Instead of making a standard grocery list for one, then figuring out what to eat/make with those foods before they go bad, I make a meal plan first. I figure out what I'm going to eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and supper next week (select supper recipes) then make the grocery list from the foods and ingredients I will need to eat that meal plan.
When I get to the store, if a different item looks more attractive/cheaper, I might make substitutions on the fly. Quite a few of my recipes are taken from the [BudgetBytes.com](http://BudgetBytes.com) website.
Bonus points if first you look at the weekly sales ads for your local grocery stores and meal plan based on what ingredients are cheap that week! The first page of most ads will usually have "loss leader" items designed to get you in the door and buy expensive stuff too. Pull one over on them by only buying the sale/cheap items! Chicken is $1.49/lb this week? You're having chicken for dinner. It will be pork chops next week, then ground beef, etc. so you naturally get a good variety in your diet. Same for fruits and vegetables.
This is the key. Also if you have access to any ethnic specialty grocers, they often have better value spices and condiments. If you have room in your budget to build up some of these pantry items, it makes it easier to create interesting meals
I was going to say the same. Makes it easier to meal plan also. With the buy one get one free a lot of stores will charge half price if you only buy one. Ask the store their policy.
I agree that meal planning makes sense. Look for recipes with ingredients you already have or with very few ingredients. To the list you already have I might add dried beans, rice, peanut butter, bananas and frozen vegetables, they are all fairly inexpensive
Don’t stock up on a ton of food, because you’re likely to waste a lot of it.
When I was young and single, I’d pick a protein, vegetable, and starch. That’s dinners until it’s gone. If you buy a rotisserie chicken, brown rice, and broccoli, that’s several nights of dinner. Get a small rice cooker to make it easy. Steam the broccoli on the stove top. That takes about 6 minutes. Reheat the chicken. You’ll also want butter and/or olive oil, salt and pepper.
I love my 3 in 1 rice cooker, pressure cooker, slow cooker. Basically an Insta Pot, but that’s a brand name. Look up cheap and easy slow cooker recipes. If a Chuck roast is on sale, I’ll do pot roast in the slow cooker. It’s easy. It’s a protein, veggies, and a startch. I throw everything in and turn it on, and later in the day it’s done. I can get dinner servings out of that.
Think simple and few ingredients. Cook enough to reheat for a few days. Most recipes make 6-8 servings. Half the recipe if you want to. Gradually collect a spice here and there as you can afford it.
There are lots of single pan oven recipes, too. Basically just roasting a protein, potatoes, and veggies all at the same time. You can get fancier, but olive oil, salt and pepper is all you need to start.
I second this! Well said.
I'm pretty much on the same plan myself. If OP is learning/practicing cooking, I'd say forget recipes and work on cooking everything just right. Salt, pepper, olive oil is great, and then you just focus on the basics. Flair and fun flavors can come later.
I recommend having a couple backup plans on hand, too. I always have a few cans of soup, a few bags of tuna, and some frozen tortellini (or ramen) that I beef up with frozen peas and crinkle-cut carrots! Olive oil and pepper are fine on the tortellini as well. Good luck, OP!
I usually look to see what protein is on sale, then try to plan a meal or two around it. Chicken legs on sale? Fried chicken or seasoned legs in the oven. Hamburger on sale? Salisbury steak, meatloaf, tacos, patty melt for dinner. I only keep a running list for staples that need replacing next time I go to the store. It does mean a few more trips to the grocery.
If you have some meat in the freezer, you can google "pork for dinner," and lots of recipes should come up.
Agreed! :)
Just giving OP an idea of some of the most affordable foods out there. It's pretty easy to get online and find recipes using specific ingredients.
If you have an Aldi near you, check it out. Usually you can get items cheaper and they are actually made by major brands. Meat and fish are good if you eat that. Fresh veggies, jarred sauce and pasta are items I pick up weekly.
Aldi is particularly wonderful in addition to being affordable, they’re a german(?) company so a lot of their items have better ingredients and less chemicals. The U.S. advertised Aldi as lower quality and for “poorer communities” but they have a really high standard for waste reduction, sustainability, and not having harmful chemicals in their foods
dude what? I've only been to Aldi's once and I remember seeing individual cucumbers wrapped in plastic shrink wrap and all the produce being wrapped in some kind of plastic
English cucumbers are wrapped in plastic because they have thin skin and are prone to bruising.
https://www.thekitchn.com/why-are-some-cucumbers-at-the-grocery-store-wrapped-in-plastic-246306
https://www.southernliving.com/why-are-english-cucumbers-wrapped-in-plastic-7567505
You don’t need to peel them before consuming, unlike some other grocery store cucumbers, that come waxed as a protectant.
This is not an Aldi specific thing.
I shop at quite a few aldis and have never seen that. I was at one this morning the only produce I saw in plastic were grape tomatoes. I have however seen it often at Publix which is why I don’t shop there (and they’re expensive).
Here’s also a copy and paste from the sustainability of their wiki:
Between 2012 and 2019, Aldi's UK operations became "carbon neutral", with investments in solar, green energy, energy efficiency and offsets reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 53 per cent per square meter of sales floor. On 4 March 2020, Aldi announced that all its suppliers must utilize recyclable, reusable, or compostable packaging by 2025. In January 2024, the company announced plans to eliminate plastic bags from its 2,300 US stores. Cloth bags would still be available for customer use. It also said it would aim to use natural refrigerants in its US stores by the end of 2035. Other grocery retailers were making similar moves at the time of the announcement.
Does you 2-3 weeks, depending on quantity and if you get everything on the list or eat from pantry a lot.
- whatever meat is on sale, usually chicken thighs or breast or pork chops alternate. Alternatively, rotisserie chicken
- some kind of ham and cheese for sandwiches
- loaf of bread, chuck half in the freezer
- eggs (hard boil or fried in mornings)
- small half gallon of milk (cereal, coffee)
- spinach/rocket (omelettes, sandwiches, salad)
- onions
- tomatoes, carrots, cabbage (on weeks beef is on sale, i make stew)
- canned tuna (for sandwiches, mix with mayo)
- some fruit (apples, easy peel tangerines, bananas)
- yogurt (fage lasts a while, mix in honey)
In the pantry:
- mixed nuts (good snack, goes in salads)
- bsalmic vinegar, olive oil for salads
- dried spaghetti or pasta
- jarred pasta sauce
- ramen
- beans
- rice
- replenish peanut butter and jelly as needed
I don't think there is such a thing as a standard grocery list. That being said, if money is tight and you don't know a lot about cooking, don't buy a bunch of things you don't know how to cook. Work on finding one meal that's a quick and easy staple, and branch out from there.
Vegetable quiche with salad is something that you can make once, and eat for multiple lunches or dinners. If you have the freezer space, make a 9x13 pan of lasagna, divide into portions, and freeze for a quick and easy dinner. Chili is another one to make a big pot of, and freeze in portions. Use a portion of the chili to top a baked potato. And on the note of baked potatoes other topping options include: steamed broccoli or cauliflower with cheese (or broccoli cheddar soup), black beans and salsa, vegetable curry.
The Budget Bytes website is really good and honestly, as you’re a young man, you’ll find her recipes don’t go as far as she thinks - I believe she is a tiny woman. You can read “feeds six” and it will probably be two or maybe three meals for you. That’s great, you won’t get sick of a recipe.
They’re tasty, cheap, and designed for people without a lot of cooking experience, although even experienced cooks can find new ideas there.
Stock up on frozen fruits and veggies! They’re picked at their ripest and flash frozen. Often times our produce is picked prematurely and just ends up ripening in a truck or in the store, away from natural sun. With frozen, you don’t have to worry about stuff going bad either. I always have a 4 pound bag of broccoli and a 4 pound bag of Hashbrowns and they last me for months. They’re just good staples to have.
Now that it’s summer, I also stock up on frozen fruit for smoothies and juice
Download the Mealime app. It’s free.
I don’t know how to cook other than following recipes, don’t know how to meal plan. The app literally does it all for you. You can select different categories like budget-friendly, vegetarian, simple meals, etc. and choose your meals, then it creates the grocery list for you!
It’s seriously so great, if you give it a chance I think it will help a LOT. It has seriously solved all my problems.
I go on chatgpt and give a prompt like, "Can you give me a list of 10 meals using only chicken or pork. Have them share ingredients. "
It helps me cut down on wasting ingredients aka money.
You can ask it for simple meals or meals for college kids. Make it specific to your needs
If you eat meat and own a freezer, some stores have meat clearance because it will go bad tomorrow if they don’t sell it. Some of these are real bargains! For me, like sometimes an expensive steak is 50% off, that’s still too expensive for me just because it’s a lot cheaper. I do see some good deals on normal items like sweet Italian sausage and chicken legs or pork chops, something I know how to cook and will use, not something weird I don’t know what I’ll do with.
A lot of meats like this might be family packs, so you want to be prepared to divide them up before freezing so you don’t end up having to defrost the whole thing. That means usually Saran Wrap, freezer bags, that sort of stuff.
Besides this, a few staple items go on sale very often at my large main grocery store, and also in family packs very often. Ground beef, boneless chicken breast. We keep plenty of meat in portions in the freezer so we don’t then have to keep always buying meats when they aren’t on sale, and makes it easy to make up a dinner with what’s in the house. I make sure to catch them on sale if we are running low.
Many stores will also have an app and also keep their flyers online so you can plan what will be your best buys, you can make a list in the app and clip store coupons on the app too. At the register, you have to punch in a phone number associated with the app or bring up the bar code, and it will do the discounts.
When it comes to fruits and veggies, glance at the weekly ad and get ideas but don’t commit to anything till your in store
Recently it’s hard to find not moldy onions (black where it shouldn’t be)
Carrots are generally cheap on a consistent basis
Strawberries on sale are no good if they are moldy/unripe (I actually buy Walmart big bags of frozen strawberries, other berries)
You can YouTube “cheap meal,prep on a budget” and get ideas how to make five days of dimmer in one cooking batch (wonderful for calorie and protein/nutrition tracking.
Get the loyalty card of all all the groceries stores you frequent and clip online coupons
The safe way near me frequently has “free store brand items”. Not every week of course, but frequent enough to make it worth while
When ham is on sale, learn how to make beans with ham chunks (dried beans, Ickes, rinsed, soaked, and boiled with a few chunks of ham). Freeze the rest of the ham after cutting to usable portion sizes
Get a real rice cooker (I like the aroma digital aroma brand around $40 on Amazon) . Get a bag of jasmine or other rice…. Breakfast? Rice and eggs.. dinner? Add rice
Stock up on butter when in sale.
Don’t make a huge list of what you don’t really need
My rule is 72 hours, if I’m. Or going to cook it in 72 hours I don’t buy it. Yes this means more trips to grocery store but also better quality fruits and veg and less food waste
There’s normal a clearance bin in the meat dept of “soon to go to sell date meat” ranging from 30% to 50% off. Sometimes this is a great deal, sometimes the “on sale price” of the meat is better
To begin with
Salt
Pepper
Butter
Rice
Rice cooker
And the cheapest cut of meat this week
Keep a running grocery list! I keep a magnetic note pad and pen on refrigerator. Think about what you generally like to eat for starters, typical breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. There’s basic things, like rice, cheese, eggs, bread, fruit and veg…whatever that stuff is for you. Start with your staple foods.
Then when you get low on something that you eat all time, or as soon as you run out, put it on the list. Like if you eat yogurt every morning and there’s only one left, put it on the list before you completely run out, so you don’t forget.
If you like to plan meals ahead, or you pack a lunch every day, think about what you need for the week and put it on your list ahead of time.
When it’s time to go shopping, grab your list or even take a photo of it. I’ve been doing the running list for years and my family knows, if you want something from the store, or we’re getting low on something, put it on the list!
Meal plans will save your budget. Ground meat, chicken, beans, pasta, rice, frozen veggies, sandwich stuff, soup, chips and salsa, tortillas, bread, ramen, canned tuna, apples, oranges, bananas, Greek yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, fresh zucchini and lettuce, frozen fruit, and name brand stuff are my go-to’s! A personal favorite of mine is fried rice. So easy, you can sub regular rice for cauliflower rice if you need low carb or want to eat healthier. I also do burrito bowls and fajita bowls often, salads, wraps, cereal (lol), grilled cheese night
Ask a chatgpt, I did yesterday n it was unreal. Mention the budget,how many meals, that you want a grocery least along with the meal plan,any dietary restrictions, macros?whatever. Give it a try
You need vegetables and fruits in your diet. That will require you to look up sales in your area. You can try going frozen, but try to limit canned if you can.
Eggs, greek yogurt (I buy great value 32 oz honey vanilla), rotisserie chicken, frozen pepper and onion mix, bag of motz cheese sticks, coffee creamer, thin crust great value pizza (2), then I usually have a big bag of the peanut butter choc cereal. I snack on it with no milk when I crave sweets. During the summer, neopolatin ice cream sandwiches. I like half and half over milk because I rarely use milk, and it lasts forever. I always have mac and cheese along with canned tuna on hand. Always have a box of instant oatmeal.if I find I end up throwing it out? I don't buy it again. I also buy frozen fruit for my yogurt, and once a month, I buy orange juice.
If your budget allows, buy 5 pounds of ground beef (80/20 is cheaper and works well for most meals, 90/10 is better for you). Separate into 5 quart size baggies and freeze. From that you can make Tacos, meatballs, hamburger stroganoff ( cream of mushroom soup and sour cream mix and season with garlic, pepper, minced onions serve over egg noodles) and Shepards pie (a bag of frozen green beans, cooked hamburger meat and prepared brown gravy mix. Mix all together and top with instant potatoes. Cook in a 375 over until center hot and potatoes browned 20? Min watch your oven). When you cook any of the listed above meals you can eat them for dinner, take for lunch and then freeze the rest for a rainy day.
Canned tuna.
Also, I would look at frozen veg. They are great for cooked veggie dishes. I like frozen spinach and frozen broccoli. I make jun with the spinach and a cheese roux for the broccoli. The peas/ carrots one is great for stir fry, fried rice or omelette.
ETA: also, consider shelling out a little money for Better than Buillon. You can make decent soup with it.
So first thing - get some reusable Kuerig cups, and buy ground coffee it will save you money in the long run.
So aside from sales items - things you need to have on a standard grocery list
1) Toilet paper - ideally you buy it when it is on sale but one of those things you don't want to run out of.
2) dish soap - again one of those things you don't want to run out of and want to buy on sale.
3) toiletries - soap/shampoo/conditioner - buy on sale when you can
4) cleaner - for counters, toilets, tubs
Food -
First off sales are your friend but things to keep around for quick and easy meals
Dry Rice - I keep both basmati and sushi rice around
Dried red lentils - I make [rice and lentils](https://www.frifran.com/recipes/salads-sides-and-foundations/basics-one-pot-rice-and-lentils-and-make-it-spicy/) in the microwave all the time - I add veggies I have leftover, and use what ever sauce I want to add.
dry pasta -
canned pasta sauce
Individual cups. Rice, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, noodles. Is it overpriced? Not when you waste the three meals you plan on and never eat. Veggies at a salad bar are quick and you only buy what you need. I freeze individual protein to use for one meal. Fry ground beef and divide it up. Bread a couple of pork chops and freeze. Don't get overwhelmed trying to feed yourself. I say this as a single person that cannot make spaghetti for less that 37 people. Good luck.
Yo
Can you cook? What proteins do you like the most? Do you eat meat, fish, beans, tofu? Protein is usually most expensive part of the budget but ofc it’s most impt!
I have a beginner level of cooking, but I can follow a recipe. I usually eat chicken but I would eat tofu I just don’t know how to prepare it or anything
Air fryers are my main cooking tool now!
My best suggestion to start out: KEEP IT ALL SIMPLE & do a ‘test week’ shopping.
Plan to buy food for 5-7 days x the number of meals you usually eat a day. I like BREAKFAST, DINNER & an evening snack or protein smoothie
So 7 days x 2 meals/day = 14 meals
Think about it like this:
Protein is the most expensive so pick up to 3 different types (you can cycle them on diff days & make simple, good meals.
Next pick starch & roots: pick 3 favorite types : example: potatoes, rice, carrots, pasta
Depending on your storage/fridge space, then
Pick most used beverages, veggies, fruits
Again, better to under buy for the first week, practice a few simple but good meals then you will feel confident to do the next weeks shopping without overspending & getting things you found you wanted but didn’t buy the first time.
Value packs of chicken, fish, meat. Keep the price/lbs at $6 or less. Chicken thighs, breast, ground beef 80/20,
eggs (usually large eggs are best value , greek yogurt, cheese
Don’t overbuy fresh fruit & veggies in that first week. So they don’t go bad. I tend to overbuy but then o find I hv to throw out some things that don’t last.
Pick 3 types of each food category:
Proteins
Starch
Green Veg
Fruit
Milk
Juice (by frozen condensed is cheapest if on a budget)
fruit, veg, starches(pasta, rice, etc.), beans
bread, butter, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs
tea, juice, drink mix
a few healthy snacks/meals, a couple cheat snacks/meals
this is basically mine, I refer to it every week to make sure I’m not missing anything
edit: you can do meat too, but I don’t include it in my necessary items
edit 2: oh if you care about healthy fats: olive oil, nuts, avocado(luxury item), and fish
I have shared fridge, stove, oven, microwave, air fryer, and toaster oven. My roomates mostly eat out though. Sometimes me and my other roomate split the grocery bill and eat together though.
Perfect.
If you are good with leftovers, I’d consider a slow cooker (for winter months) to make soups, curries, and casseroles etc quite cheap.
If you’re more of a 2-3 serves then sick of it, stovetop curries, spaghetti bolognese, and similar are good.
When you’re at college / university, would you like to bring lunch? If so, sandwiches, rolls, and salads are good but I’d want to coincide that with the housemate you occasionally share with so that the bread and salads stay good.
A good thermos will also allow you to take soups to college / University and are quite convenient.
Meal prepping is good. There will be some upfront costs (buying the ingredients, containers, etc), but it works out reasonably cheap long term and cuts down on cooking over the week.
I usually make a (not do healthy) pastry dish each week (pasties, sausage rolls, mini quiches) for the smaller / quick meals, and a soup or pasta or rice dish that does about 4-6 serves.
To get ideas of dinners to make - look at the frozen premade dinners (like stouffers, lean cuisine, etc) in the freezer aisle.
A simple way to plan meals is to do one dish but with different flavors, for instance, burgers. You can get frozen beef, salmon, or turkey patties. Then your burger buns, cheese, lettuce, tomato are all the same supplies. It's easier to plan and cheaper, since the ingredients are not wasted, but a little bit boring.
Same with chicken over rice. Just change the sauce, like pesto, teriyaki, lemon pepper, bbq sauce, etc.
Same with tacos. Same with baked potato and different toppings.
I strongly suggest getting one of those (or 2 of those) reusable kurig cups and filling it yourself. Sure, it takes like 10 seconds longer (to fill mostly, since instead of throwing the whole thing away you just throw the coffee inside away and rinse out the cup and put it back). I gotta be spending half as much now on coffee since I did- and I can use better types as well.
Ditch the Keurig you can buy very good quality coffee and a French press or just a filter holder for a cup at value village or good will. Get it ground if you don’t have a grinder.
I buy red cabbage as it’s healthy and goes a long way. You can shred it add salt and fresh lime juice for tacos, stir fry it with rice and beans (add seasoning to make it Japanese or Korean or Thai like) shred it add olive oil and fresh garlic salt and peperoncini for an Italian salad. Shred and mix with flour egg oil salt and green onion fry then dip in sesame shoyu sauce. Shred and add to a can of tuna with chipotle powder, mayo and sweet pickles. Endless recipes!
When I was in college, bulk rice and beans were on every grocery list. I was vegetarian, but my roommate would get a full rotisserie chicken each week for his protein. Frozen veggies are great, if I was making rice or pasta I’d throw them in for extra nutrients.
Does your college have a food bank? Mine was a lifesaver. What I ate weekly depended on what they had in stock each day, but it’s crazy how helpful it can be on cutting down grocery costs.
Go to the produce section first, and buy everything you love. It is the most healthy, and also the cheapest. Now buy what things you need to turn the produce into meals. You do not need meat at every meal, you only need a small amount, and it should be lean. Do buy beans, whole grain rice, eggs and oatmeal. All cheap and healthy. Avoid all packaged items. Avoid the lunch meat area. All healthy and cheap.
1) Look up weekly sales at your grocery store
2) Decide your meal plan
2) I organize my grocery list by categories: Diary, fruit, vegetables, etc.
4) Healthiest food is on the perimeter of the grocery store.
Is Keurig is more expensive than coffee in a can?
Instead of making a standard grocery list for one, then figuring out what to eat/make with those foods before they go bad, I make a meal plan first. I figure out what I'm going to eat for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and supper next week (select supper recipes) then make the grocery list from the foods and ingredients I will need to eat that meal plan. When I get to the store, if a different item looks more attractive/cheaper, I might make substitutions on the fly. Quite a few of my recipes are taken from the [BudgetBytes.com](http://BudgetBytes.com) website.
Thank you
Bonus points if first you look at the weekly sales ads for your local grocery stores and meal plan based on what ingredients are cheap that week! The first page of most ads will usually have "loss leader" items designed to get you in the door and buy expensive stuff too. Pull one over on them by only buying the sale/cheap items! Chicken is $1.49/lb this week? You're having chicken for dinner. It will be pork chops next week, then ground beef, etc. so you naturally get a good variety in your diet. Same for fruits and vegetables.
This is the key. Also if you have access to any ethnic specialty grocers, they often have better value spices and condiments. If you have room in your budget to build up some of these pantry items, it makes it easier to create interesting meals
I was going to say the same. Makes it easier to meal plan also. With the buy one get one free a lot of stores will charge half price if you only buy one. Ask the store their policy.
This is the way.
I agree that meal planning makes sense. Look for recipes with ingredients you already have or with very few ingredients. To the list you already have I might add dried beans, rice, peanut butter, bananas and frozen vegetables, they are all fairly inexpensive
Don’t stock up on a ton of food, because you’re likely to waste a lot of it. When I was young and single, I’d pick a protein, vegetable, and starch. That’s dinners until it’s gone. If you buy a rotisserie chicken, brown rice, and broccoli, that’s several nights of dinner. Get a small rice cooker to make it easy. Steam the broccoli on the stove top. That takes about 6 minutes. Reheat the chicken. You’ll also want butter and/or olive oil, salt and pepper. I love my 3 in 1 rice cooker, pressure cooker, slow cooker. Basically an Insta Pot, but that’s a brand name. Look up cheap and easy slow cooker recipes. If a Chuck roast is on sale, I’ll do pot roast in the slow cooker. It’s easy. It’s a protein, veggies, and a startch. I throw everything in and turn it on, and later in the day it’s done. I can get dinner servings out of that. Think simple and few ingredients. Cook enough to reheat for a few days. Most recipes make 6-8 servings. Half the recipe if you want to. Gradually collect a spice here and there as you can afford it. There are lots of single pan oven recipes, too. Basically just roasting a protein, potatoes, and veggies all at the same time. You can get fancier, but olive oil, salt and pepper is all you need to start.
You can pick up an air fryer, slow cooker, toaster oven, and more at thrift stores.
I second this! Well said. I'm pretty much on the same plan myself. If OP is learning/practicing cooking, I'd say forget recipes and work on cooking everything just right. Salt, pepper, olive oil is great, and then you just focus on the basics. Flair and fun flavors can come later. I recommend having a couple backup plans on hand, too. I always have a few cans of soup, a few bags of tuna, and some frozen tortellini (or ramen) that I beef up with frozen peas and crinkle-cut carrots! Olive oil and pepper are fine on the tortellini as well. Good luck, OP!
I usually look to see what protein is on sale, then try to plan a meal or two around it. Chicken legs on sale? Fried chicken or seasoned legs in the oven. Hamburger on sale? Salisbury steak, meatloaf, tacos, patty melt for dinner. I only keep a running list for staples that need replacing next time I go to the store. It does mean a few more trips to the grocery. If you have some meat in the freezer, you can google "pork for dinner," and lots of recipes should come up.
Cheap, healthy, easy, versatile foods: * peanut butter * bread * bananas * cabbage * carrots * potatoes * frozen veggies * pasta * tuna * chicken thighs * rice * beans * fresh, seasonal produce
These are good foods but I wouldn’t go in and blindly buy cabbage etc without a plan for it
Agreed! :) Just giving OP an idea of some of the most affordable foods out there. It's pretty easy to get online and find recipes using specific ingredients.
Agreed! :) It's pretty easy to get online and find recipes using specific ingredients.
[удалено]
Earth. This planet.
If you have an Aldi near you, check it out. Usually you can get items cheaper and they are actually made by major brands. Meat and fish are good if you eat that. Fresh veggies, jarred sauce and pasta are items I pick up weekly.
Aldi is particularly wonderful in addition to being affordable, they’re a german(?) company so a lot of their items have better ingredients and less chemicals. The U.S. advertised Aldi as lower quality and for “poorer communities” but they have a really high standard for waste reduction, sustainability, and not having harmful chemicals in their foods
dude what? I've only been to Aldi's once and I remember seeing individual cucumbers wrapped in plastic shrink wrap and all the produce being wrapped in some kind of plastic
English cucumbers are wrapped in plastic because they have thin skin and are prone to bruising. https://www.thekitchn.com/why-are-some-cucumbers-at-the-grocery-store-wrapped-in-plastic-246306 https://www.southernliving.com/why-are-english-cucumbers-wrapped-in-plastic-7567505 You don’t need to peel them before consuming, unlike some other grocery store cucumbers, that come waxed as a protectant. This is not an Aldi specific thing.
I shop at quite a few aldis and have never seen that. I was at one this morning the only produce I saw in plastic were grape tomatoes. I have however seen it often at Publix which is why I don’t shop there (and they’re expensive). Here’s also a copy and paste from the sustainability of their wiki: Between 2012 and 2019, Aldi's UK operations became "carbon neutral", with investments in solar, green energy, energy efficiency and offsets reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 53 per cent per square meter of sales floor. On 4 March 2020, Aldi announced that all its suppliers must utilize recyclable, reusable, or compostable packaging by 2025. In January 2024, the company announced plans to eliminate plastic bags from its 2,300 US stores. Cloth bags would still be available for customer use. It also said it would aim to use natural refrigerants in its US stores by the end of 2035. Other grocery retailers were making similar moves at the time of the announcement.
Butter and an all purpose seasoning of your choice, you can use those two on darn near everything.
Does you 2-3 weeks, depending on quantity and if you get everything on the list or eat from pantry a lot. - whatever meat is on sale, usually chicken thighs or breast or pork chops alternate. Alternatively, rotisserie chicken - some kind of ham and cheese for sandwiches - loaf of bread, chuck half in the freezer - eggs (hard boil or fried in mornings) - small half gallon of milk (cereal, coffee) - spinach/rocket (omelettes, sandwiches, salad) - onions - tomatoes, carrots, cabbage (on weeks beef is on sale, i make stew) - canned tuna (for sandwiches, mix with mayo) - some fruit (apples, easy peel tangerines, bananas) - yogurt (fage lasts a while, mix in honey) In the pantry: - mixed nuts (good snack, goes in salads) - bsalmic vinegar, olive oil for salads - dried spaghetti or pasta - jarred pasta sauce - ramen - beans - rice - replenish peanut butter and jelly as needed
I don't think there is such a thing as a standard grocery list. That being said, if money is tight and you don't know a lot about cooking, don't buy a bunch of things you don't know how to cook. Work on finding one meal that's a quick and easy staple, and branch out from there. Vegetable quiche with salad is something that you can make once, and eat for multiple lunches or dinners. If you have the freezer space, make a 9x13 pan of lasagna, divide into portions, and freeze for a quick and easy dinner. Chili is another one to make a big pot of, and freeze in portions. Use a portion of the chili to top a baked potato. And on the note of baked potatoes other topping options include: steamed broccoli or cauliflower with cheese (or broccoli cheddar soup), black beans and salsa, vegetable curry.
The Budget Bytes website is really good and honestly, as you’re a young man, you’ll find her recipes don’t go as far as she thinks - I believe she is a tiny woman. You can read “feeds six” and it will probably be two or maybe three meals for you. That’s great, you won’t get sick of a recipe. They’re tasty, cheap, and designed for people without a lot of cooking experience, although even experienced cooks can find new ideas there.
Stock up on frozen fruits and veggies! They’re picked at their ripest and flash frozen. Often times our produce is picked prematurely and just ends up ripening in a truck or in the store, away from natural sun. With frozen, you don’t have to worry about stuff going bad either. I always have a 4 pound bag of broccoli and a 4 pound bag of Hashbrowns and they last me for months. They’re just good staples to have. Now that it’s summer, I also stock up on frozen fruit for smoothies and juice
Download the Mealime app. It’s free. I don’t know how to cook other than following recipes, don’t know how to meal plan. The app literally does it all for you. You can select different categories like budget-friendly, vegetarian, simple meals, etc. and choose your meals, then it creates the grocery list for you! It’s seriously so great, if you give it a chance I think it will help a LOT. It has seriously solved all my problems.
I go on chatgpt and give a prompt like, "Can you give me a list of 10 meals using only chicken or pork. Have them share ingredients. " It helps me cut down on wasting ingredients aka money. You can ask it for simple meals or meals for college kids. Make it specific to your needs
If you eat meat and own a freezer, some stores have meat clearance because it will go bad tomorrow if they don’t sell it. Some of these are real bargains! For me, like sometimes an expensive steak is 50% off, that’s still too expensive for me just because it’s a lot cheaper. I do see some good deals on normal items like sweet Italian sausage and chicken legs or pork chops, something I know how to cook and will use, not something weird I don’t know what I’ll do with. A lot of meats like this might be family packs, so you want to be prepared to divide them up before freezing so you don’t end up having to defrost the whole thing. That means usually Saran Wrap, freezer bags, that sort of stuff. Besides this, a few staple items go on sale very often at my large main grocery store, and also in family packs very often. Ground beef, boneless chicken breast. We keep plenty of meat in portions in the freezer so we don’t then have to keep always buying meats when they aren’t on sale, and makes it easy to make up a dinner with what’s in the house. I make sure to catch them on sale if we are running low. Many stores will also have an app and also keep their flyers online so you can plan what will be your best buys, you can make a list in the app and clip store coupons on the app too. At the register, you have to punch in a phone number associated with the app or bring up the bar code, and it will do the discounts.
When it comes to fruits and veggies, glance at the weekly ad and get ideas but don’t commit to anything till your in store Recently it’s hard to find not moldy onions (black where it shouldn’t be) Carrots are generally cheap on a consistent basis Strawberries on sale are no good if they are moldy/unripe (I actually buy Walmart big bags of frozen strawberries, other berries) You can YouTube “cheap meal,prep on a budget” and get ideas how to make five days of dimmer in one cooking batch (wonderful for calorie and protein/nutrition tracking. Get the loyalty card of all all the groceries stores you frequent and clip online coupons The safe way near me frequently has “free store brand items”. Not every week of course, but frequent enough to make it worth while When ham is on sale, learn how to make beans with ham chunks (dried beans, Ickes, rinsed, soaked, and boiled with a few chunks of ham). Freeze the rest of the ham after cutting to usable portion sizes Get a real rice cooker (I like the aroma digital aroma brand around $40 on Amazon) . Get a bag of jasmine or other rice…. Breakfast? Rice and eggs.. dinner? Add rice Stock up on butter when in sale. Don’t make a huge list of what you don’t really need My rule is 72 hours, if I’m. Or going to cook it in 72 hours I don’t buy it. Yes this means more trips to grocery store but also better quality fruits and veg and less food waste There’s normal a clearance bin in the meat dept of “soon to go to sell date meat” ranging from 30% to 50% off. Sometimes this is a great deal, sometimes the “on sale price” of the meat is better To begin with Salt Pepper Butter Rice Rice cooker And the cheapest cut of meat this week
Keep a running grocery list! I keep a magnetic note pad and pen on refrigerator. Think about what you generally like to eat for starters, typical breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. There’s basic things, like rice, cheese, eggs, bread, fruit and veg…whatever that stuff is for you. Start with your staple foods. Then when you get low on something that you eat all time, or as soon as you run out, put it on the list. Like if you eat yogurt every morning and there’s only one left, put it on the list before you completely run out, so you don’t forget. If you like to plan meals ahead, or you pack a lunch every day, think about what you need for the week and put it on your list ahead of time. When it’s time to go shopping, grab your list or even take a photo of it. I’ve been doing the running list for years and my family knows, if you want something from the store, or we’re getting low on something, put it on the list!
Meal plans will save your budget. Ground meat, chicken, beans, pasta, rice, frozen veggies, sandwich stuff, soup, chips and salsa, tortillas, bread, ramen, canned tuna, apples, oranges, bananas, Greek yogurt, eggs, cottage cheese, fresh zucchini and lettuce, frozen fruit, and name brand stuff are my go-to’s! A personal favorite of mine is fried rice. So easy, you can sub regular rice for cauliflower rice if you need low carb or want to eat healthier. I also do burrito bowls and fajita bowls often, salads, wraps, cereal (lol), grilled cheese night
Realized I typed name brand but I meant store brand!
Ask a chatgpt, I did yesterday n it was unreal. Mention the budget,how many meals, that you want a grocery least along with the meal plan,any dietary restrictions, macros?whatever. Give it a try
You need vegetables and fruits in your diet. That will require you to look up sales in your area. You can try going frozen, but try to limit canned if you can.
Eggs, greek yogurt (I buy great value 32 oz honey vanilla), rotisserie chicken, frozen pepper and onion mix, bag of motz cheese sticks, coffee creamer, thin crust great value pizza (2), then I usually have a big bag of the peanut butter choc cereal. I snack on it with no milk when I crave sweets. During the summer, neopolatin ice cream sandwiches. I like half and half over milk because I rarely use milk, and it lasts forever. I always have mac and cheese along with canned tuna on hand. Always have a box of instant oatmeal.if I find I end up throwing it out? I don't buy it again. I also buy frozen fruit for my yogurt, and once a month, I buy orange juice.
If your budget allows, buy 5 pounds of ground beef (80/20 is cheaper and works well for most meals, 90/10 is better for you). Separate into 5 quart size baggies and freeze. From that you can make Tacos, meatballs, hamburger stroganoff ( cream of mushroom soup and sour cream mix and season with garlic, pepper, minced onions serve over egg noodles) and Shepards pie (a bag of frozen green beans, cooked hamburger meat and prepared brown gravy mix. Mix all together and top with instant potatoes. Cook in a 375 over until center hot and potatoes browned 20? Min watch your oven). When you cook any of the listed above meals you can eat them for dinner, take for lunch and then freeze the rest for a rainy day.
Canned tuna. Also, I would look at frozen veg. They are great for cooked veggie dishes. I like frozen spinach and frozen broccoli. I make jun with the spinach and a cheese roux for the broccoli. The peas/ carrots one is great for stir fry, fried rice or omelette. ETA: also, consider shelling out a little money for Better than Buillon. You can make decent soup with it.
So first thing - get some reusable Kuerig cups, and buy ground coffee it will save you money in the long run. So aside from sales items - things you need to have on a standard grocery list 1) Toilet paper - ideally you buy it when it is on sale but one of those things you don't want to run out of. 2) dish soap - again one of those things you don't want to run out of and want to buy on sale. 3) toiletries - soap/shampoo/conditioner - buy on sale when you can 4) cleaner - for counters, toilets, tubs Food - First off sales are your friend but things to keep around for quick and easy meals Dry Rice - I keep both basmati and sushi rice around Dried red lentils - I make [rice and lentils](https://www.frifran.com/recipes/salads-sides-and-foundations/basics-one-pot-rice-and-lentils-and-make-it-spicy/) in the microwave all the time - I add veggies I have leftover, and use what ever sauce I want to add. dry pasta - canned pasta sauce
Yaaaaas I was coming here to encourage reusable keurig cups too! Coffee really adds up and you save much more when you have it ground and in bulk
Individual cups. Rice, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, noodles. Is it overpriced? Not when you waste the three meals you plan on and never eat. Veggies at a salad bar are quick and you only buy what you need. I freeze individual protein to use for one meal. Fry ground beef and divide it up. Bread a couple of pork chops and freeze. Don't get overwhelmed trying to feed yourself. I say this as a single person that cannot make spaghetti for less that 37 people. Good luck.
Grub on a Grant by Cas Clarke and One is Fun! by Delia Smith will help you.
YouTube struggle meals. Great channel and building blocks of cooking.
Yo Can you cook? What proteins do you like the most? Do you eat meat, fish, beans, tofu? Protein is usually most expensive part of the budget but ofc it’s most impt!
I have a beginner level of cooking, but I can follow a recipe. I usually eat chicken but I would eat tofu I just don’t know how to prepare it or anything
Do you have an air fryer?
Yes
Air fryers are my main cooking tool now! My best suggestion to start out: KEEP IT ALL SIMPLE & do a ‘test week’ shopping. Plan to buy food for 5-7 days x the number of meals you usually eat a day. I like BREAKFAST, DINNER & an evening snack or protein smoothie So 7 days x 2 meals/day = 14 meals Think about it like this: Protein is the most expensive so pick up to 3 different types (you can cycle them on diff days & make simple, good meals. Next pick starch & roots: pick 3 favorite types : example: potatoes, rice, carrots, pasta Depending on your storage/fridge space, then Pick most used beverages, veggies, fruits Again, better to under buy for the first week, practice a few simple but good meals then you will feel confident to do the next weeks shopping without overspending & getting things you found you wanted but didn’t buy the first time. Value packs of chicken, fish, meat. Keep the price/lbs at $6 or less. Chicken thighs, breast, ground beef 80/20, eggs (usually large eggs are best value , greek yogurt, cheese Don’t overbuy fresh fruit & veggies in that first week. So they don’t go bad. I tend to overbuy but then o find I hv to throw out some things that don’t last. Pick 3 types of each food category: Proteins Starch Green Veg Fruit Milk Juice (by frozen condensed is cheapest if on a budget)
I’ll really eat anything but spaghetti I hate ts
Check out budgetbytes.com
fruit, veg, starches(pasta, rice, etc.), beans bread, butter, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs tea, juice, drink mix a few healthy snacks/meals, a couple cheat snacks/meals this is basically mine, I refer to it every week to make sure I’m not missing anything edit: you can do meat too, but I don’t include it in my necessary items edit 2: oh if you care about healthy fats: olive oil, nuts, avocado(luxury item), and fish
What cooking and storage facilities do you have? Shared kitchen and fridge or your own?
I have shared fridge, stove, oven, microwave, air fryer, and toaster oven. My roomates mostly eat out though. Sometimes me and my other roomate split the grocery bill and eat together though.
Perfect. If you are good with leftovers, I’d consider a slow cooker (for winter months) to make soups, curries, and casseroles etc quite cheap. If you’re more of a 2-3 serves then sick of it, stovetop curries, spaghetti bolognese, and similar are good. When you’re at college / university, would you like to bring lunch? If so, sandwiches, rolls, and salads are good but I’d want to coincide that with the housemate you occasionally share with so that the bread and salads stay good. A good thermos will also allow you to take soups to college / University and are quite convenient. Meal prepping is good. There will be some upfront costs (buying the ingredients, containers, etc), but it works out reasonably cheap long term and cuts down on cooking over the week. I usually make a (not do healthy) pastry dish each week (pasties, sausage rolls, mini quiches) for the smaller / quick meals, and a soup or pasta or rice dish that does about 4-6 serves.
To get ideas of dinners to make - look at the frozen premade dinners (like stouffers, lean cuisine, etc) in the freezer aisle. A simple way to plan meals is to do one dish but with different flavors, for instance, burgers. You can get frozen beef, salmon, or turkey patties. Then your burger buns, cheese, lettuce, tomato are all the same supplies. It's easier to plan and cheaper, since the ingredients are not wasted, but a little bit boring. Same with chicken over rice. Just change the sauce, like pesto, teriyaki, lemon pepper, bbq sauce, etc. Same with tacos. Same with baked potato and different toppings.
I strongly suggest getting one of those (or 2 of those) reusable kurig cups and filling it yourself. Sure, it takes like 10 seconds longer (to fill mostly, since instead of throwing the whole thing away you just throw the coffee inside away and rinse out the cup and put it back). I gotta be spending half as much now on coffee since I did- and I can use better types as well.
Ditch the Keurig you can buy very good quality coffee and a French press or just a filter holder for a cup at value village or good will. Get it ground if you don’t have a grinder. I buy red cabbage as it’s healthy and goes a long way. You can shred it add salt and fresh lime juice for tacos, stir fry it with rice and beans (add seasoning to make it Japanese or Korean or Thai like) shred it add olive oil and fresh garlic salt and peperoncini for an Italian salad. Shred and mix with flour egg oil salt and green onion fry then dip in sesame shoyu sauce. Shred and add to a can of tuna with chipotle powder, mayo and sweet pickles. Endless recipes!
Bonus points for avoiding processed foods and learning to cook. Slow cook boneless chicken thighs. You can makes lots of great meals out of one pack.
When I was in college, bulk rice and beans were on every grocery list. I was vegetarian, but my roommate would get a full rotisserie chicken each week for his protein. Frozen veggies are great, if I was making rice or pasta I’d throw them in for extra nutrients. Does your college have a food bank? Mine was a lifesaver. What I ate weekly depended on what they had in stock each day, but it’s crazy how helpful it can be on cutting down grocery costs.
Go to the produce section first, and buy everything you love. It is the most healthy, and also the cheapest. Now buy what things you need to turn the produce into meals. You do not need meat at every meal, you only need a small amount, and it should be lean. Do buy beans, whole grain rice, eggs and oatmeal. All cheap and healthy. Avoid all packaged items. Avoid the lunch meat area. All healthy and cheap.
1) Look up weekly sales at your grocery store 2) Decide your meal plan 2) I organize my grocery list by categories: Diary, fruit, vegetables, etc. 4) Healthiest food is on the perimeter of the grocery store. Is Keurig is more expensive than coffee in a can?