Need help with a 2 week menu.

[ChrisS]

I have decided that my house spends way too much money on food all the time. And it's mainly because we don't plan ahead and either buy only what we need for one meal or go out to eat. My budget is $200 but if I can get it to $130 that's my ultimate goal. What are some good cheap meals? What are some tips for getting within my goal? I'm bad about clipping coupons and forgetting them, what are some other ways to save other than not forgetting my coupons?

Thanks for any and all advice

[Mike41793]

Buy your food in bulk

[Mike41793]

EDIT hit send too early lol

Buy your food in bulk and plan out your meals. I can cook a pound of hamburger or some chicken breasts about a million different ways lol. I wont list any unless you'd like some ideas, let me know here or thru PM, if you dont wanna derail your thread lol. I cant eat pork bc it kills my stomach but besides chicken and hamburger we also eat steaks, seafood etc as other meals too. Its just you, your gf, and your son right?

Thats only 3 ppl so meals dont have to be big and extravagant, as in you dont have to cook a ton of food to feed an army. If you do cook alot then save the left overs. Try not to cook too much of something that cant be eaten again as a leftover. Buy frozen veggies in the biggest bags you can find and then open the bag and only defrost as much as you'll eat in the microwave. Buy the biggest packs of hamburger or chicken breast you can and then seperate them into seperate packs and freeze them. Also if you buy a big beef or pork tenderloin when its on sale then cut it up into individual steaks or pork chops.

The most important thing i can think of is PLAN out your meals and stick to the plan. If you know youll wanna eat out at least once every two weeks or once a week them plan that day too. That way you dont go out on a randomn nite and throw off your whole 2 week plan.

[DooLittle]

We do that too. I am really trying harder to PLAN AHEAD!! Plan your meals, and make a grocery list. Then stick to it, and also cook your planned meals. One trick I found for making weeknight dinners easier, is to buy hamburger and ground sausage, in a 2.1 (hamburger to sausage) ratio. For each 2.1 dice one onion, garlic if you like, mix with meat. Then brown meat until done. Divide into two bags and freeze and vacuum seal. Then you just have to thaw, and you can make all sorts of stuff quick and easy. Sloppy joes, chili, (or a bag of frozen French fries and make chili fries..yum), tatertot casserole, enchiladas, hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes, stuffed noodles, stuffed Cresent rolls. Buy hamburger and make into patties, freeze and vacuum seal in packs of however many you eat in a meal. Then hamburgers are at your finger tips to throw on the grill. Also, cook ahead a few pounds of just ground beef, and add taco seasoning and water, cook to directions on seasoning pack, separate into bags, and freeze. Then dinner is as easy as pulling out the meat the night before, and throwing in the microwave to reheat. You can have tacos, nachos, tosatados, Mexican pizza, taco omlettes.... I am always game for new dinner ideas. Put a roast in the crock pot, then dinner is mostly ready when you come home. If its a pork roast, you can make pulled pork sandwiches. I'll chime back in as I think of more, its getting late and I am tired.

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[AK907]

We do that too. I am really trying harder to PLAN AHEAD!! Plan your meals, and make a grocery list. Then stick to it, and also cook your planned meals. One trick I found for making weeknight dinners easier, is to buy hamburger and ground sausage, in a 2.1 (hamburger to sausage) ratio. For each 2.1 dice one onion, garlic if you like, mix with meat. Then brown meat until done. Divide into two bags and freeze and vacuum seal. Then you just have to thaw, and you can make all sorts of stuff quick and easy. Sloppy joes, chili, (or a bag of frozen French fries and make chili fries..yum), tatertot casserole, enchiladas, hamburger gravy over mashed potatoes, stuffed noodles, stuffed Cresent rolls. Buy hamburger and make into patties, freeze and vacuum seal in packs of however many you eat in a meal. Then hamburgers are at your finger tips to throw on the grill. Also, cook ahead a few pounds of just ground beef, and add taco seasoning and water, cook to directions on seasoning pack, separate into bags, and freeze. Then dinner is as easy as pulling out the meat the night before, and throwing in the microwave to reheat. You can have tacos, nachos, tosatados, Mexican pizza, taco omlettes.... I am always game for new dinner ideas. Put a roast in the crock pot, then dinner is mostly ready when you come home. If its a pork roast, you can make pulled pork sandwiches. I'll chime back in as I think of more, its getting late and I am tired.

Good ideas and time saving to boot.

However, I've gotta ask one thing...

What are your cholesterol numbers?

[Mike41793]

DooLittle. I wanna live with you lol! All that red meat is making me drool haha.

[DooLittle]

Yeah, any cow product is a friend of ours... Cheese, ice cream, milk, red meat...nice medium rare steak, mmmm...lol. Cows are good and were made for eating!! . We are not really fish and chicken fans, no fish, minimal chicken. We eat LOTS of fresh fruit and veggies. Some pork, and everything in proportion. Another idea for the pre-cooked ground meat (if you aren't a fan of meatballs) is spaghetti. Also, OP was on a budget, groceries are expensive, and ground beef is the cheapest meat. Another money saving tip is to buy meat in bulk family packs, and break down to dinner size packs, and vacuum seal,cheaper that way. If you have Safeway's where you live, they frequently do BOGO on different types of meat.

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[Capray]

You wanna save moolah, huh? try the

value pack of top raaaaamenn!! Just kidding. I'd say yeah, buy food in bulk, also, freeze uneaten bread!

[RobNJ]

Buy whole chickens and make that meat work for you. A 4-5 pound roaster will feed 3 people with some to spare plus all the bones and meat scrap to make soup for around $8. Learn to break the chickens down efficiently to give you more options of how to cook it. Cook up plain, white rice with some carrots, celery, onion and a bit of the chicken stock you made from the bones before you finish your soup and season it with salt and pepper. Frozen vegetables are fine, and in-season, fresh vegetables are generally inexpensive. You can feed 3 people for about $11-12 and have a small pot of soup for lunch the next day.

Same principles apply to turkey...

[zeion97]

Buy whole chickens and make that meat work for you. A 4-5 pound roaster will feed 3 people with some to spare plus all the bones and meat scrap to make soup for around $8. Learn to break the chickens down efficiently to give you more options of how to cook it. Cook up plain, white rice with some carrots, celery, onion and a bit of the chicken stock you made from the bones before you finish your soup and season it with salt and pepper. Frozen vegetables are fine, and in-season, fresh vegetables are generally inexpensive. You can feed 3 people for about $11-12 and have a small pot of soup for lunch the next day.

Same principles apply to turkey...

The breaking down of a chicken is a good tip.. The ONE flaw I see with that is "picky" eaters. I rarely buy WHOLE chickens due to the fact I don't like the wings and no one else does.

Another good tip would be to buy a PRIMAL then cut your own Sub-Primals. I know SOME Sam's clubs will do this for you if you don't know how.

IMO Bulk is the best way to go, But to be honest on such a low budget you can't expect to eat a "good" home cooked meal every night. I try to get a good home cooked meal twice a week but at least once..

In the end, make friends with Banquet meals.