#Meal planning on a budget

[heal-well-blog]

Learn how to enjoy nutritious meals on a budget with these affordable healthy eating tips. Save money while maintaining a balanced diet for better health.

[openmindcrimecook]

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[ghostofasecretary]

quick poll, i'm curious and going insane

what would you estimate you spend each week on takeout + groceries? amounts in USD because i'm USAmerican

[tiktok-singularity]

5 food hacks.

[dexnola]

How to cut costs on a gluten-free diet

Actually several of these principles work on anyone's diet, or another type of allergen diet, but gluten free is what I know and what I serve.

My household consists of me and my partner; she's gluten intolerant and I am not. Our grocery budget is $120 a week (including standard household consumables like soap, paper towels, etc. that I also buy at the grocery store) and we could actually tighten that up more if we worked even a little harder at it. I do most of the cooking and shopping for our household so I thought I would share what it is I'm doing.

Eat as many "regular" items as possible

If there is a gluten free version of an item and a "regular" one that contains wheat, normally the gluten free version is twice the price. So one simple way to cut costs is to buy fewer of them. Some examples are packaged GF cookies and crackers, frozen prepared dinners, canned soups that say gluten free in big letters... basically anything that is marketed as GLUTEN FREE and says GLUTEN FREE in great big letters on the front of the package.

There are lots of items that are labeled "gluten free" but aren't marketed as such. Ketchup is often labeled gluten free somewhere on the package, but there's no such thing as "regular" ketchup that normally contains gluten. Those are fine to buy.

The worst offenders are bread and baked goods in general. Gluten free bread is very expensive. Don't buy things like frozen prepared cakes; gluten free cake mix or brownie mix is the better buy.

Here are some "regular"/inexpensive foods that are naturally gluten free:

rice; avoid pre-seasoned rice mix things

potatoes [regular and sweet potatoes]

corn tortillas (plain corn taco shells and tortilla chips are also easy to get GF)

all manner of fruits and vegetables [fresh, canned, frozen w/o sauce/other extras]

peanut butter

milk and dairy products in general

beans; dry or in cans

meat, especially plain fresh or frozen meat without extra marinades, seasoning, or obviously breading

fish [frozen and canned are least expensive]

I still buy special gluten-free stuff, but

it isn't the bulk of our diet

when reasonable, I let my partner eat them and I eat the regular version (e.g. I still buy wheat sandwich bread for myself)

i put in extra work to find the lowest price; comparing different stores, couponing, stocking up when I find a deal, etc.

Speaking of which,

Figure out what stores are the cheapest near you

A key part of this sentence is "near you." I do most of my grocery shopping at two stores that are 10 or 15 minutes away from my house. They are on the same street and in close proximity of each other. As you compare prices, keep in mind which places are realistically convenient enough to shop at based on where you live, work, and spend time.

I prefer a data driven approach and so have a spreadsheet with the prices of lots of items I buy. Doing it this way, you find that while no store has the lowest price on everything, it's easy to find a store that has an overall lower price on most items.

When comparing prices, remember to compare based on the cost per ounce or cost per pound or similar, not just the package.

In my experience, shopping at more than one store is the easiest way to balance many factors including price, selection, convenience, and quality. Most weeks I go to these two stores:

Wegmans: huge selection of items, low prices on some things, but higher to middling on others; lots of choices for GF items and things like special spices or vegetables that I need just once in a while

Aldi: smaller selection, but easily the least expensive on most regular groceries

I used to live near Publix, which is expensive overall but had a big selection and lots of BOGO sales where they would sell certain items at a loss. I would stalk the sale paper online every week and if they had something I ate at a low cost, I would go to Publix just to buy those items in quantity and then leave to go get the rest of my groceries at Aldi or somewhere else cheaper.

Use sales to stock up on stuff you eat when it's cheaper

For example, If I read the sale paper for the Aldi and I notice butter is $3/lb or less, when it's usually more like $4, I'm buying at least two if not three or four packages and putting some in the freezer, even if we're not low on butter.

This goes double and triple for any special gluten free item. Stock up.

Don't stock beyond your means. Start small as you study your household's patterns of consumption. Start with items that are not perishable: things in cans and boxes, already-frozen items. Also, only stock up on stuff that you know your family already likes.

When you are planning meals to eat, choose based on what you have stocked; shop your house first! Then go to the store to fill in the gaps.

Be prepared to eat at home on days you don't want to cook.

There are always going to be some days when you can't or don't want to cook. You get sick, you're too tired, whatever.

Eating restaurant food (takeout, delivery, or dine in) is extremely expensive and comes with a lot of risks regarding gluten. This is best avoided. Eating out will kill your budget faster than anything else you could do.

This is one time when I don't mind buying a specialty GF item, because while they do cost more than the meals I normally make, they are cheaper than eating out and also safer from a gluten standpoint. I don't mind spending an extra dollar at the store to insulate me from spending ten dollars later.

Some ideas for solving this problem:

naturally GF convenience food that can be tossed in the oven or microwave (at Aldi I have found GF frozen shepherd's pie, sometimes can get frozen tamales, instant mashed potatoes, canned soup etc.)

build a repertoire of meals that are made from "ingredients" but are less work than whatever you normally do; what this means is up to you, for some people it's a dump-in-instant-pot type meal, or maybe a microwaved baked potato and a bag of frozen veggies... at my place I make nachos once a week because they're extra easy.

special GF convenience items like frozen pizza or lasagna

Cheapest of all: make a lot of something on purpose and freeze meal-size portions for later. Soups, stews, and casseroles are all top choices. You can also do things like brown a lot of ground beef and then freeze it; later, you can make something like spaghetti sauce or sloppy joes and skip that first step. (Note that some people do ALL their cooking with this in mind and cook just once or twice a week, or even just once or twice per month, and eat out of the freezer the rest of the time.)

Keep a growth mindset. It might be that right now you are eating out a lot and your skills in the kitchen aren't great. Buying more convenience foods and assembling them at home still saves a lot of money. Once that's comfortable and you're used to the routine of getting food from the store then you can expand your repertoire of simple meals from normal ingredients, which builds your confidence so you can try making more things from scratch. Eating is complicated and eating with allergies/intolerances doesn't help. But it's doable. It can be done.

If I wanted to cut costs in my own household and reduce that $120 budget, I would...

buy fewer sodas and drinks in general.

set strict limits on GF bread. (like I'll only buy 1 loaf a month or something) work with partner to make sure she always has food for lunch and therefore doesn't care to make a sandwich.

Try reducing partner's cereal consumption; make other equally easy breakfast choices available; cereal is expensive

cook and freeze more homemade food and buy less convenience food.

prioritize cheaper fruits and vegetables. Decide on a price per lb limit that I want to stay within and stop buying stuff that is more than that (or buy them very infrequently). Things like apples, carrots, onions, bananas, cabbage, and broccoli tend to be cheaper

do the same thing for meat and also eat significantly less meat.

Hope I helped :)

[klapollo]

started using my calorie tracker app again to make sure i don't eat too much OR too little, lose some of the excess weight i put on SLOWLY and make sure i'm getting enough fat/protein/carbs.....................pray i dont relapse

[theloveinc]

me just now bc my roommate said she'd buy me dinner on friday if i did her chores

[listonic]

Ensure a smooth colonoscopy prep with the Diabetic Meal Plan for Colonoscopy Prep. This plan offers suitable pre-procedure meals like clear broths, gelatin desserts, and specific juices, all designed to be low-fiber and diabetic-friendly, providing a stress-free preparation experience.

[brokenhe4ds]

making my weekly shopping list, i am in hell

[icequeen1371]

You can tell people that grew up, or are still middle income, or being taken care of by middle income, parents, or grew up in a house where there’s money. But they didn’t consider themselves rich or are rich. Just saw someone post something supposedly helpful. A list of 13 things people “usually have in their kitchen“ but can’t think of what to make for a meal. Meanwhile, no, not everyone has avocados and green bread or eggs let alone, fruits and vegetables in their fridge. Do you want to talk about making a meal? How about you? Talk about the bread, the ketchup, the mustard, no eggs, pasta, and maybe a can of pasta sauce, and a leftover container of butter in the fridge. Make some pasta, put a little bit of margarine on that to loosen up the noodles, a splash of sauce, couple of cheese slices to melt within the pasta stirred up at salt and pepper a bit of garlic powder some Parsley, because those are all found at the dollar store. And you have yourself a meal. If you do have eggs, you could put those on toast and make a toasted egg sandwich. If you’re lucky enough to have peanut butter in the house call me you can make a toasted peanut butter sandwich. A lot of it depends on bread. If you have no bread, depends on pasta. Pasta is really cheap but the dollar store. There’s not much room in a freezer when you’re low income because you deal with the freezer that you have in the apartment that you’re renting. So bread has to be a weekly thing, make sure you have $10 on top of the fridge or in the cupboard put away specifically to go buy bread every week. Because a lot of times if you don’t have bread, you can’t eat. Bags from the dollar store are a good thing, makes you feel like you actually have something to drink besides water from the tap. Get a bag of sugar and use it sparingly don’t have super sweet tea. Otherwise she’ll run out fast. Milk always runs out. That’s why I always kept a can of carnation milk in the cupboard just in case. You can always water it down for cereal if you’re desperate. If it’s cold, you can’t really tell. Canned vegetables, canned fruit. They can last along time you don’t have to worry about them. Going to waste in the fridge. Ramen noodles, there’s 1 million recipes for those out now. Get all your spices at the dollar store. Eggs and tuna are always great protein but don’t spoil fast. Learn how to love drinking water from the tap. Buy a case and refill the water bottles but don’t forget to clean the lids and the rims at least once a week and if the bottles get cloudy? Throw them out and save for another case. Yes, I said save because some people don’t have a three dollars to spend on a case of water or don’t want to spend the money on non-reusable plastic. You can always pick up some water bottles from the dollar store that are reusable and fill those up in your fridge. Just don’t forget to wash them with the dishes at least once a week. Can’t exactly offer those people when your mouth has been all over them. Lol so always make sure you at least have a couple bottles put away for guests. Get to love no name brand soda. When you have money to treat yourself get namebrand. But not like a case of it or something. And a case is always cheaper in the long run than just one 2 L bottle, so you can afford it ration it out. It’s not actually that bad. Cinnamon sugar on toast, a can of tuna mixed with a Lipton sidekick creamy Parmesan with half a can of peas, mix that up well with a little salt and pepper and you’ve got tuna casserole for two people. Three people if you have a little salad on the side. or you can make garlic bread. Even if you’re using slices of bread. Toast them, then butter them, add a little bit of garlic and herb seasoning to each one with a little handful of cheese, or even just some Parmesan cheese shaken on top. Let that toast, got some real cheap and garlic bread. Pretty tasty if you’re in a pinch. And you’re not bougie like people are now. I’ve had to put ketchup in hot water with half a can of mixed vegetables to make myself some soup before. Cheap eating is a skill.

[what-even-is-sleep]

Trying to get ahead of an unsustainability cycle that might be starting up this week,,, (I start work).

[tiktok-singularity]

Amazing simple meal prep inspo

[housemousecooking]

$200 Family of Four 2 Weeks

As Always these prices are from the Walmart in my sister's college city. Prices will vary. If you want individual help message me.

This plan also does not have a lot of variety. It is for people struggling to keep up with rising prices. These prices are as of 1/11/2023 and the total came to $198.72 but doesn't include oil, salt, or pepper

Breakfast

Eggs are super expensive right now, and so are Milk and cereal.

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal

Oatmeal

Peanut Butter

Bananas

Lunch

We have technically 3, but we'll put it as 2 here. The BBQ Meatball meal is for 3 days, and the Alfredo Meal is for 4.

BBQ Meatballs with Broccoli and Rice

Meatballs

Broccoli

Rice

BBQ Sauce

Tuna/Chicken Alfredo

Tuna

Canned Chicken

Noodles

Alfredo Sauce

Dinner

We are going to buy a 3# sleeve of ground beef, a whole chicken, and a pack of 3# of pork chops. This will make 7 meals. This will be about $63.24 for 2 weeks worth of dinner meat.

Whole Chicken w/ Roasted Carrots and Mashed Potatoes

Chicken

Carrots

Mashed Potato Pack

Chicken and Rice soup

Meat picked off Chicken from whole Chicken

Carrots

Seasoning Blend

Rice

Better than Bullion

Pork Stirfry with Rice

Pork Chops sliced(About 1#)

Rice

Stirfry pack with sauce

Pork and Rice Casserole

Pork Chops(4 chops)

Rice

Mixed Vegetables

Cream of Mushroom

Cheese

Shepards Pie

Ground Beef 1#

Mixed Vegetables

Mashed Potato pack

Cheese

Pasta Twice

Ground Beef 1# each

Rigatoni

Marinara Sauce

Shopping List

Meat

Meatballs - 2 32oz bags $12.48

Canned Chicken - 4 pack $9.98

Canned Tuna - 8 pack $7.98

2 Whole Chickens - $14.74

2, 3# Ground Beef sleeves - $21.72

2 3# packs of Pork Chops -$26.78

Produce

5# bag of Carrots - $3.88

28 bananas (You can freeze them, they will get darker but will still be perfectly good for the oatmeal) $7

Pantry

Mashed Potatoes - 4 packs $5.76

Pasta(Fettucini Noodles) - 4 16oz $3.92

Pasta (Rigatoni Pasta) - 4 16oz $3.92

Alfredo Sauce - 4 22oz $9.12

Marinara Sauce - 4 24oz $5.92

Cream of Mushroom - 4 10.5 oz cans $2.72

Better than Bullion Chicken $4.28

Rice - 2 5# bags $5.88

Oatmeal - 2, 42oz containers $7.96

Peanut Butter - Twin Pack 80oz $10.53

BBQ Sauce - 2 18oz bottles $2.96

Freezer and Cheese

Cheese - 32oz bag $7.48

Frozen Broccoli - 2 52 oz bags $13.84

Stir Fry Vegetables with sauce - 2 15oz bags $6.96

Seasoning Blend - 10 oz bag $1.38

Mixed Vegetables - 32oz bag $2.28

[queseraphita]

Planning meals is so difficult

[sniffanimal]

The fucking economy right now. I could spend $40 on literally 2 days of groceries (as in like home meals I cook not like beans and rice) or I could spend $40 on delivery pizza which feeds me for 3-4 days. Really makes you think

[abookblog]

Prepping my planner for the new year is such wonderful feeling for me.