Budget Friendly Meals?

carladillon

Do you have suggestions for some budget friendly meals, or a website or cookbook with some ideas?

DH and I need to start living leaner if we ever want to build up our savings so we can move out of this condo and get a house!  We live pretty lean as it is, but our food expense is probably the most out of control.

busybea

I totally understand!  Sorry I don't know of a cookbook, but i'm sure they're out there.... www.realsimple.com has some quick and easy recipes you can try.  One section is called "Fake it or make it", shorter ways (with less ingredients) to make elaborate dishes....

1-coupons, coupons, coupons

2-buy the store brand instead of the known brand.  Not sure if you have a Publix nearby, but their store brand rocks!

3-for fruits and vegetables, try a farmers stand if you have one nearby

4-join a Sam's or a BJ's, expensive for the membership but worth it in the long run

5-coupons for restaurants (buy 1 get 1 free meal or $$ off), free meals on birthdays, etc

If I think of a few more, i'll let you know ...

stever

Eat very little meat. If you're already a vegetarian, get dried/bulk beans and grains.

pahokie

Do you spend too much on groceries, or do you end up not using what you buy and ordering out?

Some folks recommend meal planning, basing your choices on what is on sale at the store that week.

Shop from a list.  Don't impulse buy.

I do use coupons, but I try to combine them with store sales.  Some weeks I use tons, some weeks I don't use any.

We only buy meat when it is on sale.  For example, when boneless skinless chicken breasts are $1.99/lb, we will buy several packs and then bag two breasts together and freeze them that way.  The breasts are HUGE, so DH and I can share one for a meal.  A pack of two gives us enough for dinner and leftovers for lunch the following day.

We try to only buy whatever fresh fruits and veggies are on sale that week and supplement with frozen.

Are you looking for fancy meals, or something simple?  A lot of nights, we just have some sort of grilled meat with veggies on the side. 

Make enough dinner to have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Do you have the time, space and inclination to garden?  There is an initial investment, but it can help reduce veggie purchasing.

 

peeper72

Beans and rice. Ate a sh!t ton of that stuff in grad school...

carladillon

busybea:

1-coupons, coupons, coupons

2-buy the store brand instead of the known brand.  Not sure if you have a Publix nearby, but their store brand rocks!

3-for fruits and vegetables, try a farmers stand if you have one nearby

4-join a Sam's or a BJ's, expensive for the membership but worth it in the long run

5-coupons for restaurants (buy 1 get 1 free meal or $$ off), free meals on birthdays, etc

If I think of a few more, i'll let you know ...

I am a coupon queen...or at least I'm getting there.  And I LURVE Publix - their store brands do rock, plus they've always got some killer BOGO's...that plus my coupons and I can get some pretty good deals.  I will definitely have to check out some of the local farmers markets - for some reason, I had it in my mind they were more expensive?  We do have  a Sam's Club membership...just have to be more careful about the impulse shopping there....

Will definitely check out that website - thanks!

carladillon

stever:

Eat very little meat. If you're already a vegetarian, get dried/bulk beans and grains.

Heather - DH is a total carnivore I could easily cut down my meat consumption if I was single (didn't eat very much to begin with), but not so much now.  It's one reason why I can't make the full leap into being a Buddhist.  BUT - I like the dried/bulk beans/grains idea - thank you!

carladillon

pahokie:

Do you spend too much on groceries, or do you end up not using what you buy and ordering out?

Some folks recommend meal planning, basing your choices on what is on sale at the store that week. I'm not good at meal planning, so I think what happens it we run out of options at the end of the week, or I don't pull something out of the freezer and we end up ordering pizza or something....

Shop from a list.  Don't impulse buy.

I do use coupons, but I try to combine them with store sales.  Some weeks I use tons, some weeks I don't use any.

We only buy meat when it is on sale.  For example, when boneless skinless chicken breasts are $1.99/lb, we will buy several packs and then bag two breasts together and freeze them that way.  The breasts are HUGE, so DH and I can share one for a meal.  A pack of two gives us enough for dinner and leftovers for lunch the following day. This is a great idea - we've got a vacuum sealer too, so that will help.

We try to only buy whatever fresh fruits and veggies are on sale that week and supplement with frozen. another good idea

Are you looking for fancy meals, or something simple?  A lot of nights, we just have some sort of grilled meat with veggies on the side.  mostly simple, but need some variety as well - I'm no chef, so simple is good!

Make enough dinner to have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Do you have the time, space and inclination to garden?  There is an initial investment, but it can help reduce veggie purchasing. We currently live in a condo, so a garden really isn't possible....we've been trying to find ways to do something, maybe an herb garden or something.  But when we get a house we will definitely have a garden!

 

Thank you!!

carladillon

peeper72:

Beans and rice. Ate a sh!t ton of that stuff in grad school...

This is one of our staples!  And I add keilbasa or sausage to it as well...mmmm...and some hot sauce...mmmm...drool...

stever

carladillon:

stever:

Eat very little meat. If you're already a vegetarian, get dried/bulk beans and grains.

Heather - DH is a total carnivore I could easily cut down my meat consumption if I was single (didn't eat very much to begin with), but not so much now.  It's one reason why I can't make the full leap into being a Buddhist.  BUT - I like the dried/bulk beans/grains idea - thank you!

Bummer. Not counting the turkey or ham in DH's lunch sandwiches, we only have meat two or three times a week and it makes a huge difference. 

Peppernut

No help here!  I am a sucker for food.  

We do make our own as much as we can, I think we probably save a lot right there.  I think making stuff the lasts a few days helps, too, like soups, jambalaya, chili, that sort of thing.

 

ETA - If you like simple, and tend to grab stuff out of the freezer at the end of the week...  Homemade spaghetti sauce and/or lasagne!  Make a lasagne on Sunday, and freeze it.  It's so yummeh.

 

 

Piranha54

I agree with the pp, but also consider any public markets (think all year farmer's market with meats, cheeses, etc).  We have a great one in Cleveland, open 4 days a week, year round.  We get some produce there, but really use it for meats, cheeses and the like.  Fish and poultry are all far better than my favorite grocery (and it has good meats) and usually at least $2-3 less per pound, not to mention steals you can get at the end of the day.  Red meat and pork seem to only be $1-2 less per pound, but we still find the quality is better.  Plus, aside from the fish, most of these are local farms, often organic.  There's a great cheese shop, and while not cheap, less than a lot of places.  We've also found that specialty butchers and the like again usually have better, cheaper meat than the grocery.  And look into a local CSA (community supported agriculture) - we get weekly bags of produce from June to Oct that we pick up at our local library.  After the initial payment, you've got produce for the summer.  Yum!  Plus, both the market and CSA are local, mostly organic businesses that I feel great supporting and we save $$$$.

Daisiesinmygarden

If you have a patio you could put a few tomato plants in a pot. My mom lives in Florida and she  grew a tomato on her patio last year that was about 8 feet tall. LOL. They had TONS of 'maters. We use bell peppers a lot and they are expensive, so I planted a LOT of them and also tomatoes. We'll chop and freeze any leftover. I also planted carrots.

I LOVE tomato sandwiches and I figure that will probably my staple lunch this summer ). Simple and inexpensive.