RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month

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Toppingfrmbottom -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (10/27/2009 10:23:56 PM)
Really? I love our well water in the shower I'll drink strait from the tap. A friend of mine years ago had the britta filter pitcher and her water was always gorgeous and cold, so yeah a filter pitcher for the frige. quote: ORIGINAL: barelynangel You know before bottled water media hype, people drank tap water and faucet water with no issue. grins and actually CITY water is better than well water -- ugh. angel

aphotic -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (10/27/2009 10:27:27 PM)
I'm at $200 a week, sorry. How do you do it?

Missokyst -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (10/28/2009 9:53:44 AM)
Even if you don't qualify for food stamps there are other things to try. Look up GLEANERS in your area. Ours gives out cans of food, bread, cheeses, veggies and nuts from local growers that have donated food. There are also suplus cheese and butter giveaways in our state and a 10 lb chunk of cheese goes a long way. Tomatoes, peppers, zuchini, radishes and onions can be grown indoors or on a small patio. There are a lot of fruit trees in strange areas that offer up goodies. Oranges are plentiful, as are nuts. There is a beautiful apricot tree planted right behind and to the side of a store in my area, and a good fig tree in the park. Brown rice, beans, and whole grain pasta's can stretch a dollar. The dollar store (or other stores of that ilk) have boxes of hamburger helper or even fresh veggies at a reasonable price. Eating "healthy" on a budget is tough, sometimes you have to settle for being satisfied.

Toppingfrmbottom -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (10/31/2009 7:37:26 PM)
When my dad was a member of the church he handed out food at the food closet from senior gleaners, maybe it was a diff one though because the food the food closet got was pretty poor quality, almost expired expired dented dinged if it was fruits or veggies it was wilted or had small bad spots. it was also a lot of junk food like cookies and cakes and toaster pastries. But yeah it was food for those who'd do with out and maybe we can find a help program with better stuff than the church gave out once upon a time. And of course soon as he gets payed we'll get ride and good glub like that, thank you :) quote: ORIGINAL: Missokyst Even if you don't qualify for food stamps there are other things to try. Look up GLEANERS in your area. Ours gives out cans of food, bread, cheeses, veggies and nuts from local growers that have donated food. There are also suplus cheese and butter giveaways in our state and a 10 lb chunk of cheese goes a long way. Tomatoes, peppers, zuchini, radishes and onions can be grown indoors or on a small patio. There are a lot of fruit trees in strange areas that offer up goodies. Oranges are plentiful, as are nuts. There is a beautiful apricot tree planted right behind and to the side of a store in my area, and a good fig tree in the park. Brown rice, beans, and whole grain pasta's can stretch a dollar. The dollar store (or other stores of that ilk) have boxes of hamburger helper or even fresh veggies at a reasonable price. Eating "healthy" on a budget is tough, sometimes you have to settle for being satisfied.

blackcat39 -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (10/31/2009 8:36:39 PM)
Use filtered water, tap water or well water, that you send thru a filter. This will be more healthy than not filtering it at all. Probably more healthy than the majority of bottled/soda, they generally use tap water also. Make your own lemonade (sugar/lemons/water), instead of soda. You could probably also find a cheap way to put bubbles into water for a few dollars if you looked hard. Use beans and rice as a staple (1 meal a day everyday), along with oatmeal (oatmeal with water). If you are smart, you can get more healthy and also save money, and not have to cook that much/work that hard at it. In many Countries, $100 is alot, they have $10 a month to spend on food, and consider themselves lucky. most are starving.

Rhodes85 -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 12:34:55 AM)
First I have to say reading through this thread made me very hungry lol Well i've got quite a few suggestions i'd like to offer. First, if possible i'd suggest a small backyard garden. Its pretty easy to maintain one and you'd be suprised just how many tomatoes, corn, beans, squash, turnip, cucumber and zucchini you can get off of an area the size of a small bedroom. This year I got 200 pounds of tomatoes, around 50 pounds each of turnip, squash and zucchini. With corn you can can it, freeze it or dry/dehydrate it and grind your own corn meal. I also got enough full size cucumber to make 91 jars of pickles. I end up giving half of it away anyway but its nice to be able to have a garden. You really can get alot of out it with very little cost. Pasta is always a good choice if you can get it in bulk or from a dollar store. Instant soup mixes in bulk and instant drink mixes can be found in bulk as well. If you were willing to take up hunting or fishing you would be able to flesh out your meat by a considerable amount. I take a deer myself a year and get a bit from the deer a few friends of mine from halifax come up to shoot every year. Thats an easy 200 pounds of meat right there, and if you have it made into sausages or ground into hamburger you can stretch it for months if not a whole year. I've still got a few pounds of it in the freezer from last year. Its a shame you don't like fish. A cheap fishing license and a couple days of fishing can get bring in alot of fish, and theres alot you can do with it. A little home-smoked salmon goes a long way with a meal. Anything no-name or store branded is a good choice. Theres a place around here called Giant Tigers (i'm pretty sure theres some in the US as well) where you can get everything from shrimp to steaks for dirt cheap. Last week I picked up a bunch of their frozen tv dinners for $1 each. They were a bit small but at that price its a deal. Stir frying can stretch your meat budget quite a ways. Throw in a little broccoli and a pepper, put it over some rice and you've got a very cheap meal that you can stretch for at least two meals. I have to agree with everyones views on chickens. Get them whole and cut them up yourself. You'll save a bunch. You could grow your own but its very time consuming and can be a bit expensive. Though on the plus side the last batch I grew here had no chickens less than 35 pounds after they were cleaned and feathered. The biggest one was just under 44 pounds. and this is chickens i'm talking about, not turkeys. You wouldn't believe how big they can get if you do it yourself. And they are absolutely worth the effort. I'll take one of those, cut it up, save the liver (each one is larger than my fist) and heart - which a in itself could be a decent meal - One liver and a little rice goes a ways. Boil the carcass and neck into broth and you can use that for soups, stews, in stir frys and use it instead of water to cook rice in. That adds some good meat flavor to rice dishes when you're stretching your meat budget. Potatoes and beans also go a long way., as does rice. Hell get some rice, add a little beans and a sliced up hot dog and you've got a cheap and easy meal right there. A croc pot. YES! those things are worth their weight in gold. I couldn't do without mine. Drinks.... Well you can get drink crystals in bulk. I'm on a well so I don't have that godawful city water to deal with (I hated the water in vancouver when I lived there) but I still use a brita water filter. Though I also have a bad diet coke habit. About a case a day and that does add up. Though its not that bad considering I drink 2 - 3L of water a day too. But you can get 2L bottles of the cheaper non brand named stuff (big 8 soda here is 88 cents for a 2L bottle while coke is about $2) and the 2L bottles are usually much cheaper than the cases. Overall though I would think you're best off with the water given your budget. Ever thought of less common foods? I know it doesn't sound that good but an eel can go a long way and is pretty cheap. Just boil it or fry it with a little soy sauce and brown sugar. You'd be suprised. Octopus is pretty easy to stretch as well. I used to get 4 tentacles for $10 and I could cube it up into small bits and mix it with a little rice. You don't even need to cook it and its very very healthy. I would do whatever you can to try to get foodstamps as well. They are intended for people in need so if they give you trouble about it keep appealing it until they get it in their heads that you need them. Also, I suggest getting a hen or two. They are very cheap and easy to feed and you'll get plenty of eggs off of them for very little cost. Personally I keep ten of them and get a dozen eggs a day on average. Most of them are double yolked. All I feed them is grass and vegetable scraps, and the occasional cup of grain or corn. You can just let them go on their own and they'll practically feed themselves on grass. You could make a bit of extra money just on selling neighbors suplus eggs. I can get $5 a dozen and it costs me almost nothing. Saving up soda cans can get you more money than you might think. I save mine and on average cash them in for about $100 a trip every 3 - 4 months. Like everyone here said, cupons do make a difference. a few cents here and there doesn't sound like all that much, but it does add up. Especially when your budget is $100. Even if you just save $5 thats still money you can put toward something else. After all its enough for a package of bacon, some hamburger or some soda.

Toppingfrmbottom -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 6:13:08 AM)
My Dad* not ageplay the real one) Has one and we've been getting tons of goods off it lately, Yesterday's meal was a green bean casserole, with squash! Yeah whole chickens can be so many meals in one purchase, specially if they're big or even a turkey because they go on sale after thanksgiving is over if there's any left. I'm against hunting or fishing personally, I don't like killing animals. I'll eat them if I haven't raised them or liked them before death, IE that turkey my dad raised and I didn't know any better than being friends with is since I was just a little kid. I hate fish, to me any time I've had it it's stinky and tasts fishy, and that's an oxy moron I know since it is fish, but it's very gross and unpleasant. I remember as a younger teen we used to do catch and release fishing since the fish were not any good to eat an it was fun but then someone told me it hurts their mouth and is mean to do catch and release and being so sensitive I never wanted to do it again. Yup, generic brands are a good deal sometimes. What I find here is the name brand stores like Raleys or Safeway, they'll have a sale that sounds really good but it's a rip off because the items cost less to buy at non "sale price" than sale price. For instance canned evaporated milk, used to be like 59 cents for a generic can and they wanted 10 for 10 dollars, which was MORE money than they were not on sale. Part of cooking right and well just general know how savvy was learning when sales were not good sales. OR when items would be marked up to mark back down. Yup, I have, and I've thought of ways to re use and reduce food waste, so if you have say 1 cup of juice left over from the boiled beets you had for dinner from the garden you can put it in some other food as a flavoring, same with juice from meats, you can also and we do this a lot make a batch of gravy from the meat juice of the meat you cooked, provided it was a taste you enjoyed, if the meat didn't taste good to you the gravy wouldn't either. It's very easy and you don't need a lot of flour, less than a small measuring cup will do ya most times. My dad wants chickens for egg laying, and we used to have them and the neighborhood cats killed one of my dad's favorite, cause their pen wasn't enclosed, it was just an open yard with fencing so they could not get out. This time he wants to make it completely inclosed on all sides, so the animals can't get to them, and then he wants to get a certain kind only cause eventually he may eat them and he's discovered that the 4 or 5 kinds he has last time of all varieties , most them were not worth beans to eat they were so stringy. Yup, I always save the soda cans and the water bottles, and it'sn ot much you can have 10 bags and only g et 40 bucks, but last time we did that Because I wanted to go out to dinner but not spend his bank money, we went to Olive Garden, and we got the all you can eat endless pasta bowl meal with over 7 different sauces and pasta choices , and it was delicious and the money didn't come out of his bank, so his bank balance wasn't hurt by the splurge. quote: ORIGINAL: Rhodes85 Well i've got quite a few suggestions i'd like to offer. First, if possible i'd suggest a small backyard garden. If you were willing to take up hunting or fishing you would be able to flesh out your meat by a considerable amount. Anything no-name or store branded is a good choice. Theres a place around here called Giant Tigers (i'm pretty sure theres some in the US as well) where you can get everything from shrimp to steaks for dirt cheap. Last week I picked up a bunch of their frozen tv dinners for $1 each. They were a bit small but at that price its a deal. I have to agree with everyones views on chickens. Get them whole and cut them up yourself. You'll save a bunch. A croc pot. YES! those things are worth their weight in gold. I couldn't do without mine. Ever thought of less common foods? I know it doesn't sound that good but an eel can go a long way and is pretty cheap. Just boil it or fry it with a little soy sauce and brown sugar. You'd be suprised. Octopus is pretty easy to stretch as well. I used to get 4 tentacles for $10 and I could cube it up into small bits and mix it with a little rice. You don't even need to cook it and its very very healthy. I would do whatever you can to try to get foodstamps as well. They are intended for people in need so if they give you trouble about it keep appealing it until they get it in their heads that you need them. Also, I suggest getting a hen or two. They are very cheap and easy to feed and you'll get plenty of eggs off of them for very little cost. Personally I keep ten of them and get a dozen eggs a day on average. Most of them are double yolked. All I feed them is grass and vegetable scraps, and the occasional cup of grain or corn. You can just let them go on their own and they'll practically feed themselves on grass. You could make a bit of extra money just on selling neighbors suplus eggs. I can get $5 a dozen and it costs me almost nothing. Saving up soda cans can get you more money than you might think. I save mine and on average cash them in for about $100 a trip every 3 - 4 months. Like everyone here said, cupons do make a difference. a few cents here and there doesn't sound like all that much, but it does add up. Especially when your budget is $100. Even if you just save $5 thats still money you can put toward something else. After all its enough for a package of bacon, some hamburger or some soda.

barelynangel -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 6:20:33 AM)
quote: I hate fish, to me any time I've had it it's stinky and tasts fishy, and that's an oxy moron I know since it is fish, but it's very gross and unpleasant. Try mahi mahi, i can't eat most fish as i can't swallow it for some reason, but mahi mahi is like a steak consistancy and doesn't taste fishy at all. Also, next time you go to a GOOD restaurant, or on vacation to a island etc, try the fish -- not salmon but tell them you want a fish that doesn't TASTE fishy. IF they know fish at all, they will be able to recommend something.

DarkSteven -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 6:29:17 AM)
All, tftb has stated in another thread that she is prediabetic. So any suggestions of frozen prepared dinners shouldn't even be considered, and pasta should be very limited. Rhodes, what's with the 35-44 pound chickens? Did you mean 3.4-4.4 pound chickens?

sirsholly -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 6:54:29 AM)
quote: I have to agree with everyones views on chickens. Get them whole and cut them up yourself. You'll save a bunch. You could grow your own but its very time consuming and can be a bit expensive. Though on the plus side the last batch I grew here had no chickens less than 35 pounds after they were cleaned and feathered. The biggest one was just under 44 pounds. and this is chickens i'm talking about, not turkeys. You wouldn't believe how big they can get if you do it yourself. And they are absolutely worth the effort. Rhodes...i raise chickens and want to know just what the hell you fed them. As to the op cutting up a chicken. Honestly...i suggest cooking it first..then pulling it apart. Note where the joints separate, as this is the easiest area to cut when handling a raw chicken. To cut a raw chicken you need a very sharp knife and an experienced hand. An inexperienced cook can do some serious damage to their fingers.

Toppingfrmbottom -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 7:30:55 AM)
I'll see if he'll get generic soda's and maybe even cut back drastically. quote: ORIGINAL: blackcat39 Use filtered water, tap water or well water, that you send thru a filter. This will be more healthy than not filtering it at all. Probably more healthy than the majority of bottled/soda, they generally use tap water also. Make your own lemonade (sugar/lemons/water), instead of soda. You could probably also find a cheap way to put bubbles into water for a few dollars if you looked hard. U

DarkSteven -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 7:36:23 AM)
Topping, I fake my own sodas. I use water and then top it off with fruit juice. I use carbonated water but would use tap if I were broke. It tastes like Kool-Ade. High fructose corn syrup is your worst enemy, with glucose and fructose close behind. Cut out conventional sodas. They're no good for diabetics or prediabetics.

Aylee -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 7:56:57 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: sirsholly quote: I have to agree with everyones views on chickens. Get them whole and cut them up yourself. You'll save a bunch. You could grow your own but its very time consuming and can be a bit expensive. Though on the plus side the last batch I grew here had no chickens less than 35 pounds after they were cleaned and feathered. The biggest one was just under 44 pounds. and this is chickens i'm talking about, not turkeys. You wouldn't believe how big they can get if you do it yourself. And they are absolutely worth the effort. Rhodes...i raise chickens and want to know just what the hell you fed them. As to the op cutting up a chicken. Honestly...i suggest cooking it first..then pulling it apart. Note where the joints separate, as this is the easiest area to cut when handling a raw chicken. To cut a raw chicken you need a very sharp knife and an experienced hand. An inexperienced cook can do some serious damage to their fingers. Another suggestion for cutting up chicken is to use an electric knife. They are inexpensive and can also be used for other things. But the work really well for cutting up a whole chicken.

mnottertail -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 7:57:58 AM)
and there are online videos and pictures about how to cut up anything or sharpen knives, or.......

angelikaJ -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 8:03:10 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: DarkSteven Topping, I fake my own sodas. I use water and then top it off with fruit juice. I use carbonated water but would use tap if I were broke. It tastes like Kool-Ade. High fructose corn syrup is your worst enemy, with glucose and fructose close behind. Cut out conventional sodas. They're no good for diabetics or prediabetics. Steven, Fruit juice is very high in carbs... also not good for diabetics and since they don't have the fiber of fruit, the sugar goes into your system quickly. If you are going to do that, I would suggest using the light (reduced sugar) fruit juices.

CarrieO -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 8:06:13 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: mnottertail and there are online videos and pictures about how to cut up anything or sharpen knives, or....... How to cut up a whole chicken... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW5BFvCmV7k&feature=related This guy is great and be sure to check out the other videos offered.

Toppingfrmbottom -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 8:06:30 AM)
Steven, I've heard someone do that but he uses that water that you use to make a gin and tonic. I don't drink soda at all. I don't like it, I only drink water. And ice tea and maybe extreamly rarely a glass of juice. Soda also causes increased risk for bone loss and later on in life diabeties I've heard. I know that, but DAddy keeps insisting it's ok for you in moderation or that dr's will tell you it's fine if you don't drink a lot of it, but maybe it's just cause I am prediabetic but my dr told me to avoid all HFCS And FC Daddy then tells me why would adds say it's ok and stuffin moderation if it was bad for you and fine if it's that bad go sue all the advertising companies that say it's good for you in moderation. quote: ORIGINAL: DarkSteven Topping, I fake my own sodas. I use water and then top it off with fruit juice. I use carbonated water but would use tap if I were broke. It tastes like Kool-Ade. High fructose corn syrup is your worst enemy, with glucose and fructose close behind. Cut out conventional sodas. They're no good for diabetics or prediabetics.

Toppingfrmbottom -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 8:08:04 AM)
I bought one from those companies selling them on tv, It's called Sonic blade and it sucked the blade came out so easily it wobbled and then the batteries wouldn't even work lol. I bought it for my family for christmas for like 75 bucks because it impressed me a whole lot on the infomercial. But I know not all electric knives are made equal. quote: ORIGINAL: Aylee Another suggestion for cutting up chicken is to use an electric knife. They are inexpensive and can also be used for other things. But the work really well for cutting up a whole chicken.

Toppingfrmbottom -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 8:11:04 AM)
Holly Daddy works in a kitchen and if you're using the sharp knifes to cut they require you use a cutting glove and thank god one of Daddies fellow employees was wearing his cutting glove cause he was cutting slipped and could of cut his fingers off, if it wasn't for the cutting glove. quote: ORIGINAL: sirsholly . An inexperienced cook can do some serious damage to their fingers.

BBBTBW -> RE: Healthy grocery shopping on a budget of 100 dollars a month (11/1/2009 8:14:08 AM)
PLAN YOUR MEALS for the month. Take a full day to cook and portion your meals. Never freeze uncooked or unportioned food. Never put cooked food in the fridge. Aldi, Dollar Tree, Big Lots, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Local Dollar Stores, Angel Food Nework usually thru a local church, 30.00 food packages Food Pyramid when they have the meat 5 for 25.00, I just bought 25.00 worth of meat from Food Pyramid, split it down the middle with my daughter and we both have meat for a multitude of meals. Check the 1.00 isles at your local grocers, check the clearance isles. It can be done. You have to be creative in your food prep. Go to FoodNetwork.com get recipes from Mellisa D'Arabian and Sandra Lee. Take half a gallon of whole milk and make half a gallon of powdered milk and mix them together, it will stretch your milk greatly and you still get your calcium and vitamin D. Buy Store brands. Even Walmart has gone to plain wrap rather than the fancy packaging to keep costs down. Get together with some friends purchase bulk products and split them.

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