Whole 30 on a college kid budget.

[Keala]

Hey everyone, 

 

I'm exploring the program still and haven't set a start date yet. I still need to clear our my cabinet of all those bad foods. I would love to start a support group for people grocery shopping on a tight budget, or for those college kids, or for people just scraping by financially. I just moved to a new place and got a new job so money is tight for me. However I want to try the Whole 30 program and be able to buy healthy foods on a tight budget. 

[healthyAbby]

You'd be surprised what you can buy eating this way when you're not buying junk snack foods. Once you have a budget, stick to it in store. Write down the prices of all your items so you're paying exactly what you expect. Sales are your best friends. The weekly circular with the deals are your best friends. Find recipes for different things that you wouldn't mind eating often, some days I'll eat the same thing for meal 1 all week.

You can do it! I spent $70 on groceries and everything I bought lasted me 10 days. Cook up a lb of ground beef andthen you have meals you can just throw together.

[noideawhatdayitis]

Not drinking = money in the bank

[drtracyb]

I buy two whole chickens at the beginning of my whole30 and slow cook them, then shred them and freeze.  Make bone broth/stock from the bones.  Two pounds of ground beef makes a ton of Well Fed Chocolate Chili.  Costco for bulk veggies, eggs and bulk meat.  I don't do organic or grass fed.  Make my own nut milks.

 

Last night I froze my double batch of chocolate chili into muffin tins to free and store in a gallon bag in the freezer.

 

Today I made a double batch of bolognese meat sauce - onions, carrots, celery, garlic, mushrooms, hamburger and compliant pasta sauce.  I eat it plain in a bowl but you can put it on top of spaghetti squash or zucchini if you want.

 

I also have grated sweet potatoes in my freezer to saute for breakfast with a fried egg.

 

It's not that hard to eat inexpensively on Whole30.  We get so caught up in the all recipes, but ultimately you end up choosing a few favorite recipes and cycling between them.

[noideawhatdayitis]

This might help too Keala - http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-grocery.pdf

 

Good luck!

[GFChris]

You might find the following articles helpful/inspiring:
- Paleo Poor: Your Guide to the Grocery Store

- A woman who did the Whole30 on a social security budget http://whole9life.com/2013/02/whole30-success-story-gerry-c/

[noideawhatdayitis]

Yes - was just about to add the story about Gerry! 

[kmitzell]

GFChris, thank you for those links - I'm going back to school myself and will be on a really tight budget, too.  This helps a TON.  Thank you. !!!

[Mdln]

Check out the manager's specials sections of the grocery store, where you can find all sorts of cuts of meats at discounted prices. If they are about to expire, just stick them in the freezer until you're ready to cook them. 

 

I second the whole chicken part too, it is SO much cheaper and can be used to make both meals and bone broth. Also, I personally am I huge burger fan (chicken, turkey, doesn't matter which) and have found that my food processor can easily grind any cuts of meat I have as long as they are slightly frozen. I follow this tutorial and it works like a charm. 

 

I know that if you don't have a food processor it may seem counter intuitive to buy one. However, they are extremely versatile in prepping all sort of dishes and help me make leftovers into presentable meals!