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Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke

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Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke

Whether it’s nearly the end of the month and you’re out of cash, or you’ve just lost your job or you had a large expense this month, we all have times when we have to nourish our bodies for as little money as possible.  Luckily, there are many cheap foods to buy when you’re broke that are also nutrient power houses.

Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke

To get the most nutrition from limited money, you’ll want to first focus on fruits and vegetables.

Vegetables

There are many basic vegetables to choose from:

Carrots

Carrots are so versatile!  You can eat them raw or use them in soups and stir frys.

Cabbage

One head of cabbage can stretch, and stretch, and stretch and be used many ways.  Just recently, our family of five had a head of cabbage to use.  The first night, we made cabbage beef soup; it fed us all, plus there were leftovers.  The second night, we had skillet kielbasa and cabbage, and again, there were leftovers.

You’ll find plenty of recipes for cabbage.  Consider looking for recipes from other countries, too, as cabbage is a staple in the cuisine of many countries.

Fruits

While fruits like grapes, blueberries, and strawberries are delicious, they’re not affordable when they’re not in season.  Instead, focus on fruits that are affordable in any season.

Bananas

Bananas are quite filling and cheap.  You can eat them plain, or blend them up and use them as mock ice cream.

Apples

Cheap Foods to Buy When Broke
Photo by Sarah Gualtieri on Unsplash

Apples are in season for quite a long time and can often be found for less than $1 a pound.  I like these because of their nutritional value and because they can be eaten as a fruit, or used in a meal, or baked for a dessert.

Starches

When you’re on a budget, you need foods that are filling.  After fruits and vegetables, your next priority should be starches.

Potatoes

Potatoes are almost always a reasonably priced food.  Add them to meals to bulk up the content.  (One of our favorite breakfasts is diced, cooked potatoes mixed with a little cheese and scrambled eggs.)

Oatmeal

Oatmeal makes a great, filling breakfast for just pennies.  Stir in some protein powder or jam for a little extra flavor.

Oatmeal can also be used in muffins and ground up in a food processor and used as a substitute or supplement to flour in baked goods.

Flour

The price of flour can’t be beat per pound.  Use it to make homemade breads, rolls, desserts, etc.  You can also use flour as a thickener to homemade sauces and gravies.

Rice

Rice is also versatile and can be used for a side dish, dessert, or breakfast.  When rice is combined with beans, it is the ultimate frugal meal.

Protein

Protein will help satiate you longer, stretching the length of time you feel full, so hopefully you’ll need fewer in between snacks.

Dry Beans

A pound of dry beans costs between $1 and $2 per pound and can likely be used for several meals.  Use beans in soups, casseroles, and dips like hummus.  You can even use beans in desserts like black bean brownies.  (Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.  They’re delicious!)

Chicken

Chicken is a great animal protein that can be frugal if you buy it on sale or on the bone.  We usually try to use our animal protein as a supplement to a meal, not the main focus of the meal.  Try dishes like fried rice with some shredded chicken or chicken pot pie to complement all of the vegetables in the meal.

Don’t forget to take the bones and turn them into a homemade broth to use for future meals.  (We freeze our broth in ice cube trays for future use.)

Final Thoughts

If you’re on a tight grocery budget, remember that if you choose the most frugal food options, you can still eat healthy, nutritious, and filling foods.

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Start Your Summer Right—Go Straight to the Farm for the Best Produce

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Ah, summertime.  If you are a foodie, summertime brings so many food joys—fresh, ripe strawberries, juicy blueberries, crunchy asparagus.  There are many food delights that are available in summer that aren’t available for most of the country for most of the year.

Sure, you can buy strawberries shipped in from a foreign country in January, but they are often devoid of taste and don’t taste nearly as good as those you can buy in June near your home.

019_edited-1 © by Michael Bentley

Since there are likely farmers in your area who grow the seasonal produce you crave, why not take a trip out to the farm to pick some of the produce on your own?  Taking such a trip is a great way to spend time together as a family, plus you benefit both nutritionally and financially.    Not only will you get to enjoy produce at the peak of ripeness, but you will also likely save substantially by buying at the farm.  An added bonus is that your kids will more likely enjoy eating the produce and learning how it grows.

We recently went as a family to an organic strawberry farm near our home.  None of us had ever picked strawberries before, and we didn’t know that strawberries got there name from the straw surrounding the berries so they don’t sit on the ground but the straw instead.  We picked 7.5 pounds, bought 10 pounds and bought another 27 pounds of seconds (berries not pretty enough to sell for the full asking price).  We spent approximately $91 for our haul (about $2.00 a pound which is a great price for organic strawberries), and froze 4 large bags of strawberries and made 21 pints of jam.  The kids still talk about the experience, and now they are more educated about how strawberries grow (as are we).

If you would like to look for a farm in your area, try localharvest.org for organic farmers or farmvisit.com.  If you use farmvisit.com, you can choose between organic and conventional farmers.

If you do not regularly visit farms to pick your fruits and veggies, here are some tips:

  1. Call the farm ahead of time.  The farmer can let you know picking conditions as well as when the busiest times are and the quietest times.  We always try to plan our visits around the quiet times because it is easier with small kids.
  2. Bring your own containers.  Farmers may have large containers for you to take your produce home in, but you will usually have to pay for them.  Bring your own containers instead and save the money.  Use cardboard boxes or even large pots and pans.
  3. Bring plenty of water and sunscreen.  Picking produce makes you hot, so bring plenty of water as well as sunscreen to prevent a burn.
  4. Bring a lunch.  If you will be picking for awhile or will have a drive a distance to get out to the farm, bring your lunch with you so you can have a picnic or eat while traveling.
  5. Wear appropriate shoes and clothes.  Tennis shoes are usually best, and wear sloppy clothes because you will probably get dirty.
  6. Have a plan for what to do with your produce.  Decide ahead of time if you will only pick enough to eat right away or if you plan to preserve some of it by freezing or canning it.  If you are canning it, going to the farm is just the first step to a long (but worthwhile) day of picking and preserving.

A trip to the farm can be a great experience for your kids and save you money on fresh produce picked at the peak of ripeness.  If you go a step further and freeze or can some of the produce you pick, you can enjoy local fruit at a great price all year long, straight from your stockpile.