I am a 44F who’s exiting a relationship where my partner bought all the food.
I haven’t purchased groceries aside from the odd thing here and there for about 9y. I’ve done a budget that leaves me with about $75-100 weekly to work with. Is this reasonable? Can you recommend some staples or weekly purchases that will keep my overall costs down. Meat is wildly expensive. I don’t know what to do…
Some data to assist:
-I live in the Okanagan area of B.C., Canada
-I’d like to be protein forward, I am very active
-no children/pets
-no dietary lifestyle or restrictions (am not veg/vegan) but not opposed to those choices
-I work f/t so batch meals/leftovers/Sunday preps are welcome
Thank you so much for any help you can offer 🙂
Food budget for one female – newly single
byu/Material-Crab-2210 inFrugal
Posted by Material-Crab-2210
12 Comments
Beans. Pickled herring. Chicken thighs.
Whatever you can get in nearby walmart on weekends
Get the Flipp app, so you can see what’s on sale at the stores around you. Each store will have a few things a week that are good deals, so stock up on those when you can, freezing things you don’t use right away for later use.
What do you like to eat for breakfast? I eat some form of eggs most days. Sometimes toast and scrambled eggs, fried eggs on toast, veggie scramble, boiled eggs. On days I don’t have eggs, I have oatmeal or a yogurt bowl with honey or maple syrup and frozen berries or chopped apples and museli mixed in. For lunch I usually have dinner leftovers. When I have something else it’s usually a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or sardines/canned herring with mustard on crackers. Excellent source of protein and omega 3s. If you don’t like sardines or herring, a tuna fish sandwich is also a good source of protein. For dinner we do all kinds of stuff. Lately I’ve been making a lot of stews. I always keep onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, cabbage and canned beans on hand for the base of soups. I do chicken thighs, ground beef or stew beef for meat in my stews. Lentils and rice are also a great filling dinner. Freeze leftovers that you can’t eat in soupercubes for days that you don’t feel like cooking. I also love batch cooking rice and freezing it the same way.
Get your “cheap and quick meals” some of the frozen premades are very low cost and relatively healthy (steamers etc).
Your freezer is your friend, throwing away bread/veggies/meat etc is throwing away money you can’t afford to do that on that budget often. Find things that freeze and you can thaw easy.
Grains and lentils are cheap, filling, nutritious, and full of protein. I also eat a lot of cheap pasta when the rest of the meals are healthy.
Check out the reduced produce shelf at your local store. If they don’t have one, ask. For some reason, the YIG near me keeps their clearance fruits and vegetables on a shelf by the pharmacy, on the other side of the store.
Things like beans and rice are usually cheaper when they’re in the ethnic food section.
I am in the US and I spend about $50-60USD weekly on groceries, which is at the low end of your budget. You can definitely make it work, but you’ll need to avoid the obvious pitfalls: alcohol, junk food, and expensive cuts of meat.
I am a big fan of making something on Sunday and eating it for dinner several days in a row. I’m also vegetarian, and generally veggie food is cheaper, so you may want to incorporate some vegetarian meals – things like burrito bowls or bean chili or breakfast-for-dinner, etc. etc.
Beans and legumes are cheap and full of protein & fiber. Frozen berries and veg can be cheaper than fresh. Oatmeal is also cheap and nutritious. Oh, and if you like tofu it can be incorporated into lots of dishes.
I eat oatmeal with raisins for breakfast most days, with a banana after.
For lunches I generally eat some sort of beans and rice, sometimes with leftover chicken thighs or canned tuna, or a giant berry smoothie made with silken tofu (I hate protein powders and tofu is much less expensive).
Dinners are breakfast for dinner (eggs, potatoes, bacon or sausage), or usually some type of bowl with rice, protein, veg. My husband also makes great quesadillas and we’ll have that with a salad.
To keep our dining out temptations low, we do keep some kind of frozen entree (pizza, dumplings, etc.) for nights that we don’t feel like doing more than reheating.
Do you have any idea how weird this is
Super reasonable— we live in BC and spend about $125-150 a week (plus a $400 monthly Costco run) for a family of 4 including 2 teens. You may have extra costs at the beginning to get staple items like oil and spices but it should even out after a month.
Stock up on:
Beans, brown rice (fills you up more), pasta, pasta sauce, bouillon cubes, flour— make bread, pancakes, biscuits, etc, spices, tomato paste and canned tomatoes, frozen veggies, ramen, butter, oil, tortillas
Ground beef, pork, or chicken, chicken breasts, pork chops are usually pretty reasonably priced
See if you can get a food saver to save by buying bulk meat when it’s on sale
Weekly purchases:
Eggs, milk, fruit
I shop at superstore because they price match Walmart and i churn through optimum points. I can usually save $10-20 off my weekly bill with points.
Shop for local fruit if you’re in the okanagan!
Boneless thighs or breasts are $2.99/lb at Costco in the US, but it the cheapest meat in your area may be pork(?). Get groceries that are cheapest by weight. Stock up on onions, potatoes, rice, beans you like, lentils, and various pasta shapes. You should also keep a fully stocked spice cabinet and olive oil on hand. A sheet pan meal with meat & vegetables and a side of rice or potatoes is filling and you can eat for a few days. Freeze whatever you can’t get to. Chicken thighs are great for beginning cooks because they’re cheap and have a bigger margin of error than chicken breasts. I would also recommend prepping overnight oats! I make mine with oatmeal, milk, cinnamon, (frozen) blueberries, flax seeds, honey, and peanut butter. It’s super filling and a good source of fiber.
Superstore and try to get their expiring deals to save money.