How To Shop At Trader Joe's For The Week With A $50 Budget

Sure, we can all agree that Trader Joe's offers better value than Whole Foods, even if it certainly isn't on Aldi's level of affordability — which is why maximizing a $50 weekly grocery budget requires a solid game plan. It's going to be tight, but you absolutely can do it. We're going to use this budget for a single person (not taking tax into account), but we'll give tips for shopping at TJ's — and making it last a week — that work for any size household.

First, do an inventory of what you have so you don't double-buy. Next, you need to plan and make a thoughtful shopping list. You can use the six-to-one method if that works for you, but it helps me meal plan to create categories: carbs, protein, produce, and necessary extras (this might be coffee or a bottle of Two Buck Chuck — whatever you can't go without). When making your list, keep an eye out for things on sale, and don't overlook canned and frozen foods.

As you plan, look for whole foods rather than prepared ones. Yes, Trader Joe's has some delicious ready-made meals (Mandarin Orange Chicken, we're looking at you), but they will be more expensive. For example, you could buy a Chicken Caesar Wrap, but one serving is $5.49 (though the price may vary by location). Even just one a day for lunch adds up to $38.43 — over half of your whole week's budget.

Lastly, do not shop on an empty stomach. You'll be less likely to resist impulse buys by the tills or your favorite TJ's treat (we, personally, love those mini sheet cakes).

We've organized this hypothetical list category by category, balancing low per-unit prices with room for fun and variety. Please keep in mind that local prices may vary.

Let's start with our favorite part: carbs. You can get 32 ounces of rolled (not steel-cut — those are more expensive) oats for $3.99. For $2.49, nab sliced whole wheat bread. Sure, for $4.99, you can get some amazing frozen basmati rice, but it's only six servings. Instead, we're going to add a bag of uncooked basmati rice for $2.99 (with a whopping 20 servings). Plus, we'll grab a $0.99 bag of orzo (about four big servings) for meal variety.

Next up, protein. We're grabbing a jar of peanut butter with honey for $2.99 — a "two birds, one stone" purchase, as buying nut butter and jelly individually more than doubles the price. Next, we'll add a whole heirloom, pasture-raised chicken at $3.99 per pound. We'll grab a small 2.5-pound bird (assuming an average weight of 3 pounds), for $9.98. We'll also throw in a $0.99 can of black beans for variety.

Under the "produce" umbrella, we're nabbing a 3-pound bag of organic sweet potatoes ($4.99), a delicata squash ($1.99), and 2-pound bags of both organic multicolored carrots ($1.99), and SugarBee apples ($4.99). Finally, seven bananas add just $1.61 to the total at $0.23 each.

We're at $39.99, so let's grab some extras — pizza sauce ($1.99, and cheaper than pasta sauce but with similar spices), Spicy Dynamite Sauce ($1.99), a pack of 12 flour tortillas ($1.69), and a block of cheddar ($3.99). Our new total? $49.65.

Since every item needs to stretch across multiple meals, creativity is key. Follow a roasted chicken recipe, but keep it simple: Use salt, pepper, or some garlic. Once your chicken is done, divide it into 3- or 4-ounce portions (freeze everything but a handful of portions, as a rotisserie chicken will last up to four days in the fridge). You can use this for chicken and rice (with a drizzle of Spicy Dynamite Sauce, perhaps); bake it into a squash "casserole" with rice, cheese, and carrots; have it in a black bean and chicken quesadilla with some sweet potato fries; or pair it with orzo, carrots, and that pizza sauce.

For breakfast, enjoy your oatmeal two ways: go savory with a pinch of salt, sliced sweet potato, and a dash of Spicy Dynamite Sauce, or go sweet by stirring in the honey peanut butter. You can also slice a banana on top or save it as a snack. If you have an egg, mix it with some oats, honey peanut butter, and any complementary spice (like cinnamon), form the batter into balls, and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes for breakfast cookies.

Lunches can be as simple as a honey peanut butter sandwich (or toast with honey peanut butter) — or a quick quesadilla. You can also take a tortilla, lay down some pizza sauce, top it with cheese, and bake it for an easy pizza. Follow it up with an apple — or better yet, bake your apples with your favorite spices for a simple dessert. Gently heat your peanut butter and drizzle it on as a sweet sauce.