Sample Healthy Eating on a Budget Grocery List

Sample Healthy Eating on a Budget Grocery List

The grocery line item in your budget is one place you can potentially save a bunch of money!

Since baby number 3 has arrived (he’s 10 months old as I write this), my family and I have been in survival mode when it comes to eating healthy and nutritious meals. Basically meaning we grab what ever we can get our hands on when we have a second to eat after chasing a preschooler, toddler, and baby around.

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After realizing that we felt terrible . . .

We decided we were in need of healthier eating habits to give us more energy, better sleep, and overall improved health.

Here is an overall grocery budget for healthy eating. I’ve outlined what I buy at our regular stores and included a favorite go-to recipe that is about 10 minutes prep and 30 minutes of total cooking time in the oven.

These grocery hacks are sure to help you slim your waste and budget!

Healthy Eating on a Grocery Budget Hacks

Meal Planning

Meal planning is the number one way to create a manageable healthy grocery budget and stick to it! If you don’t know where to even begin with meal planning, then consider a service like $5 Dinners by Erin Chase.

You can pay $5 per month and Erin’s team will send you a meal plan for the month. Each meal costs about $2 per person. Her meals are really yummy and super affordable. You can choose a healthy meal plan option that will give you recipes and a grocery list that you can use to create a healthy grocery plan.

Want more meal planning ideas or ways to save on groceries? Check out >>>5 Frugal Dinner Ideas Under 10 Dollars or 20 Grocery Hacks to Make Your Life Better!

Shop at Multiple Stores

Ok! I hear ya! If you’re like me then it’s INSANE to think about dragging 3 kids to MULTIPLE grocery stores just to get the best deals.

Well, I’m crazy 🙂 But seriously when you are working to stay within a budget, sometimes you gotta do what ya gotta do!

So we hit up a few different stores each week. My favorites . . .

Fresh Market (Buy One Get One Free Organic Meat)

Kroger (sales)

Publix (sales)

Aldi (produce, eggs, breads)

Buy Frozen Veggies

I buy cut up frozen veggies for 2 reasons…

#1 It saves me time when I’m trying to get dinner thrown together.

#2 I don’t waste money on veggies that we don’t use all the time. So I don’t have a bag of onions going bad in the pantry.

One Recipe for 2 Meals

I usually add extra meat to our meals so that we can stretch them for a second meal. Sometimes we will just have leftovers for lunch or I will revamp the meat into a different meal. For example, we love tex-mex, so one night we have baked chicken with tex-mex seasoning and corn-blackbean-red onion salsa. Later in the week the leftover chicken will be shredded and used for quesadillas.

Pro Tip: DON’T waste food! This can save you tons if you aren’t wasting any food. By Thursday if we still have leftovers in the fridge, then we just have a leftovers potluck for dinner. That way nothing goes to waste or turns fuzzy in the fridge!

Grocery Shopping Apps

Ibotta

Ibotta is a cell phone app that is easy to use everywhere you go to buy groceries! You can easily earn cash back rebates and transfer the money into your Paypal account. This is seriously one of my favorite ways to save money at the grocery store!

I love this app because it is so easy to use and now it’s just part of my routine when I grocery shop. You can use this at your grocery store and even Target and Walmart!  You simply find the items you want to buy in your app and then scan your purchases and receipt when you get home and put everything away.

The best part is you get to earn cash back on items that usually don’t ever have coupons like fruits, vegetables, milk, and eggs! Also, they have many items each month that are NOT BRAND SPECIFIC. So you can choose any brand in that category and still save!

If you do this all year you will have a nice chunk of change saved up from doing what you already do! Join Ibotta and earn a signup bonus!

Want more details? Read my Ibotta Review

Shopkick

Shopkick is a super easy app to use. You simply download the app to your phone and you can earn points just for walking into the grocery store. You can earn points (1250 points = $3 gift card) and exchange them for gift cards to places like Target!

You can earn more points by scanning items in the grocery store and even on things you buy. Just remember to check the Shopkick app before you go shopping.

Another easy way to earn points is by referring your friends to join Shopkick!

I save my points all throughout the year and use them to get giftcards to Target for Christmas gifts. This is one of my favorite ways to save money because it requires almost no effort!

You can sign up for the Shopkick app here with my link >>> Join Shopkick Now!

Sample Healthy Grocery List on a Budget

We are basing our grocery budget on about $80 per person for 5 people (2 adults, 1 preschooler, 1 toddler, and 1 – 10 month old baby) About $100 per week for a healthy grocery list.

Aldi

Meats

Wild Caught Salmon

Lean Ground Turkey

All Beef Hot Dogs – Kids

Turkey Bacon

Dairy

Yogurt – Kids

Eggs

Snacks

Roasted Almonds

Tortilla Chips

Salsa

Crackers – Kids (Similar to Ritz)

Hummus

Baby Food

Vegetable & Fruit Pouches (My big kids eat these too!)

Vegetables

Zuchinni

Celery

Tomatoes

Potatoes

Mushrooms

Spinach

Broccoli

Cilantro

Fruit

Blueberries

Strawberries

Staples

Raisin Bran Cereal – Kids

Oatmeal

Chicken Stock

Cumin

Paprika

Chili Powder

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Seasoning

Butter

Olive Oil

Bread

Canned mushrooms

Canned Blackbeans

Kroger

Meats

Deli Meat – kids

Dairy

String Cheese

Sour Cream

Vegetables

*I buy vegetables that I only need 1 or 2 of at Kroger so I don’t waste food or money!

Tomatoes

Red Onion

Lemon

Lime

Avocado

Fruits

Apples

Bananas

Grapes

Frozen

Frozen Veggies – peas, carrots, corn, onions, celery

Pizza – Kids

Staples

Juicy Juice – Kids

Whole wheat Tortillas

Fresh Market

Buy One Get One Free Meats

Ground Beef

Chicken (**I have just started ordering Zaycon Fresh chicken. The price is about the same, so if you aren’t near a Fresh Market, then Zaycon Fresh could be a huge help for you!)

Publix

I usually check the weekly sales that are running at Publix. Sometimes I will stock up on granola bars or other snack kind of foods like Goldfish, Cheerios (for the baby), etc. Their Buy One Get One Deals are great!

A few things I pick up online as I need them:

Mrs. Dash Taco Seasoning (I can’t always find this at any of my local stores.)

Mrs. Dash Chili Seasoning

Extreme Milk Chocolate Protein Powder from Optimum Nutrition this is a great treat after a workout or even when I’m craving something sweet and chocolatey! This can usually lasts us 3 – 4 months.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE GROCERY LIST HERE! >>> Healthy Eating on a Budget Grocery List

Healthy Recipe from Ingredients on the Healthy Grocery List on a Budget

Here is one of our go-to recipes! I usually make baked chicken one night and then quesadillas another night.

Tex-Mex Chicken with Corn-Blackbean-Red Onion Relish

Ingredients:

Meat:

5-6 Chicken Breasts

1 Packet Mrs. Dash Taco Seasoning

¼ cup water

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Corn-Blackbean-Red Onion Relish:

Frozen Corn

Canned Blackbeans

Red Onion (diced)

Cilantro

Lime Juice from 1 – 2 Limes

Orange Juice from 1 Orange **Optional

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 Degrees

Corn-Blackbean-Red Onion Relish

Microwave corn (I always buy the frozen corn that can be heated in the bag). Bring blackbeans to a boil on the stove (cook according to can) then cool. Finely chop red onion & cilantro.

Mix all ingredients together and then add the juice from the Limes and Orange. Cover and chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Chicken Breast

Place chicken breast in lightly oiled glass casserole dish.

In a separate bowl, mix together Cumin, Tomato Boullion, Chili Powder, Water, and Olive Oil. (You can mix this and let the chicken soak in the mixture for 30 minutes if you have the time. **Optional)

Pour the mixture over the chicken and place in the over uncovered for 30 – 35 minutes until chicken is cooked all the way through.

When the chicken is finished cover the chicken with the Corn-Blackbean-Red Onion relish.

Eat up!

Leftovers can be used for quesadillas, tacos, chicken chili, and more!

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How do you eat healthy on a budget?