What should I buy when grocery shopping? Help!

Whatever you do, don't go shopping when you are hungry. Do you shop once a week or once a month or somewhere in between?

Buy bigger cuts of meat that are cheaper per pound, such as beef and pork roasts. Cut them in half and freeze. They can be cooked in the slow cooker or on the stove and you can get MANY meals out of them!

Pasta and bulk bags of rice are cheap.

Pasta is a inexpsnsive choice for dinner, add a salad (head of lettuce and carrot grated) and you have a meal.

Buy a whole chicken, put a large pot of water on the stove add a carrot, onion and celery, put the chicken in, bring to boil, cover and boil 5 minutes, let the pot sit on the burner covered after the 5 minutes is up for 45-60 minutes. Take chicken out, it will be cooked, serve as is or use for recipies, use broth to make soup. By doing this you will have the soup -1 meal, chicken 1 meal, and/or chicken meat leftover can be shredded into the soup, and/or used for sandwiches or quesadilla's (which would be a 3rd meal).

Look at what meat is on sale, and stock up on that.

Stay away from convience prepared frozen or boxed foods, while convienent they can be costly.

Make a list.Do not buy any thing not on that list.Dont buy junk.plan meals.Cook meals do not use convene foods.mac and cheese and tuna,you have cheaper tuna helper than the name brand.anyone can cut their food cost by leaving out the junk.plus you'll feel better by not eating it.instead of soda make tea.most food bills are 50%junk food.

I am sorry to hear of your financial situation. When you are at your sisters and she says something hurtful, remember the money you are saving before you snap back. Keep your eyes on the prize. It is hard but it will go smoother if you make allowances for curt comments, after all if you need it again ever, you want to make sure you can get her help again.

The best way to cut down on the food budget is, if you are a picky eater , quit being.
If you eat out a lot. Quit it. Start cooking. Cook in large quantities and eat leftovers. It cost less to zap a plate in the microwave than to cook one meal at a time. Learn how to reinvent your leftovers. Keep a running list of what you are out of. Buy only what you have on the list. Buy store brands, clip coupons if you must get name brands use coupons. You would be surprised to learn how many wonderful things you can make with a bag of self rising flour. Shop only once a week, or on the way home from work.Gasoline cost money too.

Actually, if you buy fresh veggies and fruits you'll save money over processed items.

Use meat as an enhancement, buy navy or black beans as a substitute.

Large pots of homemade soup can be made for very little, and the leftovers can be frozen.

If you do buy meat, buy cheap cuts of beef and slow-cook, or buy whole chickens and make several meals - baked, soup, salad - out of it. Ground beef gets a bad rap, but the leaner varieties are lower in fat and calories, and you can make your own homemade hamburger helper from it. Use your imagination.

Don't buy junk food. It's nothing but sugar and lard anyway.

Good luck.

Pasta goes a long way, rice, noodles a bag of potatoes for casseroles and the like.

Figure out a meal plan for the week & then try your best to stick to it. If you are used to going out, or having single meals...then buy a pizza or something that is quick & easy to have for 1 meal out of the week.
Make some soups, or stews. This can be very easy to do on the weekends, or in a crock-pot. Just add any noodles or quick-cooking rice during the last half hour or so of cooking time.
Remember to buy fresh. Stay out of the frozen foods isle unless you are buying frozen veggies for your meals.
If you need/want a snack for the weel, buy something you both truly enjoy. If you scimp on a snack it is more likely that you will run to the corner store/gas station to buy something mid-week to get what you really wanted.

Everyone else has some great tips... What about a thing of oatmeal?? It's not too bad for you or too expensive-it always makes me feel warm and fuzzy when I am in not such a happy mood... Maybe that will help with your sister troubles...

Coupons sometimes saves you money. Also buy rice, packages of soup, spaghetti, oatmeal. Items like this that will last for a while, and not too expensive.

I have a set budget and make a list and stray very little if at all from it. There are also some good cheap meals you can make that although they arent low fat they are nutritious.
Zataran's Jambalaya is only $1.30 a box and you add i pound of smoked sausage to that (generic about $2.00). Very cheap meal that feeds 4. If you need to double the box of Jambalaya you can still use only one smoked sausage package and it is plenty. It is very tasty especially the one with cheese. Just make a veggie side.
I also make "sausage caserole" which is basically mac & cheese with browned (drained well) hot breakfast sausage (you can use milder) and peas mixed in. Very good and the kids love it. I usually use shells and cheese but you can use cheap mac and cheese. If someone doesnt like the peas you can serve those on the side and those who will eat them can mix them in.
You can get a can of Hunt's spaghetti sauce for about $.90 a can as well and spaghetti is so cheap. Even if you add a pound of ground beef to a can or 2 of sauce its still only around $5.

I know with our family the biggest money saver is planning, making a list and budget and sticking to it. And I buy almost no junk food maybe one or 2 items as treats.

Caviar is good.

Another good, fairly cheap meal:
We call it rice caserole. Its basically 1 cup of long cooking rice, 1 can of cream of celery soup(don't add water to any of the soups), 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and one can of cheddar cheese soup (generics are about $.50 a can and taste exactly the same) and 1 and a half pounds of the meat of your choice (put it in raw and diced) mix it all together well, cover and cook at 400 (stir often or it sticks and coks unevenly). Uncover when the rice gets fairly tender and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. the meat will be done when the rice is so don't worry about that. I use stew meat or chicken usually but you can use pork too. It usually takes abot 40 to 45 minutes to cook.

Always cook something that makes into more than one meal. My favorite is pot roast which turn into hot/cold sandwiches and even makes great tacos and burritos if your from my part of the world. So the one purchase above could extend to five meals.

I think it is good that you recognize your problems and you are willing to make sacrifices to reach your goals.

It also depends on where you shop, if there is an Aldies by you, start there. If you have any Dollar generals, they usually have canned goods and snacks at low prices. Also, cut coupons and try to get everything on sale or by 1/get1. Ramen noodles are great, and so is pasta. Save the left overs and reuse. I make spaghetti pie with left over spaghetti. Good luck

Denise, we struggle with this all the time. Just this morning, I asked my husband to go buy TP because we don't have any. And he asked what else he should buy. I told him that I really needed to plan some meals, so that we can buy like items to get with a few meals instead of just one meal. And that's are problem. We're so used to buying quickie microwave stuff because it's fast and easy. Problem is, it's so expensive.

A few meals that I often do, and am so tired of doing actually.

Sheppards Pie - Mashed potatoes, corn, ground turkey(spiced to taste - we buy ground turkey because it's healthier and cheaper).

My version of salisbury steak - Ground turkey (spiced to taste), gravy (mix together after both are cooked), pour over rice or mashed potatoes. For a vegetable, you can use corn with it, or make a side salad.

Easy Stroganoff - Cooked ground turkey (spiced to taste), Can of family mushroom soup (we use store brand, doesn't have to be campbell's), elbow macoroni, 8 oz pkg of cream cheese (again, store brand is just as good). 1/2 can of water (we use water because milk is expensive and with the cream cheese mixed in, you really can't tell the difference) - add more water if sauce is too thick. Mix in meat and pour over cooked elbow macoroni.

Tuna macaroni salad - cooked elbow macoroni, boil some eggs, can of tuna, frozen peas. Mix all together add Mayo & mustard to taste.

If you notice all of these recipes are versatile so that you have one ingredient for more than one recipe.

Also, when we want something sweet I usually make it from scratch. I can email those recipes to you if you like.

I hope your shopping trip goes well for you! If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. :-)

Sorry to hear about your financial troubles. Sounds like you are taking the right steps, though, and not getting into debt.

Right now, my husband and I are empty-nesters with kids in college and a new business, so we are on a very tight budget for everything. What I do to save money is check out the sales at the local stores on Friday, then plan a strict grocery list based on those sales & coupons. I will search the internet and make at least one, but usually two, main meals on the weekend, sometimes in a slow-cooker, and divide up into portions for the week. Some we take to work for lunch, some we have for dinner when we come home and want to collapse. We stay away from convenience, snack and processed food - usually buy fresh or frozen veggies, large containers of oatmeal for breakfast. We rarely eat out and always take our breakfast and lunch to work. This really saves a lot of money.

Good luck - I hope you're back in the black soon.

You never said if this was before you move out or after you move into your sisters house. Wouldnt it be cheaper to help with her food budget if it were to be in her house?

If you have enough gather rewards, you could order some Omaha Steaks to help with the budget too. They have side dishes too I have been told.

Soup, eggs, and pasta. Homemade soup is best. I had to save 1200 dollars in a month once. I ate pasta with a salad, eggs with potatos, pancakes, and a big pot of homemade vegetable soup. We ate and were full. I never felt so good. I didn't hit the grocery store except for milk for a month. I think i'll do that again. it's fun.

Make sure and plan ahead. It's the easiest and best way to make sure that you get all that you need for the best price. Maybe take the store ads and plan what you are going to eat around whats on sale.

Sounds like you have gotten a lot of great advice so far. I wouldn't have been able to add much. Good luck to you!

dont forget the coupons and free samples

I don't know what will appeal to you but these tips save me money:
1. Focus on sources of protein that aren't just meat - beans for bean soup, peanut butter (can be yummy on pasta if yiou do a peanut sauce), cheese and even nuts and canned beans can all be used to get inexpensive protein.


2. Shop the outer corners of the store first, the margins - get fresh veggies on sale, dairy, whatever you need. The processed and more expensive items tend to be in the center aisles.

3. Popcorn. You can make this and add a touch of honey if you want a sweet taste or spicy seasonings if you want something different. As snack foods go, this is a bargain.

4. Refried beans, fat-free. If you don't mind the fat, get the regular, but we really don't notice the difference once we've layered them with fresh chopped tomatoes, some sour cream, lettuce, salsa, on a rolled up tortilla or in a taco shell.

5. pasta with tomato sauce and some shavings of cheese.
6. Tuna fish casserole
7. Veggie soup with some beef. Very easy, I basically buy soup bones on sale, lots of them. Mix with one large can of beef broth, add veggies to taste - mine are celery, onion (chopped or sliced), beans (regular or black beans or dried beans, some canned, diced italian seasoned tomatoes. Simmmer and add starch to taste (rice or noodles or whatever) Season with Italaian seasoning and choice of seasonings. Some bread or rolls and a green veggie rounds this out nicely.

8. Rice krispie cereal, marshmallows, margarine or butter - homemade rice krispie treats. Yes, I believe you need snack foods.

9. Try to get 1/2 pound of ground beef to stretch for a whole pot of spaghetti sauce. Cut back on meat portions.

10. Chicken noodle soup. Very easy to make, chicken broth, chicken, celery, parsley carrots, Very healthy. COok noodles separately.

Oh,yeah - eggs
Egg salad, hard-boiled eggs, fried, scrambled. Try having breakfast for diner some night.
:)

Everyone has given such great advice. It's all right on the money (pun intended). You might also look into ground turkey instead of ground beef. A little less expensive and very tasty. I can't tell the difference in casseroles, spaghetti sauce, and such.

"This too, shall pass".

cabbage is pretty cheap, I love corned beef in cabbage or fried , throw in some seasonings.
I use Jack Mackerel instead of salmon , add an egg,, pepper, seasoned salt, then fry into patties.

oops, I forgot to add the crackers to hold the patties together for the salmon cakes.

My husband and I ate on $30 this week, so I feel your pain. The best advice I can give you is buy according to what's on sale. If you have coupons, they can help. Often, I get items for free by combining a sale price and a coupon.

Soup beans are loaded with protein and you can eat about three days off a big crock pot of them. Just ad some fatback or oil and salt to flavor.

My heart goes out to you, I hope things get better for you soon.

I took a calculator along (many cell phones have them built in) and added up stuff as I went as discretely as possible.

Also helps to go on a double coupon day or study the flyers to know what's on sale. Plan your meals around those and ingredients/spices you ALREADY have on hand.

If you have an Aldi in your area, shop there or WalMart Supercenter.

Try a FARMER's MARKET, they're so cheap!!

*I love buttered egg noodles with cabbage,
*tomatoes/tomato sauce mixed with rice
*mac n cheese (even some you could make from scratch with Velveeta & your own noodles)

canned goods tend to be expensive, so steer clear of those that are NOT on sale!!

convenience foods are also pricey, unless again, they are on sale (i.e. stouffer's frozen dinners). Whatever you can make from scratch - do it. Even grate your own cheese and cut up meat yourself. It will save you a bundle.

shop at the chain stores get the store circulars and go through them before you shop see what you need and take the coupons buy what you need on sale and stock up when you can for non perishables like ketchup mayo mustard ...

My biggest problem is that I forget to use something that I bought and it goes bad so I think wow I just wasted that money , fruits and vegies are the things that generally get wasted and they are not cheap. So my advice is only buy the things you know for certain you will eat.

I suggest going someplace like Save-a-Lot or Aldi and also applying for Food-Stamps,also there are churches who give out boxes of food for those who qualify...also buy peanut butter,bologna,cheap lunch meat,crackers,you can get reduced priced meat on sale that you can cook or freeze the same day. Ramen Noodles are good for those on a budget.......

buy a large roast= 2-3 meals(sandwiches,stew,roast and vegges)
spaghetti noodles and sauce,I buy a whole roasting chicken,cook it then when done boil carcas for chicken broth and strain bones from it and add veggies,noodles and season to taste.leftover spaghetti sauce add some extra meat to it and tomatoe sauce and your favorite chilibeans and you have a sweet chili.