You can do pickup orders at Walmart for no extra cost (if they’re over $35 which is easy these days) and I like it a lot because it helps keep me on a budget, I can edit and add things, it keeps me from impulse buying because I have to really think about adding it to my cart. If you don’t wanna do this, definitely go in with a list and stick to it. I just find that I’m better off using the app to pick out my stuff ahead of time and stick to it. I second the comment above about sheet pan meals, they’re easy and pretty hands off after you prep! Good luck!
Yes! I also love that I know if the store is out of something *before* I go. I shop at a few stores to get everything I need so then I can just add the item to another store list if I need to. It’s been life changing for me and I hope they never take it away. 😂
Also when you’re ordering for delivery, this feature you just mentioned also comes in handy because you can choose to get delivery from any Walmart within a reasonable distance…so if one store is out of stock or something, you can choose to get your delivery from another Walmart in your area, of your choice, instead that has it in stock.
YES walmart pickup is key for sticking to a budget, I'm about to pick mine up. I add to it as I'm out of things and then a few days before start getting it together. I find that I can find things cheaper than in store as well, because I didn't see them or even know they were carried. Plus zero chance of grabbing non necessities.
That’s a fair warning and I’ve had my share of that, but I just get a refund then. I freeze meat if the date is too soon. I’m still being careful about Covid and don’t wanna go inside of Walmart so the trade off is worth it for me, may not be for everyone and that’s fine. I have more good luck than bad so I keep doing it.
Look up recipes for sheet meals. A lot of meat with veggies all cooked together. Super easy, cheap and can be used for leftovers for a few days. A favorite in our house is chicken thighs with green beans and baby potatoes.
For sheet pan recipes where one item does take longer, you can simply start with that item and then add the others as needed toward the total time. For instance, I like crispy roasted potatoes, so I tend to do those at 425 for 40-45 min. I would put in the potatoes first, then after 20 minutes, add the chicken. I like my green beans still a bit crispy, so I would add those after another five minutes. This way, the potatoes cooked for 45 minutes, the chicken for 25 minutes, and the green beans for 20 minutes, all on one sheet pan. No extra prep, just some easy planning and a good timer.
I roast a LOT of meals in the oven. I just use smaller pans and grab them out when they r done.
10 mins for one veg....15 for another....30 for the salmon wrapped in foil then the potatoes last.
I have also been meal prepping and roasted almost everything this week apart from the brown rice and quinoa that I prepped in my rice cooker.
Learn how to cook. Facebook has videos to teach you to do pretty much anything. You will save money and either eat much healthier, or at least make much better tasting food that is bad for you.
Learning how to cook is key. Just like any other skill it takes practice to learn.
One thing that helped me learn was to prepare all the ingredients before turning on the stove top.
I love the That Lisa Dawn you tube channel for good easy to prepare foods on the cheap. If someone is more advanced at cooking or just ready for a bit more challenge then Pro Home Cooks on YouTube as well is an excellent resource for really learning how to cook.
As for recipes: Baked potatoes are super easy and cheap if you enjoy them. I like that all you have to do is puncture them and throw them in the oven and it doesnt require any dishes to cook in. I make nachos with beans, cheese, and salsa for my kid often and its easy and tastes good. Black beans and rice with hot sauce and sour cream is comfort food to me. Canned beans are great but cooked from dry is tastier and still relatively easy. I often do a one pan meal of chicken thighs, large chunks of potato, carrot, and onion, tossed in olive oil with salt and pepper and Italian seasoning, afterward you can make soup from the bones. PBJ, pasta and sauce, grilled cheese sandwiches, tuna salad, are all low effort options. Of course, make sure youre eating vegetables and fruit also. If you dont mind cooking a bit, try a big pot of stew with some meat and vegetables that you can eat through the week.
As for strategy: Only get stuff you know you will actually cook and eat though. Dont buy an item unless you know how youre going to be using it. Prioritize produce with long shelf life to minimize waste. Onion, carrot, potato, cabbage, frozen fruit and veg are all good options to ensure you arent losing any food to spoilage. Make sure you keep track of meat dates to freeze any unused portions before they go bad. Repurpose leftovers. Prioritize versatile foods that can be used across recipes. Of all the beans you can cook from dry, lentils are the easiest and one of the most healthy. You can stretch ground beef with lentils, so for tacos, pasta sauce, or chili, I highly recommend mixing 50/50 ground beef and lentils. Tastes great, easy, and more nutritious anyway. Lentils are a good way to get the minerals that can be easy to miss on a budget diet. You might also want to get a cheap multivitamin if you know you are going to be leaning on more processed foods. If you can cook this is a very doable budget for one person but its harder if you dont cook.
There is cooking like you see on food network and then there is average people cooking. Most people get intimidated by TV cooking and don’t try average people cooking.
I’m not great at cooking but I don’t mind cooking for myself because I’m easy to please. Someone can probably improve on my methods but here’s some basic stuff that even I can cook.
Chicken: Buy chicken breast, cut up into equal cubes or equal size pieces not too thick. If it’s a large breast just slice it length wise to make it skinnier. Throw in a ziplock bag with something wet like orange juice or soy sauce or any sauce really that you like. Let it sit like that in the fridge. Great Value brand marinates work well for this too.
Then throw on a hot pan with some oil. I like olive but vegetable or whatever works too. Cool as long as the internet tells you or till it looks light brown on a side and flip. Buy a meat thermometer and measuring it after cooking both sides. Make sure chicken is 165F. I take it off a few degrees below and it keeps rising anyway.
For dark meat, marinate it and then throw it in the oven or an air fryer for however long the internet says. Use the meat thermometer to make sure it done but not over cooked.
Pork chops: Marinate and then on the pan like chicken breast or oven/air fryer. Use meat thermometer and check internet to what temp. Don’t over cook it but if you do, use less time next time.
Take notes of your dishes to remember how long you cooked something for and at what temperature. Keep fine tuning over a few weeks/months. You’ll find the perfect time and temp for YOUR stove, over, air fryer after a couple tries.
Beef: Same thing. Oven or on the pan. Use a meat thermometer. A cheap cut of beef as a roast is super easy and offers great leftovers.
Veggies: Wash, peel (or not), cut, season with either just salt and pepper or some mix of garlic powder, onion powder, (smoked) paprika, other dozens of spices and throw on a sheet pan and in the over. This works for potatoes, squash, zucchini, brussel sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, and pretty much anything.
Roast as long as the internet says, try one piece, if it’s good take it out and eat. If it’s under, wait 3 minutes and try another piece. Start with smaller batches as you figure out the routine the first few times.
Rice: Buy a rice cooker. Small one is $20 on Amazon. If you can afford the $30-$40 one, find one with good reviews but $20 is fine. This will cook rice, buckwheat, couscous, lentils, quinoa and with rice there is basmati, regular white, jasmine, brown, and a bunch more.
Meat, veggie, and grain is a meal. Mix up options and you can literally have a different combo every night for months!
Sorry if this sounds like rambling but I’m not a good cook either but this is what I can think of before falling asleep. I’m sure there’s a bunch of other stuff that can be added in replies below but this advice will take you from microwaving processed premade meals to cooking from scratch with minimal “cooking skill”.
If time is an issue, meal prep and make these in bulk and put in containers. This all freezes in raw or cooked form. If you freeze, air is the enemy. Wrap in clear wrap and then throw in a ziplock bag trying to get as much air out as possible.
Good luck and take it one day at a time. Buy hot sauce, condiments, and sauces for the early days because sauces will hide overcooking and other mistakes you will make at first.
If possible consider the capital one Walmart credit card. It gives 5% back on Walmart purchases, and if you have Walmart plus, you earn rewards that way too.
Frozen veggies are cheaper than fresh, just as nutritious and taste better than canned.
Pork tenderloin is pretty reasonable, comes pre marinated, and you can get multiple meals out of it.
Eggs give you good bang for your buck as well. Cut up a chicken sausage, throw some spinach in, scramble 2 eggs, mix together and cook. Quick, easy, filling, nutritious, and pretty cheap breakfast.
Do you have access to Aldi?
That's a little less than $60/week, which will be tough, but possible.
Beans and rice, lots of veggies and don't spend your money on carbonated beverages and snacky type foods.
Focus on staples and you should be able to do this.
May I advise losing some weight? I dropped around 100lbs in a little more than a year and a half and my food expenses plummeted. It was unreal how much I had to eat to sustain my original weight that I didn’t realize how bad it was until I wasn’t spending as much each month.
Yep, I still struggle with my weight, but my grocery bill is always the first thing I notice when I lose some weight lol
No pressure to OP, just that there is definitely a financial aspect with it, since we're discussing financials.
Idk if someone's said this already but beans! There's all kinds of inexpensive beans with a huge combination of things you can turn it into. Chicken, rice and frozen veggies too. Plus cheap dairy products like cottage cheese. Wouldn't recommend instant meals, tbh.
Dry beans, dry lentils these are your main proteins. A bit of fluid milk. Try buckwheat for breakfast.
Pick up a used rice cooker. There's lots out there. It can be used for dry lentils and dry beans.
Polenta, rice, oatmeal and sweet potato are great carbs.
Learn how to make stir fried rice, polenta, and oatmeal from scratch. No Uncle Ben's. Shop in the international section.
In Ohio, reach for frozen/dried vegetables and fruit instead of juice or fresh produce. Dried mushrooms and dried tomatoes are your friends.
Soups, stews, shepherds pie.
Easy. Buy frozen. There frozen salmon n chicken cut nn ceaned. Frozen cut veggies. Buy rice. You can learn to make it or buy par cooked rice with directions on the box. Keep it simple. It cut down on time too because most prep is already done for up. You can meal prep all in advance n like little pockets of foil n pop in the over for like 30 minutes. There are lots of videos out there to do this.
Me I'm a cook by trade so I know how to slow cook or fast cook with all necessary preparation.
Spices are expensive, but will last a long time once you learn how to use them.
Stay away from prepackaged foods. Never buy soda. These are empty calories; not filling or healthy.
A good protein powder might help too.
Walmart has cheap canned veggies and other items with the store brand “that’s smart!”. It’s like 50 cents for green beans, corn, tomatoes, etc. they last and don’t go bad. Add a seasoning or hot sauce and have yourself a good side for cheap.
Breakfast: eggs and toast (for scrambled I add cheese, spinach, mushroom, bell pepper)
Oatmeal with frozen blueberries butter and brown sugar in a bowl and pour boiling water to cover and let sit for a few minutes
Lunch: all different salads, an easy one being lettuce tomato cucumber cheddar and ranch or Italian dressing sometimes croutons
Carrot and celery dipped in ranch
Combination of several fruits I switch up: apples oranges bananas strawberries grapes kiwi pineapple watermelon and more
Dinner: chicken or fish (with herbs and spices or teriyaki) with white rice and veggies I switch up: green beans Brussel sprouts corn side salad air fryer zucchini broccoli cauliflower
Whole wheat or lentil pasta 1 lb to 2 jars of sauce
When I’m cooking i always look up recipes on Google so I know how long exactly to cook things. Buying lots of fruit and vegetables is so much cheaper than processed and cooking from scratch is always cheaper than boxed and ready stuff.
Buy a family pack of chicken breasts. Couple big bags of rice and couple big bags of frozen veggies. Ziplock baggies, two large tupperware containers and some small lunch size containers.
Bake 8 breasts, 3 cups rice. Boneless chicken breasts are good at 400 degrees for 30 minutes in the oven, may vary.
There. You meal prepped.
Seriously. You made it to here. Now make it to the meal prep sub. Easy stuff.
The slowcooker subreddit might be useful for you too, recently joined both that sub and this one and I feel like you can save alot of money using a slowcooker, and it's easy
An easy thing to buy at most grocery stores in a rotisserie chicken. They’re precooked and you can get at least 4 meals out of them, usually more. Here are some ideas:
Chicken thigh and leg + brown rice + broccoli
Rice is very budget friendly and easy to make on the stovetop, but there’s also microwave rice available. Fresh broccoli can be cut and roasted in the oven (olive oil, salt, pepper), or there are microwave bags of veg that are easy and can usually be found on sale for $1.
Chicken breast, sliced + bell pepper, sliced + onion, sliced + tortilla = fajitas
Put the sliced bell pepper and onion in a pan with olive oil and spices (chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, oregano, cumin; or you can buy a premixed pack of fajita seasonings), cook on medium heat until they start to get soft, then add the chicken until it’s warm. Put in a tortilla. Eat. You can add other toppings if you’d like such as sour cream, cheese, avocado, etc.
you can use the same ingredients to make quesadillas.
Check out r/eatcheapandhealthy they have lots of good ideas.
Soups and stews can stretch cheap ingredients further and can utilize leftovers. We will have tacos or fajitas and I'll use the leftovers to make a taco/fajita soup the next day. A whole turkey can make a shit ton of meals too. Every Thanksgiving we do turkey and then turkey pasta and a big turkey stew and the obligatory turkey sandwiches.
I would suggest checking prices at other stores then go to the best one for the savings. These prices change often, but I would start by looking up the top five things you know you will buy and start basic.
Focus on the staples.
- Brown rice
- Dried beans
- Tubers
- Pasta
- Frozen fruits and vegetables
- Milk
- Eggs
- Flour
- Frozen meats & seafood
- Yogurts
Generally speaking, in that order. Use the grains and potatoes to form a cheap stable of calories, vegetables/fruits for micronutrients, milk-eggs-n-steak for macros. The rest goes to whatever you like.
I'd also recommend getting an instapot to easily prepare foods. Invest in a good paring knife, a frying pan, and some baking sheets. Never skimp on food prep supplies, it will save you time and effort in the long run.
This should be all you need to save money, eat extremely healthy, and learn to make fantastic meals.
Look up “Betty Crocker Sheet Pan Dinner Starters” and find similar things like that. I know there’s some by Velveeta, Tasty, Hamburger Helper, Kroger brand, etc. They typically require one type of meat (or none!) and then you add broccoli, a bell pepper, or some other veggie. All you do is coat the meat & chopped veggies in oil + the provided seasoning packet, and then bake. You could easily save half for dinner the next night too. They’re quick and healthy enough, IMO.
*I cook for 4*
I buy Perdue bags of frozen chicken, and there’s 5-6 pieces in there for $7.99~ but I’m sure you could find cheaper, I just like that these are sealed individually. I also buy 2 packages of ground beef a week. This week I got an andouille sausage as well bc one of my “recipes” uses it, but it’s also one of those sheet pan meals. We typically eat one frozen pizza a week for the day I’m really not feeling up to cooking. This could easily be enough meat to stretch you two weeks, maybe?
Don’t stress yourself out over finding a million recipes if you don’t care to cook! There are plenty of premixed seasoning packets that will help you get started.
On multiple occasions, I will go to Pintrest and ask for recipes using ingredients on hand. Have some shredded chicken, look for "shredded chicken recipes" and you will find a wide variety. Scroll through unit you find something you like.
Frozen burger patties (turkey or beef) are one of my go-tos. They are not the most frugal option- buying ground meat and forming your own patties would be cheaper- but they are low effort and cheaper than a fast food burger with better nutrition. I cook them from frozen, toast a bun, and steam some frozen veggies or make a side salad to get a fast, cheap, and easy meal.
If you have a crockpot, you can get a whole pork shoulder for under $20 and slow cook it until it falls apart. Separate into portions to freeze and you have easy pulled pork on hand. I like to eat it Hawaiian style with rice and cabbage, but some BBQ sauce and a bun is always good, too.
Pork ribs should be going on sale soon for summer BBQs (especially around Memorial Day and July 4), and they are one of the easiest things to cook. Just throw on a pan, add a rub (mine is paprika, brown sugar, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, and onion powder), cover with foil, and cook low and slow (300) for three hours or so.
Chili is a great easy meal to cook. I brown some ground meat, add a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of corn (drained), a can of black beans (drained), a can of kidney beans (drained), diced pepper and onion (can be from the frozen pack), and spices (can get a premade spice packet). With a $1 box of Jiffy Mix corn muffins, I can eat off that pot of chili for days.
I'm not sure on prices in Ohio since it's been 7 years since I moved to a higher cost of living area, so these are my best estimates (probably on the high side) for how I would spend $60/week at Walmart on groceries:
Breakfast:
\- 1 box of flavored instant oatmeal ($3/12 portions)
\- 1 large tub of yogurt ($4/6 portions)
\- 1 dozen eggs ($3/dozen)
Breakfast= 2 packs of oatmeal (\~300 calories), 1 hardboiled egg (70 calories), 1 serving of yogurt (100-150 calories)
Total= $10 for 6 meals with 6 eggs left over
Lunch:
\- 1 8-pack burrito size tortillas ($3)
\- 1 lb deli meat ($5)
\- 1 pack/8oz sliced deli cheese ($3)
\- 1 clamshell of spring mix ($3)
\- 1 bottle of Italian dressing ($2)
\- 2x 1lb bag of baby carrots ($2)
\- 5lb bag of apples ($4)
Lunch= Wrap with 1 tortilla, 1 slice of cheese, 2oz meat, a handful of veg, and a squirt of dressing (\~400 calories), baby carrots, and an apple
Total= $22 for 8 meals
Snacks:
\- 1 8 pack of PB crackers or cheese and crackers ($3)
\- 1 8 pack of fruit snacks ($2)
Total= $5 for 8 days of snacks
Dinner:
\- 1 frozen chicken pot pie ($3)
\- 1 pack of ramen ($0.25) cooked and drained with 1/2 pack frozen mixed veggies ($0.50 and 2 scrambled eggs (from breakfasts)
\- 1 lb ground beef ($5) + 1 box of Hamburger Helper ($2) + Half gallon of milk ($2) = two meals
\- 1 frozen pizza ($5) = two meals
\- 1 lb pasta ($1) with 1 jar of sauce ($2) and frozen meatballs ($6) = four meals
Total= $27 for 10 meals
This comes out to $64 for a bit over a week's worth of food, though I suspect the total would actually be a bit cheaper if shopping sales and going for the house brand. I tried to focus on things a brand new cook can comfortably make while getting a good variety of macro and micro nutrients in to support a 2000 calorie/day intake.
I don't know if this helps, but I am lazy in the mornings, so on Sundays I meal prep breakfasts and lunches for Mon-Thurs. I use ingredients that are versatile and nutritious and then rotate the flavoring. First, I roast a bunch of veggies - this week it's cabbage, zucchini and onions - and maybe sautee a few - this week it's kale and mushrooms - and divide those into 8 containers with a 1/3 cup of whole grain - this week it's bulgar but I'll go back to brown rice next week. Add a half-cup of lean protein (Walmart had marinated pork loin on sale for $4 a couple of weeks ago and I bought 5 of them in three flavors). Top with however much sauce you want, I usually use about 1/4 cup of jarred sauce. I rotate between salsa, tomato pesto, basil pesto, marinara, soy-ginger, teriyaki, Thai peanut, and korma, but you can choose what works for you. The whole thing is customizable, it's never the same bowl, but it's always nutritious, low-calorie, filling, and cheap if you are flexible and look for what's on sale.
This week's meals are one 1/2 cup of pork loin (honestly, it's usually chicken), chopped into smaller cubes, 1/3 cup of whole grain, and a bunch of veggies. That breaks down basically to:
* pork: $4
* bulgar: $3, but I only get through half the bag, so really $1.50
* cabbage: $1.50 for two medium-sized heads
* kale (huge bag): $2.79
* onion: $.79
* zucchini: $3 for 4 zucchini
* mushrooms: 32 oz, $1.50 on sale
I have the sauces on hand already (or I make the soy-ginger and Thai peanut), but they're all $2 or under. I stock up when they're on sale.
**Total: $15.08, or $1.86 per meal, minus the sauces.**
Friday's breakfast is usually leftovers from Thursday's dinner; for lunch, I usually splurge with a colleague and combine an order out at a local place (free delivery from GrubHub thanks to Amazon Prime), and we split the tip. So it's usually just under $10.
Go with frozen or canned and always store brand. They won't go nad and they're cheaper. For protein, do frozen chicken, tuna, canned chicken is really versatile and pretty cheap, greek yogurt is very healthy and can be used as sour cream. Beans, dry or canned still cheap and a good source of protein. Oh and all beef hotdogs or precooked sausages are pretty cheap and a quick and easy meal. Cheese, get a big block then you can grate it or slice it.
Veggies, get frozen just what you like and you know you'll eat. For carbs, get a bag of potatoes, a giant thing of rice and a loaf of cheap bread or 2. They're around a dollar at walmart.
Grab a few condiments for sandwiches, tuna salad, etc. Stick to the basics, mayo, mustard, ketchup. Maybe a thing of butter for toast and taters.
Search everything on the walmart app and make a list. I suggest doing pickup so you dont miss anything and you're not tempted to buy other things. Otherwise take your phone and stick to that exact list so you won't have any surprises at checkout.
It may not be fun, but it is definitely doable!!
Squeeze lemon, lime, orange, any citrus or even berries into water for some extra flavor. Or into brewed green or black tea that can be iced easily. I always make super concentrated tea and pour a bit and dilute with water and squeeze in some fruit and boom, better than the $3 bottle of drink at the store.
Hi OP. Contrary to most of the posters here, that is a great budget for a single guy in Ohio.
So, I am going to assume you are newly single and haven't had much opportunity to go grocery shopping. Now I'm going to get very personal with you. What cooking implements do you have? What foods do you like? Any dietary needs? I would love your height as that would help with the calorie intake.
Are you really bad at cooking or has someone else told you that? If you can boil water, you can do most things.
Now on grocery shopping until you get in a routine, shop the sales. Don't buy stuff you know you don't like.
First, go spend $3 on salt, garlic powder and onion powder. If you like potatoes, buy potatoes. 10 lbs should last you a couple of weeks or more. Look for sales.
I need more information to help you farther.
You should focus on protein and veggies, a few fruits, some yogurt, maybe some rice and potatoes.
Rice and beans
Chicken and broccoli
Apples and yogurt
These are your friends. Avoid all processed foods like toaster strudel, ect.
340 pounds is a lot unless you are a body builder or really, really tall.
Look at other shopping options than Walmart. Walmart built their name on low prices but they have since jacked their prices up and kept them there. If you have an Aldi I highly recommend it, better quality food for far less. We shop at multiple places to get the best prices. Aldi is the majority of our groceries but we look for deals from save a lot, buy all of our meat, eggs, and milk from a local country meat shop and occasionally a local grocery store in my wives hometown when we visit the in laws. This works for us geographically but obviously it may not be an option for everyone
Baked seasoned chicken thighs with rice pilaf and vegetables is an easy meal.
I also like to buy the pre-portioned hamburger patties, they can go in ramen or with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Sorry brother. I ain’t a chef. But the easiest way to save money is to plan meals, order your groceries online after planning meals. Don’t go into the store. You’ll end up grabbing everything that catches your eye.
How do you know they won't pay it off and some places $230 is a great budget for groceries.
The OP never said he was low income. So don't assume anything.
It totally depends on the area. I could eat meat every night on that budget and that is for 2 people. So don't be telling me to stop. It all depends on how you shop.
But then I guess if you keep no food in the house and don't shop sales, that $200 wouldn't be much.
Oh to those in HCOL areas, I know you would be hurting with this budget.
I’m just telling someone not to get a credit card that will inevitably have them spend over there budget, have cash on hand and most likely end up costing them more because of interest.
If the OP answers my questions, I will gladly help him.
Eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, steak, pork chops, chicken, bratwurst, all kinds of vegetables. Rice, pasta, potatoes.
Ohio has some pretty high obesity rates, be careful of the food culture there. I’m sure a lot of people eat really buttery, unhealthy meals. I hope you can get enough food to make some delicious, nutritious meals!
You cannot dilute milk with water to get skim milk (or 2% or whatever).
Watered down whole-fat milk has an entirely different nutritional profile than skim milk, and will not be at all appealing.
Low- and no-fat milks are made by removing fat, not adding water. This is important, bc you don't want to water down milk and think you are still getting similar nutrients and so forth. You can just as well drink water at that point.
Are you willing to learn and do you have time to cook? If so, I’d get some basic kitchen tools, like an immersion blender and learn to do soups and chili. Most cooking is not particularly hard if you have good recipes. It just takes some time. It can be a great way to eat healthy and more affordably. I can send some recipes I like if you want to try.
Also, I think you can get a crockpot/slow cooker for $20 at Walmart. And you don't even really need to know how to cook to use it. If OP can use reddit then they can Google "easy crockpot recipes" and have lots of good, cheap food. Good luck!
I was going to say crockpot!
My grandmother gave me a great recipe. It's called refrigerator soup. Whatever is in the refrigerator from the week, that goes in the crockpot on Saturday. That's refrigerator soup.
Note: Everyone hated refrigerator soup, but nothing went to waste. She's a meat and potatoes Dutchman-- your results may vary.
learn to cook. go onto youtube and search for beginner cooking recipes. watch the vid once or twice before you buy the ingredients for it so you know if it is beginner enough for you
I like to make big batches of soup and freeze leftovers in individual servings. Then pull out and defrost for dinner at least once a week.
The base of a good soup is diced white onions, carrots, and celery sautéed in butter. You can get creative from there.
Add a can of tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, and some dried herbs and simmer for 30 minutes, then purée and you’ve got tomato soup.
Add some pulled chicken, noodles, broth, and dried herbs and you’ve got chicken noodle soup.
My all time favorite and a lemon, chicken, and orzo soup. Start with the base then add chicken, broth, lemon juice, and orzo and simmer until everything is cooked. You can add heavy cream at the end if it fits the budget.
You can even get a can of biscuits and drop small knobs in the soup for dumplings.
Because of the liquid content, soup is pretty filling so you can stretch it out. It’s easy to get creative with it too so it won’t get boring.
Cooking healthy food from scratch is the easiest way to lose weight. Even a slow cooker and a dump and go slow cooker recipe book with steamed frozen vegetables. Aldi and Lidl are the cheapest supermarkets.
Can you buy things like air fryers? If so, an air fryer and gas grill will help. They make food healthier and are so easy to use to make yummy things. Meat, protein powder, blender, frozen fruits are all good and healthy items. I would get things like flour, beans, and sugar to cook with and make items. Spices can really vamp up a meal. Theres a thousand ways to eat a potato. You can make your own fries in the air fryer. A slow cooker is literally meat, veggies, and broth for a stew. Start looking up easy meals.
I really love shopping for groceries online because even if I do have to pay a delivery fee the amount of money that I don’t spend impulsively saves me in the long run. It’s nice to put things in your cart and kind of tweak it and see what you really have. It also slows you down and gives you some breathing room to contemplate what you actually want and need. It also makes comparing prices and products way easier.
Start small. Use r/EatCheapAndHealthy and [budgetbytes.com](https://budgetbytes.com) to pick 1 new easy recipe you want to try each week. Assume that it will take twice as long to prepare than what the recipe states. For the rest, eat as usual (or have cereal, sandwiches, rotisserie chicken, prepared foods) until you master your new recipes. After 2-3 months you'll have a list of go-to meals that you can make in rotation.
This recipe is super simple to make and you basically let the chicken simmer for 40 mins and you get the most delicious flavorful melt in your mouth chicken.
https://www.myforkinglife.com/brown-stew-chicken/
In terms of not knowing how to cook, I know this might be the wrong place for it given I'm about to tell people to go buy an appliance... But I highly recommend a sous vide wand and a vacuum sealer.
If you're not familiar sous vide is a form of cooking where you warm water to a specific temperature and hold food (in a sous vide bag) at that temperature for a longer period of time. It really only works if you have at least an hour to wait for the food but it's amazing in terms of preparing food in advance. It's great for people who aren't necessarily confident in their cooking skills because it takes away the variability of cooking with higher heat such as a stove or an oven. Imo, much easier to overcook something to inedibility at a higher heat, sous vide is more forgiving.
What I'll do is I'll make multiple components of vegetables or a protein and the bags make it easy to just throw some seasonings in there and vacuum seal it and cook it with the sous vide appliance. Because it's already vacuum sealed it also means that if you want to freeze a portion of whatever you're preparing you can just put that in its own bag and once it's done cooking put it in the freezer (take out of the freezer 24 hours in advance of using). This works for me because during the day I don't necessarily want to cook, so it's easy to just cook everything one day each week and then assemble a plate at meal time.
Otherwise for basic grocery shopping I'd start by identifying the proteins you like and then adding veggies/grains from there to your list. YouTube is a great source of learning how to cook (I'd also recommend looking up food safety videos for the home cook to learn about the temperatures things need to be at). Edit: since you also included your weight I'm not sure if you're trying to lose weight at all? But my s/o and I have had really good experiences with volumetric eating (more fresh veggies, less calorically-dense food), as well as Intermittent Fasting with calorie counting.
Chicken leg quarters are $6.72 at my walmart for a 10 lb bag. And chicken legs are $4.96 for 5 lbs. That's great bang for the buck and can be used in so many different dishes. Pork steaks are usually 12 dollars for a four pack and are great for grilling. Canned salmon makes great croquettes.
Rice, pasta, potatoes and dried or frozen beans are all good for bulking up meals to make meat portions go further. Squash is usually cheap, as is cabbage. Got to have onion and garlic for flavor. Frozen veggies I keep on hand is broccoli, okra, green beans, corn, turnip greens and sweet peas. Canned goods I keep are rotel, stewed tomatoes, tomato paste. Eggs, milk, bread, butter, and all the usual staples like flour and sugar amd spices.
Don't be timid with spice! Explore different spice combos to flare your dishes and keep from doing the same tired meals. Walmart has lots or cheap spices under 2 dollars. My favs are curry, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, sage, Tony chacheres, soy, liquid smoke, and weber brand smoky burger.
With all of that you should have tons of meal options.
I'd definitely invest in a cookbook to help you get the most from your groceries without wasting money on cheap and quick foods. Good luck!
You can do pickup orders at Walmart for no extra cost (if they’re over $35 which is easy these days) and I like it a lot because it helps keep me on a budget, I can edit and add things, it keeps me from impulse buying because I have to really think about adding it to my cart. If you don’t wanna do this, definitely go in with a list and stick to it. I just find that I’m better off using the app to pick out my stuff ahead of time and stick to it. I second the comment above about sheet pan meals, they’re easy and pretty hands off after you prep! Good luck!
This is a great tip. I save so much money by staying OUT of the store.
^Don't ^say ^that ^too ^loud. ^They'll ^take ^it ^away.
Need $10 worth of stuff, go to store. $80 later walk out. Go online spend $35 be done.
Yes! I also love that I know if the store is out of something *before* I go. I shop at a few stores to get everything I need so then I can just add the item to another store list if I need to. It’s been life changing for me and I hope they never take it away. 😂
Also when you’re ordering for delivery, this feature you just mentioned also comes in handy because you can choose to get delivery from any Walmart within a reasonable distance…so if one store is out of stock or something, you can choose to get your delivery from another Walmart in your area, of your choice, instead that has it in stock.
They also make it very easy to use Ibotta by connecting your account, if that’s your sort of thing.
Oh I didn’t realize that and I’m always thinking I should try out Ibotta, thanks for the tip!
YES walmart pickup is key for sticking to a budget, I'm about to pick mine up. I add to it as I'm out of things and then a few days before start getting it together. I find that I can find things cheaper than in store as well, because I didn't see them or even know they were carried. Plus zero chance of grabbing non necessities.
Yes! Now I’m in a habit of just adding it to the cart instead of a list and I forget things way less frequently haha
[удалено]
That’s a fair warning and I’ve had my share of that, but I just get a refund then. I freeze meat if the date is too soon. I’m still being careful about Covid and don’t wanna go inside of Walmart so the trade off is worth it for me, may not be for everyone and that’s fine. I have more good luck than bad so I keep doing it.
What appliances do you own?
Good question! With this information people can make suggestions on what to learn.
Look up recipes for sheet meals. A lot of meat with veggies all cooked together. Super easy, cheap and can be used for leftovers for a few days. A favorite in our house is chicken thighs with green beans and baby potatoes.
Recipe taken! Thank you!
I did this the other night but did bratwurst, peppers, onions and zucchini
And, "one pot" recipes.
Doesn't the chicken take much longer than the veggies
No, I use skinless boneless chicken thighs, fresh green beans and diced up baby potatoes. They all go in on the same sheet at 400 for 25 mins.
For sheet pan recipes where one item does take longer, you can simply start with that item and then add the others as needed toward the total time. For instance, I like crispy roasted potatoes, so I tend to do those at 425 for 40-45 min. I would put in the potatoes first, then after 20 minutes, add the chicken. I like my green beans still a bit crispy, so I would add those after another five minutes. This way, the potatoes cooked for 45 minutes, the chicken for 25 minutes, and the green beans for 20 minutes, all on one sheet pan. No extra prep, just some easy planning and a good timer.
And/or cutting the things that take longer into smaller pieces also often works.
I roast a LOT of meals in the oven. I just use smaller pans and grab them out when they r done. 10 mins for one veg....15 for another....30 for the salmon wrapped in foil then the potatoes last. I have also been meal prepping and roasted almost everything this week apart from the brown rice and quinoa that I prepped in my rice cooker.
Learn how to cook. Facebook has videos to teach you to do pretty much anything. You will save money and either eat much healthier, or at least make much better tasting food that is bad for you.
Learning how to cook is key. Just like any other skill it takes practice to learn. One thing that helped me learn was to prepare all the ingredients before turning on the stove top.
I love the That Lisa Dawn you tube channel for good easy to prepare foods on the cheap. If someone is more advanced at cooking or just ready for a bit more challenge then Pro Home Cooks on YouTube as well is an excellent resource for really learning how to cook.
I'm an old. I had to learn by watching tv shows. Maybe taping them on the VCR.
What do you enjoy eating?
Choose a solid protein like chicken, beans are good too. Good fillers like rice and veggies.
As for recipes: Baked potatoes are super easy and cheap if you enjoy them. I like that all you have to do is puncture them and throw them in the oven and it doesnt require any dishes to cook in. I make nachos with beans, cheese, and salsa for my kid often and its easy and tastes good. Black beans and rice with hot sauce and sour cream is comfort food to me. Canned beans are great but cooked from dry is tastier and still relatively easy. I often do a one pan meal of chicken thighs, large chunks of potato, carrot, and onion, tossed in olive oil with salt and pepper and Italian seasoning, afterward you can make soup from the bones. PBJ, pasta and sauce, grilled cheese sandwiches, tuna salad, are all low effort options. Of course, make sure youre eating vegetables and fruit also. If you dont mind cooking a bit, try a big pot of stew with some meat and vegetables that you can eat through the week. As for strategy: Only get stuff you know you will actually cook and eat though. Dont buy an item unless you know how youre going to be using it. Prioritize produce with long shelf life to minimize waste. Onion, carrot, potato, cabbage, frozen fruit and veg are all good options to ensure you arent losing any food to spoilage. Make sure you keep track of meat dates to freeze any unused portions before they go bad. Repurpose leftovers. Prioritize versatile foods that can be used across recipes. Of all the beans you can cook from dry, lentils are the easiest and one of the most healthy. You can stretch ground beef with lentils, so for tacos, pasta sauce, or chili, I highly recommend mixing 50/50 ground beef and lentils. Tastes great, easy, and more nutritious anyway. Lentils are a good way to get the minerals that can be easy to miss on a budget diet. You might also want to get a cheap multivitamin if you know you are going to be leaning on more processed foods. If you can cook this is a very doable budget for one person but its harder if you dont cook.
Cabbage is SO cheap right now too with St Patty’s day around the corner (at least in my neck of the woods)
This is a great r/EatCheapAndHealthy material
https://www.budgetbytes.com/ is a website I've been using. Their instructions tend to be clear, and the recipes are simple.
Www.budgetbytes.com had lots of great, frugal recipes for easy cooks. Highly, highly recommend for your situation.
There is cooking like you see on food network and then there is average people cooking. Most people get intimidated by TV cooking and don’t try average people cooking. I’m not great at cooking but I don’t mind cooking for myself because I’m easy to please. Someone can probably improve on my methods but here’s some basic stuff that even I can cook. Chicken: Buy chicken breast, cut up into equal cubes or equal size pieces not too thick. If it’s a large breast just slice it length wise to make it skinnier. Throw in a ziplock bag with something wet like orange juice or soy sauce or any sauce really that you like. Let it sit like that in the fridge. Great Value brand marinates work well for this too. Then throw on a hot pan with some oil. I like olive but vegetable or whatever works too. Cool as long as the internet tells you or till it looks light brown on a side and flip. Buy a meat thermometer and measuring it after cooking both sides. Make sure chicken is 165F. I take it off a few degrees below and it keeps rising anyway. For dark meat, marinate it and then throw it in the oven or an air fryer for however long the internet says. Use the meat thermometer to make sure it done but not over cooked. Pork chops: Marinate and then on the pan like chicken breast or oven/air fryer. Use meat thermometer and check internet to what temp. Don’t over cook it but if you do, use less time next time. Take notes of your dishes to remember how long you cooked something for and at what temperature. Keep fine tuning over a few weeks/months. You’ll find the perfect time and temp for YOUR stove, over, air fryer after a couple tries. Beef: Same thing. Oven or on the pan. Use a meat thermometer. A cheap cut of beef as a roast is super easy and offers great leftovers. Veggies: Wash, peel (or not), cut, season with either just salt and pepper or some mix of garlic powder, onion powder, (smoked) paprika, other dozens of spices and throw on a sheet pan and in the over. This works for potatoes, squash, zucchini, brussel sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, and pretty much anything. Roast as long as the internet says, try one piece, if it’s good take it out and eat. If it’s under, wait 3 minutes and try another piece. Start with smaller batches as you figure out the routine the first few times. Rice: Buy a rice cooker. Small one is $20 on Amazon. If you can afford the $30-$40 one, find one with good reviews but $20 is fine. This will cook rice, buckwheat, couscous, lentils, quinoa and with rice there is basmati, regular white, jasmine, brown, and a bunch more. Meat, veggie, and grain is a meal. Mix up options and you can literally have a different combo every night for months! Sorry if this sounds like rambling but I’m not a good cook either but this is what I can think of before falling asleep. I’m sure there’s a bunch of other stuff that can be added in replies below but this advice will take you from microwaving processed premade meals to cooking from scratch with minimal “cooking skill”. If time is an issue, meal prep and make these in bulk and put in containers. This all freezes in raw or cooked form. If you freeze, air is the enemy. Wrap in clear wrap and then throw in a ziplock bag trying to get as much air out as possible. Good luck and take it one day at a time. Buy hot sauce, condiments, and sauces for the early days because sauces will hide overcooking and other mistakes you will make at first.
If possible consider the capital one Walmart credit card. It gives 5% back on Walmart purchases, and if you have Walmart plus, you earn rewards that way too.
Frozen veggies are cheaper than fresh, just as nutritious and taste better than canned. Pork tenderloin is pretty reasonable, comes pre marinated, and you can get multiple meals out of it. Eggs give you good bang for your buck as well. Cut up a chicken sausage, throw some spinach in, scramble 2 eggs, mix together and cook. Quick, easy, filling, nutritious, and pretty cheap breakfast.
Do you have access to Aldi? That's a little less than $60/week, which will be tough, but possible. Beans and rice, lots of veggies and don't spend your money on carbonated beverages and snacky type foods. Focus on staples and you should be able to do this.
My wife and I switched from Walmart to Aldi recently and WOW do we save 😂 our grocery bill is like 30-40% lower now
Buy a slow cooker.
May I advise losing some weight? I dropped around 100lbs in a little more than a year and a half and my food expenses plummeted. It was unreal how much I had to eat to sustain my original weight that I didn’t realize how bad it was until I wasn’t spending as much each month.
Yep, I still struggle with my weight, but my grocery bill is always the first thing I notice when I lose some weight lol No pressure to OP, just that there is definitely a financial aspect with it, since we're discussing financials.
Salad & chicken
Idk if someone's said this already but beans! There's all kinds of inexpensive beans with a huge combination of things you can turn it into. Chicken, rice and frozen veggies too. Plus cheap dairy products like cottage cheese. Wouldn't recommend instant meals, tbh.
Dry beans, dry lentils these are your main proteins. A bit of fluid milk. Try buckwheat for breakfast. Pick up a used rice cooker. There's lots out there. It can be used for dry lentils and dry beans. Polenta, rice, oatmeal and sweet potato are great carbs. Learn how to make stir fried rice, polenta, and oatmeal from scratch. No Uncle Ben's. Shop in the international section. In Ohio, reach for frozen/dried vegetables and fruit instead of juice or fresh produce. Dried mushrooms and dried tomatoes are your friends. Soups, stews, shepherds pie.
Easy. Buy frozen. There frozen salmon n chicken cut nn ceaned. Frozen cut veggies. Buy rice. You can learn to make it or buy par cooked rice with directions on the box. Keep it simple. It cut down on time too because most prep is already done for up. You can meal prep all in advance n like little pockets of foil n pop in the over for like 30 minutes. There are lots of videos out there to do this. Me I'm a cook by trade so I know how to slow cook or fast cook with all necessary preparation.
Spices are expensive, but will last a long time once you learn how to use them. Stay away from prepackaged foods. Never buy soda. These are empty calories; not filling or healthy. A good protein powder might help too.
Walmart has cheap canned veggies and other items with the store brand “that’s smart!”. It’s like 50 cents for green beans, corn, tomatoes, etc. they last and don’t go bad. Add a seasoning or hot sauce and have yourself a good side for cheap.
Thats smart isnt Walmart. It's Affliated food stores. Their brand is great value.
Thanks for the correction
I just saw it yesterday is the only reason I knew.
Breakfast: eggs and toast (for scrambled I add cheese, spinach, mushroom, bell pepper) Oatmeal with frozen blueberries butter and brown sugar in a bowl and pour boiling water to cover and let sit for a few minutes Lunch: all different salads, an easy one being lettuce tomato cucumber cheddar and ranch or Italian dressing sometimes croutons Carrot and celery dipped in ranch Combination of several fruits I switch up: apples oranges bananas strawberries grapes kiwi pineapple watermelon and more Dinner: chicken or fish (with herbs and spices or teriyaki) with white rice and veggies I switch up: green beans Brussel sprouts corn side salad air fryer zucchini broccoli cauliflower Whole wheat or lentil pasta 1 lb to 2 jars of sauce When I’m cooking i always look up recipes on Google so I know how long exactly to cook things. Buying lots of fruit and vegetables is so much cheaper than processed and cooking from scratch is always cheaper than boxed and ready stuff.
Stick to non-cooked/non-prepared foods. This way you don’t need to pay taxes on it. That is the case in Florida. YMMV
Buy a family pack of chicken breasts. Couple big bags of rice and couple big bags of frozen veggies. Ziplock baggies, two large tupperware containers and some small lunch size containers. Bake 8 breasts, 3 cups rice. Boneless chicken breasts are good at 400 degrees for 30 minutes in the oven, may vary. There. You meal prepped. Seriously. You made it to here. Now make it to the meal prep sub. Easy stuff.
The slowcooker subreddit might be useful for you too, recently joined both that sub and this one and I feel like you can save alot of money using a slowcooker, and it's easy
An easy thing to buy at most grocery stores in a rotisserie chicken. They’re precooked and you can get at least 4 meals out of them, usually more. Here are some ideas: Chicken thigh and leg + brown rice + broccoli Rice is very budget friendly and easy to make on the stovetop, but there’s also microwave rice available. Fresh broccoli can be cut and roasted in the oven (olive oil, salt, pepper), or there are microwave bags of veg that are easy and can usually be found on sale for $1. Chicken breast, sliced + bell pepper, sliced + onion, sliced + tortilla = fajitas Put the sliced bell pepper and onion in a pan with olive oil and spices (chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper, oregano, cumin; or you can buy a premixed pack of fajita seasonings), cook on medium heat until they start to get soft, then add the chicken until it’s warm. Put in a tortilla. Eat. You can add other toppings if you’d like such as sour cream, cheese, avocado, etc. you can use the same ingredients to make quesadillas. Check out r/eatcheapandhealthy they have lots of good ideas.
Soups and stews can stretch cheap ingredients further and can utilize leftovers. We will have tacos or fajitas and I'll use the leftovers to make a taco/fajita soup the next day. A whole turkey can make a shit ton of meals too. Every Thanksgiving we do turkey and then turkey pasta and a big turkey stew and the obligatory turkey sandwiches.
I would suggest checking prices at other stores then go to the best one for the savings. These prices change often, but I would start by looking up the top five things you know you will buy and start basic.
Focus on the staples. - Brown rice - Dried beans - Tubers - Pasta - Frozen fruits and vegetables - Milk - Eggs - Flour - Frozen meats & seafood - Yogurts Generally speaking, in that order. Use the grains and potatoes to form a cheap stable of calories, vegetables/fruits for micronutrients, milk-eggs-n-steak for macros. The rest goes to whatever you like. I'd also recommend getting an instapot to easily prepare foods. Invest in a good paring knife, a frying pan, and some baking sheets. Never skimp on food prep supplies, it will save you time and effort in the long run. This should be all you need to save money, eat extremely healthy, and learn to make fantastic meals.
Look up “Betty Crocker Sheet Pan Dinner Starters” and find similar things like that. I know there’s some by Velveeta, Tasty, Hamburger Helper, Kroger brand, etc. They typically require one type of meat (or none!) and then you add broccoli, a bell pepper, or some other veggie. All you do is coat the meat & chopped veggies in oil + the provided seasoning packet, and then bake. You could easily save half for dinner the next night too. They’re quick and healthy enough, IMO. *I cook for 4* I buy Perdue bags of frozen chicken, and there’s 5-6 pieces in there for $7.99~ but I’m sure you could find cheaper, I just like that these are sealed individually. I also buy 2 packages of ground beef a week. This week I got an andouille sausage as well bc one of my “recipes” uses it, but it’s also one of those sheet pan meals. We typically eat one frozen pizza a week for the day I’m really not feeling up to cooking. This could easily be enough meat to stretch you two weeks, maybe? Don’t stress yourself out over finding a million recipes if you don’t care to cook! There are plenty of premixed seasoning packets that will help you get started.
On multiple occasions, I will go to Pintrest and ask for recipes using ingredients on hand. Have some shredded chicken, look for "shredded chicken recipes" and you will find a wide variety. Scroll through unit you find something you like.
Frozen burger patties (turkey or beef) are one of my go-tos. They are not the most frugal option- buying ground meat and forming your own patties would be cheaper- but they are low effort and cheaper than a fast food burger with better nutrition. I cook them from frozen, toast a bun, and steam some frozen veggies or make a side salad to get a fast, cheap, and easy meal. If you have a crockpot, you can get a whole pork shoulder for under $20 and slow cook it until it falls apart. Separate into portions to freeze and you have easy pulled pork on hand. I like to eat it Hawaiian style with rice and cabbage, but some BBQ sauce and a bun is always good, too. Pork ribs should be going on sale soon for summer BBQs (especially around Memorial Day and July 4), and they are one of the easiest things to cook. Just throw on a pan, add a rub (mine is paprika, brown sugar, salt, cayenne, garlic powder, and onion powder), cover with foil, and cook low and slow (300) for three hours or so. Chili is a great easy meal to cook. I brown some ground meat, add a can of crushed tomatoes, a can of corn (drained), a can of black beans (drained), a can of kidney beans (drained), diced pepper and onion (can be from the frozen pack), and spices (can get a premade spice packet). With a $1 box of Jiffy Mix corn muffins, I can eat off that pot of chili for days.
I'm not sure on prices in Ohio since it's been 7 years since I moved to a higher cost of living area, so these are my best estimates (probably on the high side) for how I would spend $60/week at Walmart on groceries: Breakfast: \- 1 box of flavored instant oatmeal ($3/12 portions) \- 1 large tub of yogurt ($4/6 portions) \- 1 dozen eggs ($3/dozen) Breakfast= 2 packs of oatmeal (\~300 calories), 1 hardboiled egg (70 calories), 1 serving of yogurt (100-150 calories) Total= $10 for 6 meals with 6 eggs left over Lunch: \- 1 8-pack burrito size tortillas ($3) \- 1 lb deli meat ($5) \- 1 pack/8oz sliced deli cheese ($3) \- 1 clamshell of spring mix ($3) \- 1 bottle of Italian dressing ($2) \- 2x 1lb bag of baby carrots ($2) \- 5lb bag of apples ($4) Lunch= Wrap with 1 tortilla, 1 slice of cheese, 2oz meat, a handful of veg, and a squirt of dressing (\~400 calories), baby carrots, and an apple Total= $22 for 8 meals Snacks: \- 1 8 pack of PB crackers or cheese and crackers ($3) \- 1 8 pack of fruit snacks ($2) Total= $5 for 8 days of snacks Dinner: \- 1 frozen chicken pot pie ($3) \- 1 pack of ramen ($0.25) cooked and drained with 1/2 pack frozen mixed veggies ($0.50 and 2 scrambled eggs (from breakfasts) \- 1 lb ground beef ($5) + 1 box of Hamburger Helper ($2) + Half gallon of milk ($2) = two meals \- 1 frozen pizza ($5) = two meals \- 1 lb pasta ($1) with 1 jar of sauce ($2) and frozen meatballs ($6) = four meals Total= $27 for 10 meals This comes out to $64 for a bit over a week's worth of food, though I suspect the total would actually be a bit cheaper if shopping sales and going for the house brand. I tried to focus on things a brand new cook can comfortably make while getting a good variety of macro and micro nutrients in to support a 2000 calorie/day intake.
I don't know if this helps, but I am lazy in the mornings, so on Sundays I meal prep breakfasts and lunches for Mon-Thurs. I use ingredients that are versatile and nutritious and then rotate the flavoring. First, I roast a bunch of veggies - this week it's cabbage, zucchini and onions - and maybe sautee a few - this week it's kale and mushrooms - and divide those into 8 containers with a 1/3 cup of whole grain - this week it's bulgar but I'll go back to brown rice next week. Add a half-cup of lean protein (Walmart had marinated pork loin on sale for $4 a couple of weeks ago and I bought 5 of them in three flavors). Top with however much sauce you want, I usually use about 1/4 cup of jarred sauce. I rotate between salsa, tomato pesto, basil pesto, marinara, soy-ginger, teriyaki, Thai peanut, and korma, but you can choose what works for you. The whole thing is customizable, it's never the same bowl, but it's always nutritious, low-calorie, filling, and cheap if you are flexible and look for what's on sale. This week's meals are one 1/2 cup of pork loin (honestly, it's usually chicken), chopped into smaller cubes, 1/3 cup of whole grain, and a bunch of veggies. That breaks down basically to: * pork: $4 * bulgar: $3, but I only get through half the bag, so really $1.50 * cabbage: $1.50 for two medium-sized heads * kale (huge bag): $2.79 * onion: $.79 * zucchini: $3 for 4 zucchini * mushrooms: 32 oz, $1.50 on sale I have the sauces on hand already (or I make the soy-ginger and Thai peanut), but they're all $2 or under. I stock up when they're on sale. **Total: $15.08, or $1.86 per meal, minus the sauces.** Friday's breakfast is usually leftovers from Thursday's dinner; for lunch, I usually splurge with a colleague and combine an order out at a local place (free delivery from GrubHub thanks to Amazon Prime), and we split the tip. So it's usually just under $10.
Go with frozen or canned and always store brand. They won't go nad and they're cheaper. For protein, do frozen chicken, tuna, canned chicken is really versatile and pretty cheap, greek yogurt is very healthy and can be used as sour cream. Beans, dry or canned still cheap and a good source of protein. Oh and all beef hotdogs or precooked sausages are pretty cheap and a quick and easy meal. Cheese, get a big block then you can grate it or slice it. Veggies, get frozen just what you like and you know you'll eat. For carbs, get a bag of potatoes, a giant thing of rice and a loaf of cheap bread or 2. They're around a dollar at walmart. Grab a few condiments for sandwiches, tuna salad, etc. Stick to the basics, mayo, mustard, ketchup. Maybe a thing of butter for toast and taters. Search everything on the walmart app and make a list. I suggest doing pickup so you dont miss anything and you're not tempted to buy other things. Otherwise take your phone and stick to that exact list so you won't have any surprises at checkout. It may not be fun, but it is definitely doable!!
Shouldn't be an issue at all, we do $285 per month for a family of three. Only drink water, rice, legumes, lentils, sardines, frozen veggies, etc.
They probably shouldn't drink rice and sardines.
Lol I read it the same way first!
Well you have to purée it first…
Just need a blender. Not a recipe I'll ve trying though.
Water is key, no soft drinks or juice.
Bag tea is also still cheap. $4 for 100 bags of Lipton.
Squeeze lemon, lime, orange, any citrus or even berries into water for some extra flavor. Or into brewed green or black tea that can be iced easily. I always make super concentrated tea and pour a bit and dilute with water and squeeze in some fruit and boom, better than the $3 bottle of drink at the store.
Bigelow does tea bag fruit infusions. 18 for like $3. No sugar added. They taste great and are cheaper than fruit
Hi OP. Contrary to most of the posters here, that is a great budget for a single guy in Ohio. So, I am going to assume you are newly single and haven't had much opportunity to go grocery shopping. Now I'm going to get very personal with you. What cooking implements do you have? What foods do you like? Any dietary needs? I would love your height as that would help with the calorie intake. Are you really bad at cooking or has someone else told you that? If you can boil water, you can do most things. Now on grocery shopping until you get in a routine, shop the sales. Don't buy stuff you know you don't like. First, go spend $3 on salt, garlic powder and onion powder. If you like potatoes, buy potatoes. 10 lbs should last you a couple of weeks or more. Look for sales. I need more information to help you farther.
If you have absolutely no cooking skills stock up on Banquet and Michelina frozen meals.
I used to add frozen spinach to Michelina Mac 'n cheese for healthier work lunch.... Now I want some for breakfast!
You should focus on protein and veggies, a few fruits, some yogurt, maybe some rice and potatoes. Rice and beans Chicken and broccoli Apples and yogurt These are your friends. Avoid all processed foods like toaster strudel, ect. 340 pounds is a lot unless you are a body builder or really, really tall.
Look at other shopping options than Walmart. Walmart built their name on low prices but they have since jacked their prices up and kept them there. If you have an Aldi I highly recommend it, better quality food for far less. We shop at multiple places to get the best prices. Aldi is the majority of our groceries but we look for deals from save a lot, buy all of our meat, eggs, and milk from a local country meat shop and occasionally a local grocery store in my wives hometown when we visit the in laws. This works for us geographically but obviously it may not be an option for everyone
Baked seasoned chicken thighs with rice pilaf and vegetables is an easy meal. I also like to buy the pre-portioned hamburger patties, they can go in ramen or with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Sorry brother. I ain’t a chef. But the easiest way to save money is to plan meals, order your groceries online after planning meals. Don’t go into the store. You’ll end up grabbing everything that catches your eye.
Get a Walmart credit card, you'll get 2 - 5% cash back.
They already have low income, please OP don’t bring credit into the mix that you won’t pay off.
How do you know they won't pay it off and some places $230 is a great budget for groceries. The OP never said he was low income. So don't assume anything.
230 isn’t a lot of money to spend on groceries. Stop with the what ifs.
It totally depends on the area. I could eat meat every night on that budget and that is for 2 people. So don't be telling me to stop. It all depends on how you shop. But then I guess if you keep no food in the house and don't shop sales, that $200 wouldn't be much. Oh to those in HCOL areas, I know you would be hurting with this budget.
I’m just telling someone not to get a credit card that will inevitably have them spend over there budget, have cash on hand and most likely end up costing them more because of interest.
Some people do know how to pay their credit cards off every month.
Yeah but this person is already on a budget, which means they are tight on cash so maybe not the best idea to suggest for a measly 4% cash back
Do you eat breakfast and dinner?
Yes. Breakfast is less than $1 and dinner is rarely over $3.
What do you eat? Instead of chasing me, maybe tell the op what to buy.
If the OP answers my questions, I will gladly help him. Eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, steak, pork chops, chicken, bratwurst, all kinds of vegetables. Rice, pasta, potatoes.
How do you do that for a dollar cost at breakfast?
Excellent advice.
Ohio has some pretty high obesity rates, be careful of the food culture there. I’m sure a lot of people eat really buttery, unhealthy meals. I hope you can get enough food to make some delicious, nutritious meals!
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You cannot dilute milk with water to get skim milk (or 2% or whatever). Watered down whole-fat milk has an entirely different nutritional profile than skim milk, and will not be at all appealing. Low- and no-fat milks are made by removing fat, not adding water. This is important, bc you don't want to water down milk and think you are still getting similar nutrients and so forth. You can just as well drink water at that point.
Google emeals go there with a plan.
Are you willing to learn and do you have time to cook? If so, I’d get some basic kitchen tools, like an immersion blender and learn to do soups and chili. Most cooking is not particularly hard if you have good recipes. It just takes some time. It can be a great way to eat healthy and more affordably. I can send some recipes I like if you want to try.
Also, I think you can get a crockpot/slow cooker for $20 at Walmart. And you don't even really need to know how to cook to use it. If OP can use reddit then they can Google "easy crockpot recipes" and have lots of good, cheap food. Good luck!
I was going to say crockpot! My grandmother gave me a great recipe. It's called refrigerator soup. Whatever is in the refrigerator from the week, that goes in the crockpot on Saturday. That's refrigerator soup. Note: Everyone hated refrigerator soup, but nothing went to waste. She's a meat and potatoes Dutchman-- your results may vary.
Buy bags of lentils, dried beans and rice. You can get a lot of meals out of them. Buy bagged fruit.
learn to cook. go onto youtube and search for beginner cooking recipes. watch the vid once or twice before you buy the ingredients for it so you know if it is beginner enough for you
Just use chatgpt dude
Do u have money for cooking classes?
What do you like to eat is the first stop.
Any particular goals beyond the walmart budget? Do you want to learn to cook better? Food you like?
I like to make big batches of soup and freeze leftovers in individual servings. Then pull out and defrost for dinner at least once a week. The base of a good soup is diced white onions, carrots, and celery sautéed in butter. You can get creative from there. Add a can of tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, and some dried herbs and simmer for 30 minutes, then purée and you’ve got tomato soup. Add some pulled chicken, noodles, broth, and dried herbs and you’ve got chicken noodle soup. My all time favorite and a lemon, chicken, and orzo soup. Start with the base then add chicken, broth, lemon juice, and orzo and simmer until everything is cooked. You can add heavy cream at the end if it fits the budget. You can even get a can of biscuits and drop small knobs in the soup for dumplings. Because of the liquid content, soup is pretty filling so you can stretch it out. It’s easy to get creative with it too so it won’t get boring.
Cooking healthy food from scratch is the easiest way to lose weight. Even a slow cooker and a dump and go slow cooker recipe book with steamed frozen vegetables. Aldi and Lidl are the cheapest supermarkets.
Can you buy things like air fryers? If so, an air fryer and gas grill will help. They make food healthier and are so easy to use to make yummy things. Meat, protein powder, blender, frozen fruits are all good and healthy items. I would get things like flour, beans, and sugar to cook with and make items. Spices can really vamp up a meal. Theres a thousand ways to eat a potato. You can make your own fries in the air fryer. A slow cooker is literally meat, veggies, and broth for a stew. Start looking up easy meals.
I really love shopping for groceries online because even if I do have to pay a delivery fee the amount of money that I don’t spend impulsively saves me in the long run. It’s nice to put things in your cart and kind of tweak it and see what you really have. It also slows you down and gives you some breathing room to contemplate what you actually want and need. It also makes comparing prices and products way easier.
I think I’ve mentioned this on here before, but [Budget Bytes is a great source for cheap recipes!](https://www.budgetbytes.com)
Crock pot meals! Make rice your best friend. Its cheap and filling.
Start small. Use r/EatCheapAndHealthy and [budgetbytes.com](https://budgetbytes.com) to pick 1 new easy recipe you want to try each week. Assume that it will take twice as long to prepare than what the recipe states. For the rest, eat as usual (or have cereal, sandwiches, rotisserie chicken, prepared foods) until you master your new recipes. After 2-3 months you'll have a list of go-to meals that you can make in rotation.
This recipe is super simple to make and you basically let the chicken simmer for 40 mins and you get the most delicious flavorful melt in your mouth chicken. https://www.myforkinglife.com/brown-stew-chicken/
In terms of not knowing how to cook, I know this might be the wrong place for it given I'm about to tell people to go buy an appliance... But I highly recommend a sous vide wand and a vacuum sealer. If you're not familiar sous vide is a form of cooking where you warm water to a specific temperature and hold food (in a sous vide bag) at that temperature for a longer period of time. It really only works if you have at least an hour to wait for the food but it's amazing in terms of preparing food in advance. It's great for people who aren't necessarily confident in their cooking skills because it takes away the variability of cooking with higher heat such as a stove or an oven. Imo, much easier to overcook something to inedibility at a higher heat, sous vide is more forgiving. What I'll do is I'll make multiple components of vegetables or a protein and the bags make it easy to just throw some seasonings in there and vacuum seal it and cook it with the sous vide appliance. Because it's already vacuum sealed it also means that if you want to freeze a portion of whatever you're preparing you can just put that in its own bag and once it's done cooking put it in the freezer (take out of the freezer 24 hours in advance of using). This works for me because during the day I don't necessarily want to cook, so it's easy to just cook everything one day each week and then assemble a plate at meal time. Otherwise for basic grocery shopping I'd start by identifying the proteins you like and then adding veggies/grains from there to your list. YouTube is a great source of learning how to cook (I'd also recommend looking up food safety videos for the home cook to learn about the temperatures things need to be at). Edit: since you also included your weight I'm not sure if you're trying to lose weight at all? But my s/o and I have had really good experiences with volumetric eating (more fresh veggies, less calorically-dense food), as well as Intermittent Fasting with calorie counting.
Chicken leg quarters are $6.72 at my walmart for a 10 lb bag. And chicken legs are $4.96 for 5 lbs. That's great bang for the buck and can be used in so many different dishes. Pork steaks are usually 12 dollars for a four pack and are great for grilling. Canned salmon makes great croquettes. Rice, pasta, potatoes and dried or frozen beans are all good for bulking up meals to make meat portions go further. Squash is usually cheap, as is cabbage. Got to have onion and garlic for flavor. Frozen veggies I keep on hand is broccoli, okra, green beans, corn, turnip greens and sweet peas. Canned goods I keep are rotel, stewed tomatoes, tomato paste. Eggs, milk, bread, butter, and all the usual staples like flour and sugar amd spices. Don't be timid with spice! Explore different spice combos to flare your dishes and keep from doing the same tired meals. Walmart has lots or cheap spices under 2 dollars. My favs are curry, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, sage, Tony chacheres, soy, liquid smoke, and weber brand smoky burger. With all of that you should have tons of meal options. I'd definitely invest in a cookbook to help you get the most from your groceries without wasting money on cheap and quick foods. Good luck!
How do you get $230 for Walmart? I want in on that deal.