I'm trying to save pretty aggressively for the next few months, so I'm curious to know what kinds of foods you buy when you are trying to eat healthy but for very little money. Some of my favorites are big crocks of soup like chicken noodle and pot roast, chili, beans and rice, and egg dishes like huevos rancheros. What else should I add to my budget cooking repertoire?
I'll tell you I bought on sale Knorr sides 5/5.00 at my local supermarket Times. Buying on sale is the best. I went to Walmarts on Keeaumoku St. locally and came across a dozen eggs for just 1.12! Safeway supermarkets is nationwide, so their online site is free...all you need is a Safeway card, open a free online acct at Safeway and you can get many digital coupons like this week's extra 3.00 off when you spend $20.00 with your Safeway card. CVS and Walgreens has their store cards free to get and free online acct. you can open for both with special online specials and extra coupons too that'll save you money. I do love Wendy's chili which is on their .99 menu special, so when in a tight budget though small it's just .99 plus tax. CVS and Walgreens has weekly sales. Safeway has $5 Fridays with spectacular sales on just Fridays! For great bargains on non food items is a site called 10dollarmall.com that's got a good reputation too! Another way to save money is ebates.com & DontPayFull.com where you get discounts and money back on items you buy online. Happy savings!
This reminds me of the days when we moved to an apartment. Our finances were down and all we could think of was to cut down on expenses. My husband disagrees in being frugal with food but that time there was no choice. And based on my experience, it is a simple trick - vegetables. Since vegetables are arguably the healthiest diet we can get and also the cheapest then why not feast on vegetables everyday? That would definitely save you money and contribute to the betterment of your health. And the only downside is if you don't like vegetables.
I think you're on the right path as far as inexpensive and filling dishes. If you want to make your meals really affordable, use less meat in your meals and increase the vegetables or beans. For example sometimes when I make spaghetti, I'll cook a little bit of ground beef or ground sausage, and add diced eggplant and mushrooms to the dish. You can also make veggie burgers, zucchini fritters are also good, and you can add other veggies to this as well. I like to add carrots and a little bit of squash to mine sometimes. Let's see, you can also make Manwich using just lentils. In fact, lentils are so inexpensive, I highly recommend you keeping these as a pantry staple. They can be added to soups and salads as well. My advice to you is shop in season. Eat a whole foods diet, it is much cheaper than you think, plan your meals around deals and sales, and just find new and interesting dishes to try.
I would encourage you to start freezing a lot of the stuff that you buy. Most healthy stuff goes off pretty quickly before you can eat it all, and then that is wasted money for no reason. Freeze them, and cook or eat as you go. That is a great way to save cash when you still want to get nutritional value from your food. Growing your own produce is another tip.
One of the best things about vegetables is that they can be quite fitting while not costing much. Also, giving out recipes here might prove to be quite difficult considering you're looking into a period of months. As such, I'd actually advise you to check out thisLog InYou'll see there is quite an extensive list of cheap recipes provided by various users.
If you've never tried it, then you ought to try a potato-rice recipe. There are very many and you could cook a cheap and tasty meal you may want to have every day. Whilst talking about potatoes I like them because they are cheap and as one can live solely on potatoes [that is a fact] if you want low cost nutritious meals, potatoes could be might help you save some money on food.
While this is a cheap suggestion, I would have to advise you that that is quite a lot of carbohydrate intake. If you wish to rely on such meals for quite a while, then you must be prepared to do some daily exercises to burn off that extra energy you're taking in, otherwise, it might end up turning into fat. Also, when eating vegetables, try sticking to what is in season considering they would be cheaper than those which are not.
I shop a lot at a local Save A Lot store. They have great deals on certain meats. You can get 5 different types of meats or meat products for only $19.99. When I buy those and get a few vegetables to go along with it, we can normally have at least 7-10 days worth of meals for around $40.
Look for some of the meals you can make in the slow cooker. A lot of them require few or cheap ingredients. And honestly if you are handy enough in the kitchen, you can whip up your own seasoning and avoid buying the pre mixed packages. Its a quick and easy way to save money and make several meals in one shot.
Well I just love my slow cooker @Dame6089 and you are right, it is perfect for the low cost meals. I can go and get all sorts of vegetables and a big chunk of meat, mix it all together and save the left overs and I am set for days to come. Of course it does take some time to really perfect a recipe that you like, but once you get that down you will see your cost per meal go down significantly, and that adds up when you consider day after day.
Nowadays, I only take my son out for a fast food treat. Saving money has become a priority especially now that school will be starting on June. I would prefer just buy ingredients and prepare meals at home. Other than fast food we also have canteens that prepare homecooked meals. I go there more than the fast food joints because we're sure that ingredients are fresh and prepared the way diners like them. Costs lower than fast food as well but healthier.
In terms of breakfast, the most important meal of the day, you can go a far way with oats. One of my favorite things to prepare would definitely be overnight oats. Super easy, sort of reminiscent of rice pudding in flavor and texture, and delicious. I bought a six pack of jars and basically use three of them on rotation. Add some peanut butter and it's amazing. Also, this snack becomes more like a meal at this point, as it's very filling with all of that protein. I'd definitely recommend oats if you're trying to save money.