I don’t skimp on essential foods when I’m budgeting. For every meal, I still want my balanced portions of protein, veggies, and carbs, but I still manage to save a lot of money on food expenses because I strictly stick to my monthly budget goals. That actually leaves me enough money to even buy emergency take-out meals that I often need when I have to have a quick meal before exam day. Save time and, save money. Curious about how I do it? It’s crazy simple, keep reading.

Where I Buy My Groceries

Now, I try to limit the places I go grocery shopping as well as the get the very best prices for my food items. I usually try to stick to one place to get all my shopping done so I can save time, but if there’s a couple items somewhere else that I think has a better bargain, then I will sometimes make two trips. But usually, I stick with one place for all my shopping just to save time. And usually, that place is Costco.

Costco

I only shop at Costco because my family already has a Costco membership. If you don’t have a membership, you may want to factor in the $60 annual membership fee into your expense if you still want to shop at Costco. Now, since I already have a membership, some of the bulk items are just a steal. I will list the items below I think are the best bang for your buck when you want to budget frugally on food items.

Walmart

Walmart is the next best option. And if I didn’t already have a Costco membership, I would’ve solely shopped at Walmart. Although I’m not too impressed with Walmart’s produce section, you can still manage to get most of your vegetable essentials there. Their meat section is more impressive. Although they don’t have bulk prices, I think it’s definitely the cheaper option amongst chain grocery stores for most of the products in-store.

The Kinds of Food I Buy

Like I said before, the foods I buy are my essentials, such as protein, vegetables, fruits, and carbs. I buy enough food that reaches my budget for each category and that’s honestly enough food for a more than a month for myself. This honestly saves me so much time when I go grocery shopping, as well as money.

Here’s the breakdown for each category of which kinds of food I prefer buying and approximately how much I am willing to spend for each section. All of these are usually purchased at Costco.

Protein ~$40

• Beef Eye Round Roast 6lbs ~$23
• Chicken Thighs 12lbs ~$13
• Eggs 24ct ~$4

Vegetables ~$15

• Romaine hearts 6ct ~$4
• Tomatoes on the Vine 4lbs ~$6
• Broccoli Florets 3lbs ~$6

Fruits ~$15

• Banana 3lbs ~$1.50
• Green grapes 4lbs ~$6
• Fuji Apples 5.5lbs ~$7

Carbs ~$15

Rice and potatoes are the cheapest carbs you can get out there. You can get bread too, and Costco has pretty good prices on bakery items. I would only get bread if I’m craving sandwiches this month, or if I know I really don’t have time to cook this month. I usually choose one type of carb and stick with it for the rest of the month. Sometimes I choose two types if one of them is on sale or in season.

• Brown Rice 12lbs ~$16

Emergency Take-Out ~$10

So, usually I try to get most of my food budgeting less that $90 total; therefore, if I do have a need to get take-out for some reason, like before an exam, where I absolutely have no time to cook, I will get Chipotle, or something. I definitely don’t plan this often but I make room in my budget just incase I have these situations. I don’t plan on having these too often, maybe once per month, just so I can stay on budget.

The Kinds of Dishes I Make

With all these ingredients, the key thing here is to be creative. Use Google or Pinterest with your existing ingredients, and you’ll be amazed at how many different dishes you can make. But because med school life requires you to be on a time crunch, I would suggest that you do some recipe research on days where studying is a bit lighter. Grocery shopping is pretty relaxing as well, so I would definitely do it on days far away from exam day. But once you get the hang of making a few big-batch meals that you love, it’s so easy just throwing things in a pot and wait for it to cook – while you study.

Big-Batch Meals

Curry, stews, pasta, Costco’s cheap $5 rotisserie chicken, casseroles, fried rice, chili, and meatloaves, are all my favorite dishes to eat, and it’s so easy and cheap to make! If I make one of these dishes, I will get at least two to three days worth of meals out of it, so about six meals for one dish. And all I have to do is microwave and tada, lunch is served. Quick and easy, and cheap.

My top favorite big-batch meal has got to be Japanese curry and cheese covered spaghetti and meatballs. Reheat it several times and it’s still delicious. I love it.

Say Goodbye to Eating Out

You cannot eat out. Period. If you want to save money, you have to discipline yourself and just simply can’t get fast food. Nowadays with COVID on the loose, I find myself going outside less anyways and therefore, a lot less temptations to go out and eat. This will save you the most money in the long run. No McDonalds or Chick-fil-A, okay?

Make Starbucks at Home

So, coffee. You just can’t do medical school without caffeine. So, rather than spending $5 every trip to Starbucks, buy some Starbucks beans from Costco and brew the coffee yourself. I can get a 2lb bag of beans for around $10, and that makes enough coffee to last maybe 2-3 months. My favorite thing is always vanilla cold brews from Starbucks and I can literally make the same exact thing at home for much cheaper.

So, Start Enjoying Cooking

If you enjoy Chipotle, try making it at home. Trust me, you’ll save money and eat so much healthier. Craving that delicious burger? Make it at home with some ground beef and seasonings. If you’re too lazy to make it at home, you simply just don’t want it bad enough. Want a slice of amazing butter pound cake? There are millions of recipes out there and you save so much money while still making a ton of it.

Save money and live better.