c/budget-friendly-meals

Realized my lunch meal prep cost less than $2 per serving

I sat down last Saturday and added up the groceries for the rice and bean bowls I've been making for 3 weeks straight. Each bowl comes out to $1.87 including the spices and a squeeze of lime. Has anyone else done the math on their regular meal prep and been surprised at the real cost?

2 comments

river183•1d ago

Store brand pasta vs name brand. Blind taste test at my apartment last night.

I know it sounds dumb but I bought a bag of the store brand elbows at Kroger for like $1.10 and then a box of Barilla for $2.50. Cooked them both plain with just butter and salt. My roommate and I tasted them side by side and honestly we could barely tell the difference. The store brand was slightly softer but not in a bad way. I'm now convinced I've been wasting money on pasta for years. Anybody else try comparing something basic like rice or beans?

2 comments

rowan_thomas•2d ago

My neighbor’s comment about my meal prep changed how I shop

She said I was spending too much on name-brand canned beans, and after switching to the store brand I’m saving about $8 a week, so has anyone else gotten a tip from a friend that actually worked?

2 comments

the_leo•3d ago

My mom told me I was wasting money on pre-cut veggies at the store lol

She said just buy whole ones and chop them yourself, so I started doing that with carrots and onions for soup... saves like $2-$3 a week but man the chopping time adds up. Do you think the convenience is worth the extra cash or am I just being lazy?

2 comments

max388•4d ago

Found a bag of frozen veggies at Aldi for 89 cents and it saved my budget

I stopped by Aldi on Tuesday after work and grabbed their frozen mixed vegetables bag for 89 cents. Threw it into a pot with some canned beans and rice I had sitting around, made enough dinner for three nights. Anyone else find a cheap ingredient that just works for stretching meals?

2 comments

casey_campbell•5d ago

Pro tip: lentils are way cheaper than ground beef and just as filling

I looked up the prices at my local Aldi for a recipe swap. A pound of ground beef runs about $4.50, but a bag of dry lentils is like $1.20 and makes the same amount of food after cooking. Found this in a Saveur article from last month that compared protein costs per serving. Anyone got a go-to lentil recipe that doesn't taste like mush?

2 comments

jennifer_fisher•6d ago

Overheard a cashier say something about canned beans that stuck with me

I was at the grocery checkout yesterday and the cashier told the lady in front of me that she buys store brand beans instead of name brand and saves like $40 a month. I never really thought about it because I always grab whatever is on sale. But she said the texture is the same, just less salt sometimes. I tried it with my chili last night and honestly could not tell the difference. Anyone else stick with store brand on stuff like beans or tomatoes?

2 comments

wadeyoung•6d ago

My $200 grocery bill lasted me 3 weeks and I feel like I'm doing something wrong

I keep seeing posts about how $75 a week is the way to go for budget meals, but I spent $200 in one trip at Aldi and it stretched almost a full month for my family of 3. I'm not buying fancy stuff either, just basics like rice, beans, frozen veggies, and chicken thighs on sale. Has anyone else had a bigger upfront buy actually work out cheaper in the long run?

2 comments

ross.jessica•8d ago

Took me 30 years to figure out dried beans are worth the effort

Grew up on canned everything because that's what my mom did. Last month I finally tried soaking black beans overnight. Saved about $2 a pound and they tasted way better. Anyone else make the switch later in life?

2 comments

perez.cole•10d ago

My go-to cheap dinner went totally wrong last Tuesday

I tried to make my usual $5 pasta bake but I was out of canned tomatoes so I used some random salsa I found in the fridge. The whole thing came out tasting like spicy ketchup on noodles and my kid refused to eat it. I ended up ordering pizza which cost way more than a simple pasta dish should. Anyone else ever have a pantry swap totally ruin a budget meal?

2 comments

lee_barnes70•11d ago

My $15 grocery run last Tuesday turned into a week of chili and rice

I grabbed a bag of dried beans, a can of tomatoes, and a cheap chuck roast on markdown, threw it all in the slow cooker, and ended up with 4 solid dinners and 3 lunches for under $2 a plate, so has anyone else found that dried beans stretch way further than canned ones for meal prep?

2 comments

nathanking•17d ago

My $3.50 lentil soup last Tuesday ended up tasting better than my wife's $40 restaurant dinner

I threw together some brown lentils, a sad onion, and a carrot I found in the back of the fridge, and somehow it came out like magic. She brought home takeout from that fancy new bistro downtown and ended up eating my soup instead. Has anyone else had a ridiculously cheap meal that beat something expensive?

2 comments

lucas972•20d ago

The whole time I was cooking rice like pasta and draining it after

I was making rice for years by boiling it in a pot of water and then pouring it into a colander. Thought I was being clever because it never burned. Then my buddy from Texas roasted me about it and showed me the absorption method. I honestly felt like an idiot. Now I hit it with a 2 to 1 water to rice ratio and let it steam covered for 18 minutes. Comes out fluffy every time. So the debate is: are you team boil and drain or team absorption? Anyone else grow up doing it the wrong way like me?

2 comments

patricia_wright•21d ago

Finally calculated my actual grocery savings from meal prepping and nearly fell off my chair

So I got curious this weekend and actually added up the numbers from the last 3 months of meal prepping lunches. I was spending about $12 a day on takeout before, now it's like $3.50 per batch of chili or stir fry. The total? I saved roughly $280 over 3 months just from Sunday afternoon cooking sessions. Has anyone else done the math on their own budget meals and been shocked at the real difference?

3 comments

logansullivan•22d ago

I always thought canned beans were just as good as dried... until last Tuesday

I've been team canned beans for years because they're so convenient. But I tried cooking dried pintos from the bulk bin at WinCo for the first time, and honestly the texture was way better. They cost about $1.20 a pound instead of $1.80 for canned, so I'm probably switching. Anyone else notice a big difference or am I just imagining it?

2 comments

nathanking•23d ago

My grandma's cheap chili recipe hit different after a talk with my neighbor

My neighbor Frank is 82 and he told me last week he still makes chili the way his mom did during the Depression. He said they would stretch a pound of ground beef across 8 servings by adding oats and canned tomatoes. I always thought my grandma's recipe was just about being thrifty, but Frank made me realize it was about survival and creativity. Now I make her chili with oats too and it actually tastes heartier. Anyone else got a Depression-era trick that changed how you cook on a budget?

2 comments

betty_shah•23d ago

TIL I could make 4 meals from one $6 rotisserie chicken if I stopped trying to make it last for sandwiches

I had to decide between buying a rotisserie chicken for $6 or buying packs of chicken breasts for $10 at the store near my house in Orlando. Picked the rotisserie chicken and shredded it all at once. Got tacos, soup, a casserole, and chicken salad out of it. Has anyone else found a way to stretch one chicken into multiple dinners?

2 comments

grant569•25d ago

TIL my $15 rice cooker saved my week after a kitchen disaster

Honestly, last Tuesday I tried making this cheap lentil soup from a recipe I found online and totally burned the bottom of my only pot. I had like $12 left for food until payday on Friday so I thought I was doomed. But nope, I threw some rice and beans in that old rice cooker from 2019 and it cooked up perfect three nights in a row. Anyone else have a random cheap appliance that always saves you?

2 comments

fiona_lewis37•25d ago

Switched from store brand rice to name brand and my grocery bill went UP $8 a week

Okay so I used to buy the generic 5 lb bag of rice at Walmart for like $4. Then my friend told me name brand tastes way better and cooks fluffier. I tried it for three weeks and honestly? The texture was a tiny bit better but not $8 a week better. Now I'm back to the store brand and my wallet is happier. Meanwhile my cousin swears she saves $15 a month by buying the bulk bag at Costco which is a different brand entirely. So here's the debate: is there actually a difference in quality between cheap rice and expensive rice or are we all just paying for the label? Has anyone done a blind taste test with their family and actually noticed a real difference?

2 comments

noahw53•25d ago

Found out beans dont need to soak overnight and it saved my weeknight dinners

I used to think you HAD to soak dried beans overnight before cooking them. My mom always did it that way so I never questioned it. Then about 2 months ago I was in a rush to make chili and forgot to soak the pinto beans the night before. I looked it up online and found out you can just boil them for 10 minutes then let them sit for an hour off the heat. Worked perfectly, beans were soft and creamy. Now I can make black beans or chickpeas on a weeknight without planning a day ahead. Has anyone else skipped the overnight soak and had it work out fine?

2 comments

the_patricia•25d ago

My neighbor swore she feeds her family of 4 on $50 a week and I called her out on it

She showed me her meal plan and receipts from Aldi and I realized I've been wasting money on pre-cut veggies and name brand spices. Is she actually eating well or just lying to herself about enjoying bland food?

2 comments

sandra146•27d ago

Tried switching from dried beans to canned for my chili last week and never again

The canned ones turned to mush after 20 minutes of simmering, cost twice as much per pound, and my grandma's recipe just tasted wrong without that firm bite you only get from soaking dried pintos overnight how do you all avoid mushy canned beans or am I the only one who cares?

2 comments

lucaslane•28d ago

Just realized my rice cooker was costing me more than cooking on the stove

I was at home making dinner last week and added up the electricity usage on my cheap rice cooker compared to just boiling water in a pot, and the cooker was using twice the power for the same amount of rice. Anyone else notice their small appliances are eating up the electric bill more than they save?

2 comments

the_jason•29d ago

I finally broke my habit of buying pre-cut veggies every week

For like two years I spent about $20 a week on those pre-cut vegetable packs from the store. It was just easier (you know, no chopping) but I realized I was paying double what whole veggies cost. Last month I switched to buying whole carrots, onions, and bell peppers from the bulk bin at Aldi. Now I spend maybe $8 a week and just chop everything on Sunday while I watch a show. Does anyone else find that prepping ahead actually saves more time than buying the pre-cut stuff?

2 comments

mitchell.shane•1mo ago

Stopped buying pre-cut veggies after watching the grocery store demo last month

I was at the local Smart & Final in Phoenix and they had a demo on prepping vegetables. The guy showed how a bag of pre-cut onions costs $3.49 for 10 ounces. But a whole onion is like 79 cents for way more. I timed myself and it took 2 minutes to dice a whole onion. That was a wake up call. Now I buy whole produce and spend 10 minutes on Sunday doing my own chopping. Has anyone else done the math on pre-cut stuff?

3 comments