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Too broke to eat? Are you trying to stretch the money you have left just to fill your car with gas? I am going to give you a frugal grocery list to use when you are broke. Most people have had a time in their life where money is tight maybe during college, after newly being married or after losing a job.
Don’t get down during these times. Eating frugally is a way of life to save money. If you don’t have the money in your budget for groceries please seek out your local churches, food pantries and shelters for assistance. There are several local charities that help those in need, and no one should ever go hungry.
If you do have a very small budget to get by with, I am going to give you some extremely cheap meal ideas so you don’t go hungry and you will feel satisfied.
COUPONS
There is not a ton of savings using coupons however any savings is better than no savings. There are stores that have apps you can download their coupons to use in the store. Always sign up for grocery store rewards programs. My local Kroger where I shop sends me coupons every month based on the items that I purchased the week before.
You can also get cashback for shopping when you use two other apps – IBOTTA. You can use my referral code lkxurcg. Ebates (which goes by the name Rakuten now). Now, Ebates is for online shopping with a large list of stores all over the internet, including some grocery stores.
MEAL PLAN
Best way to save is to first do an inventory of what you already have. Keep a list of every item you have in your freezer, refrigerator and pantry.
Once you have your list see what meals you can make from those items. Remember you are trying to be as frugal as possible so don’t come up with recipes that require to many ingredients that will cause you to buy several other items that are not necessary.
Simply meals are usually the cheapest. Once you have your meal plan completed make a list of the items you need to purchase.
If you have no food, then you should make a list of items that can be made and then repurposed for another meal.
Example I made meatloaf one night then I used some of the leftover meat for spaghetti the next night then enchiladas the third night. Making the meat last can help stretch the money you spend.
You can also do one or two days you don’t eat meat. It can be expensive and it’s not necessary to have every day.
Let’s Start with Your Grocery List
Beans & Rice
Don’t let the simplicity of these foods scare you. You can make some yummy meals that are filling. My kids love rice and beans they are packaged with protein, so no meat required.
You can add taco seasoning, salsa, spaghetti sauce, cheese, soy sauce, ranch there are endless flavors to make it taste different.
Potatoes
Another frugal and versatile food. You can make potato soup, fry up some potatoes with salt and pepper, cut up the potatoes longwise and bake them into french fries, bake the potatoes and top them with your favorite toppings you already have like cheese, salsa, butter and sour cream or ketchup. Mashed potatoes with butter. You can dice or shred them up and make hash browns.
Pasta
Pasta is very cheap and delicious. You can just add butter with garlic salt, spaghetti sauce, cheese or soy sauce.
Eggs
Who doesn’t love eggs? I could eat them every day and never gets sick of them. Not only are they cheap they are packed with protein. Scrambled eggs, fried eggs, omelet, hard boiled eggs, egg pancakes and poached.
Oatmeal
High fiber with lots of nutrients oatmeal is a frugal staple. You can make it with water and cinnamon, add it to hamburger to make meatloaf. Cheap and last a very long time. Great to have for breakfast, lunch shoot sometimes I would eat it for dinner because I love it so much.
Now that we covered the main ingredients and some ideas on what you can do with those ingredients let’s talk about snacks.
If your broke having snacks is not a necessity especially if you eat the main staples you should be full. However, there are times we just need a snack so here are my four snack ideas that you can generally get extremely cheap.
Peanut Butter
You can find small jars of peanut butter at dollar tree. Peanut butter has protein and is great for adding to oatmeal, celery or dip your apple slices in a scoop. You can even just eat it with a spoon. It is so yummy, and you will feel full.
Baby carrots
These crunchy little ones are fun not only for the kids but adults. You only need a few to feel full. Eat them plain or dip them in ranch or salsa. If you have leftovers you can freeze them for soups and stews to use later.
Celery
Another healthy option everyone should consider is celery. You can spread peanut butter (protein alert) on them for a sweet snack. Dip them in salsa or ranch. No need to buy expensive unhealthy chips, you can have celery sticks instead. They are healthy and you won’t be able to overeat them with their low-calorie intake.
Banana
Sweet treat and very filling. You can eat this as a snack or have it in your oatmeal or just cut up with some peanut butter. Yum!
Apples
Depending on the time of year you can sometimes get apples cheap. The nice thing about apples is the shelf life is a lot longer than other fruit. They don’t go bad fast so you can slice one up and enjoy it then wait a day or two before you eat another one. You could also shred them and have them in your oatmeal.
Ranch
This condiment is not a necessity however if you look for a cheap bottle it might fit into your budget. Most people like ranch it very versatile. You can add it to your main dish or use it to dip your celery into for a snack.
Ketchup
America’s number one condiment ketchup. You can add this to almost anything to enhance the flavor.
Soy Sauce
This one was added so you can make fried rice with your eggs, rice and make it tasty. Your local dollar tree should have these. If you can’t find a cheap bottle, then just skip this condiment option.
Salsa
Everything goes with salsa. You can top your rice, pasta, potato or egg with this tomato-based condiment.
Salt and Pepper
When you are not able to buy any of the condiments the only two you should buy is the salt and pepper. This two alone can enhance the flavor of any meal. You can find these both at your local dollar tree.
Let’s Recap
Frugal grocery list
Beans
Rice
Potatoes
Oatmeal
Eggs
Carrots
Celery
Banana
Apples
Peanut butter
Ranch
Ketchup
Soy sauce
Salsa
Salt
Pepper
If you are looking for a little more help for what kinds of other meals to make check out Pinterest for ideas. There are loads of easy frugal meal ideas on there. Talk to your friends and family ask them what kind of meals they make they are extremely frugal and don’t require a lot of ingredients.
Then when you rebound, and you can increase your grocery budget you can add more ingredients to your grocery list. You might find that this list to be so easy you don’t want to give it up. Less time you have to worry about meal planning the more time you have to do other things.