Do you struggle with keeping your grocery budget low? Here's how I stick to a $60 a week grocery budget, including tips and recipes!
Do you constantly find yourself looking for ways to cut back on your grocery budget? And looking for cheap meal ideas?
I'm right there with you, friend!
My family of 3 has eaten on many a tight budget over the years- sometimes $60, sometimes $30- and each time we had to get creative.
The best tips below are what I followed when we had a $60 per week grocery budget. I still follow these tips even on my now $100 budget, and I show these grocery hauls now on Youtube.
Hopefully these will help you find the cheapest meal ideas and help you stick to your low budget!
DISCLAIMER: I live in Ohio, which seems to have cheaper food prices. You may not be able to recreate my menus for the same price. We also don't eat organic foods or purely "clean", although we buy a ton of fresh produce every week.
How i stick to a $60 per week grocery budget
I make cheap, simple meals
I've pinned a bunch of stuff to Pinterest before because the final result looks so delicious! And then I click to see the recipe, and it involves a TON of ingredients that I never keep in the house and will waste if I don't use all of it in that one recipe.
I love simple and efficient! Anything with 5 main ingredients or less is my perfect meal. Sorry soups, but a lot of you just have WAY too many ingredients! I love making broccoli cheese soup and tomato soup, but that's about it.
I also don't use very expensive meats, buying pretty much only chicken breasts and ground turkey because it's the cheapest meat I can find.
I'll also get the occasional pork loin when it goes on sale for less than $1.50/lb. I've found that I don't miss ground beef at all now that I have ground turkey! I can't even taste the difference.
Once or twice a week, I'll do meatless meals, too. Rice and beans for dinner? Yep! Just add a tortilla shell and you can make an awesome, filling quesadilla.
I also like just buying a box of pasta and a jar of spaghetti sauce to have a simple, cheap dinner that gives us leftovers.
I shop at Aldi for 70% of my groceries
Aldi has been my lifesaver when it comes to buying healthy ingredients for really cheap! I buy all my baking supplies there, as well as canned goods, produce, and ground turkey.
At Aldi, I save at least 30-40% on everything, and the quality is right about the same. If you don't have an Aldi in your area, look for another discount store like Save-A-Lot and see what you can buy cheaper than a regular grocery store. These stores definitely help keep your weekly budget low!
See: 20 Aldi Items That Save $37 a Month on Groceries
I only buy in-season produce
Allison and I LOVE strawberries, but holy cow, have you seen their prices when they're not in season? I can get them on sale easily for $1.00 a pound, but in the off-season they can be upwards of $3-$4.00 a pound!
I just can't see myself buying 3-4 packages at a time (which is what we usually do when they're on sale) at that price. So when I can, I'll buy a bunch at the lowest price, wash them, and chop/freeze for a later time.
I use a vinegar/water soak for my berries- find out more in this post about how to make strawberries last longer!
If I don't plan on freezing produce, I'll just plan dinner around what produce is on sale. Butternut squash and sweet potatoes are on sale in the winter? You can bet I'll be using them at least once a week. What a great way to save money AND eat healthy foods!
If you only buy the produce that's in season and work your meals around that, you'll be saving so much money every week!
See: How to Enjoy Cheap Produce All Year Long
I make breakfast for dinner once a week
Seriously, pancakes and eggs make for a great dinner! You can keep a box of pancake mix around, or make your own to store it. It's so cheap to make, and our family loves pancakes. We've also done biscuits and gravy and waffles.
Sometimes making pancakes can be time-consuming, so I use a good-sized griddle to save time and energy. Mine can make up to 6 pancakes at once; so for a standard pancake recipe like my Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes, it only takes 3 go-rounds to make them all!
I eat leftovers every day for lunch
Maybe it's just because we're a family of 3, but every dinner I cook makes at least 2-3 servings for leftovers the next day. And right now, since we're practicing portion control, we have LOTS of leftovers.
I've tried to buy extra stuff for lunches for us, but that resulted in so much food we had to throw some away. It just didn't work for us!
We have no problem eating leftovers, so we just happily eat them to save money. Allison, on the other hand, usually won't eat most of my dinners (typical toddler), which means she won't eat it the next day for lunch, either. So I buy good, healthy lunches for her, which doesn't cost a whole lot.
If you eat leftovers a lot, make sure you get good containers. My favorites are these divided containers from Rubbermaid, because you can separate the main dish from the veggies and they stack quite nicely in the fridge!
This may not work for you, especially if you have a larger family, but if you're in this position, consider having leftovers for lunch! It really keeps my grocery bill down.
I bulk cook and freeze items
Over the years I've begun to realize that it's better/cheaper to make certain items myself to always keep in the house!
Right now I bulk cook black beans and pizza sauce, and sometimes spaghetti sauce. It's cheaper, tastes better, and I know I always have them in the house if I suddenly need a meal.
I make my own bread items
Okay, I only do this most of the time! Things like dinner rolls, breadsticks, and English muffins I always make, because I can't see myself paying $2-$3 for a package! Tortillas I'll sometimes make, but if the whole wheat ones go on sale at Meijer for $1.00 a pack, I'll buy some to stock up. Those take a little longer to make than bread items.
I've been buying loaves of bread from my local bread outlet because they can be marked down to 50 cents per loaf. Homemade bread may taste better, but you can't beat a 50-cent price tag.
With all that said, if I know that the next week is going to be tough budget-wise, I'll go ahead and make all my bread products instead of buying them. I'll spend a little extra time in the kitchen if it means saving a few dollars on our budget!
Granola bars are also something I'll sometimes make when money is tight. We're big snackers, and making our own snack foods keeps the budget low.
I only buy one big stock-up item each week
Our $60 a week grocery budget includes household items, so sometimes I have to get creative.
I usually buy toilet paper, paper towels, baby wipes, and dishwasher tabs at Sam's Club, and those can easily be $15.00+ each. If I notice we're low on something, I'll add it to our grocery list and figure out some really cheap meals to make so we can afford to buy that item. This is where keeping my pantry and freezer full really helps!
See: How to Use Your Pantry to Make Free Meals
To help supplement our income so we can buy more bigger items at Sam's Club, I use Swagbucks to earn a $25.00 gift card about once a month!
Swagbucks is a site where you can earn points, called Swagbucks, by taking surveys, watching videos, and performing various activities. It's free to sign up and easy to use, so make sure you click here to create your account today! Need help? Make sure you check out my tutorial on how I earn my Swagbucks!
I keep a supply of pantry staples
While shopping on a budget, I still try to make sure we have certain pantry items available for quick and easy meals. Food costs are going up, so I try to buy a certain type of item when it goes on sale that week. Usually I'll set aside 5 dollars for foods like this.
Here's what I try to keep in my pantry at all times:
- Rice (Brown rice, white rice, jasmine rice)
- Canned beans
- Canned vegetables, including tomatoes
- Rolled oats
- Peanut butter
- Salsa
- Pasta and pasta sauce
I take advantage of sales and discounted foods
The clearance sections are my best friends. Some stores like Kroger have bags of produce marked down to 99 cents, whether it's raw veggies or bananas about to go bad. I grab those when I can!
I also recently started using an app called Flashfood. Certain stores participate and will mark down foods like meat, cheese, produce, bread items, etc., to 50% off. I've bought boxes of vegetables for only $3.00!
You buy what you want through the app, then go to your local store and pick up the food from the big fridge. The best part is, the app itself is totally free!
To see if you have any stores in your area, download the Flashfood app here. Use the code "NO G3D15J" and you'll get $5.00 in rewards when you spend $10.00 on your first purchase!
I make a list and stick to it
Food budgeting was hard for me for awhile. I'm an impulse buyer for sure, and it took lots of willpower not to grab all the things.
Every Thursday I sit down and make my weekly grocery list. Usually it's what we'll need for the entire week. Once that shopping list is completed, I try really hard not to deviate. I buy what I need.
If you're like me and buy a lot of random items, you can try grocery pickup. For some people, ordering their groceries online helps them stay on budget on their food items!
I round up my prices
Rounding up my prices while meal planning is one of the best ways to trick myself into staying under budget. Here's an example:
If milk is $2.85, I round it up to $3.00.
If eggs are $1.55, I round it up to around $1.75.
If a can of vegetables is $.89, I round it up to $1.00.
This allows for a little wiggle room in case one of these items has gone up in price in the past week. Also, it'll sometimes leave me with a few dollars left that I can buy additional food.
Depending on your family size and income, $60 or $75 may not be feasible. A family of 5 or 6 may spend much more than my family of 3!
The tips above still hold true no matter your budget; and if you follow them closely, you'll find you may have some extra wiggle room in your spending! And you'll still be able to make delicious meals!
Do you have any other tips that help you stay within your budget? Leave a comment below!
SaveWant more healthy meal ideas? Be sure to download my FREE Healthy Meal Plan!
Jaime is a Nutrition Coach through the ISSA and professional writer. She has 4 years experience coaching and 9 years experience in writing. She enjoys cooking easy meals, running, and learning more about food.
Jaime specializes in helping women with ADHD learn to meal plan and cook healthier meals without getting overwhelmed.
Eating in season produce is great for the budget but they are also better for your health so it's a double win! I don't think we can even get strawberries off season.
I make my own baby wipes. Great my baby hasn't had diaper rash yet and super cheap!!
That's awesome! I've seen a few recipes for those and they look very easy.
How do you make them i don't have a baby but my 6yr old son is the messiest little bean also they are so expensive to add in to this single mamaa Budget so making them at home would be a lovely way to save a dollar or two...
I'd love to see an example of your weekly dinner menu. zdo you post those?
I do! =) I post them every Sunday (soon to be Mondays in February). Here's my latest one! https://www.nogettingoffthistrain.com/shopping/weekly-shopping-and-menu-1-10-16/
I enjoyed your post. I am an old hand at figuring outvhow to luve on less. I buy cuts of meat on sale and try to make them wirk fir various meals I am making, based on what I already have on hand.I take a cheap cut of steak and pound it with a meat hammer to make it soft and tender. I cut it up and make stew iut of ut with potatoes and onions and tomatoes. Hamburger packages can be stretched by cooking it all, then dividing it into a meal of spaghetti and a meal of chili.add a can of dark red kidney beans to the chili, and some of the leftover spaghetti sauce, or open a can of diced tomatoes. Eggs are a real lifesaver on a budget. Boil them and chop one up in a salad. Use french or Russian dressing, bacon bits and onions. Make egg salad for egg salad sandwhiches. Pinto beans and cornbread makes a feel good meal that stretches. French fries taste good with it too. Rice is great for a cheap breakfast meal. I coik the rice, then melt butter and add 1 packet of splenda. Fills your tummy and satisfies. For lunch I eat it with butter, sugar, salt and pepper. I use every left iver as an ingredient in another meal. Hope this helps, ciindy
Thank you, Cindy! These are all great ideas, especially the stretching of ground beef. It's amazing how little meat you actually need in a meal to make it taste great! =)
I stock up on ground beef when it goes on sale during memorial day, 4th of july, and labor day for $1.79/lb then I divide it up into 3/4lb packages instead of 1 lb and we cannot tell the difference. I then freeze all the 3/4lb packages. I have a family of 5 and we stick to a $100 per week grocery and household budget but I am always trying to cut back to $75. We grow a large garden and I freeze or can the fruits and veggies to eat all year. We have also planted many fruit trees. In our area the milk is only $0.98 per gallon and the eggs are $0.49 per dozen so that really helps as we go through 6 gallons of milk per week and 2-3 dozen eggs.
That's a really smart idea to divide your meat into 3/4 pound packages! I'll have to try that, too.
Wow! This actually sounds useful and healthy. You should write a blog post. This article left me feeling like a lot of not so healthy, processsed, carb meals get eaten here.
I try to balance lots of protein, veggies and carbs last. So dumping jarred sauce over noodles wouldn’t fly. Everyone would be hungry in an hour. No protein!
Hi Kitty! We actually eat pretty healthy over here. I've written a few articles on how to eat healthy on a budget that you may find helpful.
https://www.nogettingoffthistrain.com/frugal/ways-to-eat-healthy-on-a-budget/
https://www.nogettingoffthistrain.com/frugal/top-healthy-foods-to-buy-at-aldi/
https://www.nogettingoffthistrain.com/frugal/possible-eat-healthy-budget/
We're huge carb-lovers over here, though. =) I'm a long-distance runner, so eating healthy (and lots of carbs) is a necessity in this house!
I love the idea of having your own garden that's less fruits & vegetables you halft to worry about buying in the store and your winning both ways what a great way to save money i live in a condominium and i do have a medium sized balcony & i will look into getting some balcony friendly fruits & vegetables any ideas would be greatly appreciated thank you very much
My husband says he does not eat leftovers - Ha if he only knew 🙂
Have a look on google to see if you can find a recipe for scones especially from Australian site. They use , flour, butter, baking powder, dry milk and water. They can be used for savory with soup or a sweet at the end of the meal with jam , or for visitors with a pot of hot tea. Have you tired making some jam when fruit in season. Tried growing some herbs, spring onions or tomatoes in season??????
I've only tried sweet scones, but that's a good idea! I always keep most of those ingredients at home. =) I've never tried making my own jam or growing produce... I've always been scared of the unknown! But I've been considering more the idea of growing small pots of tomatoes or something. Thank you for the ideas!
Lots of things will grow in pots. But if you have the space it's amazing what a small garden will produce. I have tomatos, cucumbers, peppers, onions, beans, corn and squash all in raised beds, and herbs like rosemary, chives,basil, fennel, oregano, and dill in pots. Also lemon balm and lemon grass. If you have the space, dwarf and semi dwarf fruit trees produce a lot and it can be canned, frozen and dried. Dried apples make an awesom snack, and can be rehydrated for pies or other desserts. Or apples can be made into applesauce and canned. We have semi dwarf apple, pear, plum, and nectarine trees, strawberries in raised beds, grapes, blueberries and blackberries. Canning is not hard, and the gelatin for making jam has the recipes in the box. I use sure-jell. The dehydrator and canning jars were a great investment, and I have a large deep freeze. A small flock of chickens is a good investment too. They don't take up much space, and if you give them the kitchen scraps, they don't need as much feed. The eggs are much better than the ones you get in the store, and if you have setting hens and a rooster, you can replace older members of the flock as they stop laying. If you are not squeamish they can be eaten, as well as the young roosters that you hatch out. Hope this gives some tips and encouragement for being a little more self sustained. Macci
These are amazing tips, Macci! Thank you! I've always thought it'd be cool to have a little garden, but I've never put much effort into it.
How do you get the fruit trees to produce fruit like you buy at the orchards.we live in the country with 11 acres. We have planted fruit trees but the fruit is always crappy nothing you would want to eat.i have asked the orchard owners what to do to make our trees produce like theirs. We do that but it's just a waste of time because it still doesn't make any difference. The only thing that does good is the blackberries, blueberries ,cherry tree and garden stuff.the apple, peach and pear trees just don't produce fruit you would want to eat. Do you have any advice?
Regarding your fruit trees:
(1) you need to spray the trees with a an anti-bug spray (ask a local form store/plant nursery to suggest one). (2) Also you need to give your trees fertilizer, if you don't like commercial stuff, use animal manure -- like humans, trees/plants need food, and the fertilizer is that food. (3) You need to prune your trees, they grow a lot each year, and you need to trim the branches back so that the tree will grow straight. If you're not sure what I mean, GOOGLE "how to prune fruit trees" or look up YouTube videos. I live where the season change, and I like to prune my trees when the tree is dormant, usually late-Nov to mid-Jan. (4) Make sure your trees are getting enough water, water them each week. I water mine from last frost in the spring to first frost in the fall, for 30-60 minutes/week on a slow trickle to sink deeply -- often while I'm watering my vegetables. (5) Fruit trees commonly produce fruit well on alternate years (in 2016 our peach tree produced abundantly, and my friends' plum & apricot trees did so as well; this year in 2017 our apple trees and my friends' apple & pear trees produced lots of fruit), though late spring frosts also have much to do with when/how much fruit is produced.
(5) Last resort, after you've done everything else AND waited 1-2 years to see how the other things will work first, you need to shock your trees somehow. My Dad used an old wooden baseball bat, and would whack each tree trunk a couple of times (about a foot off the ground). You can't be gentle when you hit them, the idea is to hit the tree as hard as you can. It works and I don't know how/why it works other than it seems to shock the trees into producing fruit. Dad would only do this on the older trees, and when they had produced no fruit after 3-4 years. At my house, we planted fruit trees 7 years ago, and have only gotten fruit in the past 3 years (this is normal, as it's good to pick off the blossoms or young fruit for the first 3-4 years after planting fruit trees to enable the trees to grow strong roots), and I have yet to need to shock my trees into giving me anything.
Love the tips. I never grocery shop hungry! I also make a list and stick to it! One thing I learned about our local grocery store is that they reduce the prices of their meat selections first thing in the morning. If I can get to the store that early (around 7:30) I can find some great prices on some good cuts of meat.
That's awesome! I still need to learn the magic of going to the store when meat is marked down. =)
Do you have to buy things to earn swagbucks?
You do get some Swagbucks for making purchases, but most of the activities are free! You can take surveys and watch videos; both of those are my main way of earning Swagbucks and I don't spend a dime. =)
If I stick to it and prepare all lunch and dinner meals for the week in one day it saves money and keeps from trying to snack or grab something quick. I also will boil a dozen eggs sometimes to have hard boiled eggs for a healthy quick snack.
I still struggle with meal prepping in the beginning of the week! Awesome job sticking to it!
Good stuff here. One thing I've been doing for a while is to soak an old facecloth in cheap hair conditioner (buy that in honkin' big containers) let it dry, then throw it in the dryer with your laundry. Soft, smells nice, and for next to nothing. The facecloth can be used up to four times efficiently.
That's amazing! Thanks for sharing this, I'd never even thought of doing this before. =)
I have been enjoying reading your blog, and your readers have left some great suggestions in the comments too. I have friends living in the Midwest who LOVE shopping at Aldi's, and I wish I had one here in northeastern Utah too. I shop mainly at 2 local grocery stores, with a few visits to Walmart for the consistently-lower priced items (the closest Costco or SAM's Club is a 3 hour drive one-way to the west), to feed and care for my family of 7 (2 adults, 5 children - 2 of whom are teenage boys).
The two local grocery stores here have semi-annual case-lot sales where I stock up on toilet paper, paper towels, 20-pound sacks of rice & black beans, 25-pound sacks of sugar, peanut butter, frozen juice & veggies, and canned foods. These provide the basis for our meals, plus my home-canned fruits, veggies, jams & jellies that I make from our fruit trees, vegetable garden, fruit/veggies gifted by friends, and berries I buy from loss-leader sales (the really good deals); at these same sales I buy chicken & pork, and sometimes beef. I really like Thanksgiving, Easter, and Christmastime food sales, I buy extra turkeys & hams to feed my family during the rest of the year, and keep them in our chest freezers. Hubby is allergic to eggs and MSG, and I have Celiac Disease so these dictate a lot of our meals -- I make a lot of foods from scratch and differently from how I used to make food 1-2 years ago.
My weekly grocery/sundries budget varies -- 1st pay check of the month, I have $100/week, 2nd check of the month, I have $60/week (I try to save $15-20/week from the first 2 weeks to share with the last 2 weeks, sometimes it doesn't happen). I've arranged my bills so that I have a little financial leeway at the beginning of the month, and sometimes I'll have an extra $60-100 that I stock up on unneeded, but desired items (I call them food bribes to keep the family happy). I used to make a lot of our baked goods, but due to my Celiac Disease, I now buy bread for my family, and cookies/sweet breads/muffins are more of an occasional treat made with my homemade GF flour mixes. About 3-4 times a year, I go to the big cities to buy a large quantity of bulk GF flours & grains.
Regarding cleaning & laundry, I use a mixture of Norwex products (I wash all of my girls, ds9, My clothes, kitchen cloths, and bath towels in warm or cold water at 2 tsp per load, in a 1 kilogram package of detergent that lasts me 2-4 months, plus there's the excellent bathroom & kitchen cleaners), and regular/commercially-made products that hubby loves that I buy on sale whenever I can; I use wool & knobby plastic dryer balls when drying clothes and only rarely use liquid fabric softeners (and then about 1/2 tsp cut with 1 cup of distilled vinegar for Dh's clothes). When it's fall case-lot-sales time, I stock up on VO5 shampoos & conditioners for $0.50-0.69/each, deodorant for hubby & teens, body wash for the teens, hubby's Irish Spring soap, cases of hydrogen peroxide & isopropyl alcohol, and sometimes cold/fever medicines & Bandaids.
I love reading this! Thanks for sharing what you do. =) You're amazingly talented with stretching your budget for your family of 7!
One of the best food tips I learned and we use all the time is "leftovers stew". NO food is wasted and all leftovers go into a large bowl in the freezer. When it is full I thaw it over night and put it in the crock pot with some tomato soup. Always a bit different, but always gobbled up with biscuits. Perfect in cold weather!
Oh, and we just got an Aldi nearby! I also have my bread machine running daily, a store loyalty membership card for all the stores I shop at and use coupons. You can use both a store and manufacturer coupon on the same product.
Now I am finding the value of my food saver! Plus I grow much of our own food, so fresh veggies are sucked air tight and frozen.
With 6 daughters and a husband who is a Marine I have to keep on top of our budget!
Those are some great tips! You're doing awesome for a family of 8. =)
This article and the prices listed need to be updated. It's almost 2018.
Thanks, Terri! I just double checked and the prices I listed are actually still relevant to my area in Ohio. The prices in your area may vary, either up or down. Our milk is cheap at $1.09 a gallon right now, but I know other states pay up to $3.00!
$3.39 a gallon for milk
in Staten Island, NYC 🙁
Ouch! It's currently about $1.05 in Ohio, but on vacation here in Florida it's $3.35. That's insane!
Milk is $4.39 in Wausa, NE!!!
It’s a 45 mile drive to Norfolk & milk there is 3-$4 as well.
That is crazy! It's interesting to see the price differences in fresh food in where we live!
Here in Michigan Port Huron area our milk is only $0.98 per gallon including chocolate milk and eggs are $0.49 per dozen!!!
Circle K in MA is $3.99 or 2/$5
I haven't been impressed with aldis. There are other stores I go to but you have some great ideas.
Thank you! Aldi can be hit or miss, and I hear it even varies among the stores themselves. Mine is great and has friendly employees, but I've heard of other stores that have horrible produce and meat.
I honestly used to think the same way but with aldi Gorcery it is so much cheaper i go buy my 2%organic milk my yogurts my meats like tilapia, chicken & ground turkey in family pack size my vegetables & fruits im a single mom of one so i halft to Budget wisely when it comes buying Gorcerys but i do buy like brown sugar, honey, flour & butter are our house cleaning products at our local Dollar Tree but there where things i didn't like about my local aldi but I've learned to definitely work around something's and it works ...
If you have a Walmart near you, check the meats for yellow tags. If you find what you like, and purchase it after 8 pm, the price is reduced by half off of the yellow tags. At least near me they do that. It might be worth calling in your area to find out. I've done that many times and there is nothing wrong with the meat, it is just getting close to the Use-By date.
That's awesome Diane, thanks for the tip! I didn't know they reduced the clearance price even more, so I'll have to call my local Wal Mart and ask. =)
Hi Jaime. I was wondering if you could tell me How many items I can get with $75.00 either at Walmart or Safeway?
Hi Miranda! I actually did an experiment to see exactly what I could get with $75 at Wal Mart. I wanted to see if it was cheaper than Aldi, and I was actually surprised at the outcome! You can read it here: https://www.nogettingoffthistrain.com/shopping/is-wal-mart-cheaper-than-aldi/
Since I became ambulatory disabled 14years ago along with agoraphobic, anxiety/panic attacks & physical difficulties standing/walking for long periods of time, bending, stretching, squatting, twisting & migraines keep me from being the person I once was. I worked 3 jobs and went to college full time AND managed a husband & 2 kids. Now that I am older, kids grown and I have 2 grandkids(most energy is saved for my 4yr old GD). I miss the days spent cooking & cleaning. We moved to Alaska where things aren't so cheap (we had to share a place with my parents as rent was $1900 a month- that did NOT include any other added bills). Since my dad passed 2yrs ago my husband & I are buying a 3bedroom 2bath condo/townhouse as it's cheaper then buying. My goal for next year 2019 is to meal prep. It's usually just me & hubby, but daughter and great niece are staying here as of now. We also get granddaughter when it's our son's weekend, him & his gf just moved out with their new baby few months ago. I have to plan out what I am going to cook day or so before I just can't come up with whatever. My hubby is very frugal and does most shopping but never uses list. 17yrs ago I had gastric bypass surgery so I dont eat much but seems like we never have any food. Our cheapest meats are pork & chicken. We try to stock up when Carrs (safeway) have the bogo free meats. I've also found it we buy the 5lb chubs of ground beef then divide it up into freezer bags it goes long ways. I know we usually buy the lower fat ratio but might change this next year. We cook most meals in the air fryer/ air fryer oven/ instant pot or crockpot/slow cooker. Then we add pasta, rice, veggie & maybe bread product like corn bread or biscuit. We don't drink milk but have to buy for GD, hubby rarely uses it for breakfast. 2x a month we eat out. Rarely drink coffee, never go on vacations and still live paycheck to paycheck. Disability I get just over 400$ a month, hubby pays all Bill's. Our milk goes from $4-5gal. We live in HOA community, I wanted to try potted gardening, but up here it can be hit or miss. We are in the city of Anchorage which thankfully has no sales tax but the rest of Alaska does. A simple can of campbells chicken & noodle soup is over $1 a can. So I find buying store brands are a little cheaper. I am looking for any simple great meals that don't take much prep/clean up & makes enough to freeze for 2 extra meals. Hubby has been doing everything for last year and half due to me having 4 surgeries back to back. Prior to us buying our own home my mom did the cooking, I did when it was good days for me, but her and my dad lived upstairs as my family was downstairs with our own living room & bathroom. 5.5yrs only time I really left my bedroom was for doctor appointments or if my kids had school meetings. I couldn't even get out to our frontroom with my husband to watch tv. I need to reclaim my body and build strength in cleaning, cooking and shopping. If anyone has had anything similar happen and found a way to get back to a somewhat normal life I'd really love to hear from you. I live day by day because it all depends on my pain level. Don't feel sorry for me cause I don't, I just need the motivation and knowledge of how to regain strength to do what I should be doing. Any advice is welcome and appreciated.
Becky, it sounds like you're really going through a rough patch! Unfortunately I don't have any advice on how to work through your physical challenges, but I wrote a few blog posts about eating with very little income. I hope at least these can help a little:
Meals to Make When You Have No Money
How to Eat When You Have No Income