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Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke

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Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke

Whether it’s nearly the end of the month and you’re out of cash, or you’ve just lost your job or you had a large expense this month, we all have times when we have to nourish our bodies for as little money as possible.  Luckily, there are many cheap foods to buy when you’re broke that are also nutrient power houses.

Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke

To get the most nutrition from limited money, you’ll want to first focus on fruits and vegetables.

Vegetables

There are many basic vegetables to choose from:

Carrots

Carrots are so versatile!  You can eat them raw or use them in soups and stir frys.

Cabbage

One head of cabbage can stretch, and stretch, and stretch and be used many ways.  Just recently, our family of five had a head of cabbage to use.  The first night, we made cabbage beef soup; it fed us all, plus there were leftovers.  The second night, we had skillet kielbasa and cabbage, and again, there were leftovers.

You’ll find plenty of recipes for cabbage.  Consider looking for recipes from other countries, too, as cabbage is a staple in the cuisine of many countries.

Fruits

While fruits like grapes, blueberries, and strawberries are delicious, they’re not affordable when they’re not in season.  Instead, focus on fruits that are affordable in any season.

Bananas

Bananas are quite filling and cheap.  You can eat them plain, or blend them up and use them as mock ice cream.

Apples

Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke
Photo by Sarah Gualtieri on Unsplash

Apples are in season for quite a long time and can often be found for less than $1 a pound.  I like these because of their nutritional value and because they can be eaten as a fruit, or used in a meal, or baked for a dessert.

Starches

When you’re on a budget, you need foods that are filling.  After fruits and vegetables, your next priority should be starches.

Potatoes

Potatoes are almost always a reasonably priced food.  Add them to meals to bulk up the content.  (One of our favorite breakfasts is diced, cooked potatoes mixed with a little cheese and scrambled eggs.)

Oatmeal

Oatmeal makes a great, filling breakfast for just pennies.  Stir in some protein powder or jam for a little extra flavor.

Oatmeal can also be used in muffins and ground up in a food processor and used as a substitute or supplement to flour in baked goods.

Flour

The price of flour can’t be beat per pound.  Use it to make homemade breads, rolls, desserts, etc.  You can also use flour as a thickener to homemade sauces and gravies.

Rice

Rice is also versatile and can be used for a side dish, dessert, or breakfast.  When rice is combined with beans, it is the ultimate frugal meal.

Protein

Protein will help satiate you longer, stretching the length of time you feel full, so hopefully you’ll need fewer in between snacks.

Dry Beans

A pound of dry beans costs between $1 and $2 per pound and can likely be used for several meals.  Use beans in soups, casseroles, and dips like hummus.  You can even use beans in desserts like black bean brownies.  (Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.  They’re delicious!)

Chicken

Chicken is a great animal protein that can be frugal if you buy it on sale or on the bone.  We usually try to use our animal protein as a supplement to a meal, not the main focus of the meal.  Try dishes like fried rice with some shredded chicken or chicken pot pie to complement all of the vegetables in the meal.

Don’t forget to take the bones and turn them into a homemade broth to use for future meals.  (We freeze our broth in ice cube trays for future use.)

Final Thoughts

If you’re on a tight grocery budget, remember that if you choose the most frugal food options, you can still eat healthy, nutritious, and filling foods.

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Five Foods You Shouldn’t Waste Your Money On

By 15 Comments

If you go to a grocery store, you are likely to find several other shoppers with convenience foods in their cart. From cans of soups to packages to frozen dinners, I wonder if these “convenience foods” really make life that much easier. I do know that they can waste a big chunk of your grocery bill. These five foods not only cost more but are not the best for your health. These five foods can be made so easily for a fraction of the cost.

    • Bottled Teas: I made this stupid purchase move last month when I bought a box of Honest Tea from Costco. While they are organic, tasty teas, twelve teas cost me about $9-$10, not including CRV. The tea had natural sugar in it, but I can drink green tea “black” and not mind. It takes about five minutes to brew your own tea. Just place four tea bags in a medium container and microwave for five minutes. Transfer to a pitcher and add more water and sugar/honey if desired. This should make a gallon of tea for pennies a serving.
    • Packaged, Cut Fruit: When I use to work at Starbucks, I was always amazed at how many people purchased the fruit bowls for $3.65. You can find these tiny bowls there today. Each bowl includes a few pieces of pineapple, a few grapes, and about two pieces of blueberries, strawberries, and kiwis. Ridiculous, right? For less than $10, you can buy strawberries, blueberries, grapes, kiwis, and a pineapple (depending on the sales). It takes only a few minutes to chop up all the fruit and separate them into single serving bags. I did this two weeks ago and was able to get 12 bags of fruit for less than $8. They were perfect for grabbing a snack on the run.
    • Trail Mix: Sad to say, but trail mix is another overpriced, packaged item. While nuts are expensive, if you can buy them in bulk along with your favorite dried fruits, pretzels, and chocolate chips, you can make an affordable trail mix. Get creative and come up with new mixes, like white chocolate chips, cranberries, and cashews.
    • Foods Waste Money OnFrozen “TV” Entrees:I know this one is going to get me some angry looks. Have you looked at the back of a frozen dinner lately? Even healthier frozen dinners Lean Cuisines (and my beloved Amy’s Organics) are packed full of sodium. Truthfully, these lunches/dinners are so small! Unless you can get them for free, these frozen entrees are not a good deal financially. It is much better and dare I say, tastier to make a whole pot of chicken pasta or chicken breast with veggies from scratch. If you are relying on frozen entrees to help you get through the work week, here are two tips for you:
      • Make extra dinner each night, package the leftovers in Tupperware and grab them in the morning on your way to work.
      • Spend a few hours every weekend preparing your own “frozen entrees” by cooking up chicken breast and other desired meat, steaming vegetables, and cooking rices and pasta. Throw a serving size of protein, grain, and vegetables in five separate Tupperware containers and throw them in the freezer. The Tupperware containers that have dividers work very well. You can whip up whatever you would like to eat or make entrees more appealing with a sauce.
    • Canned Soup: I love the ease of canned soup, especially when I am in a pinch. While many soups are low in fat and calories, their sodium content is astonishing. Anyone can make a tasty soup for pennies per serving. Just throw your desired ingredients in a crock pot in the morning and you will have a delicious soup by dinnertime. Just add vegetable, chicken, or beef broth (homemade is the tastiest and thriftiest) as the base and add your favorite herbs, vegetables, and meat. Twenty to thirty minutes before you want to eat the soup, throw in some rice, pasta, or quinoa. I then freeze leftovers in single serving Tupperware containers, pulling them out the night before. It is just as easy as taking a can of soup from the pantry.

Of course, when any of these products are at a low or free price, it is nice to have a few on hand. The point is to not to heavily rely on them from week to week when you can easily make them at home. What convenience foods do you make from scratch?

 

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