$40 a week budget? How do I make this work?

[noisyturtle]

Kinda not sure what to do here, I usually spend about $120 a week on groceries alone, but I am out of work have no money in the bank(actually less than nothing) and only have $40 a week to spend on everything for the next month or so. I'm thinking $30 for groceries, and $10 for other weekly expenses. Any tips would be greatly appreciated, because other than strictly Ramen and rice I'd like to eat sort of healthy.

[user 18]

Oatmeal is a great way to start the day, and IIRC rolled oats aren't that expensive. If it tastes too bland, add a small amount of sugar.

I assume you're just trying to feed yourself, rather than a family, if it's not just you, number of people would be valuable info to have.

If you're used to having chips or such for snacks, try substituting carrots, apples, cucumber. Relatively cost-effective.

[Beca]

http://www.reddit.com/r/budgetfood

basically, get a crock pot, throw a bunch food in, and half the same thing for about a week for dinner. lunch is easy -> sandwiches.

[noisyturtle]

http://www.reddit.com/r/budgetfood

basically, get a crock pot, throw a bunch food in, and half the same thing for about a week for dinner. lunch is easy -> sandwiches.

Bread is too expensive. Probably go for tortillas.

[Beca]

http://www.reddit.com/r/budgetfood

basically, get a crock pot, throw a bunch food in, and half the same thing for about a week for dinner. lunch is easy -> sandwiches.

Bread is too expensive. Probably go for tortillas.

it's like a dollar for a loaf here, where do you live??

[jonathanyu]

http://www.reddit.com/r/budgetfood

basically, get a crock pot, throw a bunch food in, and half the same thing for about a week for dinner. lunch is easy -> sandwiches.

Bread is too expensive. Probably go for tortillas.

Where do you live?  I can get a loaf of bread from safeway for 99cents

[noisyturtle]

http://www.reddit.com/r/budgetfood

basically, get a crock pot, throw a bunch food in, and half the same thing for about a week for dinner. lunch is easy -> sandwiches.

Bread is too expensive. Probably go for tortillas.

it's like a dollar for a loaf here, where do you live??

WA, food is drastically overpriced here. Some sort of tax thing 

[user 18]

http://www.reddit.com/r/budgetfood

basically, get a crock pot, throw a bunch food in, and half the same thing for about a week for dinner. lunch is easy -> sandwiches.

Bread is too expensive. Probably go for tortillas.

it's like a dollar for a loaf here, where do you live??

WA, food is drastically overpriced here. Some sort of tax thing 

Ouch. For protein, I find that meat is usually more cost-effective than nuts, unless you can find a bag of mixed nuts on some kind of good sale.

I usually buy lower-quality cuts of ground beef, and drain the fat off it as I cook. Tastes like the more expensive stuff, and one medium-size package lasts me at least a week unless I'm using a ton of energy.

Tastes really good in tortillas too. Add some veggies if you can afford to.

[Malphas]

Bread is expensive? Anyway, living off whole foods is cheap as hell, other than meat and some more exotic fruits/vegetables. Use things oats, rice, lentils, etc for carbohydrates and the bulk of your calories, eggs and ground beef for protein and fat. That would be the absolute cheapest way to go, but I think even on $30 you could still probably afford things like chicken breasts, fish, olive oil, vegetables and fruit as well. Unprocessed food is cheap.

[user 18]

Chicken is good if you can afford it -- and a pack of chicken breasts will last close to a week as well

[Malphas]

Also, I know I said chicken breasts, but there's nothing wrong with using whole chickens and it's probably a lot cheaper too.

[noisyturtle]

I'll probably pick up either a 5lb tube of beef or chicken(not in a tube) but I can't do both.

[user 18]

Also, I know I said chicken breasts, but there's nothing wrong with using whole chickens and it's probably a lot cheaper too.

Little harder to prepare, but I guess if OP is out of work and has the time, it's probably worth it.

If you can only afford one, I vote for the beef -- I personally find it easier to season to taste with stuff I tend to have lying around the kitchen, and I also prefer its unseasoned taste.

I also think it's a little more versatile, but that's just me being picky more than anything else. We used tube beef for a nacho/taco party I went to in the spring, and it's no different than any other ground beef, it just has an unfortunate shape.


And because I keep forgetting to mention it: sorry to hear you're not doing so well, and I hope you find a job soon. Best wishes to you.

[tbc]

if your costs are anything like vancouver, meat is a no go.

it's way too expensive; you need to go vegan + eggs.  chicken/fish/beef are rare luxuries, even in small amount.

like everyone else said, don't snack on process foods, just too expensive

[user 18]

If you can't afford meat, you do still need protein. I forgot about eggs because I'm allergic, but they would be a good choice. More expensive than meat where I'm from though. Consider with meat that you don't need a huge portion, just a supplement to your cheap carbs in order to provide some essential amino acids.

[BunnyLake]

shoot me your paypal, ill throw you 100 bucks so you have an extra 25 a week

[Malphas]

Offal is also a good protein source if you can stomach it.

[user 18]

shoot me your paypal, ill throw you 100 bucks so you have an extra 25 a week

Man of the year right here. What a guy.

[noisyturtle]

shoot me your paypal, ill throw you 100 bucks so you have an extra 25 a week

There's no way I can accept that, but the gesture is very nice

Offal is also a good protein source if you can stomach it.

Generally my policy is if it contains meat and costs less than a dollar, you probably shouldn't ingest it )

[BunnyLake]

shoot me your paypal, ill throw you 100 bucks so you have an extra 25 a week

There's no way I can accept that, but the gesture is very nice

Offal is also a good protein source if you can stomach it.

Generally my policy is if it contains meat and costs less than a dollar, you probably shouldn't ingest it )

its no bother sir, i know what that situation is like, it will make little difference to me and a big difference to you good sir

i wont force it on you but the offer is there if you need it any time

[fohat.digs]

Eggs are a great source of cheap protein. And I saw a huge package of chicken leg quarters for about $6 at Kroger the other day. Red meat is harder to find cheap (pork is usually considerably cheaper than beef) and the only way to get good cheap fish is fresh-flash-frozen. Wild-caught salt water fishes are generally better, and cold-water fish is better than warm-water fish.

Finding yourself in this state at the beginning of summer is great - many of your fruits and vegetables will be in season, therefore cheap and good. I got 3 pounds of fresh green beans for $2 and a whole seedless watermelon for $6 this week.

[Malphas]

shoot me your paypal, ill throw you 100 bucks so you have an extra 25 a week

There's no way I can accept that, but the gesture is very nice

Offal is also a good protein source if you can stomach it.

Generally my policy is if it contains meat and costs less than a dollar, you probably shouldn't ingest it )

As unappealing as it can be, organ meats have much more health benefits than muscle meat. Liver in particular is in like the top five best things you could possibly eat, period.

[Sniping]

shoot me your paypal, ill throw you 100 bucks so you have an extra 25 a week

Man of the year right here. What a guy.

Only the 50th charitable action by bunny.

[CPTBadAss]

Look up the SNAP challenge or how people get by on just food stamps. I've read articles on how people live on your budget for a month.

Also things like beans and lentils are relatively cheap. They're filling and they can help you out on the protein front. I also agree with the whole chicken because you can make a soup/broth with the bones for another few meals on top of the meat.

[hwood34]

soylent

[Psybin]

Peanut butter is pretty filling as well. Put some on a spoon and dip into whatever cup of nuts then eat from spoon. It makes the plain jane nuts taste better. I do it with almonds as a morning snack. On a budget raw nuts and semi healthy peanut butter wouldn't be to much $$ and will go a ways.

Oh another cheap meal I like is drain a can of tuna, mix with pre-cooked rice, heat up, mix in franks hot sauce and eat with some sort if cracker. I eat it for lunch at work all the time.

[CPTBadAss]

Totally agree with fohat.digs on the farmer's markets coming into season now as well as the peanut butter tip from Psybin

[pichu23]

Oats around 11ish in the morning  will last me till 5 in the evening. Then I usually make rice or pasta. Pasta and pesto does wonders for me. Quite cheap and it's delicious !

[SpAmRaY]

Peanut butter is pretty filling as well. Put some on a spoon and dip into whatever cup of nuts then eat from spoon. It makes the plain jane nuts taste better. I do it with almonds as a morning snack. On a budget raw nuts and semi healthy peanut butter wouldn't be to much $$ and will go a ways.

Oh another cheap meal I like is drain a can of tuna, mix with pre-cooked rice, heat up, mix in franks hot sauce and eat with some sort if cracker. I eat it for lunch at work all the time.

I'm gonna have to try tuna like that.

[Psybin]

I use the crackers sparingly. But also eat it with lettuce or romain on the side and the crisp leaves pair well with the hotness of the sauce, celery would work too. You can go cheaper with the tuna since the hot sauce masks it, just get the kind in water not oil.

[bueller]

Buy a 2-3 lb chicken, roast it. Leave it out of the oven till it cools and then strip most of the chicken from the carcass. Put this aside for sandwiches, salads, whatever.

Put the carcass in a stock pot with a diced onion, a chicken stock cube, salt and fill with water. Boil for an hour and then strain the mixture after removing the chicken carcass. Don't skip the strain, a bunch of nasty **** will come out of the carcass that will make your stock taste bad otherwise. Strip any extra chicken off the carcass that you can get an then bang it back in with the stock. Put it on a very low heat and then throw in a packet of soup mix (I usually use the italian stuff) and whatever cheap veges and pasta you want. Should make a TON of soup that you can freeze and it's real cheap when you consider you can get a few days out of the chicken in other meals. Quiche is a good one to use up the leftovers. I do this about once a fortnight and the soup will usually get me at least 10 meals.

[Xowie]

My thoughts, from a poor grad student (a lot of them have already been said):
Eggs and oats is an extremely cheap and solid meal. I have this every morning. Rice is also very (very) cheap. I also eat a lot of greek yogurt, but I think if you are limited to $30 it might  be out of reach.
Also take a look at your local butcher. The one by where I live is very reasonable. Most items are cheaper than grocery stores and the quality is considerably better. The farmers market here is insanely overpriced though.

[noisyturtle]

Oats around 11ish in the morning  will last me till 5 in the evening.

I'm a big guy, I need a lot of fuel to keep this massive frame lumbering around. 

But oats have been mentioned, I'll have to pick up some. Probably mix in some banana, yogurt, and honey

[pichu23]

Oats around 11ish in the morning  will last me till 5 in the evening.

I'm a big guy, I need a lot of fuel to keep this massive frame lumbering around. 

But oats have been mentioned, I'll have to pick up some. Probably mix in some banana, yogurt, and honey

Yeah add some fruits in! It will be filling

[Belfong]

I usually go a bit heavy on breakfast and lunch, then I just take light snack in the evening for dinner. And I do hope you are just talking about yourself, not a family as that would be very hard indeed.

[hwood34]

Oh yeah, rice. Probably the single cheapest thing you can buy, and there's a bunch of stuff you can do with it, or just use it to beef up a meal

[user 18]

Biggest thing to keep in mind is to make sure you're getting some fruits, veggies and protein on a regular basis. If you can switch up the protein sources from time to time, all the better.

In terms of energy to keep you going, that's a question of carbohydrates. Rice, pasta are good sources, as is oatmeal.

Hope everything works out well

[dorkvader]

Look up the SNAP challenge or how people get by on just food stamps. I've read articles on how people live on your budget for a month.

Also things like beans and lentils are relatively cheap. They're filling and they can help you out on the protein front. I also agree with the whole chicken because you can make a soup/broth with the bones for another few meals on top of the meat.

You may consider just going to the unemployment office and getting food stamps, not sure what they'll say if you have savings though.

Otherwise, the CPT here has great advice on how to eat on the cheap. I eat pretty cheaply, but only because I only need about 1-2 meals a day (more if I excercise).

[rowdy]

shoot me your paypal, ill throw you 100 bucks so you have an extra 25 a week

GH Philanthropist Extraordinaire!

Sir BunnyLake, your karma level is off the scale!

[tp4tissue]

$40?

hmmm

Calories/ Dollar wise,,   Shoprite bread greatly outstrip ANY OTHER FOOD..  because their bread is sold at a lose to get you into the store..

all the other suggestions involve cooking or complex prep, which is time not worth spending...  wouldn't you rather spend the time in Finding your next occupation than cooking the discount food you're going to be h8n' regardless of how much effort is put in??

[bexleycorona]

I'm a frugal person by nature. OK, I'm just a cheap person.

Try to go to the grocery store in the evening or 2 hours before they close. My local stores have those pre-made rotisserie chickens for like $7. The problem is some get left out for a while and right before closing the store either has to sell or chuck them. Usually they get marked down to like $2-3 as a "Manager's Special".

I check out the diary section and check the expiration dates on the Fat Free Greek Yogurt. I try to go shopping 5 days before they expire. In my area no one buys the FFGY because it tastes very bland but usually has 2-3 times the protein of normal yogurt. It also goes on "Manager's Special". I pick up enough to use before they actually expire.

These might not work in your area but it doesn't hurt to ask staff how things work.

The workers there can be extremely helpful. One time I needed moving boxes and didn't want to pay $5 per box at Uhaul. I just asked the local grocery store when they throw out boxes they use for booze. Can't use the produce one since it might have all sorts of bugs. They gave me a ton of sturdy boxes.

[IvanIvanovich]

I live on that a week as normal :/ Granted food is probably cheaper here than in many parts of the US but still. I mostly am able to save a lot of money since I love to cook and make nearly everything myself from scratch. Things like bread, it's so cheap to make I don't even understand why people even buy it! It's not even hard to make at all but it does take some waiting. Indian vegetarian cuisine can be done for way cheap, like chana masala or aloo gobi is easy to make. Don't waste money on things like jarred spaghetti sauce when you can buy a can of plain tomato sauce 3x the size for 1/4 the price along with a can of tomato paste, add some onion, garlic, basil and a little chicken stock and you have a nice sauce for pasta or pizza. Similarly with salsa, instead of basil use some chopped seranos, cilantro or whatever and switch chicken stock for lime juice.
Buy dried pintos and make your own refried beans at home then stuff it inside poblanos with a little cheese and roast them and serve them with some sopa de arroz. Try out something like falafel with tagine sauce over cous cous. Perhaps you are noticing a trend with a lot of vegetarian dishes? Don't get me wrong I do eat meat but I really don't need it for every meal, just a few times a week. The best thing you can do to save on food is skip almost all the aisles that have any premade ready to eat packaged food. Really the only such things I buy are things like tomato sauce since it is far cheaper than buying loads of fresh tomato and doing it myself.

[bexleycorona]

I live on that a week as normal :/ Granted food is probably cheaper here than in many parts of the US but still. I mostly am able to save a lot of money since I love to cook and make nearly everything myself from scratch. Things like bread, it's so cheap to make I don't even understand why people even buy it! It's not even hard to make at all but it does take some waiting. Indian vegetarian cuisine can be done for way cheap, like chana masala or aloo gobi is easy to make. Don't waste money on things like jarred spaghetti sauce when you can buy a can of plain tomato sauce 3x the size for 1/4 the price along with a can of tomato paste, add some onion, garlic, basil and a little chicken stock and you have a nice sauce for pasta or pizza. Similarly with salsa, instead of basil use some chopped seranos, cilantro or whatever and switch chicken stock for lime juice.
Buy dried pintos and make your own refried beans at home then stuff it inside poblanos with a little cheese and roast them and serve them with some sopa de arroz. Try out something like falafel with tagine sauce over cous cous. Perhaps you are noticing a trend with a lot of vegetarian dishes? Don't get me wrong I do eat meat but I really don't need it for every meal, just a few times a week. The best thing you can do to save on food is skip almost all the aisles that have any premade ready to eat packaged food. Really the only such things I buy are things like tomato sauce since it is far cheaper than buying loads of fresh tomato and doing it myself.

Some people don't have that much time. It's really difficult especially if you're in medical school. I'm assuming dental and law are just as time consuming. Taking out 2 hours in a day during exam week is pretty hard.

I can make stuff as long as it doesn't take more than 20 minutes or if it goes into a cooker.

[user 18]

I live on that a week as normal :/ Granted food is probably cheaper here than in many parts of the US but still. I mostly am able to save a lot of money since I love to cook and make nearly everything myself from scratch. Things like bread, it's so cheap to make I don't even understand why people even buy it! It's not even hard to make at all but it does take some waiting. Indian vegetarian cuisine can be done for way cheap, like chana masala or aloo gobi is easy to make. Don't waste money on things like jarred spaghetti sauce when you can buy a can of plain tomato sauce 3x the size for 1/4 the price along with a can of tomato paste, add some onion, garlic, basil and a little chicken stock and you have a nice sauce for pasta or pizza. Similarly with salsa, instead of basil use some chopped seranos, cilantro or whatever and switch chicken stock for lime juice.
Buy dried pintos and make your own refried beans at home then stuff it inside poblanos with a little cheese and roast them and serve them with some sopa de arroz. Try out something like falafel with tagine sauce over cous cous. Perhaps you are noticing a trend with a lot of vegetarian dishes? Don't get me wrong I do eat meat but I really don't need it for every meal, just a few times a week. The best thing you can do to save on food is skip almost all the aisles that have any premade ready to eat packaged food. Really the only such things I buy are things like tomato sauce since it is far cheaper than buying loads of fresh tomato and doing it myself.

Some people don't have that much time. It's really difficult especially if you're in medical school. I'm assuming dental and law are just as time consuming. Taking out 2 hours in a day during exam week is pretty hard.

I can make stuff as long as it doesn't take more than 20 minutes or if it goes into a cooker.

I'm in premed, and if I had to cook complicated things I would make time. I will happily eat the same half-dozen things for months on end, so I don't have to worry much there.

With a lot of cooking, it's not that you spend the entire time it takes to cook something actively engaged in food prep. A process may take 2 hours from start to end, but it may only take 45 minutes or so of your time over those two hours (i.e. most things that get put in an oven or similar). If you're in med school, you should be able to bounce back and forth between tasks like that. You can also choose to cook things that keep well, and invest the time once in cooking larger portions. Pastas work well like this for instance, as long as you store the sauce separately.

Ivan, that's an interesting recipe for pasta sauce. Doesn't sound like it takes that long to make either. Care to share a few more details?

[bexleycorona]

I live on that a week as normal :/ Granted food is probably cheaper here than in many parts of the US but still. I mostly am able to save a lot of money since I love to cook and make nearly everything myself from scratch. Things like bread, it's so cheap to make I don't even understand why people even buy it! It's not even hard to make at all but it does take some waiting. Indian vegetarian cuisine can be done for way cheap, like chana masala or aloo gobi is easy to make. Don't waste money on things like jarred spaghetti sauce when you can buy a can of plain tomato sauce 3x the size for 1/4 the price along with a can of tomato paste, add some onion, garlic, basil and a little chicken stock and you have a nice sauce for pasta or pizza. Similarly with salsa, instead of basil use some chopped seranos, cilantro or whatever and switch chicken stock for lime juice.
Buy dried pintos and make your own refried beans at home then stuff it inside poblanos with a little cheese and roast them and serve them with some sopa de arroz. Try out something like falafel with tagine sauce over cous cous. Perhaps you are noticing a trend with a lot of vegetarian dishes? Don't get me wrong I do eat meat but I really don't need it for every meal, just a few times a week. The best thing you can do to save on food is skip almost all the aisles that have any premade ready to eat packaged food. Really the only such things I buy are things like tomato sauce since it is far cheaper than buying loads of fresh tomato and doing it myself.

Some people don't have that much time. It's really difficult especially if you're in medical school. I'm assuming dental and law are just as time consuming. Taking out 2 hours in a day during exam week is pretty hard.

I can make stuff as long as it doesn't take more than 20 minutes or if it goes into a cooker.

I'm in premed, and if I had to cook complicated things I would make time. I will happily eat the same half-dozen things for months on end, so I don't have to worry much there.

With a lot of cooking, it's not that you spend the entire time it takes to cook something actively engaged in food prep. A process may take 2 hours from start to end, but it may only take 45 minutes or so of your time over those two hours (i.e. most things that get put in an oven or similar). If you're in med school, you should be able to bounce back and forth between tasks like that. You can also choose to cook things that keep well, and invest the time once in cooking larger portions. Pastas work well like this for instance, as long as you store the sauce separately.

Ivan, that's an interesting recipe for pasta sauce. Doesn't sound like it takes that long to make either. Care to share a few more details?

[sleepy916]

Sell some clacks, eat for a year.

[noisyturtle]

Sell some clacks, eat for a year.

something like that did occur to me

[user 18]

I live on that a week as normal :/ Granted food is probably cheaper here than in many parts of the US but still. I mostly am able to save a lot of money since I love to cook and make nearly everything myself from scratch. Things like bread, it's so cheap to make I don't even understand why people even buy it! It's not even hard to make at all but it does take some waiting. Indian vegetarian cuisine can be done for way cheap, like chana masala or aloo gobi is easy to make. Don't waste money on things like jarred spaghetti sauce when you can buy a can of plain tomato sauce 3x the size for 1/4 the price along with a can of tomato paste, add some onion, garlic, basil and a little chicken stock and you have a nice sauce for pasta or pizza. Similarly with salsa, instead of basil use some chopped seranos, cilantro or whatever and switch chicken stock for lime juice.
Buy dried pintos and make your own refried beans at home then stuff it inside poblanos with a little cheese and roast them and serve them with some sopa de arroz. Try out something like falafel with tagine sauce over cous cous. Perhaps you are noticing a trend with a lot of vegetarian dishes? Don't get me wrong I do eat meat but I really don't need it for every meal, just a few times a week. The best thing you can do to save on food is skip almost all the aisles that have any premade ready to eat packaged food. Really the only such things I buy are things like tomato sauce since it is far cheaper than buying loads of fresh tomato and doing it myself.

Some people don't have that much time. It's really difficult especially if you're in medical school. I'm assuming dental and law are just as time consuming. Taking out 2 hours in a day during exam week is pretty hard.

I can make stuff as long as it doesn't take more than 20 minutes or if it goes into a cooker.

I'm in premed, and if I had to cook complicated things I would make time. I will happily eat the same half-dozen things for months on end, so I don't have to worry much there.

With a lot of cooking, it's not that you spend the entire time it takes to cook something actively engaged in food prep. A process may take 2 hours from start to end, but it may only take 45 minutes or so of your time over those two hours (i.e. most things that get put in an oven or similar). If you're in med school, you should be able to bounce back and forth between tasks like that. You can also choose to cook things that keep well, and invest the time once in cooking larger portions. Pastas work well like this for instance, as long as you store the sauce separately.

Ivan, that's an interesting recipe for pasta sauce. Doesn't sound like it takes that long to make either. Care to share a few more details?

Show Image

Sorry, didn't quite catch that. I know a picture is worth a thousand words and all that, but if you could specify which words you wanted to use, that'd be great. Thanks :)

[atlas3686]

Oats around 11ish in the morning  will last me till 5 in the evening.

I'm a big guy, I need a lot of fuel to keep this massive frame lumbering around. 

But oats have been mentioned, I'll have to pick up some. Probably mix in some banana, yogurt, and honey

My girlfriend has an amazing wraps recipe which is dirt cheap to make, if you interested I will ask her for it. 

[Lanx]

maybe where you shop for groceries is the issue.

i'm lucky enough now to live with 5 minutes of a grocery store, hell in a few months there will literally be a whole foods across the street from me, but **** it if i'll ever shop at rip me off whole foods.

i can be at one supermarket where they have beef for 7.99 a lb and 5 minutes away, a competitor has it for 3.99 a lb, and it's not an advertised special, just how the meat prices flucuate.

and as someone has said, "managers special" is a great way to save, just make sure to use it within a day.

the best "bang for your buy" is really to learn to cook. like someone said, you get SO MUCH use outta 1 whole chicken.

and farmers markets.

oh and eat rice, learn how to cook rice like an asian, we asians never **** up rice.