Trying to lower your grocery budget and stick to it each month can be difficult. But from my experience, I’ve found that when you purchase the right foods at the store, this process becomes much easier. When I say the right foods I’m talking about tasty, healthy and affordable food. Yes, it does exist 🙂
When I posted about how I’m able to keep my monthly grocery budget at $300 for my family of three, I realized I only shared half of the equation. Anyone can go on Google right now and search for tips to lower their grocery bill and find a ton of articles and blog posts about it, but if you want to find out which foods to purchase with those money saving shopping techniques, you’re going to have to search a little harder.
So here’s my personal list of foods that will help you keep a low grocery budget. You’ll notice that no processed foods are included because anything you buy in a box or as a ready-made meal is going to cost you more. Plus, boxed foods are not nearly as healthy as fresh and natural foods are (obvi). So if you’d like to lower your grocery spending overall, just keep reading.
Table of Contents
Rice and Beans
Rice and beans are literally some of the cheapest foods out there, so hopefully, you like them if you’re looking to cut your food costs. But if you don’t initially, there are plenty of unique recipes out there to change your mind. Rice is filling and super easy to prepare and season. You can add meat or vegetables to it to make it a main dish, mix it with beans, or serve it as a side dish. Beans are a great source of protein, super tasty when cooked right and amazingly cheap. I personally love pinto and black beans but there are many different categories of beans.
My favorite recipe with black beans is chicken tortilla soup (see it here) and my favorite way to prepare pinto beans is in a crock pot with smoked turkey then I serve it over rice with cornbread on the side. It’s a great family recipe under $6 that my family can enjoy for 3 nights in a row or over a week of lunches.
If you’re trying to eat low carb, you can always make cauliflower rice instead or try quinoa.
Related: Top 10 Pantry Essentials For Healthy Eaters
Chicken
Chicken is no doubt the most inexpensive type of meat ranging anywhere from $1.30 to $5 or per pound at most stores. With chicken you get to enjoy a low price and you have the option of choosing your favorite cut whether it’s boneless skinless chicken breasts, legs, wings, thighs or even a whole chicken. Regardless of what kind you like, you’ll be saving money on meat when you choose chicken. I usually go with thin chicken breasts or wings. I love making Asian-inspired lettuce wraps with ground chicken.
To swtich things up, try turkey as well. My family loves it when I make ground turkey tacos.
Certain Fruits and Vegetables
Certain fruits and vegetables are going to save you money and allow you to stick to your budget while others are not. Apples, bananas, and pears are usually more affordable than grapes, cherries, and raspberries.
With fruit, it’s important to take advantage of seasonal sales when you want to switch things up so you’re not stuck eating red apples all year round. In the summer I like to buy watermelon and other types of melon.
When it comes to vegetables, a head of lettuce is always my go-to along with fresh kale, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, and edamame. Generally any type of whole and fresh vegetable is going to be cheaper than purchasing frozen, canned or pre-cut veggies.
Shrimp and Tilapia
I know you might be wondering, how the heck shrimp got on this list when it ranges anywhere from $8 to $17 per pound at most major grocery stores? I absolutely love seafood and I’m not going to give it up for anything so when I began to cut my grocery budget I started looking for affordable, quality seafood right away.
And long and behold, I found frozen raw shrimp for $6/lb at Aldi. This is certainly on the cheap end for shrimp and in case you were wondering the shrimp tastes great each time I purchase it at Aldi. Sometimes frozen seafood doesn’t taste that great no matter what you do with it, like salmon for example. But with shrimp, it’s surprisingly different. I just thaw it, peel it and cook it like I would if I bought it fresh.
Tilapia is another popular and very affordable type of fish. You can fry it, bake it, broil it, and season it however you like and it will always make a great lunch or dinner entrée. I’ve prepared tilapia so many different ways that I could create a series on this blog just featuring various tilapia recipes.
Whole Grains
Whole grain pasta, rice, and quinoa are full of fiber and super affordable. By buying whole wheat flour, I’m able to make bread, pancake mix and many other cost-effective dishes. Buckwheat groats, rolled oats and fruit also make a delicious lean breakfast. Sticking to whole grains is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy diet along with your monthly grocery budget.
If you’re on a low-carb diet, substitute past for spiralized zucchini which is an affordable alternative. You can usually by zucchini for $0.50 – $1 each.
Extra Shopping Tip: Ibotta
To make your grocery purchases even more affordable so everything fits within your budget, I’d highly recommend trying Ibotta. This free app is great if you want to save money in the store but don’t like/have time for clipping coupons. Ibotta lets you save money on groceries, toiletries, clothing, and tons more. You also get $10 when you sign up with through my account as long as use Ibotta within the first 7 days.
Ok, So Now You’ve Got the Food Ideas, But How Do You Know What To Cook?
Affordable and healthy foods are often fresh and/or uncooked so you’ll need to prepare them. One of the best things I started doing to keep my grocery spending low was planning out my meals each day.
My family likes variety and won’t really eat leftovers for more than 2 days and if your household is the same, I’d highly recommend trying out the $5 meal plan.
For $5, you can get weekly meal plans delivered straight to your inbox so all you have to do is print the recipes and shopping lists or save it to your phone and grab the foods you need to enjoy delicious cheap and healthy meals.
Try the $5 meal plan out today for free for two weeks. Your family and grocery bill will thank you!
What types of food do your purchase to keep your grocery bill low? Did you know that you can have someone make your healthy eating grocery list for you to help you save time and money?
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Petrish @ Debt Free Martini says
Not only does this cut cost, but eating fresh also allows you to get your sexy back. I utilize meal planning and eating fresh to cut cost also and it does save you money. Good luck.
Chonce says
Haha definitely! It’s a Win Win!!
believeinabudget says
I buy mostly chicken and rotate in salmon and shrimp. But, it’s pretty much chicken most nights – I just have to get creative with how I make it. I also buy primarily frozen veggies, but prefer fresh fruit. I’ll buy grapes or apples or whatever is in season in the summer, and eat them every day for a week. I also like the Lipton sides – one package can make me 3 meals! I know it’s boring to be repetitive to eat the same group of foods each week per grocery outing, but it really helps keep my budget in check!
Chonce says
I’ve never heard of Lipton sides, I should probably check it out. We eat a lot of the same foods as well but that’s why I’m always on the lookout for new and creative recipes to switch it up every now and then.
Anne - Money Propeller says
I wish I could get my spouse to eat more beans! I love them and they are soooo cheap. I am also loving carrots right now, as a cheap food. I have honey cayenne roasted ones in my lunch right now!
Chonce says
That sounds really good! Maybe add you add a little meat to your beans like smoked turkey or chicken they might be more appealing to your spouse. Good luck!
thedailywhisk says
I buy all the things you listed, but need to find different recipes to use beans. Beans are the best!
Chonce says
Same here. I’m trying a white bean chili with chicken this week. Should be interesting.
simplecheapmom says
I’m a big fan of rice and beans, but we don’t eat it enough at our house. Embracing cheaper staples is definitely a way to stretch the budget. We’re big into potatoes right now.
Chonce says
Sounds like I’m opposite of you and we need to get more into potatoes recipes. That would be great.
Tonya@Budget and the Beach says
Well mine isn’t that low, lol, but I need to start including more tilapia recipes for stuff like fish tacos. I’d love to eat rice and beans but both make me gain a lot of weight so I avoid it. Beans in moderation.
Chonce says
Fish tacos sound great! And a lot of bread and sweets make me gain weight unfortunately.
thesingledollar says
These are good tips. I eat vegetarian a lot, which helps; I don’t feel comfortable buying cheaper meat (I usually buy it from the farmer’s market or Whole Foods when I buy it at all) so I have to really be careful about that. Beans and cooked whole grains like barley, farro, brown rice, steel-cut oats, and quinoa are staples around here. In the winter I make a lot of bean and grain-based soups and stews, often with a little bacon to round them out 🙂 I also put chopped up kale in basically everything. Let’s see, what else…. I look for cheaper things within categories. For example, I like dried fruit in my oatmeal. Raisins are infinitely cheaper than most dried fruits, so I usually go with them, switching it up every now and then for a treat/variety.
Chonce says
You definitely sound like a clean eater and you already know how impressed I am by your low food budget. I’d like to try to eat more vegetarian meals even though I know I could never give up meat 100%, it wouldn’t hurt thought. I’m thinking about starting up a “Meatless Monday” type of thing but I’ll need to compile more recipes
kay ~ lifestylevoices.com says
Chonce, if you have a great cornbread recipe, please share it! My mom used to make the most delicious cornbread when I was a kid, but she can’t remember it at all. I haven’t been able to find any good cornbread, even down south here. I buy up all of my chicken every couple of weeks when it goes on sale for $.99/lb. 99 cents! Drumsticks and leg quarters, which are my favorite anyway! And I adore rice! And, of course, spaghetti at least twice a week. I REALLY need to get into more veggies again. We used to do them daily. Especially broccoli. LOVE it! Great post! 🙂
Chonce says
You’ve got a good method going for buying your meat. I love when chicken prices get that low! I wish I had this amazing recipe for cornbread to offer you but I don’t 🙁 I’ve tried to make it from scratch before just the regular way but I’ve found that to each is own, meaning some people don’t like too much sugar in the recipe and some do and that’s what it comes down to for me. Most of the times I just make Jiffy cornbread. I just add an egg to the boxed mix and a tad more than the recipe calls for milk and it’s delicious.
Holly@ClubThrifty says
Great list! We eat a lot of rice and beans. We are also vegetarian, so we spend more on produce but nothing on meat. I try to shop sales and create meals around what is cheap!
Chonce says
While I could never completely give up meat, rice and beans are my favorite and beans to make a good substitute for meat sometimes.
Kayla @ Femme Frugality says
This is what I try to do to keep my grocery costs down too. I buy whatever fruit and veggies are on-sale or at the best price. I eat seasonally. I try to stretch my meat so it lasts longer. Good tips!
Chonce says
Buying fruit on sale or in season is a great way to save money and maintain a healthy diet as well.
Charissa says
I love how well you eat on the cheap! I stock on on items when they are on sale especially the produce loss leader for the week and meat which I buy in bulk. All the meat will be put into my chest freezer and I will make it stretch until the next time that meat goes on sale. Another way to stretch the meat is to make something that features some meat with a lot of veggies. Recently I have started making Morrocan stew with lots of veggies and meat over couscous.yum!
Chonce says
Never heard of that stew before but it sounds like it would be delicious 🙂 I love stew and soup, and I believe it’s a great way to make meat stretch. I’m making a beef stew tonight.
DC @ Young Adult Money says
Here’s the question….are we talking how to keep your grocery bill low or how to keep it low without getting terrible food for you? If someone REALLY wanted to keep it low there’s a 24 pack of Raamen noodles with their name on it 😉 But in all seriousness, it’s interesting how my wife and I have slowly been getting better at both keep our grocery bill down and spending less money. With that being said, I also am willing to spend more money on higher quality food. For example I no longer even consider getting anything but cage-free organic eggs. I’ve been thinking more and more about our supply chain for meat and animal byproducts and if I have to pay twice as much (or sometimes more) for a product that was made ethically, I’m willing to do that. But that’s an outlier and we save money on many areas of our grocery budget.
Chonce says
Actually it’s both! But that would’ve called for a really longgggggg title haha. I’d say if you can save money and maintain your grocery budget wherever you can and spend a little more on the areas that are important to you like having cage-free organic eggs go for it. Only you can control what you eat and the quality you are looking for. But there are plenty of affordable options and organic foods that go on sale and are still quality and don’t include processed noodles swimming in hot water and artificial seasoning ughh 🙂 But that’s just from my experience.
Tennille says
I absolutely hate grocery shopping. I can never seem to get out of the store for less than $100.00! One thing that helps our budget though is that we have a garden every year and we home can A LOT of produce. We make our own pizza and spaghetti sauce as well as apple and peach or pear sauces depending on how the harvest is.
I love your tips and am going to give them a shot and see how we well we can reduce our weekly food budget! :o)
Chonce says
That’s awesome that you garden as soon as I move out of my apartment I’d like to do the same. I actually have a neighbor who lives on the ground floor and she grows peppers and vegetables right outside her door in the summertime. If you’re looking to spend a certain amount at the grocery store and don’t want to go over your budget I’d say bring the exact amount of money you’d like to spend and no more, that way you can’t go over and it’s a great budgeting exercise.
Diane says
With fruit and vegies the best option I’ve found, is to only buy what’s in season. Always cheaper, fresher and more nutritious so you get a triple bonus.
I’m not a fan of beans… I’ve tried, but I just can’t do the whole ‘beans and rice thing’. What I *can* do though is cope with them in small doses so I add beans to meat dishes to bulk them out. Red lentils into bolognese sauce, etc.
If you’re a meat eater, the best trick I’ve found is getting cheap cuts and giving them a long, slow cook with the stock, spices and vegies you have on hand. Delicious!
If you want to eat well and run a tight budget you do need to challenge yourself. It’s worth it though!
Chonce says
Those are great tips, and yeah my bf wasn’t always a big fan of beans but adding meat to the the dish just magically makes it taste better to some people.
Nonarae says
Another great way to stretch the budget (that nobody ever seems to mention) is to buy in bulk, seasonally, and preserve food yourself. There are many ways to preserve food on your own! You can freeze, can, smoke, salt cure, and pickle, just to list a few. I personally like to can my veggies and meat, because it stays edible for a UNBELIEVABLY long time. A lot of people get nervous about preserving their own foods because they dont want to make their families sick, but it is very easy if you do it correctly! And there are many good sources out there on this world wide web that are more than willing to teach people how to do it!