What is Budget Bytes?
Click the photo to read more about Beth.
There’s still a whole week until payday and you just blew the rest of your food budget on last night’s take-out, which has only left you feeling bloated and groggy in return (thanks, lo mein 🙄). All those vegetables you ambitiously bought at the beginning of the week are still sitting in your fridge, mocking you as they slowly wilt. And those gorgeous recipes you found on Pinterest? They ended up having too many weird ingredients, and you just couldn’t muster the energy after a ten hour work day. You’ve got Instagram taste and a peanut butter budget. I feel ya and I’ve been there. Adulting is hard.
I believe good food doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.
I believe you can create meals that you’re proud of, meals that make you feel full and healthy, meals that make you want to brag on social media, meals that will make you want your leftovers (no, really). I believe you can have all of this without spending your whole paycheck, buying a bunch of fancy kitchenware, or spending all day in the kitchen. I believe you can spend less and enjoy more.
The Proof is in the Pudding…
Let’s Do This.
What if you didn’t have to figure it all out yourself. What if someone else already searched, tested, and found recipes that are easy, delicious, AND inexpensive. What if someone took you by the hand and showed you each step of the process, so you could feel confident as you learned. What if cooking at home stopped feeling like a chore and started being something you did for fun?
When you join the Budget Bytes community, you’ll stop being a slave to take-out and become a total boss in the kitchen, all while spending less and eating better than ever.
I’ve Been There.
In 2009 I found myself with a college degree and a mountain-sized student loan debt to go with it. I could barely afford necessities like toilet paper, let alone good food. But food was my passion and having just earned a degree in Nutritional Science, I was not okay with eating ramen noodles for dinner every night. Finding food that would satisfy both my stomach and my wallet became my pet project. I tested hundreds of recipes, I experimented, I failed, I learned, and I simplified my process. It wasn’t long before I was eating better than ever, spending a fraction on my weekly groceries, and making my coworkers jealous with all my drool-worthy (and cheap!) homemade lunches. And now I want to show you how to do it, too.
Now it’s Your Turn…
Budget Bytes has everything you need to finally take control of your food budget. With over 1000 delicious and affordable recipes to choose from, there’s a little something for everyone. Get started HERE.
And if the website just isn’t enough, make sure to check out my book, Budget Bytes: Over 100 Easy, Delicious Recipes to Slash Your Grocery Bill in Half, and my mobile app!
Stay in Touch!
I love hearing and seeing your successes, and I’m always here to help when things don’t go as planned. Stay up to date with the latest Budget Bytes recipes, tag me in photos of your creations, or drop me a question or comment. You can find me on Instagram (my fav!), Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Or, shoot us an email at [email protected] and someone on our team will be happy to help. We can do this together!
Hi. I’m looking for interesting low cost, easy to prep gluten-free, (I’m a diagnosed coeliac) and vegetarian meals to offer both myself, and some friends a more varied choice daily. I also cook for between three to six volunteers at our local food-bank two or three times a week and would like to offer them a healthy vegetarian low cost option as well. I hope you can help? Cheers for reading this. Go well. Kevin.
Hi Keven, you can browse the Gluten-free category and Vegetarian category for ideas. :) Unfortunately we don’t have the ability to filter by multiple categories to find recipes that fit both.
Hi Beth, LOVE your site. It’s awesome and has made it way easier to stretch my dollars. Thank you!
One thing, would it be possible to add a filter category to your recipes for pressure cookers (if I’ve missed it apologies)? I use your app too and would love to see it there also. Thank you!
Hi Kerry, thank you!! I’ve decided not to continue doing pressure cooker recipes, so I did not make a category for it. I think I only have three recipes for pressure cookers. :)
Beth, I’m looking at your recipe for 5 ingredient tomato sauce and spaghetti. I’ve always thought that we should undercook the pasta for a few minutes because it will continue to cook in the tomato sauce. What do you think?
Also, I don’t know how to keep the spaghetti with sauce warm once it’s in the warmed bowl. It seems to cool very rapidly.
Hi Nancy, Yes, you can definitely cook your pasta for the last few minutes in the sauce, if you prefer. That will help it absorb a little more flavor. :) Unfortunately I don’t think there is anything you can do about the rate of cooling. That’s just physics! :)
Hi Beth!
I love all your recipes! They make me feel like I know what I’m doing in the kitchen!
I was wondering, would you ever consider posting a recipe for a steak meal that isn’t necessarily budget friendly but that will be tons more budget friendly than going out to a steak house? I am not familiar with cuts of meats or how to marinate them and what sides to pair them with. I have been craving a delicious steak for some time now but I don’t really have the money to go have a $70 meal for 2…
Thanks so much!!
I’ve definitely thought about doing that! Like a quick tutorial on how to cook steak because it’s really actually quite easy and, like you said, it’s SO much less expensive than going out to eat and ordering a steak! I’ll put it on my list. :)
Just came across your site as I was looking up a recipe my son made for us last week to try it again. It was the Creamy Chicken Pasta. Was wondering if you have made your recipes in an Instant Pot(one of my sons sent me one for Christmas) and have recipe adjustments for it? From what I have seen so far your site looks great.
Thank you! Unfortunately I don’t work with the Instant Pot much. It’s quite specialized so it would take a lot of extra work to test each recipe and adapt it for the Instant Pot.
Love your website! Thank you so much for all you do. Would love to see a nutritional breakdown of each recipe, too. For those of us who need to be budget and calorie conscious. 😊
So grateful for this site, I’ve used it for every single cooked meal in the past year or two. I would love to see a “snack” category in the future!! I eat healthy when I’m using your recipes, but our snacks are always carb-heavy junk food and I’d love to have some better options! 💗
Beth I just discovered your blog, and I’m OBSESSED with it! I’ve spent most of the day looking through your recipes – they are just so no-fuss and fantastic! I can’t wait to start cooking your recipes.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them! :)
I just happened to come across this site recently. It is one of the best blogs i have come across (not just cooking and/or money-saving blogs)! I had one question — apologies if I missed this somewhere on your site. Have you written up a Top Ten (or Twenty) list of your least expensive meals? That would be fun to see and helpful for folks who are in a financial pickle. Thanks again for your wonderful work!
I haven’t made a round up like that, only because it’s kind of hard to compare apples to apples (like say a dip recipe to a one pot meal recipe), BUT you should definitely check out my SNAP challenge series. :) That’s when I was challenging myself to work with a super low food budget, so some of my most budget-friendly recipes came from that!
Try website:
Very well fit… in the search bar top right corner start typing recipe nutrition calculator… it will pull it up. Plug in recipe and servings and it will give you the info for one serving… it’s amazing 😉
Love your site, and all of the recipes I’ve tried have been fantastic. I am interested in the nutritional information. Is that available and I’ve just overlooked it? Thanks!
No, I’m sorry, I do not have nutritional information.
I recently got married and moved in with my husband. I love to cook but often struggle to decide what to make. I learned of this site from a coworker and I have been hooked ever since. I have loved nearly every recipe I’ve made so far. One of my favorites, especially for when I need a lent friendly meal, is the spinach and white bean enchiladas. We were both amazed by the flavor of that dish. I also love that I can easily find all the ingredients easily and the recipes are not complicated at all. I love that there are so many to choose from. The next thing I need to venture into is meal prep once I convince my husband to take food to work for lunches. I currently take leftovers, which I haven’t made anything yet that was a bad leftover so I see that as a serious WIN! Thank you for all you do and please continue doing it. I tell everyone I meet about this site because it is that wonderful and helpful.
Thank you!! Hearing all of that makes me so happy. :)