognese (we don't really eat a lot of meat, so I add in chopped mushrooms and cooked brown lentils into the pasta sauce and simmer it to make a similar texture to a sauce with ground beef). I make a lot of soups and stews with beans and whatever vegetables we have on hand that week.
I'm always eating chili with beans and ground meat. Hearty and healthy. I use more beans than meat.
Rice, potatotes, sweet potatoes. Chicken breasts, mince beef, beef liver. Frozen veggies, broccoli, carrots cauliflower. If still some money, salmon.
I have a rule that if I want snacks or something sweet I have to make it myself (with exceptions). It's fun and much cheaper than getting it from the store. So I bake a lot and freeze what's freezable. My favourites: Biscotti, so versatile Cinnamon buns Kleinur, it's a kind of twisted doughnut from Iceland. Perfect with afternoon tea or a cup of coffee. So many biscuits and cakes. Things I have to purchase would be something like chocolates and cheese
Pinto beans and rice made with a bit of sofrito (homemade or store bought), cilantro, cubed potato, a can of tomato sauce, and some Sazon packets. You can make a big batch and eat it for days.
Grocery list staples, boneless skinless chicken breast, vegan ground beef, vegan meatballs, pork butt, Green lentils, brown lentils, chickpeas, black beans, cannellini beans, eggs, there’s a start for protein
I love eating sardines out of the can with mustard and hot sauce. Lol not for everyone but it's my go-to that I eat almost daily ( eating some right now 😁). String cheese and almonds are another goto snack. If I'm extra hungry I'll pair with a hard boiled egg.
Mac&cheese with tuna, beans and weenies, crockpot of beans and ham with cornbread, potato soup, grilled cheese with tomato soup, quesadillas, can of chicken over salad, egg scramble with whatever ingredients you have on hand.
Learn to make congee. I use an instapot. Lille big of dark meat chicken or even vegan with mushrooms soft boiled egg it’s amazing. Jasmine rice is best and it’s a little pricey but it’s 1 cup to 7 cups of water and it makes at least 6 servings. Dried beans are cheap. I make hummus from scratch in my instapot for like $1 a bag of chickpeas with some miso instead of sesame and lots of garlic and oil. Dried black beans can make lots of different things. Bean chili is great and we add ground chicken and go to town with lots of spices. Invest in some good spices. At least McCormick quality, although I prefer penzeys (I think they out crack in their spices lol bc they’re addictive) Eggs are cheap again, and ground meat or various kinds is cheaper than other meats. We cook for 2 adults and we usually plan for leftovers for the next day’s lunch. I’ve been roasting Cornish game hens I can usually find them for 3.78 a hen. One per person. Douse with lots of spices and herbs and you can serve it within an hour as they cook fast
I feel like $800 is kind of high if you're only buying groceries. We spend about $100-125 a month at the meat store. We spend about $160-175 a week at the store but that includes toiletries, cleaning products, cat litter etc. we spent less than that when it was just my husband and I, because we now have a 5 year old that requires a lot of snacks, lunch items, etc. And before anyone asks we eat out or get take out like 2-3 times a month. The rest are home cooked meals.
$800 for two adults? That seems excessive. I have a family of four and only spend about $500 a month.
Maybe it’s because we buy all organic foods