If you have read the Whole30.com article on budgeting a Whole30, you might of thought, “oh that was so not helpful!” I personally felt like it was another regurgitation of what almost every budget friendly grocery shopping article has said. EVER.
Then a few days ago I saw on Instagram that they were going to do a whole month of Whole30 budget tips and highlighted someone. I looked at them and some of their “small town” budget tips and I just had to scream, “TRADER JOE’S IS NOT SMALL TOWN!!”
Seriously!
Alright, all you health food people!
I live in a small town and the closes Trader Joe’s is over an hour away! Here are my grocery shopping options:
Walmart (BOO!)
Safeway
Dissmores (IGA, a local chain that is crazy expensive)
Now we do have a couple of specialty shops, a Asian market and a Middle Eastern market.
But I don’t actually grocery shop in my town, I drive 15 minutes to the next town over and shop at Winco (low prices!! Better than Walmart, see) and at the local health food store for random things Winco doesn’t carry. I am lucky to have a health food store that close to me.
So how does a person actually do Whole30 on a strict budget.
I meal plan, everything. Snacks, lunch, breakfast, everything.
We eat a lot of chicken, because it is cheap.
I don’t buy grass-fed, I get 93/7 normal ground beef at Winco.
We eat a lot of potatoes, carrots, and frozen green beans.
I make a lot from scratch, like almond milk.
I save reusable bits for broth or for adding to other dishes.
Follow along as I share, real life tips for doing Whole30 with a very limited budget.