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When you start thinking about pursuing a healthier diet, one of the first thoughts that may come to your head is, “What on earth do I shop for?” followed closely by, “How am I going to afford this?” To help you with the first (and hopefully the second) question, here’s a list of my top refrigerator/freezer/pantry staples and where to find them for the best price.
As you will see, we try to shop at budget-friendly stores (often buying in bulk for better prices) and attempt to stick to budget-friendly ingredients for the most part. When we need an expensive ingredient, we shop around to get the best bang for our buck. We don’t do organic or grassfed, but just try to stick to healthy whole foods in the general sense. It’s been doable so far. These lists are by no means exhaustive, but they contain most of what we try to keep on hand.
Buying in bulk really does save! Always look at what value you are getting for your money. Even if the cost up front is higher, you save more money than you realize in the long run by buying in bulk. Having a big freezer helps tremendously because not only can you buy more expensive things like meat in larger quantities to save money per pound, but you can stock up when there’s a sale going on.
I love the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating because it’s flexible and I can make it work for me and my budget. As you’ll notice in the lists below, I don’t always buy all the recommended, raved-about ingredients. I use pork gelatin, not beef. I haven’t bought collagen yet. I definitely don’t have anything against beef gelatin or collagen, and I’m sure they have tons of great health benefits, but it’s more important to me that I can maintain this way of eating for the long haul, not that I have all the special ingredients in my pantry. Make THM work for you and your budget – it’s possible!
Want more tips for your trim, healthy lifestyle? Check out my Starting THM page for helpful links!
Please note that prices will vary in different areas, so check your own local stores to see where the best deals can be found. I didn’t price check everything at Aldi and Sam’s Club, but both generally have very good prices and sometimes we buy things at Sam’s Club over Aldi just for the convenience of buying things in bulk that we use a lot of. Generally bulk does tend to be cheaper, but there might be exceptions to that. Also taken into account in these lists is the fact that we usually go to Aldi first and Sam’s Club last, so we usually get milk at Sam’s Club so it doesn’t have to sit in the van while we’re shopping at another store. Necessary? Probably not, especially when we have a bunch of other dairy products that we get at Aldi, but it’s a habit. With reusable insulated grocery bags I don’t suppose it matters all that much.
Aldi:
- Eggs
- Butter
- Cream cheese (both reduced and full fat)
- Sour cream
- Greek yogurt (we make most of our own Greek yogurt-tutorial here, but we buy some at Aldi too.)
- Sliced cheese
- Deli-style lunch meat
- Unsweetened almond milk
- Frozen chicken tenders
- Celery, lettuce, spinach, peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, mushrooms, radishes, and other veggies
- In-season fruits
- Sweet potatoes
- Old-fashioned oats (for oatmeal and homemade oat flour made by grinding the oats in a blender or coffee grinder)
- Canned beans, Rotel-style tomatoes, black olives, other canned goods
- Pizza sauce
- Condiments and salad dressings
- Spices/seasonings
- 85% dark chocolate bars (Moser Roth brand)
Sam’s Club:
- Bulk shredded cheese
- Cottage cheese
- Milk for the rest of the family and for making Greek yogurt (tutorial here-we use skim milk so the Greek yogurt can be used in any fuel setting)
- In-season fruits
- Frozen strawberries and blueberries
- Frozen chicken breast
- BACON!
- Sausage
- Ground beef
- Turkey bacon
- Frozen flounder filets
- Pork loin
- Coconut oil
- Olive oil
- Hershey’s cocoa powder
- Baking powder
- Coconut flour
- Truvia packets in bulk
- Vanilla extract
- Spices/seasonings
Walmart:
- Natural peanut butter (Smucker’s brand)
- Extracts
- Joseph’s flatbreads and pitas, other low carb wraps
- Plain pork rinds (not a staple per se, but I enjoy them)
Online:
- THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (we buy the 4 oz. package to save money, but you can get a 1 oz. package as well) and THM Super Sweet Blend are my go-to sweeteners.
- Oat fiber – THM makes a gluten free product. Not all brands are created equally, but I really like this one. I don’t recommend NuNaturals brand.
- Whey Protein Powder (Swanson brand is not technically on plan anymore due to a change in ingredients, but the nutritional info hasn’t changed a lot and Swanson often offers great deals plus free shipping so I personally still use Swanson brand for cost efficiency.)
- Oolong tea (from Swanson here, Amazon here, or iHerb here)
- Glucomannan
- Knox gelatin (yes, I use pork gelatin because it’s cheaper)
Other:
- Brown eggs (local)
- Golden flax seeds – we grind our own golden flaxmeal in a coffee grinder from whole golden flax seeds that we buy at a local bulk food store. You can buy golden flaxmeal already ground here.
- Refined coconut oil (bulk food store – we’ve only ever used refined because it’s…you guessed it…cheaper. And I’m not a huge fan of coconut flavor. Sometimes we get coconut oil from Sam’s Club; they have a good price on it as well.) – Update: the brand Sam’s Club carries now doesn’t taste very good, so we buy Nutiva coconut oil from Amazon and love it!
- Hot tea varieties (discount grocery store, local grocery store)
- Lorann flavor oils (local cake decorating store – can also be purchased online from Netrition here)
- Extracts (cake decorating store)
- Xanthan gum – so far what we’ve used has been given to us! The last package we got was from a friend at church who found it for a dollar or two at a discount grocery store. A lot of health food/bulk food stores carry xanthan gum too.
- Wasa crackers – so far I’ve been able to buy these almost exclusively at a discount grocery store, but they’re available in our local grocery store as well. You can also find them online here.
- Finely shredded coconut flakes – we can get these at our local grocery store, and they can be purchased online here.
We have a garden every year and put up our own corn (a good filler for the rest of the family, and we who do THM include it in an E setting in very limited amounts), green beans, salsa, and a bunch of other stuff. We have about 20 blueberry bushes, so we freeze a lot of blueberries during the summer for the rest of the year. My dad hunts, so in a good year we’ll put a couple of deer in the freezer (we process our own at home). Sometimes we buy a live cow (we’re currently feeding out two in our pasture with the horses) and have it butchered.
I hope this gives you some encouragement and helpful tips. If this post was helpful, pin it here to share it with your friends!
YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:
-
STARTING THM
-
MY RECIPE INDEX
-
RECIPE INDEX BY FUEL TYPE/ALLERGY/THEME
-
Dos and Don’ts from a THM Veteran
-
When You’re Overwhelmed on THM
Sheri Jenkins says
Hey Briana, I have been doing THM for about a year. I still struggle with what is heavy, light etc of the S and E’s but was also wondering does it really make a difference in using store bought ketchup and/or bbq sauce? I don’t use either very often. Should I go ahead and learn how to make each? I just like the convenience of the store bought. Please let me kow your thoughts. Thanks! I LOVE you page and your recipes, info, tips etc. It’s wonderful.
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
Hi Sheri! The THM stance is that you would need to make or buy sugar free versions of both using an on plan sweetener. For me personally I use storebought ketchup for convenience, but BBQ sauce has way more sugar than ketchup – sometimes up to 12g of sugar in a serving! So I make my own BBQ sauce – or just consider it off plan if I do use storebought for an occasion.
Sheri says
How did you get your family members on board with THM? You said they don’t all do it, but what made the ones that do start? I am a teenager living at home and I want to change my eating habits to THM. I don’t buy or cook most of my food so it isn’t so simple. I know that you started while you were living with your family. I have started shopping for a few things to fill in the gaps of what we already eat that is on plan(for breakfast and lunch because we all fend for ourselves) , but I wonder if you would have any pointers for getting my family on board.
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
My mom actually started it before I did, so that definitely helped. 🙂 My mom, sister, and I basically ate THM and my dad, other sister, and brother didn’t so much (although we all ate basically the same thing for supper, perhaps with the addition of a starch like bread/pasta/corn for the non-THMers). Now I’m married and not living at home anymore, but the rest of the family members have warmed up even more to a healthy eating lifestyle, even if they still supplement their diets with off plan treats. 😛 I’d say just do the best you can, encourage the others to eat healthy but don’t be obnoxious about it, and lead by example. If you can buy some things to supplement, especially for breakfast and lunch, perfect! Do the best you can at supper with what’s available, and offer to cook meals every once in awhile to show them that THM-friendly foods don’t have to be “odd.”
Deanna Sheckler says
What don’t you like about the NuNaturals brand of oat fiber. I just bought some having never bought any before and it is the one I picked. :/
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
Aw, that’s a bummer! 🙁 It tastes like Play-doh to me. (And I’ve heard the same from many other people as well.) LifeSource brand oat fiber (which I buy here from Netrition: https://www.briana-thomas.com/recommends/oat-fiber-2/) has a really mild flavor and is lighter in color than the NuNaturals brand.
Theresa says
I love the better body brand coconut oil. It’s refined so you can fry and saute with it without it scorching and it doesn’t have a coconut taste. I get a huge tub of it at Walmart for about $11 recently
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
Awesome! Thanks for the recommendation!
Miriam says
The past 3 years I have canned my peaches/pears with mango passion fruit juice or pineapple juice, both unsweetened and you can get either at Aldi… I do 1/2 gallon juice and 1/2 gallon water and 1 tsp stevia. My family loves it and company never can tell the difference! I get a high quality Stevia from Bolivia.
Briana Thomas says
Thanks for sharing! I bet that’s yummy. That’s a good idea for a refined-sugar free version for children. (Since many of my readers follow Trim Healthy Mama, I should clarify for them that using fruit juice isn’t recommended because all the fiber has been removed, making it fairly high glycemic.)
Sheila Yoder says
I love the help you give here. I am contemplating trying THM in moderation and see if I can get to where it is beyond “moderate” and more of a lifestyle. My problem is that I will be doing my yearly canning and freezing. I do my own salsa and marinara sauce and we LOVE them, but yes they do have sugar. SOOOO, what do you suggest? My family is sensitive to the alternate sweeteners (as in they don’t like them as well) so i don’t know how to proceed, Is there any value in doing part sugar and part alternative? Of course that makes so I would be limited in using them then. I also freeze peaches in individual containers for school lunches. Talk about high sugar in that! How do you can and freeze? WIth your anabaptist background I though you would be the best one to ask…we are used to doing lots of canning aren’t we? 😉
Briana Thomas says
Hi Sheila! I honestly don’t have a lot of experience in canning…when I was at home we did more freezing because we liked a fresher taste. Things like peaches we just froze in halves without sugar for smoothies. My mom did can some peaches with water, Fruit Fresh, and some stevia one time and they did fine. The key is to use less sweetener – at least for me. Most recipes use so much that you get an awful aftertaste. Maybe try using less and see if your family likes that better? For things like salsa and marinara sauce I’d recommend just leaving the sugar out and seeing if your family enjoys it that way. We Americans put sugar in waayyy too many things that don’t really need it. 😉 It might take some taste bud adjustments, but decreasing the sugar/sweetness all around might be an easier way to do it.
Sheila Yoder says
Thanks, Brianna. I had forgotten which page I had posted the question and just found it again. LOL. I ended up using zylitol for my marinara and salsa. The family seems to tolerate it well. and the amount used is relatively small for the large batch. Thank you for taking time to reply! BTW, I love your mocha shake in your cookbook. My family loves it too…
Barbara Parker says
I am interested in this plan as most everyone should be. I am a culturally conscious shopper, however, and do not support retailers that are literally harmful to people, including Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Amazon.
Let’s look for some better options for your recommended products.
J.M. says
A note about the best place to find ingredients… I have found a nutrition website called Piping Rock that sells Whey Protein Isolate for a good price! $10.50 for 1.2 lb jug! I am just hoping it is a good product since it was so cheap=) I did get it when they were running a sale,too. Also MCT oil was a tad under $8 for 16oz. So check it out and see what you think. They also carry probiotics and supplements for the whole family. Shipping is very reasonable.
Nina Aeilts says
I just got your cookbook and it’s wonderful! I appreciate the layout, pictures and ease of use. I so appreciate the bible verses. Just wondering, where do you get your vegetable glycerin?
Blessings, Nina
Briana Thomas says
Hi Nina! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the book! We get this brand of vegetable glycerin off of Amazon (affiliate link): https://www.briana-thomas.com/recommends/vegetable-glycerin-2/
Neecy says
I am curious. You have a canning jar of peaches on this blog. Do you can with Stevia? I am wanting to remove the sugar from my pears and peaches this year.
Briana Thomas says
Yes, we have done some canning with stevia. 🙂 We usually add some Fruit Fresh as well.
Tracy says
This is a pretty complete list, I think. It should be very helpful to a newbie (And you basically confirmed that I’ve found the best price on everything 😉 I would add that Aldi also has 2 low carb bread items (skinny buns and a flatbread) that are about a dollar cheaper per pkg than Walmart’s. And, should you ever decided you want to try collagen, I recommend skipping the THM brand (doesn’t mix well) and buy Custom Collagen through amazon (I’ve tried 4 diff collagen brands and that one is my fave – and bonus – it’s also the least expensive I’ve found)
Briana Thomas says
Thanks for the info, Tracy!
Marie says
They sell flax seeds, whole coconut flakes and coconut oil at my Aldi. Check yours to see!
Marla says
Do you have a referral code? While registering it asks If you were referred by someone,
please enter the referral code below: I assume that is for a reason and wanted to add you in as the referral.
Briana Thomas says
Hi Marla! Thank you for thinking of me! Until you said something, I actually wasn’t even aware of Swanson’s referral program, but it looks like if you click through this link and set up an account, you get a $5 coupon and I get some sort of coupon as well. Thank you for pointing that out! https://www.swansonvitamins.com/referral/friend.html?id=e26ec658-f686-49ea-b7b1-353002b67318
Marla says
Zaycon chicken also asks for a referral number. Do you have one for that?
Briana Thomas says
Yes, you can just write my name, Briana Thomas, in the blank there. Thank you!
Val says
Do you have any suggestions for buying sweeteners in bulk/cheaper online for baking for larger families? Thanks! I enjoy your blog and recipes! Keep it up!
Briana Thomas says
Hi Val! Pure Stevia Extract Powder (THM is by far and away the best-tasting brand I’ve tried) is definitely the most economical sweetening option. A little lasts a LONG time because it’s so super concentrated. THM Super Sweet Blend is the next most economical sweetener that I know of. If you don’t like to use straight stevia, you can use a combination of it and Super Sweet Blend for a fairly economical sweetening option. Swanson carries THM products and often runs good sales + free shipping, so that might be a good place to get your sweetener. Here’s a page I made that has some tips for baking with stevia: https://www.briana-thomas.com/substitution-faqs-and-baking-tips/
Val says
Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. Is the NOW Better Stevia comparable to THM Stevia at all? Just wondering because its about half the price.
Briana Thomas says
I haven’t used NOW so I’m not sure how the flavor compares.
Karen Quick says
Pure Stevia Extract Powder. I have bought from WalMart, a Great Value Stevia, made with Stevia Extract. Is this Stevia product ok? Would you use it and is it the same as you use?
Briana Thomas says
Without being able to see the label, I’m not sure what you have. I’ve personally tried quite a few stevia brands and most of them are gross, unfortunately. The THM brand tastes the best by far.
Dorothy says
Wonderful! Thanks for helping us figure out how to do THM with less expensive stuff! Love your site, can’t wait for the cookbook!
Sharon says
Sam’s has a pretty good price for large bags of ground flaxseed meal. It is found with protein powders and bodybuilding supplements at all our local Sam’s. Our Walmart has recently started carrying the same brand in smaller bags. Or maybe they just moved it where I could find it. I found it with the probiotics, near the stomach remedies.
Trudy Goulet-Jones says
I’m new at THM – I’ve got the Cookbook and the Plan and trying to figure it all out. Is there a chance you could write a monthly menu plan. I’m finding a lot of things on the internet but I feel a little lost trying to sort it all out. I’m still not sure of the E, S and FP – when to use them. I know I still have a lot of reading to do and I’m trying to be patient in all of this. Thank you so much – I’ve been following you for awhile.
Briana Thomas says
I’m planning on doing a few menu posts in the near future, but until then I think you would really enjoy checking out Darcie’s Dishes. Darcie makes weekly THM menu plans. 🙂 http://darciesdishes.blogspot.com/
Trudy Goulet-Jones says
Thank you!
Karen Quick says
I say thank you too, Briana. I feel I’m struggling too, with being about in the same spot as Trudy!! I really admire you all who have figured it all out, because it seems so confusing. I’m taking a meal at a time, with eating low carb and then seeing how it gets figured in. Mostly S meals, I would say, just not sure. S helper is Greek to, as well as some telling of putting some E in an S meal. That’s really confusing!
Tina Marmolejo says
This is awesome. I’m getting my fridge and meals set up this weekend to get back on track. This is great!! Thank you! Blessings prayed your way 🙂