$25/week for groceries, 1 mom, 1 kid

[traveller]

Is this doable? Could you do it?

My background:

I need to cut back while I'm building up some savings and increasing my clients through work. To be honest we haven't even HAD a budget. I'd buy what I could afford for the week, which usually is $40 but sometimes as little as $15. I do keep a small stockpile so we're never completely out of veggies or some protein source. But then I'd rather get fast food than do tuna patties and carrots one more night. And then I've overspent and

I'm an OK cook and luckily my daughter will eat veggies without a lot of cheese and trickery. Can you imagine a kid who says "ooh yay, broccoli!" when told what's for dinner? And begs to bring asparagus to school for group snack? That's my DD.

I could get better at cooking meats and beans. One store here has pintos 4lbs/$1 this week which seems great. My daughter loves refried beans and will eat kidney beans cold (bleh).

Part of the problem is I'm squeamish about cooking meat everyday, even though it seems some cheap cuts could stretch a casserole or stew. It's difficult for me to even buy cheap chicken breasts because I wonder about how it's been processed. Forget about lunchmeats and hotdogs except the healthier types for DD, and those aren't cheap. Strangely though I'll go for fast food without much guilt. It just tastes so good

Could you get by on $25 a week for you and a small child (5)? With a minimum of processed meats and leaning towards frozen or fresh veggies. White flours, rice, potatoes OK with other types mixed in. I think we can because breakfast is pretty cheap - eggs and toast, sometimes bacon (a weakness!) The bread is a good deal - 4 loaves of whole grain sara lee for $2.25 at the bread store. Dinner is what always does me in.

This is just a temporary limit and will increase as I get more business. Where would you start if you wanted to pare things down but still eat well?

[ewokgirl]

First, I'd probably go through my cookbooks or pick some new ones up at the library, then find good recipes that can be made cheaply. If you dislike making dinner after work, there are some really great crockpot recipes you can make. I only cook for my husband and me, so we tend to have a lot of leftovers. Often, I'll put half of the meal in the freezer to be pulled out some night when I'm sick or too tired to cook.

I'd go with things like red beans and rice, homemade mac and cheese, veggie soup, various other soups and stews, fish such as tilapia (I can buy a big bag of frozen tilapia at Sams for about $8-10), tacos...

You can buy ground beef in bulk and cook it up with some veggies to stretch it, then freeze it in 2-cup portions. This really stretches the meat, keeps you from using too much, and makes meal prep a snap since the meat is already cooked.

Since eggs are cheap, fritattas are yummy, nutritious, and inexpensive. Just put some veggies such as mushrooms, zucchini, tomato, red or green peppers, asparagus in it. Also, omelets are good.

Do you make biscuits? They're really easy to make, and they're good for breakfast or with soup.

If you watch for sales and set a little aside at the end of the week for some stockpiling, I think you'll do just fine on $25/week. If cooking at the end of the day is a problem for you, spend Saturday or Sunday afternoon cooking a few things, then freeze or refrigerate them. I get kind of bored working in the kitchen, so I listen to books on tape that I check out at the library. It makes working in the kitchen kind of fun when I know I'll get to find out what happens next in a story.

[frugalfarmwife]

First and MOST important, bet that meat at the grocery store had a LOT better life than that meat in a big mac! K, I'm a farmer and the VAST majority of cattle/chickens/pigs REALLY don't have that bad of a life, honest! Even in feed lots they are well fed and watered with room to rest/relax, trust me the gov't regulates them and they have to be well fed.

Second, yep, bet I could do it but with ease because we DO raise our own beef and veggies and freeze. But lots of pasta, beans, etc can really stretch things, oh, and we do lots of potatos and onions here too, we love them and they're cheap!

I also shop the bread thrift store and on really good days I can get 50 buns for $1.00, 2 loaves of bread for $1.00 and snacks for hubbies lunch super cheap.

You can do it

kj

[FrugalWitch]

Actually I've found the less meat I buy the better the grocery budget. Beans are so versatile! If you have a crockpot there are so many different soups and stews you can make without meat.
Try meatless chili or meatless spaghetti sauce for starters. Those are easy and unless you mention it nobody ever seems to notice there's no meat in it.

Another easy cheap dinner, boil up some pasta (any type), when pasta is about half-done add frozen vegetables of your choice. By the time pasta is al dente veggies should be crisp-tender. Drain, toss with a bit of olive oil (or butter) a sprinkle of garlic and red pepper flakes (if you like hot and spicy). Serve it up with a side salad.

FrugalWitch

[kabin63]

My DD is 13 and still Yay to veggies.....:-)

[sunshine]

Eggs are generally a cheap source of protein in my area. . . .50 dozen most times.

Omlets with lots of veggies. . . .

Quiche. . . .

French toast. . .

scrambled. . . .

egg salad sandwiches. . . .

boiled, deviled, make your own noodles.


If I could stockpile (use my stockpile- and eat from it, and loss leaders) we could manage it.

Do you eat tuna from cans?

[Emerald_Mommy]

Some great tips here. We have 2 adults (1 man, 1 pregnant woman!) and 2 kids (almost 5 & 2) and we only spend $35 a week on groceries so I think $25 is definitely doable. I also spend $5 a week for "stock-up" but still, that's only $40 a week.

I found it really helpful to make a list of the meals we eat the most & the ingredients we need the most. Trying new recipes is fun but if you're constantly buying specialty ingredients it can really blow your budget. I like to try recipe variations that call for things I already have on hand.

Good luck on your grocery quest!