Budget Bytes aims to provide cost-friendly meals without sacrificing flavor

When Beth Monsell graduated from college in 2009, her ability to stretch her budget reached its limit. Her student loans began to pay off, and she was struggling to make ends meet, even though she is a self-described “methodical budgeter.”

“The only category of spending I had left to operate was food,” Monsell said.

Monsell graduated with a degree in nutrition and said she “didn’t want to eat really bad quality food” to make ends meet.

She began breaking down the cost of the food she made and ate to see where the money was going. I was.

“I didn’t feel robbed,” Monsell said. “I got really excited about it. I was like, ‘I should put this on the Internet.’ And I did.

Budget Bytes started in 2009 during the Great Recession.

“There were a lot of other people who needed that information,” Monsell said. “And it just grew from there.”

This growth is evident by the number of Instagram followers on the Budget Bytes account, which was just under 500,000 at the time of publication.

“We have a huge following and a very devoted follower,” Monsell said. “They really love the community we’re in together.”

The shared sense of community revolves around Moncel’s ever-growing list of recipes, which includes categories organized by course, protein, recipe style, season, dietary needs, recipe cost, and serving cost.

Budget Bytes bills itself as “a resource for people to learn how to cook on a budget,” Moncel said. “And to create food that is not only satisfying but also budget-friendly.”

To create budget-friendly recipes, Moncel lists the ingredients you need and how much you need to cook them. Then calculate the cost of each ingredient, add them up, and divide by the resulting number of servings.

“For example, if you’re making something out of apples, and you buy a bag of apples. [six] An apple is $3.99,” she explained. “I divide $3.99 by 6 apples. So I know the cost of each apple, and I know the cost that went into that recipe.”

Rather than sticking to a specific budget for a particular recipe, Monsell tries to find ways to create the most cost-effective and flavorful meals.

“I love all kinds of food, so I tend to cook everything in the sun,” Monsell said. We’ll see if there’s anything we can possibly tweak to make it a little more budget-friendly.”

Monsell, who has tested thousands of recipes over the years, said she found what she calls a “budget saver” and a “budget saver.”

“Meat, cheese, nuts, all these ingredients are very expensive,” Monsell said. “If you’re not measuring or using specific amounts, it can get out of hand very easily. And the cost of your recipe will skyrocket.”

Instead, she focuses on using inexpensive ingredients to bulk up her diet.

“Lots of pasta, beans, and even vegetables like cabbage, carrots, onions, and potatoes. They’re all very cheap, yet very healthy,” Monsell said. I’ll tweak the ratio of .So I’m still happy, but at a lower cost.”

Budget Bytes takes great care in calculating costs for you, but Moncel recommends taking the time to try it out at least once.

“I think learning how to calculate the cost of food is a very important step. “It gives us insight into what we do,” she said.