Eating well on a tight budget

[Emilyjean]

Im currently studying,not working, and trying to lose weight and eat healthier. My grocery budget is $40.00 per week, as anyone who has been on a tight budget would know $40 does not go far. Once you buy the milk, bread, salad and meat its pretty much nearly gone! I dont buy food or drinks when im out, as there are so many hidden calories, fats, and sugars in foods. I pack my own every single day! Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions of foods that are both healthy, cheap and easy to make? I dont have much bench space either so that makes it more difficult to prepare dinners. 

[Esya]

Meat is very expensive. So consider not eating that or eating less of it. Personally I don't consider milk as healthy, but views might differ.

Dried beans and lentils are very cheap and high in protein. They do need a bit of extra planning as most will need an overnight soak. Buy vegetables and products that are in season as they will be more cheap compared to products that are not. Then there should be cheap grains (rice, farro, barley etc.) available too. Combine the three and you have a complete healthy meal that is cheap and that can be cooked in 1 or 2 pans (put the veggies with the grains when cooking or add them to the beans when they have the same cooking time left). I don't know how expensive quinoa and couscous are but you could use those instead of beans to up the variety.

Once you can work with this as a cheap base you know where you want to add extras yourself with the money you have left.

[WendyB]

I really disagree on the milk comment. Your bones need calcium. Now and more so when you get older

[Dave001]

I don't think it's any coincidence that the expensive processed foods and meats are eaten only occasionally in the Mediterranean style diet and that the more affordable fruit, veg, nuts, grains, beans, legumes, etc. are eaten at each meal.

http://www.ndei.org/uploadedFiles/Common/NDEI/Home/Whats_New/Healthful-Eating-Mediterranean-Style.pd...

I've become a very strong advocate for eating this way. I started only recently, but have never felt better. My weight, BP and cholesterol are all going down, my exercise tolerance is increasing, I'm sleeping wonderfully well and my mood is not only elevated, but stable.

I heartily recommend it!

[Emilyjean]

I totally agree, milk is good for you and your bones! Im a coffee lover and have my own coffee machine, i make one every single day I cannot bare the thought of switching to soy milk!

[Esya]

@Emilyjean

If you cannot bare the thought then by all means do not do it.

[Dominique]

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@Emilyjean wrote:

Once you buy the milk, bread, salad and meat its pretty much nearly gone! 

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I would drop the bread, because in my limited experience with American bread (I assume you’re in North America), it doesn’t taste that good and it has limited nutritional value (for instance in tems of fiber). At least the packaged ones you’d find in supermarkets (bakeries that sell their own fresh breads seem to be less common than in Europe). You can replace it with rice (like in most of Asia), pasta etc., which will likely fill you for a lower price.

I’d also drop the salad and replace it with more filling veggies. Not that there’s anything wrong with salad itself: it’s just that it’s not very filling, and it can actually be high in calories once you add things like avocado, olive oil, nuts etc. in it.

Keep meat as a treat: you don’t need to eat it everyday. You can get protein from other sources, especially if you’re eating dairy.

I second @Esya’s recommendation for dry beans and lentils. Dry is important, as it’s both more economical and healthier (+ more environmentally-friendly too), compared to canned versions. They just require a little bit more planning (time to soak them). I agree with @Dave001: Mediterranean diets are great (using the plural, since there are of lot of regional variants)! I was born in France, spent my youth there and I guess I was fed a mostly Mediterranean diet without even knowing it was one .

[AAAAlex]

Thats a tight budget !

I would say try to buy in bulk as much as you can, and rather buy your staples that cant go off.

Bread goes off fast here in UK, I don`t know about in the US. so I would say go for pasta and rice !
also reheating carbs after having cooked and chilling them has been recently proven to reduce blood sugar by 50%. I freeze my rice in rice balls wrapped in saran wrap, it makes life easier.

get grains: black beans, black eyed beans, lentils. these are high source of protein and are CHEAP !

for the meat you could eat less to reduce cost , maybe twice/ 3 times a week, and again, buy in bulks, chicken thighs are cheaper than breast and can handle overcooking better. Marinate them for a whole day with different mixes, thats it you got your week sorted !

Alex.

[TravellingBat]

I have had to try and get our food shop bills down recently. The best way I found of doing this is to plan your meals out for the whole week and make a list. try and stick to the plan and that way you won't pick up all those impulse buys and would reduce the amount of waste food. 

I haven't used it much but there is a wonderful app called Olio that helps people share surplus food often for free. It's a great way of picking up a few bits and pieces to add to what you already have. It may be worth seeing if it is active in your area. 

One thing I am guilty of is hovering like a vulture around the reduced section in the supermarkets.

[Mukluk4]

Tuna is less than a dollar a can.

[GershonSurge]

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@Emilyjean wrote:

I totally agree, milk is good for you and your bones! Im a coffee lover and have my own coffee machine, i make one every single day I cannot bare the thought of switching to soy milk!

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Drinking milk is linked to an increase in osteoporosis and cancer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwKUvlypQOM

[USAF-Larry]

An interesting conclusion by John McDougall on how dangerous milk is. But, if one is to become total vegan, I guess milk would be out. An editiroial of the study that was published says this about drinking milk:

Still, the findings only suggest an association and not a direct link, said Mary Schooling, a professor at the City University of New York School of Public Health, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study.

People should not change their diet based on these findings, Schooling said.

"We can't draw conclusions at this point," she said. "We need a study involving people who genetically can and can't digest milk easily, and compare whether those who can digest milk have a difference in cardiovascular disease, death and fractures from those who can't."

[Esya]

It was not my intention to spark this milk discussion on a post about eating well on a tight budget. I mainly put my opinion there as that, my opinion, as it means I would not spend my money on it. @Emilyjean already replied she cannot bare the thought of having no milk. Let's try to keep this post about eating well on a tight budget.

[TravellingBat]

Post tangents do tend to take hold sometimes.

But getting back to topic, another bog tip is do not be fooled by those special offers that say 2 items for x amount. Most supermarkets have a breakdown of the price on the shelf labels (x amount for 100g for example) look at those. I bought a block of cheese at full price that was a heavier weight and cheaper to buy than two smaller packs on a special offer. People go for special offers on the assumption that it's a better deal. 

[Syty]

I am not sure how I would make $40 work, but one of my best and cheapest things I do in my diet is a local farmers market.  Most people live down the street from one and don't even know it.  You will get local organic fruits and vegetables that are fresh and much cheaper than the store. 

Otherwise I would mention bulk.  Someone mentioned bulk buying, but I am talking about bulk cooking.  Find decent recipes with rice, beans, etc...  throw in some vegetables.  I know you mentioned shelf space, but it would help if you could get around that.  Look at healthy soups/chili's for instance.  With few ingredients you will be able to make enough to feed a family for two days so just portion that out for yourself.  Let Tupperware be your friend.  Maybe check out this community for recipes that make a lot and keep well. 

Throughout my day I have things like baby carrots or hard boiled eggs.  A decent yogurt can be bought in bulk.  Bananas and Apples are cheap.  Obviously find what fits your diet, but those are both inexpensive options. (All can also be purchased at the farmers market).

[nicolechip · Accepted solution]

If you're a cereal eater, you might consider making slow cooker steel cut oats (lots of recipes online, look for ones with apples as that tastes really good) and having that with a hardboiled egg for breakfast instead of a boxed cereal. It cooks while you sleep and can feed you for a week for pennies per serving. Definitely lean heavily on rice and beans, using meat or cheese just as a flavoring. I like black beans cooked with salsa and just a handful of diced ham, served over brown rice with a sprinkle of cheddar. Or a curry stew of lentils, canned tomato, and a bag of frozen carrots and peas. Consider store brand frozen vegetables. Also, a big tub of protein powder has about 20 servings in it and costs less than 20 dollars. Mix it in with your milk and it's very filling, or make a smoothie with fruit and any greens that aren't bad but are starting to go soft. Also, a really good option is to buy a whole chicken to roast. You can get them for a dollar a pound or less on sale, and you get two meals out of the chicken breast, make chicken salad with the thighs and legs, and then put the bones and meat scraps in a crockpot over night with an onion and a carrot to make broth. Add in some noodles and veggies and you have 5-6 servings of soup. That's about 10 meals from one 5 dollar chicken! If you have time, make your own whole wheat rolls instead of buying bread. The ingredients are cheap and you can freeze them for a month, plus no yucky ingredients. Good luck!

[RKing10]

My budget is $60.00 every two weeks. I make it work. Make sure you're eating the proper portions it makes the food go farther. Shop at Aldis or somewhere else cheap(I started shopping at Super Walmart), or make sure to only purchase items on sale. Like others said, reduce the amount of meat you are buying and switch it for other forms of cheaper protein( like eggs). Stock up on items when you can get them super cheap. 

For breakfasts, I rotate between eggs and turkey bacon or oatmeal. My eggs are $1.80 and turkey bacon is $1.79 a pack. I normally buy two packs of turkey bacon and that lasts me a little over two weeks if I add in oatmeal every once in awhile...that makes my breakfasts for two weeks around $5.00...completely manageable.