Budget meals

rubydust

rubydust

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10 Jul 2014
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I'm a student and have two children. I'm struggling with my budget at the moment and need some help.

I live in a small town with only one small, expensive supermarket. Buying food is becoming a problem as my budget is really stretched. Fresh fruit is very expensive but I don't want to scrimp on that. I'm trying to cook meals from scratch as I'm told it works out cheaper this way, and obviously it's healthier too.

There must be others here on a tight budget. How do you manage to keep your food costs down? Do you have any tips on how to feed a family on a tight budget?
 
head over to lentils, pulses, rice and pasta for your diet. they are cheap, bulky and easy to cook. dried are the cheapest but try to go with the wholewheat pasta and brown rice because it is better for you and if you can, stay away from the canned beans and pulses and cook your own from dried. Easier and cheaper in the long run and much less salt in your diet that way.
 
bulking dishes out with vegetables and pulses,batch cooking dishes i.e. mince a bolagnaise can be used twice ,with pasta and lasagna cheese sauce with the lasagna could be used for cauliflower cheese,a piece of freshly cooked ham costs less in the long run as you can use it for sandwiches .trimmings in pasta,
loads rice dishes are cheap,i.e. chicken or veg risotto any left overs can be turned into arancini,
good luck
 
Eggs are gonna be your best friend. You can make them in SO many different ways (not just the old scrambled/over easy etc either) and they're pretty cheap as far as protein goes. I'd say get pasta or rice, whichever is cheaper, because they're both incredibly versatile. Oats is good too, for breakfast and snacks throughout the day.
 
The easiest way to save money on food is to not buy meat. That said, many people are not willing to do that, so if your family insists on eating meat, use it in a dish as opposed to it taking up half the plate when serving a meal. If you make mac 'n cheese, you can slice a couple hot dogs on top to make polka dot mac 'n cheese. You can cut up pieces of chickens to mix in a one-pot pasta or other main dish.

Don't buy sodas, drink plenty of water, learn about proper portions... recycle your veg scraps into stock for quick soups and sauces... stretch the fruit you buy by making smoothies (you can sneak in veg this way)... invest in the proper kitchen tools/appliances that will help you do all this stuff from scratch.

There are so many things you can do, but the main thing is to plan your meals and shopping so you don't have any waste, cook to have leftovers so you save time during the week, learn to reinvent the leftovers so it doesn't seem like the same food repeated, and freeze some portions for later when you don't have time to cook.

Always look at the sale ads before you shop, only buy the fresh produce that is actually in season as it's cheaper then, and be disciplined about it.
 
I'm on a really tight budget too. I buy in bulk and do a lot of batch cooking, to save money on both food and energy. I cook most things from scratch and scour the grocery stores for the cheapest prices. I often visit 2 or 3 stores to get everything I need at the lowest prices.
 
If you are on a tight budget you have to plan your meals very well by buying foods that are cheap but are healthy. What I am doing if I am in this kind of situation I just buy more eggs because I can make many recipes out of this food item and it is cheaper too compared when you buy red meats and one thing eggs are a good source of protein too. In the local markets they are selling fruits, vegetables and some food items on a cheaper price compared to supermarkets and they are fresh too. Just cook from scratch at home and you can really save on that. Don't throw away some of your leftover foods, you can make recipes out of it to avoid waste of foods.
 
Whenever I'm on a very tight budget eggs, milk and bread are the things I'll have available. Also, if you live in a city that is small with one expensive supermarket, maybe it is interesting to study the possibility of going to a bigger city nearby that has more options and better supermarkets - maybe buy grocery for the whole month so you save on them but don't spend so much gas.
 
The biggest way I save money is to make meat part of the dish, but not the whole dish like ChanellG said. I make fajitas a lot because they are backed with veggies, and you only need a small amount of dice meat to make the meal...or you could have vegetarian fajitas. Also, make dishes that will yield you leftovers, so that you can eat on the same meal a couple days in a row. Casseroles are perfect for this. I have a family of 4 and I love to make casseroles so we can have left overs the next night.
 
Well one easy way is to plan on what you need for 1 or 2 weeks and go to a bigger city where you have a cheaper store. As long as you buy a lot of stuff it's going to be much cheaper, even if you count in the cost of fuel to get there. Also bigger supermarkets often have all kinds of offers, it's worth taking advantage of those and stocking up on goods that are on sale.

Also, it's easy to get more to eat with less money if you just tweak the portions a bit. For example you are making spagetti bolognese. Just cook and extra batch of spaghetti and the same amount of sauce you always do. Spaghetti is pretty much free so that's an extra meal for free, though you will of course have less sauce per portion.
 
Thanks everyone for all the ideas. There's a lot of good advice. One thing I have just put into practice was the suggestion to drive to a bigger city and stock up. I went to a couple of discount supermarkets, and stocked up for hopefully a few weeks supply. It was amazing how much extra you can get for the same price, when you go to the right places.

I'm trying to get into the habit of planning ahead more. I've been stocking up on eggs!

Next I'm going to try cooking larger batches and freezing the leftovers. That seems like a really easy adjustment to make, but will save a lot, in both cost and time.
 
There's a big difference isn't there and it certainly outweighs the cost of the extra gas!

Another bonus to freezing meals is that your freezer runs more effectively when it is full. This reducs the amount of energy it uses so there's another small saving to be made there!
 
I wouldn't rule out your local food banks, depending on how critical your situation is, but especially since you've got kids to feed. I've been down to our local food bank with a couple of friends of mine, I was tagging along with them for the ride, and was really pleased to see so many people who would have otherwise gone hungry getting bags full of groceries to bring home. I know there's an element of pride in all of it, but there was a decent amount of groceries in those bags that could really help a family out. The ones my friends got that day had a large beef roast, I believe a pack of chicken thighs, and a bag of potatoes, among other stuff.

I wouldn't totally rule out freezer meals, if there is a great deal on them at your local grocery store, like 5 for $10, or even the $1 a piece ones - especially the Lean Cuisine stuff. You can pair them with some additional stuff to make a more substantial meal. Sometimes they may have a variety of ingredients in them that would cost a lot more to buy everything separately otherwise. For example, mix some frozen broccoli and or peppers into a $1 Mac & Cheese meal, then serve with a small tossed salad. Even Ramen noodles you can spruce up with some frozen vegetable medley - ditch the seasoning packet and just flavor it all with some soy sauce, make it more into a stir fry rather than a soup. You could dice up a couple pork chops and throw those in too for some inexpensive protein. You would be amazed how many dinners you can make for only a $1 or $2 per person if not much less.

If you are going to cook in bulk for several days in advance, maybe try making some individual components of a meal rather than complete meals, so you have more flexibility with those ingredients as the week progresses. For example, cooking a plain roast seasoned with just some salt and pepper, allows you to use it a variety of ways, instead of shredding it all up and making a big batch of BBQ pulled pork which you may grow tired of after several days. With a plain pork roast, you could serve it with gravy and vegetables one day, add some taco seasoning another day and broil it for carnitas, then dice some up for a breakfast hash another day, etc...
 
You've received lots of great advice here. I have not done any major shopping at home in a long time. My husband has been doing the bulk of the shopping and he knows where to get what at a better price. I used to do a lot of bulk shopping when I traveled and would post things home.I don't travel that much anymore, hence the shopping at home which can be rather expensive.

Things in our economy are very bad at present, and I think we should shop more wisely so I am paying attention to some to the advice given. Anyway. even though you had lots of great suggestions there is nothing wrong in sharing what I found on the web.

http://www.wikihow.com/Feed-a-Family-on-a-Tight-Budget
 
Are you familiar with the concept of one pot meals? Just like soups and stews, these are meals that contain a variety of ingredients, but you only need one pot to prepare them. If you make a large quantity of pasta and/or rice over the weekend, you can have these to make your budget meals quickly during the week. An example would be penne tossed with at least two vegetables, a protein if you wish, and served with or without sauce.
 
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