How can I eat cheaply and well?

Question

i'm in college and live in an apartment with friends. my parents used to send me money for food so I could shop at whole foods and not worry but now they've stopped paying for my groceries so I have to use money from my part time job.

i only have $20 a week for groceries. I know I can get a bunch of ramen but I want to be healthy and eat well. where and how can I get 3 meals a day, 7 days a week for $20? I'm a vegetarian if that helps.

Longshot · Accepted Answer

1) Be sure you use coupons and that you have a supermarket card that gives you discounts. 2) You can have Cheerios with bananas in the am. Or oatmeal. A larger box of either will last quite awhile. 3) Right now I am eating lots of veggies and I have found that I can stir fry a lot of vegetables together and make 2 meals out of it. I stir fry a sliced sweet onion, half a red pepper, some broccoli and mushrooms -- I add salt and pepper and sometimes soy sauce. 4) Buy a box of pasta and it will make two meals -- add butter. 5) Always look for two for one specials at the end of the shopping aisles. I often buy soup and tuna this way.

Don't be afraid to write (email) a manufacturer and ask if you can have a coupon to try their product. I recently got 2 six packs of 7 UP for free. You can do this with many manufacturers -- tell them you just want to test their product and you're on a tight budget.

You have to think smart. Recently I bought a Club Salmon Pack from Wegmans. There are 8 servings of salmon for $12.

It's tough but it can actually be done. Coupon experts which you can read about frequently buy $100 of groceries for about $20. You can read their stories on the Internet.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

how to eat healthy for cheap     20 $ a week on food     cheap and healthy foods    eat healthy for cheap YouTube     Fust google simple terms that involve variations of "20 $ dollars healthy food cheap eat budget week" and you'll find everything but a few things I can think of: - Don't buy unhealthy food like candy, pop, cookies, pre cooked, "10 minute meals", "microwave dinners", cereals, processed foods, etc. They're usually the most expensive to haha - Make enough for leftovers, or cook up a batch for a couple days - Don't eat out or fast food. Most fast food is cheap, but it's also nutrient deficient. - Learn to cook and buy fresh or frozen produce and separate ingredients. - Only drink water, it's all you need and even juice is unhealthy. - Buy sale/marked down items and non-brand name. Use coupons if you find them. - Get rid of TV and movies, watch everything for free online. PM me if you want links. - When shopping for other things, don't buy it unless you NEED or REALLY want it. If you only just like it, or sort of want it, don't get it.

candlewax · Accepted Answer

Fresh and Easy. They have 98 cent produce packs and if you go in when they have stuff on clearance daily, you can get other things for way less than originally sold for. Some of the stuff is freezable, so you can get it for a deeply discounted price and freeze it for later. The only catch is that the stuff on clearance are just things that are dated that day and they're clearing out. But it's how I've been able to score some pretty sweet stuff for well below retail. They have a lot of organic options as well.

As far as vegetarian, Food 4 Less seems to have a decent produce section and they're usually very reasonably priced. I'm not sure how much organic that they have, if any, but it's worth a gander.

Also, try to keep around staples like pasta, rice, and bread. Pasta is relatively inexpensive and you can stock up on it one week and then the other weeks, stock up on stuff that you can use that week in particular. To start off, it may be a tad over 20, but if you stock up on basic staples that can store well, you would just have to follow through each week with the stuff that's more perishable.

madmisskelly · Accepted Answer

Hit up farmers markets all that you can. In addition, try to go to discount grocery stores such as Grocery Outlet and get things at a discount while you can. You can also make the things that you need cheaper than you can buying them all the time, so look into making your own bread and such. Also try to use ALL leftovers, and portion them out so you have them already premade for lunch and dinner.

WoIIie · Answer

(Quantity) Name

(1) Quaker Oats (Large) ~10$

(1) Wheat Cereal ~4$

(2) Banana Chips ~6$

(3) Frozen Vegetables (Large) ~15$

(1) Frozen Fruits (large) ~5$

(4) Canned Refried Beans ~8$

(2) Fresh Cut Salsa ~6$

(x) Other Condiments ~15$

---------------------------------------------

~$60

So you have about $20 dollars to get nuts and other proteins. It's key that you only drink water and NEVER eat out. I could barely manage to last 1 month on ~$100 dollars and you only have $80 to play with... budgeting is key. Hopefully this blueprint helps.

myspacemybroke · Answer

Rice. Probably not that exciting, but I'm fairly sure it meets a decent amount of your nutritional needs. Just get a large sack of it, some a Cinnamon, some raisins, some milk, margarine, salt and pepper. If you like curry you could get some of that too. Eat some for lunch with either margarine and salt and pepper or curry, then when you make some for dinner make more than you need then just make rice pudding for breakfast the next morning. You could also get some tofu or mixed veggies to put in with it.

Prof_Don · Answer

Buy dry beans, as well as grains in the same section, like quinoa and barley. Most of these cost ~1.50 / lb. You do have to soak beans and legumes before you actually cook them.

Boil them in a pot full of water, DO NOT DRAIN THE WATER, and have them sit overnight. The gas will dissolve in the water, in case you were concerned about that.

Then cook them as desired.

It's a common things for those on highly restricted diets to eat rice and beans. It's a complete cheap meal, and doesn't get much cheaper than that.

Go the the ethnic / mexican section of the grocery store (I KNOW there's a section like that cauz you live in CA like me), and you can get spices in little baggies for ~$1.25 each, and the spices go a long way. Do this to mix up the flavors. :)

You're talking to a college graduate here, so I know where you're coming from. IM me if you have any ?'s. :)

2confusedgirl · Answer

I find fruit and vegetable stores sell for way cheaper than supermarkets usually.  Quinoa is not very cheap but it is easy to cook and goes a long way, plus it has all the amino acid building blocks for protein.

CoffeeCoffeeCoffee · Answer

make 1 big meal with bulk products like a vegi lasange every week and freeze it...have that for your dinner

Poridge for breakfast

other then that, I think your screwed...or maybe wear revealing clothing and try get dates =P

THAT-1-guy · Answer

Your pretty much screwed unless you budget your money better

cavmanier · Answer

That sucks, don't see how its possible. I'd try and double that at least if possible.

Anonymous · Answer

can you update what you did/do?!?! I'm in the same boat you are. I'm left with 30 for like 2 weeks :(

Anonymous · Answer

The farmer's market

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