Budget-Friendly Grocery List Under $40 per Week for Healthier Eating
Finding affordable groceries has been a massive struggle in 2023. I used to spend around $30 a week, and now it is a stretch to get $40 a week of food for myself and sometimes my boyfriend. I have an example week of my groceries and what I used each ingredient for.
Finding a balance between nutritious and budget-friendly meals can make a difference when looking for where to sacrifice convenience. Finding this balance includes seeing sale items and buying the fruits and vegetables you will eat that are on sale and then building meals around those vegetables.
Here's my normal grocery breakdown:
$10 on Pantry Essentials like pasta, beans, rice, quinoa, sugar, spices, oil, and oats. As I run out of these things, I use $10 a week on restocking my fridge.
$30 on perishables. These include meats, veggies, and frozen foods.
I want to preface this post by saying I have Oral Allergy Syndrome and haven't found any fruits or vegetables I can eat raw, so I take a daily supplement and cook all my foods.
Aldi has the best price for me and my needs; I also have Walmart Plus and I use that to order heavy items like cat litter, food, and water. I only buy a little water if there's fear of snowing in. Walmart plus is great because I don't have to bring anyone to the store to buy heavy items.
This week I bought these items:
Quinoa ($3.29) I use quinoa instead of rice to add nutrition to simple meals. I keep plenty of quinoa and rice on hand for any given dinner!
Red Onions ($2.59) I like to get different types of onions every few weeks to add different nutrients to my diet. I like to half and half types of onions in recipes to add more flavor and color!
Garlic ($2.39) I splurged and got peeled garlic cloves to help save me a little time this week. It can be hard to find a balance, but I find that garlic gets everywhere when I peel it myself and makes the cooking process more stressful. So this is one thing I splurge on!
Bone Broth ($3.49) I keep bullion powder on hand to use, but to add extra protein to my veggie heavy diet this week I substituted bone broth for chicken broth in my weekly soup.
Mango ($.49) I was able to cook these down to make gummies so I was able to eat them while they were a really great price!
Brussel Sprouts ($1.99) Brussel sprouts are a great side to any meal and I enjoy them with Chick peas. I had a bag in my pantry from last week so I cooked some Chick Peas and Brussel Sprouts up for a nice snacky dinner while I did homework.
Grass Fed Ground Beef ($5.49) I try not to eat a lot of meat, so when I do I get the nicer things so I can help farmers who use the practices I choose to support. I used this to make some beef and rice for a nice dinner for my boyfriend and I. I used a Korean beef sauce and served over rice, and it was delicious.
Canned Diced Tomatoes (2x$.85) These are an essential in my pantry because I don't enjoy most beans without diced tomatoes mixed in with them. I also use these to make my soups.
Canned Crushed Tomatoes ($1.29) Crushed tomatoes are great to make tomato soup or add to veggie soups to create a thicker broth.
Hummus ($2.49) I make my own bread and crackers every week, so I ate grilled cheese with some sourdough and cheese I had from last week. I also used hummus and crackers as my standard snack.
Butter (3x$2.49) This was a great price on butter so I bought a few and put them in my freezer to save for later. I did not need any butter right now, but the store had plenty and I use butter in a lot of baked goods.
Zucchini (2 pack for $2.87) I love Zucchini and quinoa for dinner with a lot of butter and seasonings. It is low in protein, but it is quick and easy to put together. I usually pair it with a side of air fried chick peas with a lot of garlic and herb seasoning.
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