For the last 7 years I’ve been shrinking my grocery budget by using every day low cost foods as the basis for all our meals, and adding in surprise deals (foods that are normally not as affordable but I found a great deal) when I find them. By keeping these things on hand, I have the makings for almost any meal we could think of.

Here’s a starter list of every day low cost foods:

Fruits and Vegetables: (These vary by season, but year round I buy….)

• Apples
• Bananas
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Onions
• Seasonally I also use: strawberries, grapes, oranges, grapefruit, pomegranate, pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, pears, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, asparagus, sugar snap peas, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes

Frozen Foods:

• broccoli
• peas
• mixed vegetables
• corn
• carrot coins
• pepper and onion blend (Dollar Tree)
• Normandy blend (Costco)
• Oriental Blend (Costco)
• Whole Strawberries (Costco) for smoothies
• Wild Blueberries (Costco) for THM and FYM recipes

Meats:

• canned tuna (Aldi)
• canned mackerel (Walmart)
• frozen chicken breasts (Costco)
• whole chickens (Aldi)
• ground turkey (Aldi)
• ground beef (when we can get it from the farmer)
• Beef roast (when on sale or from the farmer)
• Turkey Burgers (Costco)
• Pork roast (When on sale)
• Boneless pork ribs for BBQ (When on sale)
• turkey bacon (Aldi or Costco)
• Costco or Aldi lunch meats (for the kids to make lunches for school)
• Occasionally, hot dogs
• Breakfast sausage (when on sale)
• Salmon filets—these are higher priced $3.99lb at Aldi, but I keep them on hand for my weight loss plan
• Sometimes Shrimp ($3.99 at Aldi), Turkey Kielbasa, and Italian flavored ground turkey
• Pepperoni (for homemade pizza)

Dairy

• American Sliced Cheese (Is this food?  I choose to believe it is….lalala, I can’t hear you)
• Shredded cheese (in 5lb bags from Costco) We buy a cheddar blend and Mozzarella
• Milk
• Almond Milk (for me because I have lactose issues)
• Cottage Cheese
• Eggs (lots and lots of eggs)
• Cream Cheese (when on sale–I usualy buy Nefchatel)
• Plain Greek Yogurt (I buy a bit for starter when I let my starter get too old, but normally make my own) Then we flavor it at home
• String cheese—this use to be at staple for snacks for us but everyone got tired of them and I have quit buying them
• Real Butter (I know it’s expensive, but I just can’t bear feeding my family fake butter)

Bread

• 100% whole wheat sandwich bread (for the kids) I buy it at Aldi for $1.29 a loaf, but occasionally can find it at Dollar Tree or on sale for $.79
• Tortillas–the kids use a LOT of tortillas.  (I buy special low carb ones for me and Heidi.)
• Bagels (These are becoming more rare for us as prices rice, but Dollar Tree sometimes has name brand ones.)
• Ezekiel bread–this is just for me and Heidi.  It’s $6.99 for 2 loaves at Costco
• Bagel thins or Sandwich thins–I buy them when these are on the day old table at the discount bread store
• Pasta–Especially lasagna noodles, macaroni, bow tie, spaghetti, egg noodles, spiral
• Oat rounds, bran flakes, crisp rice, sometimes puffed brown rice, and Protein cereal (Millville brand)

The rest of our bread, I make.  Things like:  pancakes, waffles, cornbread, dinner rolls, pizza crust, cinnamon rolls, fat egg noodles, biscuits etc.

Canned

• Green Beans (Usually home canned from the garden)
• Salsa
• Tomato Sauce
• Spaghetti Sauce
• Rotel (aldi brand)
• Green chilies
• Pinto, Black, & Navy Beans
• Tomato soup, some cream soups (rare), chicken noodle soup (for emergencies)
• Apple sauce (Usually home canned from donated apples)

Snacks (In a perfect world we wouldn’t need these, but I’ll be honest and admit this junk food fits into our super low budget.)

• Tortilla Chips (Costco)
• Veggie Straws (Aldi or coupon at Costco)
• Graham Crackers
• Ritz type crackers
• Cheese Crackers
• Sometimes club crackers or animal crackers
• Saltines and oyster crackers
• Brown Rice Cakes
• Ramen noodles (the kids are crazy about these, I cringe)
• Peanuts (sometimes)

Other:

• brown rice
• oatmeal
• quinoa
• flax
• salt & pepper
• spices:  cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves
• spices: chili pepper, garlic powder, cumin, garlic salt, paprika, seasoned salt, cayenne
• Spices: basil, oregano, thyme, savory, rosemary,
• Flour
• Hard White Wheat Berries (for grinding into fresh flour)
• Sugar (brown & white)
• stevia, xylitol
• baking powder, baking soda
• cornstarch, glucomannan (for thickening sauces)
• Plain gelatin
• Oil (coconut, olive, and vegetable oil)
• non-stick spray
• honey (used sparingly)
• Peanut butter–we use a lot of PB
• Corn syrup (I sometimes use this instead of honey in cooked recipes, since honey looses it’s health benefits when heated) Not to be confused with High Fructose Corn syrup, regular corn syrup is lower in sugar than honey.
• yeast
• Almonds (I buy the 3 lb bags at Costco) and slivered or sliced ones from Aldi
• Craisins and Raisins
• Sunflower seeds (Aldi)
• Condiments: Ketchup, mustard(s), salad dressings, pickles, BBQ sauce etc.