Are you trying to spend less on groceries whilst eating more healthily without sacrificing flavor? You don’t have to rob a bank to enjoy a healthy lifestyle; all you need is just careful meal planning and this cheat sheet to eat cheap.
How low is low when it comes to a budget?
The first question, obviously, is “what constitutes a low budget?” You’ll get tons of answers to this obviously considering the terms a ‘low budget’ or ‘high budget’ are relative to everyone. Choosing to budget your meals on say $6 a day/$1.5 per meal (counting 4 meals a day) could be comfortable for one person and may sound crazy to another person.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans spend, on average, around 11% of their disposable income on groceries and dining out. A safe rule of thumb is to spend between 5-15% of your income on food. However, your budget will depend on many particular factors, discussed below.
What factors could affect your budget size?
Factors that could affect a budget size to meet a person’s basic caloric needs for under $1.5 a meal or $6 a day
• Disposable Income
• Family Size
• Composition of the Family
• Occupation of the Family Members
• Family Goals.
• Policy on Fresh Produce orFrozen
Tips
• Supplement the foods you can buy with a food pantry: If you qualify for the benefits of a food bank or food pantry, go for it. People want to help you get through this tough time and get back on your feet as fast as possible. Let them help!
• Lists: Have a list of the affordable staple foods that will be the backbone of your diet e.g. eggs, rice, dry beans, fresh produce, whole chicken and ground turkey (good substitute for ground beef).
• Buy in bulk especially dry goods like spices.
• Equip your kitchen with efficient appliances e.g. slow cooker and a rice cooker.
• Have Reusable containers at a hand to enable you to save leftovers in the fridge.
• Constantly look out for flyers for discounts and good deals.
• Planning: Plan your meals in advance of going to the grocery store, and make a list off of that meal plan. This will also control any impulse buying.
• Research or create interesting combinations for the ingredients you have.
• Buy seasonal vegetables as well as locally grown ones. They are likely to be less expensive than veggies that are out of season.
• Go for frozen over fresh: Most frozen fruits and vegetables are more affordable than their fresh counterparts. Plus, they last longer!
• Do not be fooled by packaged Keto-friendly foods.
You can feed your family well with surprisingly little. It just requires you to step back and think things through. This also requires a willingness to do a bit of diligent planning and become a little more prolific or efficient in the kitchen.
Generally, you can feed an entire family of 5 for the same price as buying food for one or two people at a restaurant. By cooking yourself, you also gain the benefit of knowing exactly what is in your food. Cooking at home is much cheaper and more fun than eating out and with our selection cheap, healthy and tasty recipes, you will hardly ever step into a restaurant ever again!
1-25 Min5 Min10 MinModerateBlender & Large Bowl Nutrition Per Servingcalories 300Total Fat 21gsaturated fat 4gcholesterol 5mgprotein 10gtotal carbs 22gdietary fiber 4gIngredientsInstructionsA simple and straightforward way to capture the harvest of the summer...