How to buy food from the grocery store if you are living on your own and have literally no idea of what to get
First, know your budget. Have 8 dollars in change? Thatâs not great, but at least you know you have 8 dollars in change. Count it out to make sure. Have a little more? Set aside money specifically for food, so you donât forget and wind up buying everything but groceries and filling yourself with regret. Itâs easy to forget if you donât keep track. You donât need to write it down or anything, just know how much money you have.
How much money you need depends heavily on where you live, what your needs are, and where you shop. Once you get into a routine of buying food for the week, youâll know what to expect. You can use supermarket flyers to help if you really want, since they contain prices for everything.
Plan to buy enough food to make 2 or 3 meals every day for a week. That might seem like a lot of food, but itâs really not, and it will save you on trips to pick up stuff later in the week.
Write out a rough list. It can even be pretty vague, like âCereal, meat, juiceâ. Just donât go in without having some idea of what you need, or youâll wind up overspending.
Before you buy anything, ask yourself this: âWill I actually eat it?â It can be very easy to buy fancy healthy-seeming food because you want to feel good about yourself, but if it tastes nasty and you wind up going to get take-out because actually eating it depresses youâŚitâs kind of pointless. Donât force yourself to buy and eat things you donât actually like unless itâs a medical issue that you eat them. Thatâs no way to live. And donât buy food that goes bad fast, unless you are certain you will devour it soon.
With food, you have the classic â3 choices/pick 2âł problem. Your choices are fast, cheap, and nutritious â pick 2. Food that is cheap and nutritious, like home-made stew or beans cooked from scratch, takes a long time to make. Food that is fast and cheap like frozen pizza, isâŚwell, you already know. Youâre not eating it for the vitamins. And food that is nutritious and fast, like all those vegetarian/organic options in the frozen aisle of more upscale stores, is expensive as hell.
Think in terms of ingredients for meals. Ok, that might sound daunting if youâve never cooked in your life. Do you like toast and peanut butter sandwiches? Buy bread. Do you like quesadillas and mac and cheese? Buy cheese. It can be really simple. Youâll learn how to cook as you go.Â
Some relatively cheap foods you can use for many different meals include bread, tortillas, shredded cheese (whole cheeses are cheaper, but the shredded kind keeps longer and saves on prep time), dry pasta, dry lentils and beans, eggs, frozen vegetable mixes, and bagged salad (heads of lettuce are way cheaper, but bagged is simpler).Â
Peanuts are a cheap, relatively nutritious snack if youâre not allergic; sunflower seeds work, too.
Oatmeal is really cheap; yogurt is a good fast breakfast; juice is more expensive than plain water but can get you some good nutrition while at the same time keeping longer than whole fruit. Check the nutrition label to make sure itâs not just liquid sugar. You can cut the juice with water to make it last longer.Â
Granola bars, protein bars, and nuts are a little more expensive than other stuff listed but theyâre a good source of energy and nutrition when you donât have time for eating a meal. And get any fresh fruits and vegetables that you like to eat if you see them on sale. Just know that berries go bad really fast, so donât leave them out!
Ramen is not super great for you, but honestly? If having ramen is the difference between you having dinner and not having dinner, get ramen. Same with Lunchables, Totinoâs pizza rolls, frozen burritos, gummy snacks and whatever the heck else. Be a realist.
I donât like a lot of canned veggies, but if you do? Go for it. Theyâre a good option since they keep a lot longer than fresh.Â
If you like fish, hake aka whitefish or merluza is pretty cheap right now. You can always get canned fish, too. Fish sticks might actually be about the same price, if not more expensive, and take the same amount of time as cooking a hake filet.
Chicken leg quarters are usually a lot less expensive than other cuts of meat. Thighs are a little more, but still pretty cheap. For other meats, it really depends on where you live. Some places offer really cheap cuts, but usually you need to cook them for a long time to make them tasty and not too tough.
Ok, have you ever played âEarthboundâ? You automatically put condiments on food you consume in the game, and it (usually) makes the food give better HP/stats. Real life is like that. Get condiments and spices.
Like what? Ok, so like garlic powder, onion powder, vinegar, cooking oil, a hot sauce, idk, ask yourself what you like. Do you like mustard? Make sure you have mustard. Mayo? Get mayo. Taco bell hot sauce? Go for it. I donât care if youâre âstealingâ packets from Taco Bell, they can handle it.
Having and using condiments and spices is the difference between eating the same thing every day and eating the same thing every day and enjoying it. Maybe this seems obvious, but weâre not here to judge, weâre talking about basics. Seriously â go to the dollar store or wherever and get a few shakers of spices and cook with them. Itâll be great.Â
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