What we eat can be one of the major and most expensive parts of daily living costs! While the cost of living seems to keep rising, it might seem difficult to get a handle on what you spend at the grocery store! If you’re anything like me, you’re always looking for deals and sales without sacrificing quality. Making super cheap meals with high-quality ingredients can help you fill your stomach while keeping your wallet as full as possible.
Read on to learn about how to make delicious, nutritious and super cheap meals.
Introduction: Super Cheap Meals
When you hear the phrase ‘super cheap,’ what do you think? When you see the word ‘cheap,’ you might think of something of poor quality in addition to low price. Guess what? Cheap doesn’t always mean low quality. In terms of groceries and cooking, it is possible to create healthy, delicious and frugal meals for a lot less than what you might normally spend. How do you go about doing this? Here are four main ways that you can save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on groceries and frugal eating in the long run:
- Consuming more plant-based protein
- Making a grocery list and meal planning
- Price comparing at grocery stores and supermarkets
- Meal prepping for the week
1. Consuming More Plant-Based Protein
If you’re like most families, your main dinner course involves some sort of meat – whether it’s beef, chicken, fish, or something else. Want a simple way to save money while keeping your belly full – and also practicing healthy living? Integrating beans and lentils into your diet is a cheap and healthy way to save money. Lentils and beans are a lot cheaper than your average package of meat. What’s more is that these meat alternatives are rich in minerals, plant-based protein and fibre. These delicious meal addition options are rich in fibre, protein and minerals and are the perfect frugal foods to keep on your regular grocery list.
Partake in Frugal Friday or Meatless Monday
Are you a lifelong meat-eater and don’t know how you can make a meal without meat? Why not do a Meatless Monday or Frugal Friday as part of a super cheap family meals challenge, where you find one meatless recipe once a week? If completely cutting out meat for one day is too much, instead, you can add some plant-based protein to your dish.
For example, why not add a chickpea salad as a side to your main meal of roasted chicken, corn and potatoes? This is an easy, healthy and simple way to cut down on costs. Chickpeas are filling and healthy, and when you consume plant-based protein, you’ll have less room for the meat. Over time, you’ll spend less money on chicken. At the very least, you’ll have leftovers for the next day and you’ll need to buy and cook meat less often.
Another one of my favorite frugal hacks: before your main course, why not have the salad as an appetizer? Consuming plant-based protein will make you feel fuller faster, and you’ll have less room for the meat-based entree.
Check out chickpea salad recipes here.
Want another easy way to add plant-based protein to your daily meal routine? Sprinkle some hemp seeds or nuts on your breakfast cereal or oatmeal. Consuming protein in the morning will make you feel fuller during the day, and you’ll be less apt to consume large amounts of meat later in the day!
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2. Making a Grocery List and Meal Planning
Think about the last time you took a trip to the supermarket. Did you make a list of things you needed to buy? If not, completely understandable! Many people don’t make a list – they just ‘wing it’ based on what they think they need to buy. While you may think you can just walk the aisles, see what you need and throw it in your cart or basket, it’s better to make a list. Why? If you have a plan and know which aisles you need to go to, you’re a lot less likely to spend money on unnecessary items such as snacks. If you truly want to create super cheap meals, it all starts with what – and how much – you buy!
Taking Inventory of Your Pantry and Fridge
Before your weekly grocery shopping trip, set aside some time to meal plan. Even before deciding on weekly meals, look in your fridge to see if there are any items you need to use before they go bad or expire. Go through your cupboards and find any soup cans, pasta cans or other staple items that might be closer to expiry. Why go through your cupboard? Time passes quickly – if you don’t check regularly, you might let items expire. This is a waste of money! If you want to create super cheap meals, you’ll need to keep on top of what you buy and when.
Meal Planning
Looked through your fridge and cupboards? Now it’s time for the fun part. What are you going to eat this week? Meal planning can be applied to any time of the day, but let’s focus on what you’re having for dinner, since this is an area where you have the potential to save money and also get creative with frugal cooking.
First step: choose 3-4 meals to make for the week. Why this amount? If you create bigger batches, you’ll have leftovers. If you eat the same thing 2 or 3 days in a row, you’ll save money. You won’t need to buy brand-new ingredients for each meal because you’ll just buy larger quantities of the same item. Another frugal food and cooking idea: choose 2 or 3 vegetables you can use in all your meals for that week. Buying in bulk is generally cheaper than buying individual vegetables for different meals.
For example, you can choose to use sweet potatoes, carrots and onions in all your recipes for the week. For this particular example, you use these three vegetables for:
- A meat or plant-based main with a side of baked sweet potato wedges and onions
- Sweet potato chili with carrots and onions
- A fresh green salad topped with lentils, potatoes, carrots and onions
After you’ve gotten a good handle on shopping for and creating super cheap meals, you can apply these practices to lunches and breakfasts. Browse Pinterest for frugal recipes and frugal dinner ideas.
3. Price Comparing at Grocery Stores and Supermarkets
Once you’ve gone through your fridge and cupboard and have made a list of meals for the week, it’s time to shop for the ingredients! Hold on – don’t just go to one store and buy all that you need in one place – practice frugal shopping to save some more money! Use an app or check out a flyer to compare different stores’ prices. Some stores may generally be the cheapest, but another might carry a lower-cost item. If you have the time and the supermarkets are close to each other, you can easily go to the other store to buy the cheaper items.
While this may seem trivial, small amounts of money can add up in the long run. Let’s go over an example to show you how.
Example: Price Compare Milk
Let’s say you’re a family of six who goes through a lot of milk. Your family uses milk for cereal every morning and also uses a lot of it in baking and cooking. You buy two gallons of milk per week.
To keep it simple, let’s say that the supermarket you frequent is generally the cheapest. However, this store’s milk happens to be pricier than a store 1/2 a mile down the road.
Regular Grocery Store
2 gallons of milk x $4.39 per week = $8.78 per week
$8.78 per week x 52 weeks in a year = $456.56 total
Cheaper Grocery Store
2 gallons of milk x $3.79 per week = $7.58 per week
$7.58 per week x 52 weeks in a year = $394.16 total
$456.56 – $394.16 = $62.40 saved
Therefore, by price comparing bread, this person saves over $60 just on one item! While this may not be significant for one item, imagine if you price compared for 4-5 items or more. Simply by taking the extra 20 minutes per week to visit 2 stores, you can save hundreds per year!
Another pointer: be sure to set a budget before you go out shopping. Personally, I have a rough estimate of how much I can spend per week in case some items cost more one week than other. For example, if an item is on sale one week and the next week it’s the regular price. Keeping a flexible budget can let you have some wiggle room if you want to buy some extra stuff. There’s nothing wrong with buying a snack or two – just don’t blow your budget!
4. Meal Prepping for the Week
Once you’ve gone shopping and have your meal plan prepared, time to cook! As I mentioned earlier, it’s a good idea to have 3-4 meal ideas ready and use the same staple items in each meal to maximize frugality and minimize costs.
Meal Prepping Steps
Take frugal meal planning one step further: daily meal prep! Make a large batch of one dish, portion it out and eat it every day. I like to create a grocery list, shop for ingredients, and prep my meals on Sunday. Choose one night that works for you. On this night (or designated day), cook your meals and portion them into containers. Stick them in a visible area in your fridge you can easily see when you open it each day. Each day, you’ll have a ready-made meal!
If making and eating the same thing for lunch or dinner every day is too boring for you, why not choose 2 or 3 meals and have the same thing 2 days in a row? Alternatively, you can make a customizable dish and swap out ingredients.
For example, make a poke bowl your dish of the week. Poke bowls are just one of many frugal healthy meals you can cook due to their versatility and use of many proteins and grains within the dish.
Here’s how to meal prep poke bowls. First, cook a large batch of rice and have protein and vegetable options on hand to swap out. Options you can mix and match each day might include:
Protein
- Tofu
- Edamame
- Chickpeas
- Peanut butter
Vegetables
- Carrots
- Cucumber
- Purple cabbage
- Tomatoes
Sauces
- Srirachia sauce
- Soy sauce
- Maple syrup
Creating a customizable meal is still frugal. How? In this example, you’re still cooking a large batch of rice and protein that you’ll use every day. Sticking with a frugal meal plan doesn’t mean you have to be boring! Mix it up and have fun with it!
Saving More with Filling and Cheap Staples
Another way to save money by prepping meals? Stick with cheap staples. Peanut butter and eggs are filling and nutritious. If you want to start with one or two staples, which ones should you focus on? In my opinion, focus on buying more frozen fruits and vegetables instead of fresh.
There are some additional benefits to buying frozen versus fresh. Frozen vegetables and fruits are generally a lot cheaper than their fresh counterparts and can be part of many frugal meals. You can mix and match different vegetables in salads, stir-fries and pasta dishes. Additionally, they’re a great way to make smoothies. I know that for me, if I have too many vegetables and fruits in my fridge, I tend to forget about them. They might go bad before I have a chance to use them. If they rot, I’ve essentially thrown away money. They aren’t just ‘broke meals’ for college students – they’re great options for anyone on a budget!
Preparing frugal family meals are one of those essential living skills that everyone should know how to do. Why? You can cook delicious meals and also save lots of money long-term! When you create and prepare your own meals for the family instead of relying on takeout, you’ll save money and you’ll also become healthier. Many takeout foods are packed with sodium and processed ingredients. I know that for me, if I eat healthier, I have more energy to do things during the day. When I have more energy, I can focus on improving myself and hitting my goals – financial ones included!
Conclusion – Super Cheap Meals
There you have it – lots of great ways to prepare and consume super cheap meals. Creating tasty meals doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, and it doesn’t have to be boring.
Take super cheap meals a step further by applying it to your travels. Why not find and make super cheap camping meals for the next time you go on an adventure?
By creating meals and plans that work for you, you’ll eat well, become healthier and save money, all at the same time! Once you create frugal habits in the kitchen, you won’t want to stop.
Get cooking!
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Janita is a frugal living expert and owner of Frugal Fun Finance. With over five years of personal experience finding and trying out the best ways to make and save more money, she's eager to share her knowledge. Janita's strategies have helped her save thousands of dollars for funding investments and traveling to over 20 countries.
Janita completed training in personal finance at The University of Western Ontario and McGill University, two prestigious Canadian universities. Her expertise has been shared on GoBankingRates, Yahoo Finance, and NASDAQ.com.
