Shop at discount grocery stores. If you can find a discount grocery store in your area, try to shop there.

Discount stores buy things like dented cans, overstocked foods, and other items regular retailers might not shelve and sell them for a reduced rate. Be careful with dented cans. Know the protocol about when it is and is not safe to buy a dented can.

A can with a dent in the seam, a dent where the sides and ends of a can meet, a sharp dent, or a dent that causes bulging of swelling means the can is probably not safe for consumption.

Dents at the top of a can are also a bad sign. This means the seal could have broken, allowing harmful bacteria to get inside the can. Method 3. Grow your own food. If possible, you could grow certain food items on your own.

If you have the time and resources to grow food, this could save some money on the cost of produce. Even if you do not have a backyard, certain fruit, vegetables, and legume plants can grow healthily out of pots. Beans, corn, carrots, radishes, spinach, and others can be grown from a pot. Make sure the soil is watered regularly.

Water it once a day or whenever it feels damp. If you do not have access to a lot of natural light via windows or a balcony, many greenhouses and hardware stores sell grow lights that simulate the effect of natural sunlight.

If you get involved, you might be eligible to receive free items from each harvest. Community gardens also might allow you a specific plot where you can grow and tend to your own fruits and vegetables.

Seek out edible plants in your area. Oftentimes, certain spots in a city or town contain fruit trees or edible plants. If the area is a community space, it is legal for you to pick the fruit and greens for your own consumption. If you're not sure where to get started, the website Falling Fruit provides an interactive map of a variety of cities.

Falling Fruit locates areas where food grows and is legal to forage. Using Falling Fruit, you could potentially find free, fresh produce.

Ask around if you discover, say, an apple tree to make sure it falls on community rather than private property. If you pick apples from a tree found on someone's personal residence, you could potentially get in legal trouble. Buy a foraging handbook.

These are guides that will help you differentiate between plant types to know what's safe to eat. It will also teaching you how to properly clean and store foraged food. Dumpster diving is a type of foraging where people go to the dumpsters of groceries stores and restaurants to search for recently expired food that's been thrown out.

Careful though. Dumpster diving is not always legal and if there are posted signs prohibiting trespassing it's best to go elsewhere. Some areas have outright banned dumpster diving, so check the regulations in your area. Also, only take food from dumpsters if it's in a safe plastic wrapping that is unbroken or otherwise damaged.

Use PareUp to find legally buy leftover grocery food. PareUp is an application that allows groceries stores to sell surplus food at a discount price rather than throwing it out.

You can download PareUp using your smart phone. Groceries stores enter their excess food into PareUp's inventory, alongside its time of availability and price.

By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. The human body needs food to live. However, the average human can go up to three weeks without eating any food. You could live on a liquid diet, but your body needs to injest nutrients and calories.

We're glad this was helpful. Thank you for your feedback. Use it to try out great new products and services nationwide without paying full price—wine, food delivery, clothing and more.

Claim Your Gift If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. Support wikiHow Yes No. Not Helpful 4 Helpful There should be homeless shelters nearby.

Try visting one, it will give you aid until you're back on your feet. Not Helpful 11 Helpful If I don't have a smartphone, how can I download PareUp Foods to get free or cheap food? If possible, ask one of your friends who has a smartphone to download it for you on their phone.

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 8. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. If you are invited to participate in something that offers free food, take it up on the offer. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. You can buy certain food items in bulk and freeze excess items to prolong their shelf life.

Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Many people dumpster dive to get free food, but this is illegal in many states at it violates trespassing laws.

Thanks Helpful 20 Not Helpful You Might Also Like. How to. More References About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: January 26, Categories: Budgeting. In other languages Español: conseguir comida gratis o barata legalmente.

Italiano: Ottenere Legalmente del Cibo Gratis o Scontato. Русский: законно получить еду бесплатно или дешево. Get to the checkout line of any grocery store these days and you may be shocked to see the amount at the bottom of your receipt.

One of the best ways to find cheap groceries is to create a budget-friendly, healthy grocery list and stick to it. By prioritizing seasonal items, frozen foods and certain cuts of meat and seafood, shopping strategically can help keep sticker shock to a minimum.

The key to locating cheap groceries is to create a system for shopping, and that begins before you even grab a cart. Start by identifying the closest supermarkets to you hello, high gas prices!

and cross check the cost of your favorite items online before you shop. Think about what you spend the most on and prioritize finding the best price for those items.

The next step is to follow that quintessential shopping advice: Don't go to the grocery store hungry. You're much more likely to make impulse and unhealthy purchases if you do, so shop after a meal or grab a healthy snack before heading to the store.

And remember: The cheapest groceries are not always the most nutritious; consider spending slightly more for foods that are filling and nutrient-dense. For tips and recommendations for a more economical shopping experience, see below for advice from the experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute Nutrition Lab.

Fruit and vegetables are among the groceries with the largest price jumps lately , but you can still find affordable produce by buying seasonally.

Purchasing when produce is abundant helps lower the cost and will all but assure the best taste and highest levels of nutrition. Seasonal Fruits. Seasonal Vegetables. Another way to save money on produce is to opt for fruit and vegetables that have a longer shelf-life.

For example, to help extend your grocery dollars, choose apples over berries or carrots or celery over leafy greens.

Generally, some of the cheapest fruit and vegetables year-round tend to be bananas, apples, oranges, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and sweet potatoes. Meat can be the most expensive category for most food budgets, and can account for a large portion of the overall grocery bill.

To save money, opt for the ground variety of your favorite protein. Ground beef, chicken or turkey are super versatile, easily frozen and can be used in many different recipes. Larger cuts of meat will usually cost less per pound, but they may require marinating, braising and slow cooking to bring out the tenderness.

If you do prefer to include cheaper cuts of meat, consider including:. Buying a whole chicken instead of pre-portioned cuts can also save money and the leftovers, including the bones, are great for making chicken soup or bone broth.

We want to live well below our means as we are trying to mass save which we are doing well in all areas except for food. Your site has really helped me simplify my thinking and I am totally going to consistently incorporate cooking into our homeschool curriculum! Cinthia, your comment totally made my day.

I am so delighted that what I am sharing is helping you. Thank for taking the time to let me know! And I love too that you are thinking about ways to incorporate cooking into your homeschooling.

So smart! Well, I do actually work for a living. It definitely is easier to cook at home when you are there most of the time because of your work, but I know lots of people that work full time away from home and still eat similarly to this.

A lot of it comes down to mindset. If we decide something is doable, we are more willing to figure out how to make it work and willing to make the sacrifices to do it. No judgment! Just know that it can be done even if you are working full time.

Crockpots and prepping food ahead are two things that help a lot! Lydia, I am so thankful to have found your page. I feed 4 teenagers, a 9 year old, hubby, and myself.

I appreciate the work that you have put into your site! Thank you! Sorry for the slow reply, Stephanie! We just went through a bit move and I got a bit behind with things. Thank you so much for your kind words.

Are you looking for the cheapest food to save on your grocery bill? Here are 45+ options for the cheapest pantry and fridge staples you can For even greater savings, purchase canned food items at discount stores — like Big Lots and Dollar General — and budget grocery chains like Aldi Get access to cheap groceries and low cost food. Non-profits run programs that offer cheap groceries, inexpensive food boxes and low-cost items both online

Frugal food vouchers) Affordable canned goods - Being affordable and nutritious, apples are a great fruit option for those seeking to cut down on spending. Key Takeaways: Canned fruits and Are you looking for the cheapest food to save on your grocery bill? Here are 45+ options for the cheapest pantry and fridge staples you can For even greater savings, purchase canned food items at discount stores — like Big Lots and Dollar General — and budget grocery chains like Aldi Get access to cheap groceries and low cost food. Non-profits run programs that offer cheap groceries, inexpensive food boxes and low-cost items both online

Eat less meat. TVP is dirt cheap and shelf stable, seitan is dirt cheap if you make it at home. posted by SaltySalticid at AM on October 17, [ 6 favorites ]. I think my 1 tip for eating cheaply as a single person with low caloric needs is to get comfortable with leftovers and with eating the same thing a lot of the time.

A few key sauces can make this easier. My 2 tip would be AVOID SPOILAGE. Only buy things that are regular staple parts of your diet I know I can happily eat a roasted cauliflower every week , or things that you are genuinely excited to try.

Miscellaneous tips: Chicken is usually the cheapest meat especially thighs and legs , and it freezes insanely well so it's worth buying the family pack and putting the pieces up in one-or-two-serving packages. Eggs are usually the cheapest protein for your dollar. You can often bulk out recipes that call for ground beef with grains rice, bulgur wheat, whatever.

posted by mskyle at AM on October 17, [ 9 favorites ]. Cannot stress the planning thing enough. Like for real I just went to my fridge and realized that I've planned badly -- I have too much fresh stuff to eat before I leave town in a few days and some of it's just going to go bad, and I am so irked.

posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at AM on October 17, [ 14 favorites ]. Potatoes are cheap, filling and tasty, and go with pretty much everything. Don't peel them, wash them. You can cut them into wedges, microwave them on full blast for 5 minutes, and then fry them in a bit of oil.

posted by Too-Ticky at AM on October 17, [ 6 favorites ]. It also includes tips on how to shop and what kind of bargains to look for, and where paying a bit extra really matters for food quality. posted by ErisLordFreedom at AM on October 17, [ 12 favorites ].

Paying a little more for dish detergent Second Generation is good is worth it--it hurts when you realize it is more costly, but you can use a teensy bit at a time and ultimately it lasts longer. Most people use too much detergent in both laundry and dishwashing machines. It isn't necessary. Learning to make a nice, passive bread like the No Knead bread recipe that is everywhere is useful--you can make good bread for pennies on the dollar and it's fancy and you really don't have to do much of anything--it is time consuming only in the most passive of senses.

Dry ingredients like garlic and onion are underrated and good staple items and great to have if you want to add some flavor to whatever. It took me a long time to accept this but it's preferable to just buy frozen broccoli if you can't reliably use the broccoli you got from the produce department.

If I didn't have those frozen, I wouldn't eat them. If you can splurge, the olive oil in the cans at the bottom of the shelf are ultimately much cheaper than the smaller amounts if you compare per gallon costs.

Typically I don't look too hard at that but with olive oil, I do. It's worth it to have even cheap wine around. When my husband and I were laid off many years ago, many a cheap-o romantic dinner was had over six dollar bottles of Shiraz. There is a Sunday Meal Prep subreddit , and the Frugal subreddit , both of which are good places for tips.

posted by A Terrible Llama at AM on October 17, [ 3 favorites ]. Response by poster: One additional thought - which Blast Hardcheese mentioned - I have a hard time with produce spoiling because I live alone and can't eat it quickly enough.

I love most fruit, plus spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers, snap peas, broccoli and the occasional carrot. posted by AFABulous at AM on October 17, posted by PMdixon at AM on October 17, [ 3 favorites ].

On update: freeze your produce. Cruciferous vegetables usually do well in the freezer, as do onions and peppers. posted by PMdixon at AM on October 17, Sticking to ethnic markets is a great strategy, and was my number 1 suggestion.

The produce quality can vary, however. It's best to use the stuff up quickly. Our local produce market will often sell discount produce that's on it's last legs. This shit gets turned into smoothies with the aid of a stick blender.

Does the beans-exclusion also extend to lentils? Because Daal is like, super, super fucking cheap. It needs not be spicy hot , but is often rather spiced.

Spices seem expensive, but find yourself a grocery store with a good bulk section and get only exactly what you need, and you'll be fine. Smoked and cured meats, while more expensive per weight, have more intense flavor and far less is used to flavor a dish.

It holds well, is easy to scale and sustains. Buy whole chickens and learn how to butcher them yourself it's really just like 7 cuts, here's a great demo , just make sure your knife is sharp. Whole chickens are almost always cheaper than purchasing their constituent parts. It's fairly easy, and then you get to turn the carcass into broth, which can be used in a dozen different ways to feed yourself.

This isn't a time-efficient way of doing so, but you can take a basic broth nothing but chicken and water and add the aromatics in later. If you have a 'base' broth, you can add in wildly different aromatics and have that one broth service all sorts of meals.

There's a trend in produce sections to move towards packaged shit. Avoid at all cost, as you mention, spoilage is rampant with that game.

Now that you have the broth; Noodles. Noodles come in every stripe known to mankind. If you have access to an asian grocery store, you'll have access to tons of cheap, fresh noodles that are nigh endless in variety.

Noodles fill you up. Noodles are cheap. Depending on where you live, your neighbors might have some large rosemary or other herbs growing near wild. I've never felt guilty about snipping an inch or two off for a meal, especially when that amount of herb costs several dollars at a grocery store.

Eggs are a fantastic source of sustenance, and there are like a billion ways to cook them. Personal fave that ties in with broth and noodles is soft boiled. posted by furnace. heart at AM on October 17, [ 5 favorites ]. To add to the places A Terrible Llama linked, EatCheapAndHealthy on reddit is good for general strategies as well.

Some other comments: - Frozen spinach is cheap and really useful for adding some greens to whatever. Like eggs.

It's more expensive though. posted by quaking fajita at AM on October 17, [ 1 favorite ]. Agree on the planning - it's a great way to reduce waste. Buying cabbage to use on tacos?

Then you plan another meal using it as well later in the week. Make a list of all the stuff you like and then you can group them easily into meals that use similar ingredients. Re: bulk items - these are GREAT money savers. You don't have to buy a lot - you can buy exactly the amount of rice or pasta or spices or whatever you need for what you're cooking, with no leftovers to store.

Same with veggies - do some prep once a week so stuff is ready to go when you want to cook. Figure out how to repurpose leftovers so they don't seem like leftovers roast chicken one night, tortilla soup another, a stir fry another. Whole chicken instead of parts.

Seasonal produce is cheap, but produce in general is not always and frozen can often be a good alternate.

There are good recipes Serious Eats, Epicurious, NY Times etc. Lots of ideas here. I would read this , too. posted by OneSmartMonkey at AM on October 17, Order some groceries from Vitacost. I buy oatmeal as well as larabars there to save money.

I also get my toiletries there, but that's because I try to buy cruelty-free, which is more expensive in regular stores. What's cheaper for you will vary, so you'd have to go through the website.

They're definitely oriented toward what I'll call "health" brands. posted by FencingGal at AM on October 17, [ 1 favorite ]. Cheap protein without beans is tough but doable: Plan on lots of eggs and cheap cuts of meat in stews.

Get some vegetarian cookbooks from the library if you don't already have the knowledge. Tofu, tempeh, and vital wheat gluten for making seitan are all pretty cheap.

Whole grains have lots of protein, and brown rice and steel cut oats are very cheap. Quinoa is expensive but you can mix it with other grains like rice. Powdered milk is also a good sub for protein, works best in recipes rather than straight.

Yogurt is great and cheap if you make it in batch from scratch pretty easy. Peanut butter cost pennies and can be a base for many meals peanut noodles, African peanut stew.

Can you eat peas? Split pea soup, etc is very cheap. posted by veery at AM on October 17, [ 1 favorite ]. I have a hard time with produce spoiling because I live alone and can't eat it quickly enough. One tip I use that saves me money and prevents this from happening: for produce sold by the pound, you can pull out what you need.

I will sometimes pull two kale leaves out from different bunches, and I end up paying 31 cents for it, and it doesn't spoil. You can break off a tiny piece of ginger. You can buy two loose mushrooms to chop for a stir-fry.

You can pull out one cluster of grapes, even if all the bags contain This works best if you are close to a store, and doesn't work with places like Aldi, but it can make a difference with cost and waste. posted by a fiendish thingy at AM on October 17, [ 7 favorites ].

The most drastic cutting to my grocery bill happened when I was really serious and diligent about making menus and sticking to them. I HATE doing it, sadly, but it really did make a huge difference. There are some grocery items at Target if yours has a grocery that are, at least in my area, cheaper than they are at the grocery store.

Off the top of my head: cereal, milk, snackies like chips except for the super cheap Kroger tortilla chips , and some frozen stuff. On preview: seconding a fiendish thingy's suggestion on pulling out only what you need in produce sold by the pound.

posted by cooker girl at AM on October 17, Yes, seconding the broth idea. Crock pot? You're golden. Buy soup bones, turkey necks, oxtails--that kind of thing, at the right store: if it's a hipster store, they'll mark it up because it's peasant food--and throw in crockpot on low with water.

Flash fry cheap vegetables like carrots, celery and greens, and add them to the broth with cooked noodles, rice, barley, potatoes, whatever--do a different assemblage every day so you don't die of the dull. Buy just a few of the high end vegetables you like to use as freshcrunch garnish on top of the soup.

You can make a bell pepper last a few days this way. Add water to the crock pot to replace what you take out, until it gets too low in umami, whereupon toss and start over with a new base meat.

You can put an entire uncutup frozen chicken directly into the crock pot, add water to cover, and start drinking the proceeds the next day, and you can live off of that for nearly a week before it gets too tired. Oh: ONIONS. They're cheap as dirt and they make everything delicious.

posted by Don Pepino at AM on October 17, [ 2 favorites ]. One of my big cooking-for-one discoveries has been frozen produce.

Budget Bytes has converted me to the virtues of frozen broccoli , which is cheap, doesn't spoil, and comes pre-chopped and ready to go. Frozen veggies work for stir fries.

Aldi has cheap frozen produce, although I'm not sure there's a huge difference between Aldi and the store brand at the supermarket. Chicken thighs are pretty cheap. I make a batch like this and then put them on salads or in sandwiches over the course of a week. I get salad stuff at Aldi.

posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at AM on October 17, [ 3 favorites ]. How tight we talking? It's not a cheap diet. here's how: Visualize every plate in thirds. Choose one item per category. You can make it into a soup, salad, stir-fry, roast, slow cook stew or sandwich.

Greens esp, and frozen.. Drizzle as much oil, fat and mayonnaise as you like over everything. Choose fatty cheap cuts of meat — eat the gristle, or turn it into stock! Don't buy prepackaged or highly processed food at all — any supplements you buy should be things like "herbs, spices, pickles, olives, pesto, mustards, flavorful sauces" that pack a punch and last a long time.

I follow the same pattern every day. Breakfast is 2 eggs and sweet potato hash with slivered onions, greens, bell peppers. Lunch is soup or salad. Dinner is stir-fry made of whatever's in my fridge or, possibly, a classic midwestern meat and vegetables dinner.

When I have time I make big batches of more prep-intensive food. You can substitute leftovers for any of the above. If I'm really lazy, I visit my favorite cheap Mexican stand or Thai restaurant and order three days worth of tacos or pho.

posted by fritillary at AM on October 17, [ 2 favorites ]. I forgot the king of side meats: the ham hock. Ham hocks and collards. I guess this might depend where you are, but where they grow collards should always be cheap, especially if you buy the enormous bunches.

Wash in the washing machine, strip them off the spines, cook in enormous soup pot with ham hock, freeze in batches, food for months.

Further pursuant to side meat, bacon. Freeze in two-strip allotments which you dice, fry and drain. Fry onion in the bacon grease 'til part-done, saute squash or okra or whatever hearty vegetable 'til soft, add the bacon back in, salt, pepper, delicious.

If you really want to save, don't toss traditionally tossed parts of vegetables. Like those collard spines. I've minced them and cooked them this way with bacon and onion, and they're fine.

Not, you know, like eating yellow squash cooked the same way, which is sublime, but perfectly edible. posted by Don Pepino at AM on October 17, May I suggest noodles, if you have a passion for them. Noodles with cheese, noodles with red sauce, noodles with peanut butter, noodles with olive oil, noodles tossed with ground beef and cabbage, noodles with garlic and yogurt.

They are easy to make and easy to add variety to, I guess. If you can trick yourself into feeling enthusiasm or excitement for a couple of recipes, that could help!

There are so many delicious and novel recipes that you can make with chicken drumsticks and tofu, to name two cheap protein sources. Lots of interesting Youtube resources. I think coming up with a Signature Version of these kinds of dishes could help.

I personally need a protein of some kind not to feel deprived. posted by karmachameleon at AM on October 17, [ 1 favorite ]. You can freeze just about anything you buy including dairy products like cheese.

Now the texture might be a little different when you thaw it out, but it still tastes pretty much the same. What I do is buy milk, cheese, meat, and produce when it's at a deep discount and freeze most of it in plastic zipper bags for use at a later date.

It's the only way I can afford to eat good food that is healthy. Also, find printable coupons on the internet. Many different sites. Google for printable coupons. Then "stack" the coupons with the sales at the grocery store for even more savings! Check out the coupon blogs online, not to get into extreme couponing, but to find out how other people save money on groceries and other goods.

It's possible to save a lot of money with a little bit of work before you head to the market. Good luck! posted by strelitzia at AM on October 17, [ 1 favorite ]. I know you said that you didn't want recipes, but then you also said that you had trouble with vegetables spoiling.

Cabbage of all varieties is my go-to "cheap and doesn't spoil" vegetable. I used to hate it but have found a number of recipes I really like, to wit: 1. Coarsely grate and saute over medium-high in a fat for six or seven minutes, ideally in a heavy wide pan cook longer over medium low and stir more for a thin pan.

Finish by stirring in some of the following: butter, sour cream for preference Mexican , hot sauce, salt and pepper, curry spices, curry paste. This creates a large, filling dish which you can top with an egg, meat or a sauce.

Red cabbage and green cabbage taste substantially different and it is worth having both on hand. Make the cheap parts of the osaka cabbage pancake - basically, I make this with cabbage, egg, flour, sometimes some grated onion or carrot and powdered dashi.

The fancy yam is great and sometimes I get that, but it's fine without. Cabbage and tofu in broth. If you have access to an asian grocery store, you can probably get some powdered spicy broth.

The ones I get are Korean or Japanese, usually. Don't use too much water. Boil the tofu and cabbage until cabbage is done, top with sesame oil if you have it. Basically I tend to use cabbage to bulk up a lot of main dishes.

If you eat meat, you can poach your chicken or stew your other meat with aromatics and cabbage and you've got a main dish.

posted by Frowner at AM on October 17, [ 5 favorites ]. I have a hard time with produce spoiling because I live alone and can't eat it quickly enough Same.

My local grocery store has a decent salad bar that sells by weight, and it is far far cheaper for me to get, like, a serving of chopped veg or a few ounces of cubed grilled chicken than it is to get the whole thing, cook it, and watch most of it die in my fridge uneaten.

If your groceries don't have a by-weight salad bar, there might be somewhere else near you a cafeteria, etc that does, and as a single-eating person I've found it to be a great cost-effective savings in terms of hassle and waste. I ate a lot of baked potatoes when I was super broke, and it was really ok because I fucking love potatoes.

I don't have to eat super cheap any more but I still love baked potatoes. posted by phunniemee at AM on October 17, [ 3 favorites ]. One additional thought - which Blast Hardcheese mentioned - I have a hard time with produce spoiling because I live alone and can't eat it quickly enough.

I don't live alone but I'm the only one who eats the produce, ha, so I run into this as well. Also yeah a lot of vegetables you wouldn't expect can be bought frozen or frozen by yourself. posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at AM on October 17, [ 4 favorites ].

Frozen vegetables are usually considerably cheaper than fresh, and are healthier - they are picked when ripe and flash frozen immediately. Whereas "fresh"' is picked unripe and often stored before shipping. And of course with frozen, you only use what you need that day, and the rest stays in the freezer.

So 69¢ a lb. If you don't have room in your freezer, you can boil it I add cumin, garlic and some powdered bullion until it falls off the bone, debone it, and it will all fit into a gallon ziplock bag. The broth can be used for soup, or frozen for later, or you can cook rice or noodles in it.

Trader Joe's is cheap for some cheeses Brie, goat cheese , and oddball things like balsamic glaze, sesame oil, and good olive oil, but their produce and frozen prepared foods are not cost effective.

Grate your own cheese. Do a search for "salvage grocery store" in your city. These can be insanely cheap. Basically, when a case of canned corn falls off the truck while it's being unloaded into the store, the store rejects it.

Maybe the box broke open but all the cans are fine, so the salvage store buys them and they sell them individually. Or one jar of olives broke, so they sell the rest of the case. I once got a 2. It was labeled as cheesecake, but I was even happier when I opened it and discovered it was labeled wrong.

I also once paid 17¢ a can for large, 28 oz cans of roasted peppers. Be very thorough when going through the store, because they're usually not very organized. To find the really good deals, I would go over every inch of the store with a fine toothed comb, so to speak. They usually have a combination of food from both grocery store and restaurants - so you often find things like a box of 12 frozen gourmet desserts, or duck-filled ravioli.

I have shopped at these places for more than 10 years and never gotten sick. Do check expiration dates, especially on refrigerated items. Don't assume Walmart is always cheaper. They often are on national brands, but not always, and usually not on produce. And their produce seems to go bad really quickly.

Even if you currently boycott Walmart, it's ok to shop there now. We do what we have to do to survive. TVP, as mentioned above, is cheap. Use it in place of ground meat, and add mushrooms or broth to give it flavor.

You can usually buy tofu cheapest at Asian markets. If you freeze it and defrost it, it changes the texture and people generally assume it's meat if you don't tell them. posted by MexicanYenta at AM on October 17, [ 4 favorites ].

For fruit that won't spoil quickly, put apples and plums in the fridge. Some citrus will do ok on the counter for a while. Vegetables in the fridge: carrots live almost forever.

Bell peppers last a while. We eat enough grape tomatoes that I know those will get eaten, but have a plan for them, they do NOT last long. Cauliflower will live a while in the fridge. Buy spinach and broccoli frozen. Eggs are an excellent protein, cheap and they last a long time in the fridge.

Eat eggs for at least a few meals. Mix em up with hash-brown potatoes and some veg and cheese, maybe bacon if you like that, and it's a delicious dinner frittata that you can make several meals out of!

I saw someone recommending bulk purchase of dry goods above. I don't do that anymore because by the time I get around to eating that stuff it invariably has pantry moths in it. Honestly one person alone doesn't need to spend a ton on food.

It's not like a family where you have several people with different wants that need to be accommodated. Make a menu for the week of things that store well, are easy to make and that you like - this is crucial, otherwise you won't stick to the plan.

Repeat it every week. posted by fingersandtoes at AM on October 17, [ 2 favorites ]. Canned goods tend to go on sale this time of year due to holiday cooking and baking.

This is insurance against unexpected expenses in the future that might leave you with no grocery money one week. Give them a try.

We're confident they'll soon become a staple in your pantry. One of the most versatile shelf-stable foods, canned tomatoes are a pantry essential. They're easy to cook with, preserved at their prime, and just as nutritious as fresh.

Their concentrated flavor, bright color, and juiciness make them great for pasta dishes, soups, and warming stews. You can use them in everything from marinara sauce and eggplant Parmesan to jambalaya and chili. Don't get us wrong, fresh tomatoes rock our world, but the sweetest, most succulent ones are only available during summer.

And while you wouldn't put canned tomatoes on a salad, they're perfect for quick sauces, curries, and chilis. Thanks to canned tomatoes, you can enjoy the bright flavor of tomatoes all year long. Many different brands of canned tomatoes are available and come in all sorts of forms. Whether diced, crushed, or whole, canned tomatoes can be used in everything from simple sauces to heartier dishes like chicken cacciatore.

Plus, according to Healthline , tomatoes are a terrific source of the antioxidant lycopene, which is associated with a lower risk of illnesses like heart disease and certain cancers.

Picked at peak ripeness, canned fruit lets you enjoy seasonal fruit, like peaches and pears, throughout the year.

Look for fruit packed in juice with no artificial color, and serve canned fruit as is, over yogurt, blended into a smoothie, or over pancakes. Canned fruit can also be used in baked goods.

If you're a baker, you know the secret to any good carrot cake is canned, crushed pineapple. Prefer drinking over baking?

Swap your sweetener for canned fruit in your next cocktail. Muddle some canned peaches into your next Old Fashioned for a tantalizing, fruity beverage that will leave you warm and cozy.

One of our favorite canned fruits is pumpkin. It's a phenomenal product to always have on hand in your pantry, and if you've ever tried making pumpkin purée from scratch, you likely agree. It has virtually no fat, sodium, or added sugar, and despite popular belief, you can use canned pumpkin for more than just pie.

Pumpkin adds sweet wholesomeness to banana bread and turns pancakes into moist, flavorful breakfast yumminess. Tuna from a can is high in protein, low in fat, and a great source of healthy omega-3 essential fatty acids. The American Heart Association and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults eat two 3.

But for many people who don't live near the ocean, fresh fish isn't readily available. Canned tuna allows them to include fish in their diets easily — and cheaply. Tuna fish is one of the most popular canned food items out there. Undoubtedly, a can of tuna is sitting in almost everyone's kitchen pantry.

And while it's great for making quick lunch sandwiches, there are many other creative ways to use this healthful protein. Pop open a tin of tuna and mix it into a hot, baked, cheesy casserole that feeds crowds. Or, dress up pasta with tuna chunks, olives, and feta cheese for a Mediterranean-inspired meal.

Our favorite way to use canned tuna? Blended with herbs, seasonings, and eggs, then rolled in breadcrumbs, these tender tuna cakes will turn "Fish Friday" into your family's favorite day of the week. When cooler weather rolls around, you'll be glad you stocked up on canned soups.

They're quick to prepare and can be easily customized to your tastes by adding other ingredients, like noodles, vegetables, or beans. Canned soups get a bad rap for being high in sodium and made with thickeners high in fat and calories, like egg yolks, cream, and cornstarch.

We don't deny this, so look for soups labeled low or reduced sodium, low-fat, and organic. Stick to tomato, lentil, and vegetable soups while veering away from creamy chowders and bisques. You'll enjoy a comforting, nutritious meal while staying hydrated if you make good choices. Pro tip: If you're not yet sold on canned soup, view it as a starting point.

Try adding spices, pressed garlic, or fresh herbs. Or, stir in a handful of shredded cheese, leftover rice, or fresh protein, like tofu or shredded chicken. Our favorite add-in?

Swirled into almost any canned soup, pesto adds a dimension of flavor that's hard to beat. Making chili from scratch has a level of enjoyment and satisfaction. But if you're short on time, canned chili is a delicious, affordable alternative. It's a meal-in-a-can perfect for a busy weeknight dinner.

You can serve canned chili in various ways, including straight from the can. Enjoy it warmed up with cornbread or smothered over a steaming baked potato, crisp nachos, or golden french fries.

If it needs some pizazz, add homemade chili seasoning to give it the upgrade you want. Remember, chili also makes a superb, satisfying filling for tacos, burritos, and hollowed bell peppers. If canned chili on its own doesn't float your boat, use it as a base and add fresh ingredients — like cilantro and jalapeño — for bright flavor.

Or, sauté those green peppers in your vegetable drawer that have been creeping past their prime, then mix them into canned chili for some serious crunch. With a few simple additions, you'll have a nourishing weeknight meal that tastes homemade.

There are many canned chili options for all sorts of diets: vegetarian, meat, and no-bean, to name a few. As with other canned items, consider buying low-sodium. We get it. Canned luncheon meat isn't for everyone. But if your bank account is the lowest it's been in months, this affordable, shelf-stable food might be what you need.

Luncheon meats contain meat, water, and curing ingredients salt and nitrates. Fat, spices, and additives are sometimes also present. As you may have guessed, luncheon meats are high in calories, so eat them sparingly. Nevertheless, keeping a few cans in your pantry is worth it for creating cost-effective meals.

There are some fantastic ways to use luncheon meats. Because it's pre-cooked and a breeze to slice evenly, luncheon meats are great for layering in sandwiches or cutting into cubes for ramen soup, fried rice, and stir-fries.

We love it cut into strips, pan-seared, and wrapped in soft tortillas with a chipotle cabbage slaw for epic tacos. And it's the perfect salty protein needed in our weekend morning hashes. We couldn't talk about luncheon meat without mentioning Spam.

It's one of the most polarizing brands — people either love or detest it. But, whichever side you're on, its cultural status can't be denied. Hormel Foods introduced Spam to the masses in as inexpensive meat, a much-welcome product during the Great Depression.

Spam continued to grow in popularity during World War II because its long shelf life allowed it to be shipped to military troops across the country. To this day, Spam remains a budget-friendly food worldwide and a staple in Hawaii.

Pasta sauce is a handy food to keep in your pantry so you can enjoy quick and easy Italian dishes. Heat the sauce in a pot while your pasta cooks, and you'll have a tasty meal in less than 10 minutes. And though it likely won't win a culinary award anytime soon, canned pasta sauce has its purposes, like feeding hungry kiddos, taking on RV trips, or stocking up for emergency preparedness.

We're aware that canned pasta sauce can be pretty bland. Fortunately, there are easy ways to improve its flavor by adding other ingredients, like fresh basil, red pepper flakes, and fresh garlic. Or, stir in some dried oregano and a pinch of sugar and use it as pizza sauce.

Pro tip: Allow the pasta sauce to simmer on the stovetop for 5 to 10 minutes before tossing it with cooked pasta. The added cook time allows the sauce to thicken and flavors to concentrate for that same richness found in homemade sauces. A pantry essential for home cooks, canned broth is a savory base used in countless dishes.

You can steep broth with herbs and white wine to use as a flavorful poaching liquid for fish. Or, turn the broth into a satisfying soup by adding a protein and grain, like chicken and rice.

And when used to scrape up browned bits left in a pan after searing meat, broth makes a superb base for pan gravies and stews. Canned broth is a terrific source of vitamins, minerals, and fluid to fight everyday ailments like colds and flu.

Nothing soothes a sore throat better than a cup of warm broth, don't you agree?

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