c/budget-friendly-meals

That time I realized portion sizes wreck my grocery budget more than anything else

I was going through my receipts from last month and noticed I was spending $85 a week on food for just me. Then I actually measured out my rice and pasta servings instead of eyeballing it and my groceries lasted almost 10 days instead of 7. How do you all keep portion sizes in check without feeling like you're eating too little?

I was a snob about canned beans until last Tuesday

I always thought canned beans were a waste of money compared to dried. I bought a bag of dried pintos for $2 and spent 3 hours soaking and boiling them for a chili. They came out mushy and bland. A coworker brought in a can of store brand black beans that cost $0.89 and her tacos were way better than my chili ever was. Has anyone else tried both and actually preferred the canned ones?

Pro tip: That one week I fed my family of 4 on $35 in Austin

Last spring, I had a rough week between paychecks and only had $35 for groceries. I grabbed a bag of dried beans, a big sack of rice, some cheap onions, and a pack of chicken thighs on clearance from HEB. Made a massive pot of chicken and rice soup that stretched 5 days, plus fried rice with the leftovers. Has anyone else tried stretching a tiny budget with just beans and rice for a whole week?

PSA: Store brand beans are just as good as the expensive ones

I was skeptical about switching to store brand canned beans for years. Always grabbed Goya or Bush's because I figured the cheap stuff would be mushy or bland. Last month my grocery budget got tight so I finally tried the Walmart Great Value black beans at $0.88 a can. Cooked them up in a chili recipe Ive made a hundred times and honestly could not tell the difference. Texture was solid, flavor was fine, and it saved me about $1.50 per can. Now Im swapping over to store brand for chickpeas and kidney beans too. Anyone else find a specific generic item that surprised you?

Tried replicating my grandma's lentil soup from memory last night and it came out tasting like plain dirt

I followed the steps she always did but forgot she used a ham bone for flavor and I just used water. Anyone else find out the hard way that old recipes rely on some hidden fatty ingredient to work?

Vent: That lady at Save Mart who told me her meal plan saves $200 a month

I was standing in the checkout line at Save Mart in Fresno three weeks ago when this older woman saw my cart of generic pasta and canned tomatoes and just shook her head at me. She said she feeds her whole family on $40 a week by using only dry lentils and homegrown herbs, and she told me I was wasting money on any pasta pricier than the store brand. Has anybody else had a random stranger give unsolicited budget meal advice that actually made you rethink your own habits?

Hot take: Canned beans beat dried beans every time for budget cooking

I tried making dried beans from scratch last month for a chili recipe. After soaking overnight plus 2 hours of boiling, they still came out crunchy. Meanwhile I grabbed a $0.79 can of pinto beans from Aldi and had dinner ready in 10 minutes. The price difference is like 30 cents per can, not worth the hassle. Has anyone else given up on dried beans or am I just doing it wrong?

Blew my grocery budget at a tiny market in Tulsa last Saturday and it totally flipped my meal planning

Tried freezing my own burrito packs vs buying the frozen ones at the store

Why does nobody talk about how frozen veggies can save your whole meal budget

I was at Aldi last Tuesday staring at a $4 bag of fresh green beans for a stir fry and almost walked out to get takeout instead. Then I grabbed a $1 bag of frozen mixed veggies and it made THREE meals. I had been avoiding frozen stuff for years thinking fresh was always better. That one switch cut my weekly grocery bill from $85 to around $60. Has anyone else had that moment where you realized convenience brands fooled you into paying more?

Found a $3 bag of lentils that changed my meal prep game

I was at WinCo last week and grabbed a 2-pound bag of brown lentils for like $3.50. I cooked up a big batch with some canned tomatoes and onions I had laying around, and it made 6 solid servings for lunches. It freezes really well too. Anyone else have a go-to cheap staple they rediscovered recently?

Spent 3 hours trying to find lentils that cost less than $2 a pound

I figured grabbing some dried lentils for soup would be a quick stop at the grocery store near my place on Broadway. But after checking five different aisles and three stores I finally found the cheap ones at Aldi for $1.29 a pound. The fancy organic ones were all $3 or more and I just dont get why simple lentils have to be that expensive.

Had to pick between ground turkey and lentils for taco night

I really wanted tacos but ground beef was $6 a pound so I grabbed a bag of lentils for $2 instead. Cooked them with the same seasoning and honestly they worked fine but the texture threw me off big time. Anyone else tried swapping meat for lentils in tacos?

My mom told me to stop buying pre-shredded cheese and I fought her on it for months

She finally made me do a side-by-side cost comparison at Costco and turns out I was paying 40% more for the bagged stuff that has anti-caking agents anyway. Has anyone else found other "convenience" food that's secretly way more expensive?

Had to decide between bulk rice or bulk beans this week

Had to decide between bulk rice or bulk beans this week. I only had $15 left for groceries until payday and needed something that would stretch. Picked up a 10 pound bag of rice for $6 instead of the beans I usually get. Been eating rice with whatever veggies I can scrounge for three days now and it's fine but I'm already tired of it. Anyone else find themselves stuck cycling between the same cheap staples?

Just realized I was overcomplicating my meal prep

I used to spend hours planning elaborate weekly menus. Then my neighbor Betty said she just makes a big pot of chili on Sunday and eats it for 4 days. I tried it with ground turkey and canned beans, saved $12 this week.

Found a butcher shop near me that sells 'scrap bags' for $5

Stopped by Miller's Meat Market in Austin last Tuesday and they had bags of offcuts and trimmings for five bucks. Used them for stews and stir-fries all week, saved like $30 on meat. Anyone else got a spot that does this?

Went to a discount grocery store last weekend and changed my mind about meal prep

I always thought meal prep meant eating the same thing for 5 days straight. Then I walked into Grocery Outlet in Portland and saw they had bags of frozen chicken thighs for $3 each and big bags of rice for $2. I grabbed 4 bags of chicken and 2 bags of rice and made 8 different meals in one afternoon using different sauces from the dollar aisle. Now I'm actually saving money and not bored out of my mind. Has anyone else found a good hack for mixing up prepped meals without spending extra?

Used to buy pre-made spice blends until I saw the math

I used to grab those little jars of taco seasoning or curry powder at the store for $3 each. But then I calculated what I was spending per month on them. It was around $15 just for spices that are mostly salt and fillers. That's $180 a year for something I can make with 3 ingredients I already have. I grabbed a bulk bag of cumin, some chili powder, and garlic powder for $8 total and it lasts me 6 months. Now I check the price per ounce on everything and it changed how I shop for meals. Has anyone else noticed how much markup those blends really have? I'm looking for more simple homemade mix recipes if you got 'em.

The slow shift away from making soup from scratch

I grew up watching my mom make soup from a leftover chicken carcass and random veggies, and it tasted better than anything. Now I see people in the grocery store buying $5 cans of soup full of salt when a whole chicken is like $8 and can feed you for three days. When did grabbing a can become easier than just boiling some bones and carrot scraps?

Got called out by my partner for buying pre-chopped veggies, now I save $12 a week

My wife finally sat me down last month and showed me the receipt from our grocery run. I was spending like $15 on pre-chopped onions and bell peppers every week. She said "you're paying triple for someone to cut a vegetable" and honestly she was right. Now I spend 10 minutes on Sunday chopping everything myself and bagging it up. It's a little extra work but I save about $12 per week (or $48 a month which adds up). Has anyone else found a specific pre-made item that was secretly killing their budget?

Just found out a bag of dried beans costs less than a buck per pound but takes 8 hours of my life I'll never get back

Ran across a USDA stat last night that said beans have gone up 12% since 2020 but they're still the cheapest protein on the shelf, though I'm still bitter about soaking a pound of pintos for 6 hours only to burn them on the stove in 20 minutes... anyone else got a go-to bean recipe that doesn't feel like a science experiment?

Finally switched from canned tomatoes to whole ones after a cook friend yelled at me

My buddy Mike who works at that Italian spot in Denver told me I was wasting money on crushed tomatoes because they're just lower quality scraps blended up. He said to buy whole peeled for $1.50 a can and crush them myself with a potato masher. Tried it on my chili last Sunday and the texture was way better for the same price. Has anyone else noticed a difference in other recipes like pasta sauce?

Broke my immersion blender on lentil soup last night

Was making a big batch of red lentil soup to stretch groceries for the week and the plastic shaft just snapped clean off mid-blend. Anyone found a sub $30 blender that doesn't give out after three months?

Tried meal prepping with dry beans vs canned beans for a month

Okay so I always used canned beans cause theyre easy but my grocery bill was getting wild. Last month I bought a 5lb bag of dry pinto beans at Aldi for like $3.50 and decided to give em a shot. Soaking overnight and cooking them in my slow cooker took some planning but honestly not that bad. The texture came out way better than canned beans too, not mushy at all. I made a big batch of burrito bowls and froze half of them for lazy days. After a whole month I saved about $20 just on beans alone. Anyone else made the switch and have tips for other dry staples? Like lentils or split peas?