My fridge is getting pretty empty and i don’t have much money aside for food. I like all fruits except oranges, any veggies are good, and i like to eat organic stuff like organic meats. I also like seafood. Since the recession has come food prices are going up and i can’t buy everything i like. I need your help to make a cheap list that can still provide me with a healthy diet.

Budget;20$

If you don’t mind doing a little cooking, it’s easy to eat inexpensively on the cheap! You will pay a premium for organic foods, so you may want to consider how strong that preference is. It will cut into your budget.

Beans and rice can make a healthy and very inexpensive alternative to meat as a complete source of protein (you need both to get all the amino acids, each individually will be missing some). I typically used canned beans and cook them right in with the rice using my rice cooker (but doing this in a pot works well too). You can add flavor by mixing in some diced vegetables (onions, peppers, and such) and/or cooking the beans and rice in broth instead of water (or tossing in a couple bullion cubes).

You can make chili quickly and easily using canned kidney beans and/or lentils (I like lentils in chili as they have a nice meaty texture), diced tomatoes, green peppers, onions, soy sauce, a little hot sauce, etc. The nice thing about chili is that you can improvise! Adding meat is totally optional but if you do, use ground beef, or if you prefer, ground chicken or turkey. If you make a vegetarian chili consider serving it over or with rice.

If you like salad, you may be surprised to learn that bagged salads actually work out to be cheaper than making the salads yourself. Testing by the media actually found that making bagged salad results in less waste than making salad from scratch, and the cost savings the manufacturers have by wasting less food in production more then makes up for their packing and shipping costs.

If you like to eat meat, chicken is much less expensive than beef. You’ll pay a premium per pound for boneless meat over bone-in, but you’ll pay less per pound. Still, you get more meat for your money buying the meat with the bone still in and removing it yourself (or eating around it).

Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorite comfort-food side dishes. To make a complete meal, mix in some tuna fish (I prefer to by the pouch kind as there’s no water waste and the texture is much better) or serve it as a side dish to chicken or something like that.

Finally, get in the habit of clipping coupons, and if your store offers a discount card, get one (don’t just use the store’s card, if you use yours they’ll usually mail you coupons from time to time). If you watch prices and combine coupons with the sales, over time you’ll find that sometimes you can get items for free, or nearly free!

I may be needing to send money across the U.S. to a client; and it may be a sizable amount, possibly around a grand. However, I don’t want to do it online with Pay-pal or whatnot, and I don’t want to use a personal check. Is a money order my best bet? If so, I have never done one- how do they work? I know you can do it at a convenience store or grocer, is it true you can do it at the post office as well?

The Post Office sells money orders. The fee for a postal money order in the amount of 1K would be $1.50. For a money order of less than $500, the fee is $1.05. Money orders sold by the Post Office can be traced. For a nominal fee, the Post Office is able to tell you if the money order has been cashed. If it has not been cashed, the money order can be reissued. For your protection, I would suggest you send the money order by Certified Mail with a return receipt. The return receipt will be returned to you with the recipient’s signature and date of delivery.

If your bank provides you with free cashier’s checks, that would be your safest form of payment. And as I have suggested, mail it Certified Mail with return receipt.

My family is picky. I need meals that I can get from discount grocery stores like Sav a lot (I ‘m a poor grad student with 2 children) I just need meals for 4. Any ideas would be appreciated!!

Hamburger helper works, Tuna helper, Mac and cheese with hot-dogs, Spaghetti with hamburger meat, Beefaroni and add cheese if you want to, Hamburgers, mac and cheese with hamburger meat if you can’t afford hamburger helper. Mash potatoes with cream of whatever they like and some kind of meat or what ever you choose. baked potatoes, home made quisedillas. Mash potatoes with cream of mushroom or chicken or whatever, green beans and corn, you can add bacon bits or any meat if you choose. There are a lot and if you want to get a hold of me just send me an e-mail or a I’m…good luck…I’ll pray for you

i am trying to run a home delivery service business meaning i want to post drivers at every grocery store to ensure its delivery.i assume the more the customer buys the more money the store the store makes .the customer can even make a phone call for he or her grocery can be delivered.now how to convince those stores that my service will benefit them a lot?

Grocery Delivery Services have been tried in many areas, and have mostly failed.

You can try to build up a customer base for things like milk and bread and canned goods, to be delivered on a regular basis, because customers can specify that they want a quart of heavy whipping cream, Brand X, with at least two weeks before it expires, or that they want 6 cans of Cream of Mushroom soup, Brand Y. However, most people want to pick out their own fresh fruits/vegetables/meats. I certainly would not trust someone else to pick out my meat. I have my own standards as to how fatty I will accept a chuck roast, for instance, and I want to look at the selection to see if any are acceptable, or if I need to change my menu plans for the week. Nobody else can do that.

Also, most people are not willing to pay enough for a delivery service to make it profitable, even on those items that are pretty standardized.

Grocery stores know these facts, so you’re not going to be able to convince them otherwise. Plus, you’d have to convince someone in the chain headquarters of this, not the manager of the local store. You’d need to find a small independent store where the owner actually worked at the store, and could give his/her approval for this idea.

No Online Grocers would accept food stamp payments.

Every Passover, Coca-Cola made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup is available in metro areas with large Jewish communities to comply with Jewish customs. I’ve also found Coca-Cola bottled in Mexico that is made with sugar instead of HFC at some groceries in Latino neighborhoods. But it’s hit or miss.

The stuff with real sugar is so much better – cleaner tasting – so I stock up but I wonder if anyone has found a reliable source.
HFCs are actually worse in terms of diabetes and hypoglycemia

Also hit or miss but a decent lead is checking out the Mexican restaurants. I have a little one near me that serves Mexican glass bottled (and still in the bottle) Coke. I don’t follow kosher rules and high fructose corn syrup issues much, but it tastes so very much better: cold, fresh from the glass, and bottled with sugar cane sweetener. Yum.

I’m looking for a Japanese or Asian grocer near or around Metaire, LA. I’d prefer to stay in the Jefferson Parish line. So far I’ve tried Whole Foods, but they seem to focus mostly on sushi and sushi ingredients instead of anything else. Something that’s similar to asianfoodgrocer.com would be exactly what I want. I rather not order online because of both shipping charges, and because several of my packages before have arrived melted because of the intense Louisiana heat. If I ever need a product quick, I’d rather run out and be able to purchase it in the same day instead of waiting up to two weeks or more. Please help!.

hong kong supermarket

I live in Alaska and food is pretty expensive up here. I’m looking for online shopping that’s a bit cheaper, but I’ve been searching the web adn haven’t really found anything. To give you an idea of what I buy and the pricing:
Garbanzo beans: $1.20, Tuna $2.49, Bell Peppesr $3ea. Olives $3, Chicken: $10 for a pack of 4

You cannot shop for food online unless it’s specialty food and the shipping is expensive. if you want regular store bought items then yo might need to wait for sales. SOme places offer items for sales like amazon but i’m not so sure how fresh it is. I live in NYC and we hae some supermarkets that allow you to order online but I’;m not sure if you have that option? Check out amazon. I buy some Asian products online but not meat. Only meat you might find is steaks or seafood they overnight but you’ll spend alot of money for nothing.

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I’m 23 and I live by myself. I spend around $60 a week on grocery (mostly on fresh meat, vegetables, fruits, some can food and some healthy snacks from Asian supermarket). I know some people who spend only $30 to $40 a week, so I think I should set a weekly budget on $40 I don’t know if it is possible, as I don’t buy home brand products.

Where to buy fresh food for a lower price?

You often get cheaper fruit, vegetables, meat, and fish at the markets. Try Belconnen or Fyshwick Markets. If you buy fresh produce, rather than pre-packaged or convenience foods, you’ll save a lot of money. But I find that a lot of grocery money actually goes on cleaning products and personal care items, so that’s an area you might want to cut down on.

I know there are 2 Aldi stores in NJ, but that’s about an hour away from me. I’m wondering if there are other stores that are similar to Aldi, in Nassau County or Suffolk County in NY.

There appears to be about 20 Aldi stores in the Long Island area.
http://aldi.us/us/html/service/store_locator_ENU_HTML.htm