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I don't know how much of this to buy, and am limited in what I can eat due to allergies. i.e. no pastas, breads, etc.
What other tips do you have? Any sneaky ways to save money in the grocery stores, without arguing over vegan vs. non-vegan options? Thank you.
Coupons coupons coupons!
Also price match as stores that allow it.
Also grow your own veggies and make foods from that. Like you can make bread from potatoes as well as pasta.
I have a smallish garden and I rotate crops constantly. It's a bit of work yes (knowing which veggies are ready for harvest in how many days, which veggies grow best beside of each other, etc...) but they taste better, are healthier for you, and YOU control what goes on them (ie pesticides, chemicals, etc...)
You can grow a ton of different veggies in containers such as peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots (I grow mine in 3 old gallon pickle buckets since our soil is too hard to grow them well), beans (as long as you trellis them), eggplants, pretty much anything can be grown in containers. Herbs grow well in small window planters, and can be grown in almost anything.
Currently, in my garden I have growing: potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, lettuce, cabbage, onions, garlic, corn, peas, green beans, brussels sprouts, zucchini, summer squash, cukes, watermelons, honeydew, cantaloupe, herbs, spinach, peppers, and strawberries.
I will rotate and add turnips, cold weather cabbage, beets, and a few other things when some of this is ready to harvest in a few weeks/months. In fact, I was lucky enough to score some thick clear plastic and some wire and posts, so I will be making "greenhouses" and growing all winter long if possible.
Seriously, gardening is easy, fun, and cheaper than paying for fresh veggies at the store.
Check out the gardening forum here for more info and ideas.
You should be able to get beans at $1.00/pound and you can get rice in large bags for around $.40~$.50/pound.
For fruit and vegetables, only buy what is in season. Legumes, rice, lower cost vegetables (carrots, etc) can go a long way... Soup and curry can be made in large batches where the cost per meal is often under $1.
Eggs from chickens in the yard for breakfast
Less than $1.00 can of tuna for lunch
with a few carrots and lettuce from the garden
Chicken $.77/pound
1 potato $.50
Green beans .79/can for dinner
Tea at Dollar Tree is 100 bags for $1.00, that's 100 beverages for !.00
Eggs are always good for breakfast. I often buy a dozen eggs and a package of bacon/sausage and use that most days for breakfast, then add a little fruit to the side.
Not too sure what your allergy is, but if you can eat oatmeal, it's great for breakfast and you can add fruit to it, dried berries, etc.
For lunches I really like to make stir-fry with a variety of produce (zuchinni, yellow squash, egg plant, peppers, broccoli) and add in tofu or chicken. It's quick and easy. Put it on some rice and voila! Usually I end up with leftovers for one or two meals.
Biggest money saver is: Don't let anything go to waste! I've dropped my grocery budget lower than yours by trying to eat everything. In the past, I'd get great ideas and buy too much produce and not be able to eat it in time. If you stack what you buy so things ripen at different times, it'll be a lot easier. Lettuce, for example, goes bad quicker than zuchinni, brocolli, peppers. So I'll eat more salads earlier in the week, and make my stir-fries later in the week.
I don't know how much of this to buy, and am limited in what I can eat due to allergies. i.e. no pastas, breads, etc.
What other tips do you have? Any sneaky ways to save money in the grocery stores, without arguing over vegan vs. non-vegan options? Thank you.
Instead of trying to eat well on $35 a week, you need to look at your budget and cut unnecessary expenses so that you can buy more, better quality, food. My husband and I spend a lot on food because it is important to us to get the best product available. We eat organic whenever we can and the meat that we buy is usually grass fed, no antibiotic, no hormone, no chemical.
Cutting back on cable, or cell phone or internet access is a much better option.
I don't know how much of this to buy, and am limited in what I can eat due to allergies. i.e. no pastas, breads, etc.
What other tips do you have? Any sneaky ways to save money in the grocery stores, without arguing over vegan vs. non-vegan options? Thank you.
Beans you should be able to get for about $1 a pound (You may have to buy like a 2-pound bag of dried beans)
A 20-pound bag could be had for $10, maybe even less if you look for sales. Even if you prefer brown rice, I've gotten 5-pound bags for $4, so that will be no problem.
Potatoes, again could be had for $3 - $4 for a 5-pound bag.
Cirtrus for $1 a pound sounds about right. Grapefruits are cheaper than oranges, but they obviously taste worse.
So basically, it comes down to looking around a little bit for sales and then stocking up a little bit. But keep in mind that it might not even be necessary if your local store offers low prices. I mean, the $4 for 5pounds of rice was the regular price. I've gotten it as cheap as $1 for a 2-pound bag of brown rice.
Why don't you buy a large bulk of rice? That's what we always do and it's so much cheaper if you go to the Asian supermarkets (I don't know if you specifically want white, yellow or whole grain), about $7 and local supermarkets even sell them. But don't limit yourself on some vegetables - mix it up. Use coupons and look for weekly ads as well. i've have recently started emailing companies and asking them for coupons and some have been generous enough to send me coupons, so that's another good idea.
I will look into buying in bulk, but since I don't currently have a car, this may be problematic. Thank you, anyway!
I find that growing my own food would be difficult in an apartment with no porch! However, I will do my best to find what may grow indoors--although I'm beginning to think that it may be cheaper to just buy lettuces or the like? Or even potatoes?
I'd LOVE to use coupons, but I can never find coupons on the unprepared foods I buy. Hmm. Maybe I can just use them on the few non-food products, like soaps and such. Thank you.
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