Eating Right on a Budget

I'm having some financial issues right now and of course healthy food is a priority. I've done some research on how I can save money and still eat right.

Any tips or suggestions are completely welcome!!!

Here are mine:

Buy your veggies FRESH and UNCUT and UNCHOPPED. Not only does this increase the fresh factor but the nutrients are still there as well and it is cheaper.

I've been looking at the prices of the whole veggies vs the pre-cut ones and there is an easy $2 difference!

Also don't buy the salad mix in a bag! Buying a head of romaine and ice berg lettuce and cutting them up yourself will save you at least $2!!!!


Protect your investment! When you buy the veggies, prepare them to eat when you get home! That makes it easy to put together a salad or whatever and helps when you get the munchies and visit the fridge!

Put them in produce bags to keep them longer! Well worth the extra couple of bucks. It'll save you plenty!

Buy meats in larger packs and freeze!

Buy the large eggs vs the small eggs.

Look for generic versions of favorites such as Jello, Chicken/Beef/Veg Broth, Heavy Cream, Milk, Eggs, and Cheese. I have found by doing this that not only are the generic products cheaper and taste just as great, but they sometimes have LESS carbs and are more suitable for my diet!

For example, the Wal-Mart brand of Heavy Cream has 0 g of carbs vs my old favorite, which had 1 g.

I found Food Lion Brand sugar free jello and it was just as tasty and saved me $1.70!

I buy jello every few weeks, so that 1.70 really adds up!

If you're looking for meat to cook immediately, check out the mark down section! I've gotten GREAT cuts of FRESH meat that were close to their expiration dates just by doing this. They tasted wonderful and were easy on my pockets.

For example, I just bought a pack of Smithfield smoked pork chops (5) for $3!

I eat them for breakfast sometimes!!!

Buy seafood at seafood stores instead of a regular grocery store. The food is generally much cheaper and fresher too.

Any suggestions from any of you?

I regularly stop at the discount food store before I go to the grocery store. I get what I can there and then get the rest at the regular grocery store.

Invest in some freezer bags and freezer containers, make sure to make big batches and freeze the extras.

I find that if I waste money it is from food going bad before we can eat it. Since there is only two of us I either have to make smaller portions or freeze leftovers.

With stuff that I can't freeze like lettuce I only buy one and just go to the store again later that week if I need another one.

Be careful at warehouse stores like Costco. Sometimes you don't save money if you are buying more than you will use.

If you have a Dollar Tree in your area, check to see if they carry groceries. We are often able to pick up basic items there like eggs, cheese, bread, cereal, juice, etc. A lot of the time it's even name brands that they carry, so it can be a huge savings.

When I went shopping on Saturday, I got mostly fresh veggies and fruit and spent SO much less than I usually do. I used to buy a lot of snack bars and stuff like that, but now that I don't, I save about $30-50 per trip. And I'm losing weight faster this way too.

Thanks guys!!!!

My husband and I buy the staples at Costco. Rice, Tomato sauces; all the things that doesn't go bad. The quantities are such that they may well last us a year. Like Sararay, though, we don't get fruit or veggies much at Costco because as that stuff might not get eaten fast enough with just the two of us. We do get Costco sized meats and freeze what we don't use right away. We have trimmed our grocery trips to less then 50$ a week this way. we eat our leftovers for lunches and save money buying lunch there. You can also take leftovers and make new dishes out of them. Make Spaghetti one night then turn some of the same ingredients and add a few and make a casserole the next night or turn it into a soup or stew.

Great ideas!!!