Is it possible to feed one person on $27 a week? That’s what reader Christiane asked me after I wrote about trimming my grocery bill on this blog and for my Friday column in the N.J. Star-Ledger. Christiane was flabbergasted.
I read your column at Star-Ledger every week with the greatest of interest. It is fantastic to see that there are people in this country conscious about their spending. But, I am amazed: $27 per week for groceries???!!!?? What do you eat and how many people do you feed for $27 per week?
And my next question would be – do you honestly like the food you buy for such little money? And does the $27 include warm dishes every day? I really cannot believe it.
I would consider myself very conscious about spending, but when it comes to groceries, unfortunately I only like the expensive stuff and I am not willing to substitute anything I like with something I don’t like. I also would never substitute fresh and healthy food with canned or otherwise prepared stuff and may face the bill later in health care costs because of unhealthy nutrition. And when you drive around to get the weekly offer in each grocery store in your area, did you consider your time and the fuel you spend on this?
I am really, really interested in what your secret is! Thank you so much for revealing it (I bet a lot of people are asking the same question)!
Best regards,
Christiane
I’m happy to share more details about my grocery habits if it helps other save!
1. I aim to feed one person (myself) on $27 a week. Some weeks I go over.
2. I eat mostly fresh food and a lot of home-cooked meals. I almost never get take out but I do occasionally graze for dinner if I don’t feel like cooking.
3. I love the food I eat! In fact, I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about what I am going to have for my next meal. I really like food.
4. Yes, my meal plan includes warm dishes everyday, though sometimes that means re-heating leftovers.
5. I eat canned food, but usually only for tomatoes, beans, and occasionally corn. I also save and clip coupons for groceries.
6. In terms of cheap v. expensive food, I seek out value. In other words, I don’t equate expensive food with quality food. There are a lot of great values at off-the-beaten path grocers, Trader Joe’s, and mainstream chains.
Tip 1: The main thing I do to keep my grocery tab down is to shop by price and quality, not by a pre-set list. For instance, instead of putting down “brocolli and asparagus,” I’ll put “vegetables-2″ on my list. Buying in season produce is usually the best bet. When I get to the store I’ll see what looks like the best values. I do the same thing for fruit and meat. Then I put together meals and snacks based on what I purchase.
Tip 2: I shop at different stores. I stock up on nuts, wine, and butter at Trader Joe’s one week, then buy fresh produce at my favorite local grocer. I try to only buy groceries one day a week, but if I run out of produce I’ll make a food run with a pre-determined spending limit of $5 or $10.
Tip 3: I try to only buy 1 or 2 bread products each week so that I eat everything before it goes bad. Instead of buying pre-made snacks I buy healthy food that makes great snacks, like nuts, fruit, or veggies and hummus.
Tip 4: I don’t buy junk food because if it’s in the house, I’ll eat it. That means no soda or pre-packaged cookies. When I break down it is to buy candy or ice cream.
Tip 5: I follow my mother’s rule on sweets: if you want cookies, make them.
Tip 6: I eat from the garden. Instead of buying orange juice I eat fresh oranges off my tree. Same with lemons, limes, herbs, and lettuces.
Tip 7: I have pantry where I can stash bargain-priced canned goods, onions, potatoes, and yams.
Tip 8: I eat starches that cost almost nothing, including potatoes, yams, and rice.
Tip 9: I get a lot of my protein from non-meat sources like beans (hummus), eggs (boiled ones make a great snack), and nuts.
That’s all I can think of for now. I hope this helps you trim your grocery list. If you have another way you cut your food bill, please leave a comment.
UPDATE: Pam shared her secret for low-cost breakfasts:
I have a cheap, healthy breakfast every day at work. I purchased big containers of oatmeal, frozen blueberries, and raisins from Costco, and a 2 lb. bag of brown sugar and wheat germ from a grocery story. Then I make my own oatmeal (it is healthier, tastier, and has less sugar) in the microwave at work. One day it is a raisin oatmeal, one day blueberries, and sometimes I’ll put in mixed oats from Trader Joe’s or a bit of cinnamon for a twist. I’ve been doing this for years, and it saves a lot of money and calories!
Speaking of buying groceries on a budget, here are seven recipes that serve four people for less than $12 per dish courtesy of BJ’s, a warehouse club on the East Coast. (If you are not near a BJ’s, check out my tips for getting Costco deals without paying for the membership.)
Guess how much each the recipe for Lemon-Chicken Bowtie Pasta costs and the person who comes closest will win a free one-year membership to BJs, valued at $45. Leave your answer as a comment on this post, on my Facebook page, or on Twitter. One guess per email, please.
The giveaway will work a bit like “The Price Is Right.” The reader whose guess comes closest to the amount without going over wins. If multiple readers guess correctly the prize goes to whoever answered first.
BJ’s has 187 locations in 15 states. Find a BJ’s near you.
Lemon-Chicken Bowtie Pasta, serves 4 at ??? price – guess for a chance to win a $45 BJ’s membership
8 oz. Barilla® Farfalle
4 Perdue® Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (1¼ lb.)
5 Green Onions, sliced
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. Wesson® Canola Oil
1/ 8 tsp. McCormick® Cayenne Pepper
1½ cups Progresso® Chicken Broth
2 tsp. Grey Poupon® Dijon Mustard
¼ cup fresh Lemon Juice
White Sauce (see below)
1. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside. 2. Cut chicken
into ¾” pieces. Set aside. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high
heat. Add green onions and garlic and sauté one minute.
3. Add chicken and sauté, turning chicken occasionally until
cooked through, about 12 to 15 minutes. 4. Add pasta, toss
and set aside. 5. Adapt Basic White Sauce recipe (see previous
page): mix cayenne pepper into flour before adding. Reduce
milk by 1½ cups, substituting same amount of chicken broth.
Add chicken broth-milk mix to fl our mix per recipe instructions.
6. While sauce is still hot, whisk in mustard and lemon juice,
then immediately pour over chicken-pasta mixture; lightly toss
to mix. 7. Garnish with sliced lemon and serve immediately.
BASIC WHITE SAUCE Makes 2 cups.
Your microwave’s cooking times may vary.
Please watch carefully.
4 Tbsp. Land O’Lakes® Sweet Butter
4 Tbsp. Gold Medal® All-Purpose Flour
2 cups Milk
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
1. Melt butter on high in 1-qt., microwave-safe
bowl, about 20 to 30 seconds. 2. Stir in fl our,
using spoon to break up lumps, until smoothly
blended. 3. Add milk, salt and pepper and stir
until completely blended. 4. Microwave on high,
pausing to stir every 30 seconds or so, until sauce
is thick and bubbly, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Variation: Add 2 cups of shredded Cracker Barrel®
Sharp Cheddar Cheese and toss with cooked elbow
macaroni for mac and cheese. See pasta recipes
for more variations.
For six more recipes that feed four for less than $12, keep reading.
TODAY ONLY FROM 4-7 p.m. get a free peach tea drink at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (not as pictured). No coupon needed, no purchase necessary. The freebie is 12-ounces. Valid only on Thursday, March 4, 2010.
Free address labels! This deal is for 140 labels through Vista Print, which charges you $3-5 for shipping. Not too bad!
Nab a free sample of the vitamin-packed powder packets known as Emergen-C, which has recently added four flavors.
If you don’t clip coupons, how are you going to get free tomato paste and Tylenol PM this week?
It doesn’t get much better than free candy, so check out this buy-one-get-one free candy coupon for Skittles and Starbursts.
Here’s another free sample, this this for PowerBar Gel Blasts, which give you an energy boost on long workouts.
Check out all the deals on my WalletPop blog.
FruitsAndVeggiesMoreMatters.org
Here is an updated list of in-season fruits and vegetables, which are almost always cheaper than buying out-of-season produce. Greater supply…lower prices. The price of items on the winter fruits and vegetable list will be rising.
This list comes from FruitsAndVeggiesMoreMatters.org. Almost all of these spring fruits and vegetables are familiar to me, unlike many of the items on the winter fruits and veggies list.
In-season produce for March, April, and May
Apricots
Artichokes
Asparagus
Belgian Endive * this is good fresh or lightly sauteed with olive oil, salt, and pepper
Broccoli
Butter Lettuce
Chayote Squash
Cherimoya
Chives
Collard Greens
Corn
English Peas
Fava Beans
Fennel
Fiddlehead Ferns * no idea what this is – any recipe suggestions?
Green Beans
Honeydew
Mango
Morel Mushrooms
Mustard Greens
Oranges
Limes
Lychee
Pea Pods
Pineapple
Ramps * again, I have no clue what this is – any ideas?
Rhubarb * pictured above
Snow Peas
Sorrel
Spinach
Spring Baby Lettuce
Strawberries
Sugar Snap Peas
Swiss Chard
Vidalia Onions
Watercress
Click on the items that are underlined in blue for recipe suggestions and fun facts about the fruit or vegetable. Did you know Chayote Squash is a good source of vitamin C and will keep for up to a month if refrigerated in a plastic bag? Or that you should never eat Rhubarb leaves? Deep red Rhubarb stalks are sweet and rich. Unlike some produce, size does not indicate tenderness.
I was very skeptical when I first heard about EasyLunchBoxes, a multi-compartment container that claims to save time, help the environment, and make you eat healthier. Ya, right.
Buuuuuut, EasyLunchBox creator Kelly Lester has some good points:
- her box, above, is easier than packing a brown bag lunch
- her box eliminates the need for plastic and paper bags
- lidded compartments expand your lunch options, creating more opportunities for healthy food
So I asked Kelly to send me a sample so I could check it out for myself. What I received was a plastic container similar to anything you can get at the grocery store. But it has three compartments and one lid. So all your food is together, but separate. With compartments instead of bags, you have more lunch options. Who ever tried putting hummus in a plastic baggie? The container is easy to wash and packing is quick.
A 4-pack of the containers goes for $14 on EasyLunchBoxes and an insulated carrying case is another $8. I’m giving away a free container set and carrying case to a reader who shares a tasty, healthy lunch perfect for the EasyLunchBox.
Here’s mine to get you started:
Cheese and lettuce sandwich
Hummus
Carrot sticks
Simple and delicious! Leave your suggestion as a comment!
I didn’t believe my friend when she told me she had a fabulous recipe for no-knead bread that only required four ingredients. But she made it for me (pictured above) and it was DELISH! Here is the recipe, modified from the NY Times.
Ingredients:
3 c flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 5/8 c water
Directions:
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add water and stir until blended. Dough will be “shaggy and sticky.” Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit 16 hours in a warm corner of your kitchen. (We put it on the fridge.)
At 16 hours, dust a cutting board with flour and place dough on it. Sprinkle the dough with flour and fold the dough into itself once or twice. Let sit 15 minutes under a cloth.
Cover your hands with just enough flour so the dough doesn’t stick to you. Shape the dough into a ball, cover with more flour, and place seam side down. Then place a cloth on top and let it rise 2 hours. Dough should double in size but will not spring back when you poke it. Thirty minutes before the bread is done rising, heat over to 450 degrees.
Put dough into a heavy 6-8 quart covered pot, seam side up, place the lid on top and bake 30 minutes. Take the top off and bake another 15-30 minutes, or until the bread is nicely browned. Serve warm with butter.
Note, the bread does not last a more than a few days because it has no preservatives. I wish there was a recipe as simple as this for wheat bread. Do you have one?
Zeetz Jones/Flickr
This post is brought to you by Network Solutions, offering great deals on web hosting packages.
As a follow up to my earlier post about saving money by buying in-season vegetables, here is a list of in season fruits that should be cheaper than the usual offerings.
Apples
Cherimoya (pictured above)
Dates
Grapefruit
Kiwifruit
Oranges
Passion Fruit
Pear
Persimmons
Pummelo
Red Currants
Tangerines
I don’t know what some of this stuff is, but if you click on each fruit it’ll take you to a page with fun facts about the fruit and ways to eat/cook it.
Barbara L Hanson/Flickr
We all know it’s cheaper to eat veggies that are in season, but what exactly is available this time of year? Here’s a list from Fruits and Veggies More Matters (not the best name for a website but the info is really good).
Click on each vegetable below for tips on selecting them at the store, info on the nutrition benefits, and the top 10 ways to prepare each one. My favorite winter vegetable is brussels sprouts.
Belgian Endive
Brussels Sprouts
Collard Greens
Kale
Leeks
Radicchio
Sweet Potatoes
Turnips
Winter Squash
Bonus: Here’s a recipe for roasted winter veggies from one of my favorite cookbook authors, the Barefoot Contessa.
I’m such a frugal food nerd. I love the taste of low-cost food! In this case, that means beets, sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts. Are my savvy-spending habits influencing my palate? Hmmm…where’s a food psychologist when you need one?!
Thanks to CheapCooking.com for these tasty and frugal recipes.
Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries
I feel less guilty eating French fries when I make them from sweet potatoes! The sprinkling of cinnamon and paprika lend a very nice flavor. And they are at least oven-baked, not really fried! See the recipe for sweet potato fries
Brussels Sprouts and Apples
Even if you think you don’t like Brussels sprouts you should try these. They’re roasted with diced apples and apple juice. Even my teenager liked them! I did half the sprouts this way and then a few days later just simmered the rest until tender and then cooked up with some crumbled bacon. See the recipe for roasted Brussels sprouts and apples
And Roasted Beets, Too
One more vegetable recipe. I grew beets this year and have found that the simplest way to cook them is to just wrap them in foil and bake at 350 F for an hour or so, until tender. So easy and so good! See the recipe for roasted beets and cooked beet greens
Pork Scallopini
This is a recipe for two, but easily modified to serve more. I bought thin boneless pork chops, then pounded them to be even thinner. Cooked up with some lemon slices, capers, and butter. Mmmm. I do something very similar with boneless chicken breasts if you prefer chicken to pork. Read the recipe for pork scallopini
Whether you are having a big shin-dig or a hosting a few friends while the kidlets harvest candy, it’s fun to make Halloween-themed food. Here are a handful of recipes that look appealing. I have not tried them but they come from two sites I use frequently, Epicurious and All Recipes.
A recipe for skeleton fingers calls for white asparagus. Dim the lights and your guests will never know the difference! Sweeten things up with monster eyeball chocolates that use green M&Ms to accentuate the spooky eyeballs.
This recipe for carmelized spicy pumpkin seeds sounds AMAZING! If you want something simpler, just toss the cleaned seeds with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for a few minutes until crunchy.
Jack-o-lantern butter cookies look tasty but you could probably skip the candy step. The tricky part will be finding a pumpkin cookie cutter. An easy alternative would be to make sugar cookies in the shape of pumpkins.
Making pumpkin tarts sounds hard but really it is just mixing a few things together and pouring it into pre-made tart shells (look for these in the frozen food section). A recipe for bat cupcakes, above, takes the cute prize.
Drink of the Week has a slew of specialty Halloween drinks, like an eyeball martini, pumpkin margarita and brain hemorrhage.
Still looking? Browse Halloween-themed recipes on All Recipes or Epicurious. What’s your favorite Halloween recipe?
Here are some of the best personal finance blog posts I’ve read recently.
Wise Bread knows how to make use of every part of the Halloween pumpkin you are about to carve. Recipes included!
The Digerati Life questions whether a 10,000 Dow will last, which means you’re going to be hearing the term “double dip recession” for a while. Haven’t we had enough bad news?
Cash Money Life writes about the IRS’ newly-released IRA contribution limits. No changes for 2010.
Trent at The Simple Dollars says there are 15 things he loves than money.
The Street shares a survey that says price is the biggest factor for where folks will do their holiday shopping. That’s good news for Wal-Mart and Target. “In fact, 80% of the survey’s respondents said they require at least a 10% discount in order to justify making a purchase,” the story says.
There has been such an outpouring of comments from readers who want to win The Frugal Foodie Cookbook that I decided to share the scone recipe I made from it. If you want to win the cookbook, comment on my review by Thursday night.
Ingredients:
2 c flour
1 c oats (I used the quick minute kind but it calls for old fashioned)
1/3 c light brown sugar
2 1/5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/5 sticks butter, chilled
3/4 c raisins
1 c + 1 tbsp milk, divided
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl. Cut chilled butter into small chunks and mix together with your hands or a mixer until it resembles coarse meal. Mix in the raisins. Add 1 cup of the milk and stir until blended. The dough was very sticky when I made it, but that’s okay. Grab roughly 2 cups of dough and form a ball. Smoosh the ball on a floured surface so that the dough is about 1 inch thick.
Cut into 4-8 wedges, depending on how big you want your scones. Dip the knife in flour if the dough is really sticky. Tip: Don’t worry about the flour on the bottom of the scones, it will be absorbed in the oven.
Transfer wedges to a greased baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until scones are firm to the touch and golden. Repeat with the remaining dough. Tip: You can squeeze a lot of scones on one tray because they don’t expand very much in the oven.
While baking, mix the remaining 1 tbsp of milk with the sugar and cinnamon. As soon as the scones come out of the oven spoon a little of the glaze on each one. Serve warm. To freeze, cool the scones completely before stashing them in a freezer bag.
What I like best about The Frugal Foodie Cookbook is that to make three different recipes I did not need to buy a single ingredient. Not having to go to the store saved me time and money – plus I got delicious food out of my pantry!
The authors’ food philosophy is to keep it simple but not necessarily cheap:
Bring frugal is about getting the most value from your food. It doesn’t mean using absolutely the least expensive ingredients. You could probably pare your food budget down to pennies if you lived on potatoes and ramen noodles – but would you call that living? Making smart choices about how, when, and where you spend your money will fill your pantry and menus with delicious options.
I tried two recipes (I never got around to the third, no-knead bread) and both turned out great.
I made teriyaki chicken by marinating chunks of raw meat in a broth that took me 10 minutes to put together (soy sauce, sesame oil, white wine, chicken broth, sugar, honey, orange juice and garlic). Instead of simmering the meat in the broth on the stove, as recommended, I skewered the chicken and tossed them on the grill. My friends gobbled them up.
Next I made raisin scones with a cinnamon glaze, above. Scones are super easy to make (combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking power and soda, salt, butter, and milk). The glaze was a matter of mixing together sugar, milk and cinnamon. Scones freeze well and by cutting the dough into small wedges I made twice as many, about 32 instead of 16.
The 189-page book covers regular meals, party food, kids meals, midnight snacks and thrifty gifts. It’s a relatively small book that is handy to have in the kitchen when your cupboards are full but you’re not sure what to make.
I’m bummed to be giving away this book because I’d like to make a few more recipes. But as per my habit, I’m giving away my review copy to one reader who leaves a comment on this post by Friday! If you don’t win, you can buy the book from Amazon for $10.85. Or check your library.
Related:
Every Tuesday I review a book about saving money. Send me your book to review!
Book review – The smartest way to save – don’t spend
Book review – Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel
Looking for an extravagant meal without knockout prices? Have a sushi party. I co-hosted one this weekend with a friend and together we spent $200 on miso soup, salad, sushi, sake, sashimi, beer, appetizers and dessert for 12 people.
We spent $120 on fish (and had a lot leftover), $30 on beer and sake, and $50 on vegetables, condiments, appetizers, and basics. A similar meal would have easily cost $50 a head at a restaurant, meaning as a group we saved $400. Of course, my friend and I shouldered almost all the costs, with guest contributing the sake, beer, and a few dishes (we factored those costs in above).
Here is what we made:
Traditional green salad with Japanese ginger dressing (increase to 3 T ginger; add a teaspoon of peanut butter if you use canola or vegetable oil instead of peanut oil)
Pan friend pork gyoza – one bag from Trader Joe’s was plenty because we had so many other dishes. Microwave them for 1:30 then lightly pan fry.
Edamame – a guest brought a huge bowl of tasty edamame sprinkled with chili powder.
Miso soup – we bought packets of dried mix and added water. It didn’t taste that good and because of the heat we are having in Los Angeles, the soup was not popular. If you want miso, get a recommendation or try making it from scratch.
Spicy tuna rolls – this recipe was quite tasty and simple! We used chili oil instead of chili powder. Spice to taste.
California rolls – there are many ways of making them. Here is one recipe to start.
Rainbow rolls – slices of avocado on top make it look pretty, but be careful not to squish them!
Vermont rolls – a crazy friend from out of town made up his own roll with was partially inside out and had crab, tuna and avocado! (pictured below, on the right side of the plate)
Unagi sushi – pan fry the eel, press it onto a finger of rice and secure with a strip of seaweed paper. Drizzle with plum sauce.
Tuna, bluefin, hamachi, and salmon sashimi – look for the freshest, sushi-grade fish at your local Japanese market, a high-end fish store, or Whole Foods. Slice thinly right before you serve it. The best salmon we ate had lots of thick, white lines of fat. Very tasty!
If you’ve never made sushi, it is easier than it looks. The only tool you really need is two bamboo sushi rollers. Here’s how to make a sushi roll:
1. Prepare sushi rice. It’s not just boiled Japanese rice.
2. Chop all roll ingredients, such as fish, avocado, cucumber, and lay out any extras like sesame seeds or spicy sauce.
3. Lay a sheet of seaweed paper onto your roller, shiny side down. Note the suggested cut marks for later.
4. Lightly press a THIN layer of rice on the bottom 2/3 of the sheet, making sure to spread the rice to the edges. Have a bowl of water handy to unstick the rice when you are done. Or, wear rubber gloves and rub a dollop of mayo onto your hands. Friction be gone!
5. Add toppings across the middle of the rice. Add more fish than you think you need.
6. Grab the edge of the paper closest to you and pull it across the toppings using the bamboo rollers. When the edges of the rice meet, give the rollers a light squeeze, then continue rolling until there is just an inch of the seaweed paper showing. Dab a finger into a bowl of water and moisten the edge of the paper. Roll the rest of the way, give your creation one more squeeze, then pull back the bamboo roller. Cut your roll into about 6 pieces and take a bite!
I’ve been meaning to write about the 99 Cent Chef for some time, fully expecting his schtick to be similar to Christiane Jory, who wrote the 99 Cents Only Store Cookbook. (Every recipe is made from ingredients sold at the one-price-fits-all store).
But no.
The 99 Cent Chef is a fun, carefree blog about eating, recipes, and food videos in Los Angeles, though out of towners will enjoy the site, too. The author, Billy Vasquez, occasionally shops at the 99 Cents Only Store, with which he is not affiliated.
In one recent post he runs into “Julian Child,” a tall, curly-haired character who claims to be the nephew of Julia Child, at the Hollywood farmer’s market, above. Julian’s high pitched antics makes his video quite entertaining as he delights in finding produce to cook in “lots and lots of butter.”
In another post the 99 Cent Chef writes about his regular $8 barber cut in Glendale (read past the fried chicken part)!
The 99 Cent Chef shared a recipe I made just two days ago -black bean and corn salad. I make it without olive oil. It’s a fantastic snack or side dish or meal!
