When money is tight, grocery shopping changes pretty quickly. Instead of grabbing whatever sounds good, you start looking at each item and asking how many meals you can get from it, how long it will last, and whether you can use it with what you already have at home.
The lowest-priced item isn’t always the best bargain. A good budget staple is something that can stretch across several meals, stay fresh or shelf-stable for a reasonable amount of time, and work in different recipes. Rice, eggs, potatoes, and beans are good examples because a single purchase can become breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a snack.
A little planning can also make a tight grocery budget feel more manageable. Keeping a handful of inexpensive staples in the pantry means you have something to work with when money is short, rather than relying on takeout or making an extra trip to the store.
Here are 12 affordable groceries that can help you get through a difficult month without spending your entire food budget.
Bread
A basic loaf of bread can be surprisingly useful when you’re trying to make groceries last. Toast, sandwiches, grilled cheese, French toast, and simple snacks can all start with the same inexpensive loaf.
Bread can also help turn leftovers into another meal. A little chicken, egg salad, tuna, or even a few slices of cheese can become a filling sandwich.
If you have flour and yeast already in the pantry, baking your own bread is another option. Homemade bread takes a little time, but the ingredients can be inexpensive, and one batch can provide several meals.
Pasta
Dried pasta is one of those pantry staples that earns its place because it can be used in so many different ways. A box can become a quick dinner with butter and cheese, a pasta salad, a bowl of soup, or a more filling meal with vegetables and canned meat.
You don’t need an elaborate sauce, either. Tomato sauce, canned tomatoes, broth, leftover vegetables, or a little oil and seasoning can turn plain pasta into dinner.
It also stores well, so there’s little pressure to use it immediately.
Beans
Beans are a great choice for a tight grocery budget because they’re filling, versatile, and provide plant-based protein. Dried beans usually cost less per serving than canned beans, though canned varieties are handy when you need dinner in a hurry.
Black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, and other varieties can be added to chili, soups, rice dishes, tacos, burritos, and casseroles. You can also mash them with seasonings and spread them on toast or tortillas for a quick meal.
A pot of beans can also stretch leftovers into another dinner instead of leaving you searching the pantry for something new.
Potatoes
A bag of potatoes can cover a lot of meals for relatively little money. They’re filling, easy to prepare, and work with ingredients you probably already have.
Bake them, mash them, roast them, fry them, or add them to soups and stews. Leftover potatoes can become breakfast hash, potato cakes, or a filling addition to an egg dish.
Potatoes are also useful when you need to make a small amount of meat stretch further. Adding diced potatoes to a stew or skillet meal can turn a modest portion into enough food for the whole family.
Oats
Oats are inexpensive, easy to store, and useful far beyond a bowl of breakfast oatmeal.
Cook them with water or milk and add whatever toppings you have available, such as bananas, apples, cinnamon, peanut butter, or dried fruit. Overnight oats are another easy option if you want breakfast ready ahead of time.
Oats can also be added to homemade granola, muffins, smoothies, or snack bars. A container of oats can stay in the pantry for a long time, making it a practical grocery purchase during a lean month.
Rice
Rice is one of the most useful foods to have around when you’re trying to stretch a grocery budget. A large bag can provide many servings, and plain rice works with almost anything.
Serve it with beans, vegetables, eggs, canned fish, or leftover meat. Add it to soup to make the meal more filling, or turn yesterday’s rice into fried rice with an egg and whatever vegetables are available.
Rice can also be used in sweet dishes such as rice pudding.
Related: Rice Recipes You Have to Try
Canned Meat
Canned meat may not be the first thing that comes to mind for an inexpensive dinner, but it can be very handy when fresh meat isn’t in the budget.
Canned chicken, ham, corned beef, and other shelf-stable meats can be mixed into rice, pasta, casseroles, soups, and sandwiches. They can also help stretch a meal that would otherwise be mostly starch or vegetables.
Because canned meat lasts much longer than fresh meat, it can also be kept in the pantry for those weeks when grocery money is especially limited.
Related: These Impressive Recipes Start with Canned Beans
Canned Fish
Canned tuna, sardines, salmon, and other fish can provide an inexpensive source of protein without requiring freezer space.
Mix tuna with a little mayonnaise for sandwiches, add canned fish to pasta, serve it over rice, or mix it with potatoes for simple fish cakes. Sardines can be served with crackers or toast for a quick meal.
Canned fish is especially handy for those nights when you need something filling but don’t have much fresh food left in the refrigerator.
Peanut Butter
A jar of peanut butter can go a long way. Spread it on toast, bread, waffles, or pancakes for an easy breakfast or snack. Pair it with bananas or apples if you have fresh fruit available.
Peanut butter can also be stirred into oatmeal or blended into smoothies. For something savory, it can be used in sauces for noodles and rice dishes.
Since an unopened jar can stay in the pantry for quite a while, it’s a convenient staple to have available during weeks when the grocery budget is stretched thin.
Frozen Vegetables
Fresh vegetables can sometimes be difficult to fit into a very tight grocery budget, especially when you know you won’t use them before they spoil. Frozen vegetables can help solve that problem.
Peas, corn, mixed vegetables, spinach, broccoli, and other frozen options can be added to soups, rice, pasta, casseroles, and stir-fries. You can also heat them as a simple side dish.
Since they’re already frozen, you can use only what you need and put the rest back in the freezer. That can mean less food waste and fewer trips to the grocery store.
Flour
A bag of flour can become much more than homemade bread. With a few basic ingredients, you can make biscuits, pancakes, tortillas, dumplings, pizza dough, and other inexpensive foods at home.
Flour can also be used to thicken soups, gravies, and sauces. If you’re trying to stretch a meal, homemade breads and baked goods can help fill out the table without requiring another expensive ingredient.
If you already have flour in the pantry, checking your recipes before shopping can also help you avoid buying convenience foods that you could make yourself.
Eggs
Eggs are one of the most useful budget foods because they can work for almost any meal of the day. Scramble them for breakfast, boil them for a quick snack, fry them over rice, or add them to sandwiches and salads.
Eggs can also turn inexpensive ingredients into a complete meal. A few vegetables, leftover potatoes, or yesterday’s rice can become a filling skillet meal with a couple of eggs.
They also work in baking, which makes one carton useful for both meals and homemade treats.
When money is especially tight, having a few dependable foods in the pantry and freezer can make a big difference. These staples won’t solve every grocery problem, but they can give you plenty of ways to put meals together without constantly buying new ingredients.
