Food grocery budget goal?

[Kathleen04]

Hi all.

I'm trying to plan out what would be a reasonable food budget for one person. I want to include alot of fresh produce, but I also have a tendency to rely on convenience frozen meals. I'm vegetarian and trying to transition to being more vegan. I don't have access to alot of food storage and rely on a mini-fridge.

Any tips or ideas about what my goal should be would be appreciated. Thanks. :)

[eleny]

1. That's a tough one

The reason is that it depends on your budget, appetite, preferences and availability in your area.

I guess that what I would suggest is to try and shoot for as little waste as possible. I've been trying to use up what we have and never let stuff start getting fuzzy at the back of the fridge. Using up stuff is like money in the bank.

[NMDemDist2]

2. check out this book, i used to own one and it's great!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0722539231/qid=1135995274/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/104-3150558-5991909?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0722539231.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIlitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,32,-59_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

edit to add, you may want to consider finding some kind of "cool box"

not necessarily another refridgerated unit, but something that will keep veggies cool for a week. with that small a refer you will need the space for left overs and won't want to waste your precious space keeping tomatoes ice cold

[MADem]

3. Tasty Bite Indian Food (they do Thai food, too, fwiw)

http://www.tastybite.com/

Comes in a box, can store it on the shelf, no waste, you can get it WITH the rice or without, and it is good eatin'. I buy it in the store, you can also get it online at the link above.

[sbj405]

8. Those are pretty good and convenient, but also pretty high in sodium

[Nicole]

4. I budget for one

and convenience frozen meals are a budget breaker for me. I just don't buy them. Instead I make my own frozen meals for convenience. Since cooking for two is easier than cooking for one, I double the amounts when cooking & then freeze one meal for later.

A food saver would be a good option for you because vacuumed meal packs don't take as much freezer space as other containers or the boxes most frozen foods come in. I love mine.

I spend about $100 a month on food. Less than that during summer because I grow my own veggies then. If I find a really good sale on staples, I stock up so I might be over budget some months but it averages out later. I'm not a vegetarian but I don't eat meat every day, maybe 3 times a week I eat meat. Mostly because I'm just too lazy to cook it. In summer I like to eat just fresh fruit & veggies because it's lighter which keeps me cooler.

I never buy anything at the grocery store other than food. Non food items can wreck your food budget.
Plastic, paper & all cleaning supplies are bought at the dollar store. Beauty & hygiene products I buy at the drug store or beauty supply store.

[NMDemDist2]

5. all excellent advice esp the "non food" items at a grocery store n/t

[Angry Girl]

12. We do the same things!

We spend about $150 a month on food for the two of us but we aren't vegetarian. We eat a lot of beans and rice, beans and barley, beans and home-made bread. And we buy falafel mix in bulk from Sprouts. Fruits and veggies come from the local vegetable stand usually, where it's cheaper.

We eat quite a bit of falafel because it's very portable, can be eaten at room temperature, doesn't spoil easily, and it's great with raw veggies and/or yogurt dip.

We buy chicken only when it's on sale, slice it up, bag it into meal-size portions, and freeze. Sometimes I'll pre-spice them, mostly not. If sardines or kippers are on sale, we'll get those. No more big fish, though (too much mercury). Beef is ridiculously expensive and has been looking weirder and creepier, with all that red dye they put on it these days. I won't touch stupormarket beef any more.

Sometimes if certain veggies are on sale I'll buy a bunch and wash and bag them into meal-size portions, like broccoli (never as good as fresh though). I used to do green peppers too, chop them all up and bag them for omelets etc., but I recently found out green peppers are one of the main U.S. veggies with high levels of pesticides. :-(

We also buy in bulk from Sprouts: beans, grains (brown rice and barley for dinner/lunch, 6-grain hot cereal for breakfast, and wheat flour, sesame seeds, flaxseed, etc. for making flat breads), and spices. We make our own flatbread "logs" once a week and slice off and bake what we need daily.

And we always buy paper/plastic, soap, and cleaning stuff at the dollar store, except for toilet paper, in which case Scotts or Fry's brand are the most economical. When we need ibuprofen, it's also only $1 for 50 tabs at the Dollar Store.

Beauty products? Instead of L'Oreal's face cleanser I now use a 1:20 (aproximately) solution of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar in water. Instead of expensive clay masks in fancy jars, I bought an $8 1-lb bag of powdered French green facial clay at http://www.mountainroseherbs.com. That was over a year ago and I still have more than half of it left.

[NMDemDist2]

13. don't you love Sprouts?

i get so much in bulk there, especially my bread flour. during the winter I bake all our own bread

[Angry Girl]

14. Yes! Sprouts is one of my favs, along with Trade Joe's

But TJ isn't close to me.

Yesterday at Sprouts I bought $40 of skinned, boneless chicken breasts at $1.46 a pound! (I'm chopping and bagging and freezing them all day today.... I'm on break right now!)

Fry's had bone-in chicken for 89 cents a pound last week but they inject their chicken with up to 10-15% saline and it takes me a lot more time to debone and pack and freeze than boneless, skinless.

Egads, I'm talking about groceries for fun now! LOL

[NMDemDist2]

15. chit! tomorrow's Wednesday and it'll be too late for me to get over there

:banghead:

I am due to re-stock chicken

I'm so bummed I missed that sale :grr:

[Angry Girl]

16. Wednesday at Sprouts they run BOTH this week's and last week's sales

Call them to make sure but on Wednesday they honor both last week's and this week's sale. But try to get there early!

[NMDemDist2]

17. thanks, i'll stop on the way home (11AM) and check it out. n/t

[benny05]

6. Envious

I am allergic to most legumes and yet the heavy meat protein regimes turn me off too.

[FloridaPat]

7. Growing some of the food will help. What state are you living in?

[Kathleen04]

9. Thanks everyone for the input

All of your suggestions will help my budget better than what I've been doing. :o

Thanks! :)

[kestrel91316]

10. I am shooting for about $100 a month right now, bare bones.

You can store some sale items for use later, under the bed if need be, stuff like flour, sugar, cornmeal, beans, canned goods. Cooking from scratch is a must if you want to save money.

There is a website that has lots of frugal living tips, and they have a forum thread on frugal eating/cooking I think.
www.frugalvillage.com

[CountAllVotes]

11. Amy's

I buy frozen vegetarian meals sometimes too. I like Amy's a lot as it is organic as well. What I do is wait until they go on sale and stock up! This works well for me and I know I save a lot of money watching the sales and oh yes, coupons too, Amy's has those at times too.

Best of luck to you!

:)

[hvn_nbr_2]

18. You might consider doing some canning...

since you only have a small fridge and I presume no freezer. Buy stuff in season when it's cheaper and still have it year-round. It does require some initial investment in supplies and requires learning and care to do it safely.

[shrike]

19. Freezing works well if you do have the room

I ran into a lady with a farmstand last year who told me I could freeze tomatoes, don't even have to cut 'em up. You can't use 'em in salads, but they cook just fine. We use 'em in stews, sauces, spaghettis. Don't unthaw 'em, though; they get mushy. Just run cold water over them and slice them up for the pot.

I also froze peppers and squash. Cut up the squash and hubby used it for stuffing. Peppers work better when you cut 'em up. We're eventually buying a large freezer for the basement, so I can freeze to my heart's content.

[hvn_nbr_2]

20. Yes, I'd much rather freeze than can

but Kathleen 04 said she only had a mini-fridge. Actually I've never done canning except once participating in a huge neighborhood can-athon. It seems like a big pain in the butt to me, but you do get stuff that lasts through the winter.

[shrike]

21. My sister cans

And she's a busy working mom with three daughters and a husband who's useless around the house. So does my stepdaughter.

So it can be done -- perhaps if Kathleen04 googles for a while she can find some easier methods. I also understand that drying works, and that springing for a dryer does pay off.

I'm just glad I have the room to freeze. I'm all thumbs when it comes to domestic stuff and I shudder at how the results of my "canning" would look.

[shrike]

22. Have you thought about freeze-drying veggies?

If you have limited freezer space it could help.

I know there's a machine you can buy, and it may be worth the investment.

Don't be afraid to grow food in an apartment -- tomatoes, herbs, peppers, even cucumbers and strawberries, will grow in a pot.

[crikkett]

23. Try ethnic grocery stores

Nobody can be healthy eating out of a box, and all that stuff is expensive anyway. So lose the convenience foods and go fresh food all the way. Make those calories count! Vegetarian/vegan diets shouldn't be about what you don't eat, but what you do eat and how it improves your life, not just keeps you going. (So says my fiancee who is a licensed nutritionist and right now hollering his advice to you from across the room).

Halal markets, Indian markets, Asian markets, don't gouge like 'American' chain-stores do. I find they cost half of what the chain stores do, or less. I can only guess that it's because you're paying for the distribution center, the 4am deliveries (damned semis wake me up every time) and the fancy, well-lit store of a big chain, while smaller markets bring their food directly from wholesale. The deal then is that you need to know how to ID and cook veggies.

Also, think about 2nd harvest food banks (my mom works for 2nd h.) You'd be surprised who qualifies for assistance.

HTH
Crikkett et. al.

[mandyky]

24. I spend $200 per month for 3 people

I have to shop once a month because we don't have a car and I cab it to the store. We have 2 regular size refrigerators with freezer space in each.

We are omnivorous. I buy some things like spaghetti sauce in bulk (#10 cans). I buy fresh produce, and mostly frozen veggies, except for chili beans, butter beans, sauerkraut and spinach, which I get in cans. I also buy frozen spinach for things like lasagna.

I am from a family of 5 kids and 2 adults originally, so I end up cooking extra and freezing leftovers. Not sure I'd be of help with vegetarian or vegan diets, probably lots of beans and rice.
If you do eggs and dairy that widens possibilities.