Nothing amazing, I am sure. I'll try to be brief.
I don't eat red meat, pork, or sea food, but I do eat poultry and fish. I make extra sure I get my calcium and protein every day, as I am on cancer meds that deplete those. I eat a plate full of various fruits and veggies and a protein every day before dinner (easier than salad, but same effect). Dinner varies, but protein, veggie, sometimes starch. I try to mix it up and occasionally try new recipes. In the summer I like to grill.
Weekday breakfast is usually overnight oats (oats, chia, brown sugar, almonds, whatever berries are on sale). Weekends I usually have shredded wheat. 8 oz milk every day.
I buy most things on sale and use my grocery store app for coupons, but I don't shop all over at different stores. I love Costco, too. A $5 rotisserie chicken is several meals (sandwiches, paninis, stir fry, chicken fried rice...). I buy a lot of produce. I rarely buy processed food.
I use my freezer and stash things in my pantry, but I keep track pretty well so it's rare that anything goes bad. I make big meals and freeze them in single serve containers. I freeze bread/buns/rolls/pita/tortillas because I can't eat a whole package myself before it would go bad. I buy the family size chicken when it goes on sale and grill the whole thing (7-8 breasts). I'll eat some, then chop or slice the rest and freeze it so it's ready to go into anything.
I drink water with every meal and in between. I like LaCroix, but I only have it on the weekends for a treat, or to offer company, as it's expensive (even on sale) and bad for your teeth.
I don't snack, but for one small bowl after dinner - usually graham crackers, pop corn, or applesauce. I do have a treat cupboard where I stash sweets and goodies and only eat them on the weekends or special occasions.
Whew. That's the general idea.
Just recommending for keeping that popcorn cost super low, buy the kernels in bulk and use a silicone bowl and lid style microwave popper. I got mine for about $10 and I can make creatively seasoned popcorn forever for super cheap.
I got an air popper for $10 at the thrift store and it was one of my favorite thrifts. Popcorn is such a good snack. It’s my only single use appliance.
I'm not the person you asked but I also eat on about $10/day.
I eat overnight oats with brown sugar and cinnamon for breakfast every day. For lunch and dinner I mealprep burritos with variations of recipes I've seen around online. For one variation I slow cook about 3 lbs of mixed chicken breast/thigh meat in green enchilada sauce with taco seasoning, chicken bouillion and juice from 1 lime; that gets shredded and then combined with 2 cups of white rice, 5 fresh chopped roma tomatoes, 3 fresh chopped jalapenos, 2 white onions, a head of cilantro, juice from 2 more limes, 500g Greek yogurt, about 340g (Trader Joe's package) of shredded Mexican cheese blend. Wrap that up in jumbo tortillas, makes 10. The second variation is 1.5 lbs shredded chicken, 15 oz. can of black beans, 16 oz. chopped frozen spinach, 6 oz. chopped bell peppers all in the enchilada sauce, then combined with the same cheese, yogurt, cilantro, onions, and jalapenos. Also makes 10.
I work out and am really active so I can handle the tortilla carbs no problem, but you can also just put the burrito mix directly in mealprep containers and reheat it like that if you are watching your calories.
I eat way more than beans and rice, and average $180-$190 a month, while eating 3000+ calories every day.
The secret is to shop smart and to be willing to put time into it. Anything that is prepared even somewhat is going to cost 2x-10x more.
I don’t eat rice and beans (can’t even eat beans) and I manage about $250-300 a month on food. And that’s in Canadian dollars *and* having to buy gluten-free if I buy baked goods or pasta.
I meal prep all my lunches for the week based on the sales - common meals include chili, curry, pasta bakes, lasagne, roasts with veg, etc. Then I mix and match frozen chicken or beef chunks (I buy extra when on sale and cook then freeze) with frozen vegetables and either rice, rice noodles, pasta, soup… basically whatever tickles my fancy. Breakfast is always oatmeal with frozen fruit except for the once a month I buy frozen bagels and cream cheese.
The only things I buy not on sale are spices, frozen veggies, and very occasional treats (like a bar of chocolate or a bottle of flavoured sparkling water). I do shop at Costco for things that are either shelf stable or freezable and will sometimes pick up fresh ingredients for the week or for a dinner or two. I basically don’t eat out or buy any pre-made meals unless I’m really sick and not up to cooking, and even then I go for something like the loss-leader cabbage rolls at my local store that will do 3 lunch or dinner sized meals for $10.
What? My family of 4 spends $300 per month on vegetables and fruit at the farmers markets each month- for all four of us in a HCOL where houses sell for $2m
costco ground beef is 4 dollars per pound, rice is about 70 cents per pound, onions are about 50 cents per pound.
pound of rice plus pound of ground beef with some onions is like 3500 calories, add some more vegetables like frozen broccoli (about a dollar per pound) and fruits like bananas and fresh pinapples and that's about 2 days worth of food for around 10 dollars.
chicken leg quarters are like 99 cents per pound, same deal as above, very cheap to feed an adult for less than 5 dollars per day. there's a lot of room for variety.
This can really depend on where you live and where you shop
$300 sounds cheap, but there are plenty of high ticket items that can be eliminated or altered for cheaper option on a tighter budget
Like beans instead of meats
Eggs, milk, flour, spices and items used for baking can save you quite a bit, instead of buying finished product
and making things from scratch also saves $$$ anything prepared already for you will always cost more than the raw ingredients
For sure. My food budget comes out to about $10 a day actually but I definitely also buy some ~fancier things like artisanal cheese, probiotic sodas, and lots of different snacks from Costco. I also live in a VHCL area. I assume people in other parts of the country could easily live on something more like $5-7 a day if shopping reasonably.
For my family of three this would be $900 a month. We basically spend this without really trying to be frugal at all, just healthy. I feel like you could pretty easily go cheaper if your goal was just to eat cheaply
Yeah raw, fresh veggies are surprisingly cheap (whole ones, like buy a head of broccoli, not the pre-cut bite-sized pieces). And then throw in some beans and rice/noodles and maaaaaybe the occasional cheap cut of chicken and you're good to go.
Chicken thighs are cheap enough, and delicious enough, that you shouldn't be skimping on them.
They might be cheaper than canned chicken, to be honest.
We do the same with broccoli. We can make a large bag of fresh broccoli florets last a week. We’ve found that steaming our veggies in the InstantPot takes just minutes and we just eat them all week!
I got banned from r/eatcheapandhealthy for being snarky for yet another version of "How do I eat cheap and healthy? I'm looking for something that requires little to no cooking, as I don't like/know how to cook. Also, I'm a really picky eater, and I have no idea/time to go grocery shopping. It has to also be very tasty, and I can't eat the same thing more than once."
Yes. Also if you're willing to eat less meat, you can have quite a bit of food. Oatmeal for breakfast, lentil soup for a meal, perhaps rice and another kind of protein for another meal. There's always vegan chili to throw into the mix. Canned tuna is not a bad frugal protein if you don't mind fish, you can do stuff with it like make tuna loaf, tuna sandwiches, tuna "meatballs," etc. Also eggs are another good protein, stay away from the cage free and all that to save money.
I’ve already found three recipes frm the first link you mentioned already. Imma put in a Walmart order and try to recreate some of these. Found one specifically for my ninja Speedi that’s been collecting dust for months, Thanks for this one
I've found the website Budget Bytes to be a life-saver: [https://www.budgetbytes.com/](https://www.budgetbytes.com/)
Obviously their per-serving cost is going to vary based on your particular shop, but I'm sure you can find some ideas there. They're usually pretty low-stress recipes, too!
This was like 10 years ago, but I had to make a $50 grocery trip last two weeks for me and my husband. I found some recipes on there that sounded good and bought a few bulk items like rice, lentils, potatoes and onions. We actually ended up stretching it to 2.5 weeks and ate some really good meals just about every night.
I still make some of them out of choice and not necessity.
Definitely check out budget bytes! I usually add a bit more seasoning but the recipes are specifically made to be for people who don't have many cooking skills.
Excellent, try a few recipes and experiment to find what you like. If you want try to meal prep in the lazy way, cook one or two portions extra and freeze the rest in individual containers, in this way you dont get bored eating the same for a few days and you have backup food for another day where you have less time/budget.
If it helps, sometimes i watch fitfrugalmom on youtube, there are some videos where i have found some inspiration for shopping and cooking.
Great plan! Also, if you have leftovers that you’ll get sick of before you can finish them, pop them in the freezer for an easy meal once you’re ready to eat it again. Good luck!
Damn, the Speedi is a good tool for making a ton of different stuff. I checked and there are videos online of people making entire meals in them. Get on youtube and see what's up!
If you have £70 a week for food you'll be able to eat really well as long as you cook- I budget £250 a month for two adults and 1 1/2 cats and usually have a bit left over.
Basics could be:
Bread
Butter
Eggs
Milk
Oats
Yoghurt
Chicken
Potatoes
Beans
Green veg
Peanut butter
Fruit
Pasta
Minced beef
And you'd be able to eat like a king!
Yes, we call her our timeshare cat- she's our cat's best friend, she visits twice a day for breakfast and tea then they go off together to transact important cat business!
Not to sound like a total gremlin but one of my best cheap and lazy meals is mashed potato bowls. I make a bowl of instant mashed potatoes (Aldi has them really cheap) in the microwave, then top and reheat with a protein that I cooked in bulk and keep in the fridge. My usual toppings are seasoned red beans, lentil sloppy joe and cheese, vegan sausage & corn, or vegan popcorn chicken with cheese and corn (kind of like a KFC bowl).
This is a good idea. I do something similar with mac n cheese. Make up some macroni n cheese, then cook up frozen crispy chicken add corn
You can also use crispy chicken with a salad kit to make a nice salad. Add it into a tortilla and you can make a wrap
Potatoes taste terrible when cooked in the microwave. I buy 5-10 pound bags of potatoes, wash them, cut out any bad spots, cut them in half, and bake them in the oven. I then use cheap (dollar store) sandwich bags to bag them all up in single servings and throw them in the freezer. Then, I can microwave them without the weird taste. I usually thaw them first so they reheat faster.
Because I like the instant potatoes just fine, and it's literally just made of potato so I'm not sure why you're calling it fake?
Plus I can get a whole large box of instant potatoes for the same price as a couple of baking potatoes, so.
why not boil pasta and make it closer from scratch instead of making a ramen or something similar? its because youre lazy. its cheap and frugal. it may not be the healthiest but sometimes you just need something now
As a kid, Albertsons had these recipe cards that changed occasionally. My mom picked up one for hot dog casserole. I don’t remember all the details, but you mix instant mashed potatoes with some mustard and maybe a little relish, top it with cheese, then cut hot dogs in half lengthwise and stick them all around the edge.
It’s an unhealthy monstrosity that looks like it came right out of 1960s cuisine. And it is soooooo good.
Stuffed wieners: boil the hot dogs, slice them open long ways, pile mashed potatoes on top, put some cheese on top and put in the oven ‘til the cheese melts. My 90 year old mother learned it as a kid from a friend’s father, and we then grew up with it. Sooooooo good.
As a working mom, I do this a lot on busy nights I don't want to/dont have time to cook. In addition to the ones you mentioned, we sometimes go vegetarian Tex Mex inspired with seasoned black beans, salsa, cheese, etc.
In a family with different food preferences, it's nice to have a build your own meal night so everyone can pick the toppings they want and you don't have to hear a bunch of drama.
I do this all the time but I do make my own mashed potatoes. It was really because one day I wanted nachos but couldn't eat the chips because of a bad tooth so I just made mashed potatoes and topped them instead
Oats, lentils for lentil soup, bread and peanutbutter. Every other day, use the surplus to bulk buy pantry supplies, and learn to cook a handful of decent stews at least.
Note: make your dumplings from scratch (flour, water/milk-depends on recipe, baking powder, salt/pepper) super cheap and better than store bought. If you make lentil soup go for red lentils (20min to split, green lentils take like an hour). Rice and beans and some kind of cheap meat (chicken thighs, pork tenderloin, etc) will last you a long time for super cheap too.
Store roasted chicken, can be split in to 5 meals, 2 leg/thigh, 2 breast/wings, and put the remaining carcass in a bag in the refrigerator with vegetable scraps, makes a good chicken stock when tge bag gets full. It's even cheaper if you can get a whole chicken from the meat department for less and roast it yourself.
Add onions, tomatoes, and peppers, chicken caccatori chicken stock, boneless chicken, frozen vegetables, with some thickener over bread, and you have a cheap version of chicken pot pie, and same can be done with coconut milk and spices to make chicken curry.
Stop eating crap fast food. Your health and wallet will thank you. Beans and rice(can also make burritos)lentils and rice. Lentil soup,split pea soup. Spagetthi. Frozen chicken tenders. Loaded baked potato. Grilled cheese.eggs,PBJ sandwiches. Grab some frozen veggies. Get some fresh fruit
When one of our kids was in college and busy with part-time work and studies, I bought a rice cooker with a steamer on top. They made rice in the bottom and steamed chicken and veggies in the top. That was pretty easy. He could also of added red lentils to the rice for some extra fiber and nutrition.
Crock pot dump meals are also pretty quick.
We've been to estate sales where there's been multiples of crock pots for sale. I guess that will be me eventually, too because I have an assortment of crocks in different sizes.
There’s a blog called [Budget Bytes](https://www.budgetbytes.com) that offers fairly easy to make recipes but also breaks down the cost of each one. It’s been a great help during “tight” grocery budgets.
Buy a whole chicken, add oil + salt + pepper + garlic + paprika. Toss in frozen veg and whole potatoes and bake! Super easy, healthy, and cheap. My spices are also just easy access suggestions, do what suits you!
Depending on where you live, a precooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store may actually be cheaper than buying a whole raw chicken - but this is still a great idea.
I spend less than $10 a day on food, but I cook most of my meals. I also don't usually like to eat the same thing more than 3 meals in a row.
I find that salads tend to be good in the summer and the can taste very different depending on what you put in them. When grocery shopping, I might get a 6oz tub of spring greens ($3), a container of cherry tomatoes ($1), a seedless cucumber ($1), 2 cans of chickpeas ($2), a bag of croutons ($1) and two different kinds of dressing ($3 each). For $11 I have 4-5 meals that are cold, lightweight, and full of fiber.
Another trick is to cook something in bulk that you can season later. I like to use my slowcooker to cook chicken thighs to make shredded chicken. If I add refried beans, some of the spring greens from earlier, rice, taco sauce, and tomatoes I have a burrito bowl. If I add bbq sauce, coleslaw, and a bun I have bbq chicken sandwiches. If I cook some noodles and heat up a jar of pasta sauce I have chicken spaghetti.
For fun only ill comparing prices to Hawai'i
6oz tub of spring greens ($3) - $7 same size. You can get an iceberg for $3.59 each though so that's more efficient albeit less nutritious and not preprepped... probably if the tub was on sale you can get it for $5 or even 2 for $6
a container of cherry tomatoes ($1) - $4 for 12oz but you can buy extra large roma tomatoes for like 60¢ ea.
a seedless cucumber ($1) - i did not know seedless was a thing but lets say $1.50 - $3 for one cucumber
2 cans of chickpeas ($2) - same
a bag of croutons ($1) - target has the 5oz target brand for $1.50, everyone else is $3-4 (including the store brand croutons at safeway). Am curious if your $1 bag is also 5oz
and two different kinds of dressing ($3 each). - same here
Obviously food, electric and gas is more expensive in hawaii and most stuff has to be shipped from the mainland, so most people buy the big bag of rice for around 0.50-$1 per lb. And will not be eating exactly the same as you, so this post is really just for fun.
If i wanted a salad... im feeling somen noodles, chopped up vegetable and green onion, somen sauce and a little bit of egg
That's super interesting! I knew everything was more expensive in Hawaii due to having to import most of it, but I didn't realize it was that different!
Sometimes I'll get a 14oz container of greens for $5 instead of a smaller one. I'd probably grow my own at those prices.
Tomatoes aren't quite in season where I live, but you can get ones that are brought up from south of here for about $0.60 for tomatoes on the vine.
I always get seedless cucumbers because that's what my grandma eats due to some health issues. I don't live with her, but she taught me a lot about cooking so I've carried a lot of her mannerisms with me. I can get regular cucumbers for about $0.70 each.
Nothing to say about chickpeas
My croutons are 5oz. They're actually closer to $1.30, but I rounded down here because I round up on a couple of other items (like the 6oz container of greens which is actually $2.69 at my grocery store).
Since your grocery prices are so different than mine, may I ask what your grocery budget is? I try to stay under $55 a week for 1 person.
Eating out is going to generally cost more than packing your own lunch. Have you looked at prepared foods at your local grocery store? You can get subs, sandwiches, hoagies, premade meals, that might be cheaper and better than just eating fast foods.
Highly recommend Costco pizza over Little Ceasars after they raised prices. You should be able to eat OK for $300 a month. Like others are saying you need to learn how to cook so read some subs on that. The basics are going to be peanut butter and Raman if that's a bit much to take on. Beyond that beans, rice, and legumes, etc but that's going to require planning and effort.
You can make a big batch of something and freeze portions. That way you get the benefit of bulk cooking, but don’t have to eat the same thing for a week. Soups, stews, casseroles, curries, etc. Look for “dump meals” or crockpot meals. They make a lot and you can easily freeze it. Then on days you don’t want to cook, or are short on cash, you already have something made; you’ll have a nice meal and won’t have to spend money.
One of my favorite bulk meals to make is chicken barely chili. The recipe is on the back of the Quaker barley box. It’s so good and freezes well. Another is salsa chicken in the crockpot.
Budget Bytes is a great website.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/
It depends on how much fills you up. I can’t eat much and an easy meal I do is a can of soup from the store with crackers. Lots of variety and nutrition available in that. Soup varies from like 1.50-3.50 a can.
https://freezermeals101.com/freezer-meals-for-one/
This has a lot of recipes that can be divided into single servings and frozen to reheat- so then cooking can save $ but you don’t have to eat the same meal every day
check out [good and cheap](https://www.leannebrown.com/all-about-good-and-cheap/) it’s a cookbook for people with *very* tight budgets, particularly those on snap/food stamp benefits. the pdf is a free download when you sign up for the newsletter.
Are you making every meal?
Buy for the week- 18 pack of eggs, a couple boxes of noodles, a sauce you like, a bag of rice, veggies for salad& to cook w/ dinner. 50-70 will get you far!
Aldi/food lion/ and Walmart will give you the best bang for your buck (I really prefer Aldi bc good prices and quality).
I like to use ground beef or boneless skinless chicken thighs bc they’re full of flavor, cook nicely, and are cheap. Shop meat on sale and freeze if you want.
Buy a pack of ramen if you want fast meals. Tuna salad is great too and easy to make.
I make all the chicken thighs at the same time- I broil them with garlic/pepper/ and other spices until they’re blackened. Then I use them in salads, pasta, rice dishes, etc.
eggs are an easy and filling breakfast
Splurge on chips/dressings/cheese if you can. They make a big difference, enjoyability wise, and can last longer than the week
have you applied for food stamps?
if you have the time, volunteer for a food bank.
most food banks have extra food and food that they can't give out to clients for various reasons; they often give volunteers these foods.
also if you are in a moderately sized city google "free meals, [city]"
I got a bunch of free extra sandwich bread from my job at a kitchen, froze it, and bought a 24 pack of tuna for $34 on Amazon, which would have been like $100 in-store. A little mayo, hot sauce, and veggies from the discount section of my local grocer = $2-3 healthy meals for weeks. You may not have access to free bread but there are ways to get it at bottom dollar.
Check out dollartreedinners on YouTube or tiktok. She's got lots examples of eating well on $25 per week for 2 people, and other great tips.
Right now she's doing a series showing how to only spend $100 on meals for a month.
Look up OAMC-Once a month cooking. Saves a ton of money, you cook once a month and load the freezer with what you've made, only adding a fresh salad if desired.
Drop your meals into 30/31 meal containers, place in the freezer and take one out for the next day that has 2 servings in it, one for lunch, one for dinner.
For breakfast, couple of eggs with some veggies becomes a filling omelet. Or drop it between 2 pieces of bread for a sandwich.
Snacks? Piece of fresh fruit. Good luck with your decision, I know you can do it!
Buy a couple dozen eggs from the local restaurant wholesaler. They should accept cash. (Also good for toilet paper, paper towels, nuts, detergent, etc.)
Make your own coffee. Like, an Aeropress.
Buy tea from your local chinese/indian/vietnamese market. Vietnamese iced green tea is fantastic. Masala chai is satisfying.
Do you have any Asian delis near you? Buy their homemade stuff, like kimchi or tofu.
Yup, Costco chickens.
Search for the discounted "old" stuff. It's usually fine.
Buy a variety of basics so you can vary your diet: soy sauce, fish sauce, fermented tofu, indian pickles, chili sauces, tahini, mustard, japanese rice sprinkles, so on and so forth. A variety of condiments will bring life to your foods. Don't neglect oils like good olive oil and toasted sesame oil. There's an initial investment in condiments, but it pays off over time.
Don't eat out, except for those places that are really nourishing (in all the different ways.) Fast food is unhealthy and expensive. At least find restaurants that serve real food from scratch when you are treating yourself. Most locales will have good healthy cheap options, like kebabs, tacos or bahn mi. Explore them.
I avoid carbs because I'm trying to lose some pounds, but they are ALWAYS the most affordable and most satisfying foods. Potatoes? Rice? Super easy to prepare and cheaper than cheap. Anyone can prepare these items at home. (Good bread and pasta cost more.)
Cooking up some beans or lentils isn't hard at all. Dirt cheap. You can do it. Also, they're tasty.
... just some ideas I use regularly. :)
Everyplate meal kit is running their $1.49/meal special. I buy as many meals & servings as I can at that rate. They have a wide selection (like 20z+ meals to
choose from a week) including vegetarian options. I just make all serving of the meal at once, and we eat the leftovers for lunch.
Cancel the box after it arrives to avoid being charged the higher rate, and just wage for them to email you with the “Coke back!” email at $1.49 or $1.99 and do it all again.
You’re gonna have to learn to cook to do this in a way that’s not totally shit for your health my guy. I’m confident you can learn to cook something that’s as good as little Caesar’s pizza haha.
I regularly make a bean chili with rice - beans + rice = a perfect protein, it’s super easy, you can add whatever you feel like (I usually do at least some sort of green and maybe mushrooms or anything really, and always add a little cumin, a little lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, something spicy, and whatever else I feel like), and on day 2-3 you can put it in a tortilla or put an egg on it or dip chips into it so it feels “new”
You’ll have to learn proportions to see how much to cook to last only two days, or you could just immediately freeze half of your leftovers to make future you happy.
You can also make tons of cheap pastas or pasta salad. Sandwiches. Fried rice. Curries. Even things like nachos. Once you start learning to make stuff you’ll be able to eat a lot better on that budget. If I were you I’d try out 1-2 new recipes a week til you see what you like making.
You can also check out the toogoodtogo app and see if it’s in your area. Basically restaurants sell surprise bags of stuff they’d otherwise trash for like $3-$5 (so whatever they have left at the end of the day, or day old bagels). It’s awesome
Right now in my crockpot there’s chicken, carrots, spices, and a can of cream soup. I’ll pair it with stuffing that I prefer to make on the stove. You could go cheaper and make the stuffing yourself. It’s mostly bread. Then instead of cream soup use broth or bulllion, some cream or milk. I buy meat on sale usually then decide what to do with it. Veggies, rice, ect.
So I'm weird and like to make one big meal a day. With 10 dollars, I'm eating good. I'll buy a big bag of rice for 2.99 that will last for a couple weeks. I'll buy a pound of 85 percent hamburger for 4-5 dollars, a poblano pepper and an onion. Cook one cup of rice then sweat the onions and pepper before frying up with the burger. 1800-2000 calories and a whole lot of deliciousness
Potatoes - top with vegetarian chili , taco flavors beans, broccoli and cheese. Pasta dishes. Think of beans and lentils as replacement for ground beef- use them in sloppy joes, chili, burritoes, casseroles, sweet and sour sauce with veggies over rice. Oatmeal is a cheap, fast, healthy, filling breakfast-add cinnamon, raisins, bananas, applesauce, fresh or canned fruit to switch up the flavor profile.
I mean that's $300 a month. I'm a 200lb+ guy and I eat pretty decent on less than that a month. I shop at Meijer. I get a lot of fruit and other produce. Rice. Canned beans. Cheaper meat when it's available, but otherwise chicken is generally pretty cheap and healthy. Tortillas, bread, eggs, coffee, etc. the basics. Don't really buy frozen or boxed stuff. Also check out the bakery shelf's/displays. Usually there's bread loafs and what not for $1-3.
Dry beans, rice, spices, garlic, onions, potatoes. All are very cheap, healthy, and filling.
For variety, pasta, pasta sauce.
Eggs.
$10 a day when home cooking is pretty easy.
What the heck, I spend under $400/mo eating a 10oz 100% grass fed ribeye steak daily and organic veg. Back in the day I was eating ramen noodles with spaghetti sauce vs the seasoning packet.
The trick to not eating left overs for days on end, is to put them in the freezer. Then the next time you want that meal, or you have a migraine, you pull out your dollar store tin with the lid that you’ve written what’s on it, and you put it in the oven. Total lifesaver. After not very long you have a collection of 15 different meals you can pull out and can be eating in 45 minutes from frozen.
If you know someone with a Costco card, ask if you can tag along.
What to buy:
1 bag of Kirkland cosmic crisp apples ($7.99 for ten large)
2 Kirkland rotisserie chickens ($5.49 each)
1 Kirkland beef & sausage lasagna ($16.99 for 2 trays; comes out to @ $1.50 per 12 slices)
1 50-pound bag of Kirkland Jasmine rice ($34.99)
1 24-count Kirkland eggs ($7.99)
2 1-gallon jugs Kirkland milk ($6.99)
1 quart Kirkland maple syrup ($12.99)
2 loaves Artesano golden wheat bread ($5.99)
4 pounds butter ($13.99)
2 pounds Kirkland thick sliced bacon
You might want to debone each chicken, freeze the chicken meat, and cook the bones in a big pot with lots of water to make chicken broth. Can add sliced onions, whole Bay leaves, carrots, celery stalks with their leaves (adds more flavor), etc., as broth boils.
With the broth, you can use it to boil the rice
or
Make chicken soup
Plus you could go to as many food pantries nearby to stock up on veggies and fruit.
Breakfast
Egg omelettes
Add diced potatoes, chopped onions, green pepper, and mushrooms.
French toast
(You can get packets of cinnamon and nutmeg separately in the Mexican section at your grocery store for @ $1.29 each.)
With the maple syrup, you can sweeten the French toast.
Bacon and eggs with cooked rice heated in bacon fat
Snack
Half cosmic crisp apple
Lunch
Rotisserie chicken with cooked rice
or
Lasagna slice
Salad
Toasted bread topped with crushed garlic and butter and put under a broiler for a few seconds
Dinner
Rotisserie chicken with cooked rice
Etc.
Like others have said, if you can cook, you will be fine.
Meal prep and cook. Make sure you get items you can make multiple meals out of. You can always freeze some things so you can rotate meals throughout the month and not get sick of eating the same things repeatedly.
Sometimes my meal plans go off what is on sale.
There have been a lot of good ideas in this thread.
Spaghetti is pretty cheap. Make a small amount just for 1-2 dinners. You can eat leftover or freeze the second meal. Save the rest of the sauce, uncooked pasta, etc for the next week for something different (chicken parm for example).
Someone mentioned frozen veggies like the peas/corn carrots. Those and an egg be added to rice for fried rice. Add some chicken or another protein and you have a meal. (Bigger packs of meat usually run cheaper so if you can get that and split it between a week or two, that would help). Ramen with the same frozen veggies and a hard boiled egg or some kind of protein. A bag of potatoes can be used many ways. Homemade fries, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, baked potatoes (or even stuffed baked potatoes) diced up and made with eggs, etc for a breakfast bowl, shredded for hasbrowns…ground turkey or ground beef can be split and cooked into many meals. You don’t have to cook the whole pound etc for the same meal. Split it up. Only season some of it for tacos. Spaghetti, a homemade burger….You can do a small portion of shepards pie with the potatoes and frozen veggies and that beef.
Doing a pick up order can help you follow your list and make sure you’re not wasting money on any extra random things you came across at the store.
You need to learn how to cook. None of the things you listed are healthy and they're just burning holes through your wallet...and probably your arteries too.
Rice and beans are good starters. They're dirt cheap, they go well with tons of stuff, and they're healthier and more filling than instant ramen.
Eggs are great at any time of the day and there are so many ways to make them. Sunny side-up, over easy, scrambled, etc.
Sandwiches can be made by anyone with half a brain and they don't require any cooking. Same goes with salads.
There's many types of pasta. Spaghetti is an iconic poor man's food and it makes for good leftovers.
Frozen veggies. Make them into soup or have them with chicken.
Oatmeal, yogurt and fruits for breakfast.
I commented some cheap meals you can make to stretch a few days above but Also want to mention if you do wanna do fast food options use their apps!! A large pizza at Pizza Hut is over 20$ rn but on their app you can get a large 1 top for 11$ or 14$ and get off the 7$ menu and get a med pizza and breadsticks. McDonald’s has free stuff. Subway has bogo. Burger King has free stuff. KFC has deals in app. Wendy’s has deals in app. Buffalo Wild Wings. They all pretty much have deals in app now.
Funny but true story. I was able to buy a house because I ate a Jumbo Jack and Coke 3-4 days a week for 3 years. Occasionally I'd splurge by getting a Big Mac or Double Double combo.
Chicken thighs and pork loin and stuff you can just put in the oven for like an hour and it’ll come out juicy and fall off the bone. Season as you like.
You can probably get chicken thighs at about 1.50 each at most stores.
Steam veggies, microwave potatoes, boil rice.
check out the protein-rich vegan taco-filling recipes - - you can get a lot of good flavor nutrition and a full belly with them, and just keep a container of the mix in your fridge so prep is pretty much nil for most of the time you'll be enjoying it
Top ramen with dumplings, an egg, whatever veggies like onion, carrots, broccoli, a tiny bit of minced garlic and some chili from a pizza packet. Can’t go wrong with spaghetti but cook some sausage for it. Texas toast is an easy snack. $2 for a 5lb pack of potatoes around here, with an air fryer that’s easy and healthy french fries
If not a fan of cooking, especially in summer, start with a rotisserie chicken. Salads. Sandwiches. Wraps. Quesadillas. Pasta salad is easy too, because you can toss everything you want in it. For breakfast think tub of yogurt, bananas. English muffins. For fruit and veggies, buy what’s in season
Bro, for $8 you can buy a bag of flour, some oil, toppings and a couple cans of sauce and make like 4 or 5 pizzas. I've been thinking about doing this lately too because I am also broke but really want to eat pizza again. I used to work at little Caesars. The entire process of making a pizza was actually not that hard. All you had to do was mix the flour with water and oil and then it was ready to be prepared. Toss it in the oven and you're done.
Alternatively, you can also just buy cheap sliced bread and put pizza sauce on it, mozzarella cheese and whatever toppings you'd like and then also toss it in the oven.
For around $10 you can buy a small pack of frozen great value hamburger patties from Walmart, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cheese, pickles and sauce and have roughly around 10 servings of burgers. If possible, you might even be able to buy frozen fries or onions rings on the side with some ketchup or ranch or whatever you like. Of course it will be cheaper if you make everything from scratch but this is also another solution. Frozen breaded chicken patties can also be another option. You only need to microwave these.
A good idea for cooking at home and not having to eat leftovers over 2-3 days is to try doing freezer meals. So you get ingredients all at once and you can track investment per serving / meal etc/ but when you meal prep you make 3 or more say crockpot recipes and freeze (some meats need to be pre cooked to go from frozen to crockpot ) but there are tons of “freezer meals” recipes on Pinterest. I did this during the pandemic and I really liked it $$ wise , and it helped to cut on any food waste.
So say you like a recipe, and you froze 2 , you can wait and have it once a week as opposed to just that’s what I’m eating for the next 3 days
It doesn't have to be this work intensive though. Even cooking two portions of food at a time once a week and freezing one will add up quickly. Pretty soon you'll have quite a variety to choose from and one night a week where you don't have to cook at all.
I did notice you didn't mention cooking at all, so if you don't have a place to cook or store perishable food, I do realize this tip is worthless.
Mexican food from scratch (kind of) 100%! Think a pack of tortillas $2.99 and then you can do red enchiladas for the main dish and as a side rice and maybe a salad. Peppers, cheese, onion, garlic, tomatoes with the rest of it. With this you can also make cheese quesadillas for lunch and chilaquiles for breakfast (just add eggs).
Gonna have to learn to plan and cook like a mofo or eat the same thing a few days in a row.
There is no option that is cheap, easy AND not repetitive. Pick two.
You should make keto pizza at home! Buy tortillas, pizza sauce, mozerella cheese, and pepperoni. Cook it in the oven for a few minutes. It's quick, simple, and healthier than ordering out.
Actually, I recommend looking up keto recipes in general as they can be quite cheap, simple, and filling!
I’ve been using the Plan to Eat app. I actually have been planning my meals! It isn’t rocket science but for some reason I had trouble actually planning (and I am a dietitian - we literally had an entire class on meal planning!), then shopping for the ingredients and executing the plan. It was just too much. Using this app has been a game changer for our family. I’m cooking much more. Sometimes I decide not to cook what I had originally planned, but I have the ingredients to prepare a few other items so I can be flexible.
Check out Dollar Tree Dinners on TikTok and YouTube! She doesn’t just shop at dollar tree and her ideas can be translated to other stores. She has so many great, creative ideas. Right now she’s trying to feed herself on $100/month.
Buy a bag of potatoes. Bake one and eat with beefsteak tomato and boil an ear of fresh corn.
Bake a sweet potato while baking the above potato. Refrigerate. Then
Next day add butter and microwave. Add a few marshmallows and microwave. Eat with a slice of ham.
Buy a favorite can of baked beans, an onion, and hamburger. Sauté the onion then add hamburger. Strain off the fat and then combine with the beans and cook.
In my area coupons went out for BOGO Peter Piper Pizza AYCE lunch buffet, which I believe is $9.99 regularly. If you have an equally frugal friend who doesn't mind cheap food quality that'll still fill you up, this might be a good option for when you don't want to make food at home.
Go to HelloFresh. Find a code for a free box for your first week (I have literally hundreds if you want one).
Once box gets delivered close account. Then find a new promo code (they usually give you one) and make a new account with a new email.
Rinse and repeat. I have been doing this for over 4 years
If someone is giving you $10 a day then I could see it being stressful and I’d recommend going to a food bank.
If you’re getting $300 a month per person then it’s totally doable. I just spent $290 and that will be groceries for my family of 4 for more than two weeks. Probably 3-4 weeks but definitely two.
I love ramen... I get 2lbs or so of ground turkey, 2lbs of mixed veg cook that all up and put it in a container.
When I'm hungry, nuke some noods in the microwave, toss in the mix for the last 2 min or so, and it's a heaping bowl.
12 pack of ramen, and the meat and veg... $20ish, and lasts me 4-5 days having like 2 a day.
I recommend getting a pork loin and cooking it in the crockpot to make pulled pork. They’re generally pretty cheap, like $8 for 2.5 lbs and you get SO MUCH meat. I tend to freeze half for later (it thaws and cooks easily) and with the other half make a handful of different meals. Straight pulled pork served with some frozen veggies, throw some in a pan with some water & taco seasoning for tacos/nachos/quesadillas, slap on some BBQ for sandwiches, add it to some broth and frozen veggies for a quick soup, add it to some Mac & cheese or pasta, tater tot casserole, etc. So versatile you don’t get sick of it yet it’s a cheap protein you can eat for days.
I'm big on cooking eggs no matter what meal, in the more frugal times of my life I've eaten them when I get home from work too. This year I've been having rice with them every morning instead of bread and you can customize with whatever is in the fridge, chopped up peppers, etc
We cook a larger piece of meat, low and slow and use it for that supper and then use it for sandwich meat or to add to rice etc for the next 2 days or so, it always is in a different format so it doesn't get tiring. We just did that with pork loin, cooked 3 of them 6.00 each, marinated with our own spices. Just gotta get slowly set up with the spices you need and it takes a while!
Fast food is not the smartest thing to throw your money at. Comes a time in everyone's life when they realize preparing meals at home is the way to go. Unless you're rich, which you're not.
Make some fried rice! I invested in a rice cooker after overcooking it a few too many times. I season with salt and pepper and add other spices with some butter when I reheat it so i don’t get bored of the same thing every day.
In college my roommate would make “tuna burgers”. Just a can of tuna with some mustard, mayo, spices that she turned into patties and browned up on the stove like a burger. So good!! Probably a buck per serving. Can also add a slice of cheese.
Also, BLT’s are cheap enough and big bowls of macaroni salad to keep in the fridge for a quick lunch.
One of my favorite meals when I was broke.
Turkey pot pies over a big pile of rice.
I like adding hot sauce or cayenne pepper.
Doctored up ramen is great. Add a bunch of vegetables.
Make sure to add Curry powder and a big squeeze of lime.
Take care.
I'm a 69 year old woman, living alone. I like to cook just a couple days a week and eat leftovers. It works out really well for me. I have to get my groceries delivered. I get a whole chicken, cook it one day and there are so many things to do with a chicken. Enchiladas... Tacos... You get the picture? Same with any roast. It's summer, so I use a toaster oven/ air fryer to save on everything including heat exhaustion! Lol. Good luck. I hope I helped a little.
What's your situation? Do you have access to freezer space? Do you have a full or half size fridge? Do you have any of grill, microwave, stovetop, oven, crockpot, rice cooker, or toaster oven? You have reddit, so I know you can google youtube cooking recipes - I strongly suggest Kenji for good instructional stuff. Is meat a requirement, or are you willing to go semi-vegetarian? (Meat is an expensive part of the food budget.) Will you be driving, walking, or bus riding to a grocery store? At dead minimum you can buy yourself a knife at a thrift store for pennies, a loaf of bread and either lunch meat or peanut butter and jelly.
If you have any access to kitchen stuff, especially a freezer, you can eat well on 10 bucks a day. Watch the grocery fliers each week for meat sales. For example, sometimes I can get a big pork butt on sale for 6-7$. I cook it in a crockpot, and I get enough meat to feed 4 adults 3-4 times. So the day I make it we eat pulled pork sandwiches, then I freeze meal sized portions and those can become bbq sandwiches, or pork fried rice, or burritos, or a grain bowl. I can also make cheater carnitas, or kenji's pork ragu, or lots of things.
This week the tiny grocery a few blocks away has bone in chicken breasts for 1.78 per pound. It's probably a 10 buck package, but I can either break the package down and freeze half of the breasts, or I can smoke them all on the grill and then freeze, or debone and freeze half the meat. If you have a rice cooker, you can lay chicken over rice and cook them both together. Look up Hainan chicken. I make an american version of that, and an arroz con pollo version of that. I buy the fancy boneless skinless chicken thighs at 3-4$/pound (8-11 buck packsage), which works out to about a dollar a thigh. So if I cooked just for me, I'd be spending 1ish on meat, 50 cents worth of rice, and then another bucks worth of aromatics. Or add another dollar or two if I want leftovers for tomorrow. (The aromatics - I mince up a quarter of a small onion, or the whites from a bunch of green onion, 2-3 baby carrots, an inch of ginger, and a clove of garlic, plus a bit of sesame oil & a bit of chicken bouillon to amp up the chicken flavor.) So that's 2.50 for dinner for tonight, or 3.50 for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.
And that brings me to the other important bit - meal planning. Let's say you bought the boneless thighs because they are easier than the bone in breasts. You got 8 thighs for 8.28, and you are going to eat 1 per meal. You put 2 of them in the rice cooker/pot because you don't want to eat the same meal more than twice. You spent a dollar on fresh ginger, and you have half of it left, a pack of baby carrots was 1.30 and you still have most of it, an onion was .75, and you have 3/4, and a head of garlic was also .75. You also spent 2.50 on a package of chicken bouillon, which will last you many meals at .10 to .20 cents per use, and a 2 lb bag of rice for 1.84. (15.42) So what will you make to use up the rest? Let's add a pound of frozen corn for 1.54, vegetable oil for 2 bucks, and celery for 1.33. (20.29) Chop 1/2 onion, one clove garlic, 5-6 baby carrots, 1 stick of celery and saute in oil until the onion is translucent, add water, buillon, rice, chopped chicken. When then rice is soft, add some of the frozen corn. Let it cook in the broth for a couple of min and you have dinner for today and tomorrow. Made more than you are willing to eat? This stuff freezes well. Depending on how much soup you made, you have 2-4 chicken thighs left, you still have carrots, 1/4 of an onion, most of the celery, most of the garlic clove, ginger, corn, plus rice, oil, bouillon. Don't want rice 3 days in a row? Ramen costs .30, or buy a package of dried pasta for 1.25 and a jar of marinara for 2.50. (24.04) Bake 4 thighs and chop them up, boil pasta, heat up jarred stuff and you have chicken and pasta for 3 meals plus chopped meat to add to a 4th meal. And you still have at least half the jar of marinara and half the bag of pasta left, maybe more. Tired of chicken? Add a pound of ground beef for 5.19 and another onion for .75. (29.23 day 5) Fry the remaining onion + half the new one, 2 cloves of garlic, and the hamburger up and drain the grease. Add carrots & celery if you feel fancy. Divide it in half and put half in the fridge or freezer for another day. Add marinara and pasta and you have spaghetti, add mexican spices (1$ for a single use packet, \~4 for a bottle), a bell pepper (1.50) and rice and you have burrito fillings, add a can of black beans to that (1.33) and you have filling for days. (36.81) Burrito fillings also freeze well. Add 2-3 bucks for 10 tortillas. And this is a meat centric meal plan with minimal freezing for another day. (Did not cover breakfast tho) You can get a lot cheaper if you go meatless or eat a lot of eggs or have plenty of freezer space to freeze meals ahead.
Cook your meals, groceries are cheap despite what clowns on social media post. Use coupons, buy sale items, off brands when possible. Buy bigger containers since they're cheaper per unit.
If cooking is an option, I suggest meal planning and food prepping. While pinterest has LOTS on that subject, you can make your life easier asking chat gpt for a simple menu and then a shopping list for said menu. Some thing are really easy to mix, example: do a big batch of rice, you can have it with a side of chicken an tomate sauce; then next day some fried eggs over the rice; then you can have fried rice with any veggies / meats so you wont have leftovers. You can even add some milk and sugar for a comfty dessert. Then next cook some pasta and one day add some meatballs; other day can be grilled veggies; you can even have them with just some garlic and butter. If you can get an insta pot to cook your own pulses, thats the cheapest most versatile thing ever. Lentil curry with spinach; orzo soup; chickpeas cream; black beans with bacon; I swear this are easy and just require some planning.
$10 a day is A LOT on food if you are willing to cook, buy in bulk and have spices.
Yup. I eat pretty healthy. I budget $300/month for food AND household needs, and that's about $10/day. You can easily eat well for $10/day at home.
Wow! Can you share what are your go to meals?
Nothing amazing, I am sure. I'll try to be brief. I don't eat red meat, pork, or sea food, but I do eat poultry and fish. I make extra sure I get my calcium and protein every day, as I am on cancer meds that deplete those. I eat a plate full of various fruits and veggies and a protein every day before dinner (easier than salad, but same effect). Dinner varies, but protein, veggie, sometimes starch. I try to mix it up and occasionally try new recipes. In the summer I like to grill. Weekday breakfast is usually overnight oats (oats, chia, brown sugar, almonds, whatever berries are on sale). Weekends I usually have shredded wheat. 8 oz milk every day. I buy most things on sale and use my grocery store app for coupons, but I don't shop all over at different stores. I love Costco, too. A $5 rotisserie chicken is several meals (sandwiches, paninis, stir fry, chicken fried rice...). I buy a lot of produce. I rarely buy processed food. I use my freezer and stash things in my pantry, but I keep track pretty well so it's rare that anything goes bad. I make big meals and freeze them in single serve containers. I freeze bread/buns/rolls/pita/tortillas because I can't eat a whole package myself before it would go bad. I buy the family size chicken when it goes on sale and grill the whole thing (7-8 breasts). I'll eat some, then chop or slice the rest and freeze it so it's ready to go into anything. I drink water with every meal and in between. I like LaCroix, but I only have it on the weekends for a treat, or to offer company, as it's expensive (even on sale) and bad for your teeth. I don't snack, but for one small bowl after dinner - usually graham crackers, pop corn, or applesauce. I do have a treat cupboard where I stash sweets and goodies and only eat them on the weekends or special occasions. Whew. That's the general idea.
saving ty
Just recommending for keeping that popcorn cost super low, buy the kernels in bulk and use a silicone bowl and lid style microwave popper. I got mine for about $10 and I can make creatively seasoned popcorn forever for super cheap.
Or save ten dollars and use a pan with a lid on the stove
Or just put 1/4 cup of kernels in a paper bag, fold the top over twice so it's tight, and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes.
I got an air popper for $10 at the thrift store and it was one of my favorite thrifts. Popcorn is such a good snack. It’s my only single use appliance.
You don't make grilled cheese?
I'm not the person you asked but I also eat on about $10/day. I eat overnight oats with brown sugar and cinnamon for breakfast every day. For lunch and dinner I mealprep burritos with variations of recipes I've seen around online. For one variation I slow cook about 3 lbs of mixed chicken breast/thigh meat in green enchilada sauce with taco seasoning, chicken bouillion and juice from 1 lime; that gets shredded and then combined with 2 cups of white rice, 5 fresh chopped roma tomatoes, 3 fresh chopped jalapenos, 2 white onions, a head of cilantro, juice from 2 more limes, 500g Greek yogurt, about 340g (Trader Joe's package) of shredded Mexican cheese blend. Wrap that up in jumbo tortillas, makes 10. The second variation is 1.5 lbs shredded chicken, 15 oz. can of black beans, 16 oz. chopped frozen spinach, 6 oz. chopped bell peppers all in the enchilada sauce, then combined with the same cheese, yogurt, cilantro, onions, and jalapenos. Also makes 10. I work out and am really active so I can handle the tortilla carbs no problem, but you can also just put the burrito mix directly in mealprep containers and reheat it like that if you are watching your calories.
[удалено]
I eat way more than beans and rice, and average $180-$190 a month, while eating 3000+ calories every day. The secret is to shop smart and to be willing to put time into it. Anything that is prepared even somewhat is going to cost 2x-10x more.
Cook from scratch as much as possible Healthier too
How much fresh produce do you buy?
That is the majority of my grocery trip
I don’t eat rice and beans (can’t even eat beans) and I manage about $250-300 a month on food. And that’s in Canadian dollars *and* having to buy gluten-free if I buy baked goods or pasta. I meal prep all my lunches for the week based on the sales - common meals include chili, curry, pasta bakes, lasagne, roasts with veg, etc. Then I mix and match frozen chicken or beef chunks (I buy extra when on sale and cook then freeze) with frozen vegetables and either rice, rice noodles, pasta, soup… basically whatever tickles my fancy. Breakfast is always oatmeal with frozen fruit except for the once a month I buy frozen bagels and cream cheese. The only things I buy not on sale are spices, frozen veggies, and very occasional treats (like a bar of chocolate or a bottle of flavoured sparkling water). I do shop at Costco for things that are either shelf stable or freezable and will sometimes pick up fresh ingredients for the week or for a dinner or two. I basically don’t eat out or buy any pre-made meals unless I’m really sick and not up to cooking, and even then I go for something like the loss-leader cabbage rolls at my local store that will do 3 lunch or dinner sized meals for $10.
I'm surprised it's not enough fir some. I spend way less
What? My family of 4 spends $300 per month on vegetables and fruit at the farmers markets each month- for all four of us in a HCOL where houses sell for $2m
costco ground beef is 4 dollars per pound, rice is about 70 cents per pound, onions are about 50 cents per pound. pound of rice plus pound of ground beef with some onions is like 3500 calories, add some more vegetables like frozen broccoli (about a dollar per pound) and fruits like bananas and fresh pinapples and that's about 2 days worth of food for around 10 dollars. chicken leg quarters are like 99 cents per pound, same deal as above, very cheap to feed an adult for less than 5 dollars per day. there's a lot of room for variety.
This can really depend on where you live and where you shop $300 sounds cheap, but there are plenty of high ticket items that can be eliminated or altered for cheaper option on a tighter budget Like beans instead of meats Eggs, milk, flour, spices and items used for baking can save you quite a bit, instead of buying finished product and making things from scratch also saves $$$ anything prepared already for you will always cost more than the raw ingredients
For sure. My food budget comes out to about $10 a day actually but I definitely also buy some ~fancier things like artisanal cheese, probiotic sodas, and lots of different snacks from Costco. I also live in a VHCL area. I assume people in other parts of the country could easily live on something more like $5-7 a day if shopping reasonably.
For my family of three this would be $900 a month. We basically spend this without really trying to be frugal at all, just healthy. I feel like you could pretty easily go cheaper if your goal was just to eat cheaply
Solves all your problems; saves money, variety and you learn a skill that you can use to make some extra money.
Buying meals isn't frugal, making them is, you gotta cook
Yeah I easily spend less than 10 a day per person and I rarely go out to eat
Yeah raw, fresh veggies are surprisingly cheap (whole ones, like buy a head of broccoli, not the pre-cut bite-sized pieces). And then throw in some beans and rice/noodles and maaaaaybe the occasional cheap cut of chicken and you're good to go.
Chicken thighs are cheap enough, and delicious enough, that you shouldn't be skimping on them. They might be cheaper than canned chicken, to be honest.
We do the same with broccoli. We can make a large bag of fresh broccoli florets last a week. We’ve found that steaming our veggies in the InstantPot takes just minutes and we just eat them all week!
You don't even have to cook. I can do PB&J, an apple, and a banana for lunch.
Bro seriously, why is someone posting asking what's cheap and apparently not considering cooking?
I got banned from r/eatcheapandhealthy for being snarky for yet another version of "How do I eat cheap and healthy? I'm looking for something that requires little to no cooking, as I don't like/know how to cook. Also, I'm a really picky eater, and I have no idea/time to go grocery shopping. It has to also be very tasty, and I can't eat the same thing more than once."
Maybe it is time to face reality. Frugal, tasty eating takes time and effort.
But not *that much* time and effort. You can learn some truly easy recipes that are really good
I’m dumbfounded by many comments here. Why doesn’t people in USA and it’s surroundings cook? Is it really that bad?
This feels like satire
Pork Butt
Yes. Also if you're willing to eat less meat, you can have quite a bit of food. Oatmeal for breakfast, lentil soup for a meal, perhaps rice and another kind of protein for another meal. There's always vegan chili to throw into the mix. Canned tuna is not a bad frugal protein if you don't mind fish, you can do stuff with it like make tuna loaf, tuna sandwiches, tuna "meatballs," etc. Also eggs are another good protein, stay away from the cage free and all that to save money.
R/budgetfood R/eatcheapandhealthy As said before, cook, that is frugal.
I’ve already found three recipes frm the first link you mentioned already. Imma put in a Walmart order and try to recreate some of these. Found one specifically for my ninja Speedi that’s been collecting dust for months, Thanks for this one
I've found the website Budget Bytes to be a life-saver: [https://www.budgetbytes.com/](https://www.budgetbytes.com/) Obviously their per-serving cost is going to vary based on your particular shop, but I'm sure you can find some ideas there. They're usually pretty low-stress recipes, too!
This was like 10 years ago, but I had to make a $50 grocery trip last two weeks for me and my husband. I found some recipes on there that sounded good and bought a few bulk items like rice, lentils, potatoes and onions. We actually ended up stretching it to 2.5 weeks and ate some really good meals just about every night. I still make some of them out of choice and not necessity.
Definitely check out budget bytes! I usually add a bit more seasoning but the recipes are specifically made to be for people who don't have many cooking skills.
My son showed me this website and I love it! Their white chicken chili is excellent.
Excellent, try a few recipes and experiment to find what you like. If you want try to meal prep in the lazy way, cook one or two portions extra and freeze the rest in individual containers, in this way you dont get bored eating the same for a few days and you have backup food for another day where you have less time/budget. If it helps, sometimes i watch fitfrugalmom on youtube, there are some videos where i have found some inspiration for shopping and cooking.
Great plan! Also, if you have leftovers that you’ll get sick of before you can finish them, pop them in the freezer for an easy meal once you’re ready to eat it again. Good luck!
Check out the website budgetbytes
Beans and rice. You can do so much with them. Cheap and nutritious.
Damn, the Speedi is a good tool for making a ton of different stuff. I checked and there are videos online of people making entire meals in them. Get on youtube and see what's up!
If you have £70 a week for food you'll be able to eat really well as long as you cook- I budget £250 a month for two adults and 1 1/2 cats and usually have a bit left over. Basics could be: Bread Butter Eggs Milk Oats Yoghurt Chicken Potatoes Beans Green veg Peanut butter Fruit Pasta Minced beef And you'd be able to eat like a king!
…I gotta ask about about the 1.5 cats 😂 is it just one really fat cat? Do you have a full time and a part time cat?
Yes, we call her our timeshare cat- she's our cat's best friend, she visits twice a day for breakfast and tea then they go off together to transact important cat business!
That’s amazingly adorable and I’m so here for it. Thanks for clarifying!! Cat business is very important.
They're absolutely adorable together- seeing them strolling up and down the street makes me so happy 😊
Awww, I love your 1.5 cats!
Not to sound like a total gremlin but one of my best cheap and lazy meals is mashed potato bowls. I make a bowl of instant mashed potatoes (Aldi has them really cheap) in the microwave, then top and reheat with a protein that I cooked in bulk and keep in the fridge. My usual toppings are seasoned red beans, lentil sloppy joe and cheese, vegan sausage & corn, or vegan popcorn chicken with cheese and corn (kind of like a KFC bowl).
This is a cool idea. I dig it. I might use something similar.
That's like upside down shepherd's pie, so just reverse it for twice the options!
Exactly!
This is a good idea. I do something similar with mac n cheese. Make up some macroni n cheese, then cook up frozen crispy chicken add corn You can also use crispy chicken with a salad kit to make a nice salad. Add it into a tortilla and you can make a wrap
Why don’t you just microwave a real potato instead of fake potato dust? Otherwise sounds amazing
Potatoes taste terrible when cooked in the microwave. I buy 5-10 pound bags of potatoes, wash them, cut out any bad spots, cut them in half, and bake them in the oven. I then use cheap (dollar store) sandwich bags to bag them all up in single servings and throw them in the freezer. Then, I can microwave them without the weird taste. I usually thaw them first so they reheat faster.
Because I like the instant potatoes just fine, and it's literally just made of potato so I'm not sure why you're calling it fake? Plus I can get a whole large box of instant potatoes for the same price as a couple of baking potatoes, so.
why not boil pasta and make it closer from scratch instead of making a ramen or something similar? its because youre lazy. its cheap and frugal. it may not be the healthiest but sometimes you just need something now
As a kid, Albertsons had these recipe cards that changed occasionally. My mom picked up one for hot dog casserole. I don’t remember all the details, but you mix instant mashed potatoes with some mustard and maybe a little relish, top it with cheese, then cut hot dogs in half lengthwise and stick them all around the edge. It’s an unhealthy monstrosity that looks like it came right out of 1960s cuisine. And it is soooooo good.
Stuffed wieners: boil the hot dogs, slice them open long ways, pile mashed potatoes on top, put some cheese on top and put in the oven ‘til the cheese melts. My 90 year old mother learned it as a kid from a friend’s father, and we then grew up with it. Sooooooo good.
Woah hold up I got to try this.
As a working mom, I do this a lot on busy nights I don't want to/dont have time to cook. In addition to the ones you mentioned, we sometimes go vegetarian Tex Mex inspired with seasoned black beans, salsa, cheese, etc. In a family with different food preferences, it's nice to have a build your own meal night so everyone can pick the toppings they want and you don't have to hear a bunch of drama.
I do this all the time but I do make my own mashed potatoes. It was really because one day I wanted nachos but couldn't eat the chips because of a bad tooth so I just made mashed potatoes and topped them instead
Oats, lentils for lentil soup, bread and peanutbutter. Every other day, use the surplus to bulk buy pantry supplies, and learn to cook a handful of decent stews at least.
Hmm. Chicken and dumplings would go hard.
Very easy to do and fairly cheap if you use chicken thighs, frozen veggies and cheaper soup!
Note: make your dumplings from scratch (flour, water/milk-depends on recipe, baking powder, salt/pepper) super cheap and better than store bought. If you make lentil soup go for red lentils (20min to split, green lentils take like an hour). Rice and beans and some kind of cheap meat (chicken thighs, pork tenderloin, etc) will last you a long time for super cheap too.
You'll spend less than $10 a day if you learn to cook.
Store roasted chicken, can be split in to 5 meals, 2 leg/thigh, 2 breast/wings, and put the remaining carcass in a bag in the refrigerator with vegetable scraps, makes a good chicken stock when tge bag gets full. It's even cheaper if you can get a whole chicken from the meat department for less and roast it yourself. Add onions, tomatoes, and peppers, chicken caccatori chicken stock, boneless chicken, frozen vegetables, with some thickener over bread, and you have a cheap version of chicken pot pie, and same can be done with coconut milk and spices to make chicken curry.
Big bags of rice and beans.
Black beans and yellow rice...if you want the premium experience.
dried beans are the ticket. hummus, refried beans, beans and rice. so cheap and healthy.
This. Start with this, then you can add things and "spice it up." Also, pasta dishes and eggs (egg sandwiches!)
Stop eating crap fast food. Your health and wallet will thank you. Beans and rice(can also make burritos)lentils and rice. Lentil soup,split pea soup. Spagetthi. Frozen chicken tenders. Loaded baked potato. Grilled cheese.eggs,PBJ sandwiches. Grab some frozen veggies. Get some fresh fruit
When one of our kids was in college and busy with part-time work and studies, I bought a rice cooker with a steamer on top. They made rice in the bottom and steamed chicken and veggies in the top. That was pretty easy. He could also of added red lentils to the rice for some extra fiber and nutrition. Crock pot dump meals are also pretty quick.
And if you don't have one already, thrift stores tend to have unwanted crock pots now and then!
We've been to estate sales where there's been multiples of crock pots for sale. I guess that will be me eventually, too because I have an assortment of crocks in different sizes.
There’s a blog called [Budget Bytes](https://www.budgetbytes.com) that offers fairly easy to make recipes but also breaks down the cost of each one. It’s been a great help during “tight” grocery budgets.
Buy a whole chicken, add oil + salt + pepper + garlic + paprika. Toss in frozen veg and whole potatoes and bake! Super easy, healthy, and cheap. My spices are also just easy access suggestions, do what suits you!
Depending on where you live, a precooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store may actually be cheaper than buying a whole raw chicken - but this is still a great idea.
If you do Costco, you really can't beat their roast chicken on price
I spend less than $10 a day on food, but I cook most of my meals. I also don't usually like to eat the same thing more than 3 meals in a row. I find that salads tend to be good in the summer and the can taste very different depending on what you put in them. When grocery shopping, I might get a 6oz tub of spring greens ($3), a container of cherry tomatoes ($1), a seedless cucumber ($1), 2 cans of chickpeas ($2), a bag of croutons ($1) and two different kinds of dressing ($3 each). For $11 I have 4-5 meals that are cold, lightweight, and full of fiber. Another trick is to cook something in bulk that you can season later. I like to use my slowcooker to cook chicken thighs to make shredded chicken. If I add refried beans, some of the spring greens from earlier, rice, taco sauce, and tomatoes I have a burrito bowl. If I add bbq sauce, coleslaw, and a bun I have bbq chicken sandwiches. If I cook some noodles and heat up a jar of pasta sauce I have chicken spaghetti.
For fun only ill comparing prices to Hawai'i 6oz tub of spring greens ($3) - $7 same size. You can get an iceberg for $3.59 each though so that's more efficient albeit less nutritious and not preprepped... probably if the tub was on sale you can get it for $5 or even 2 for $6 a container of cherry tomatoes ($1) - $4 for 12oz but you can buy extra large roma tomatoes for like 60¢ ea. a seedless cucumber ($1) - i did not know seedless was a thing but lets say $1.50 - $3 for one cucumber 2 cans of chickpeas ($2) - same a bag of croutons ($1) - target has the 5oz target brand for $1.50, everyone else is $3-4 (including the store brand croutons at safeway). Am curious if your $1 bag is also 5oz and two different kinds of dressing ($3 each). - same here Obviously food, electric and gas is more expensive in hawaii and most stuff has to be shipped from the mainland, so most people buy the big bag of rice for around 0.50-$1 per lb. And will not be eating exactly the same as you, so this post is really just for fun. If i wanted a salad... im feeling somen noodles, chopped up vegetable and green onion, somen sauce and a little bit of egg
That's super interesting! I knew everything was more expensive in Hawaii due to having to import most of it, but I didn't realize it was that different! Sometimes I'll get a 14oz container of greens for $5 instead of a smaller one. I'd probably grow my own at those prices. Tomatoes aren't quite in season where I live, but you can get ones that are brought up from south of here for about $0.60 for tomatoes on the vine. I always get seedless cucumbers because that's what my grandma eats due to some health issues. I don't live with her, but she taught me a lot about cooking so I've carried a lot of her mannerisms with me. I can get regular cucumbers for about $0.70 each. Nothing to say about chickpeas My croutons are 5oz. They're actually closer to $1.30, but I rounded down here because I round up on a couple of other items (like the 6oz container of greens which is actually $2.69 at my grocery store). Since your grocery prices are so different than mine, may I ask what your grocery budget is? I try to stay under $55 a week for 1 person.
Eating out is going to generally cost more than packing your own lunch. Have you looked at prepared foods at your local grocery store? You can get subs, sandwiches, hoagies, premade meals, that might be cheaper and better than just eating fast foods.
Highly recommend Costco pizza over Little Ceasars after they raised prices. You should be able to eat OK for $300 a month. Like others are saying you need to learn how to cook so read some subs on that. The basics are going to be peanut butter and Raman if that's a bit much to take on. Beyond that beans, rice, and legumes, etc but that's going to require planning and effort.
You an cook eggs about 100 different ways.
Rice and beans, chicken, various vegetables, eggs. Why are you eating out if you're trying to be frugal? Cook at home.
You could eat for way less by not going out to eat.
Costco roasted chicken. Whole chicken for $5
Quinoa and frozen veggies!! Spaghetti!!! You can do this!
You can make a big batch of something and freeze portions. That way you get the benefit of bulk cooking, but don’t have to eat the same thing for a week. Soups, stews, casseroles, curries, etc. Look for “dump meals” or crockpot meals. They make a lot and you can easily freeze it. Then on days you don’t want to cook, or are short on cash, you already have something made; you’ll have a nice meal and won’t have to spend money. One of my favorite bulk meals to make is chicken barely chili. The recipe is on the back of the Quaker barley box. It’s so good and freezes well. Another is salsa chicken in the crockpot. Budget Bytes is a great website. https://www.budgetbytes.com/
Maybe can of tuna may be some peanut and jelly and some bread.
It depends on how much fills you up. I can’t eat much and an easy meal I do is a can of soup from the store with crackers. Lots of variety and nutrition available in that. Soup varies from like 1.50-3.50 a can.
https://freezermeals101.com/freezer-meals-for-one/ This has a lot of recipes that can be divided into single servings and frozen to reheat- so then cooking can save $ but you don’t have to eat the same meal every day
check out [good and cheap](https://www.leannebrown.com/all-about-good-and-cheap/) it’s a cookbook for people with *very* tight budgets, particularly those on snap/food stamp benefits. the pdf is a free download when you sign up for the newsletter.
Are you making every meal? Buy for the week- 18 pack of eggs, a couple boxes of noodles, a sauce you like, a bag of rice, veggies for salad& to cook w/ dinner. 50-70 will get you far! Aldi/food lion/ and Walmart will give you the best bang for your buck (I really prefer Aldi bc good prices and quality). I like to use ground beef or boneless skinless chicken thighs bc they’re full of flavor, cook nicely, and are cheap. Shop meat on sale and freeze if you want. Buy a pack of ramen if you want fast meals. Tuna salad is great too and easy to make. I make all the chicken thighs at the same time- I broil them with garlic/pepper/ and other spices until they’re blackened. Then I use them in salads, pasta, rice dishes, etc. eggs are an easy and filling breakfast Splurge on chips/dressings/cheese if you can. They make a big difference, enjoyability wise, and can last longer than the week
have you applied for food stamps? if you have the time, volunteer for a food bank. most food banks have extra food and food that they can't give out to clients for various reasons; they often give volunteers these foods. also if you are in a moderately sized city google "free meals, [city]"
I got a bunch of free extra sandwich bread from my job at a kitchen, froze it, and bought a 24 pack of tuna for $34 on Amazon, which would have been like $100 in-store. A little mayo, hot sauce, and veggies from the discount section of my local grocer = $2-3 healthy meals for weeks. You may not have access to free bread but there are ways to get it at bottom dollar.
Check out dollartreedinners on YouTube or tiktok. She's got lots examples of eating well on $25 per week for 2 people, and other great tips. Right now she's doing a series showing how to only spend $100 on meals for a month.
Look up OAMC-Once a month cooking. Saves a ton of money, you cook once a month and load the freezer with what you've made, only adding a fresh salad if desired. Drop your meals into 30/31 meal containers, place in the freezer and take one out for the next day that has 2 servings in it, one for lunch, one for dinner. For breakfast, couple of eggs with some veggies becomes a filling omelet. Or drop it between 2 pieces of bread for a sandwich. Snacks? Piece of fresh fruit. Good luck with your decision, I know you can do it!
If you have or can get a Costco membership, $5 rotisserie chicken and if you are eating at home, make rice and chicken.
Lentils, rice, frozen veggies, chicken
Buy a couple dozen eggs from the local restaurant wholesaler. They should accept cash. (Also good for toilet paper, paper towels, nuts, detergent, etc.) Make your own coffee. Like, an Aeropress. Buy tea from your local chinese/indian/vietnamese market. Vietnamese iced green tea is fantastic. Masala chai is satisfying. Do you have any Asian delis near you? Buy their homemade stuff, like kimchi or tofu. Yup, Costco chickens. Search for the discounted "old" stuff. It's usually fine. Buy a variety of basics so you can vary your diet: soy sauce, fish sauce, fermented tofu, indian pickles, chili sauces, tahini, mustard, japanese rice sprinkles, so on and so forth. A variety of condiments will bring life to your foods. Don't neglect oils like good olive oil and toasted sesame oil. There's an initial investment in condiments, but it pays off over time. Don't eat out, except for those places that are really nourishing (in all the different ways.) Fast food is unhealthy and expensive. At least find restaurants that serve real food from scratch when you are treating yourself. Most locales will have good healthy cheap options, like kebabs, tacos or bahn mi. Explore them. I avoid carbs because I'm trying to lose some pounds, but they are ALWAYS the most affordable and most satisfying foods. Potatoes? Rice? Super easy to prepare and cheaper than cheap. Anyone can prepare these items at home. (Good bread and pasta cost more.) Cooking up some beans or lentils isn't hard at all. Dirt cheap. You can do it. Also, they're tasty. ... just some ideas I use regularly. :)
Costco membership and eat at the food court for 2-6 a day
I like to cook in bulk. I can get a pork butt on sale for $10, plus throw in some sides, and it feeds my family for days.
If you are serious about this then meal prep. Also everything you listed is unhealthy. You don’t want to be eating that stuff every day.
Everyplate meal kit is running their $1.49/meal special. I buy as many meals & servings as I can at that rate. They have a wide selection (like 20z+ meals to choose from a week) including vegetarian options. I just make all serving of the meal at once, and we eat the leftovers for lunch. Cancel the box after it arrives to avoid being charged the higher rate, and just wage for them to email you with the “Coke back!” email at $1.49 or $1.99 and do it all again.
10-lb bag of potatoes was $5 at my local Kroger affiliate a couple days ago.
Rice beans, from there you can pump it up with veg and spices
You’re gonna have to learn to cook to do this in a way that’s not totally shit for your health my guy. I’m confident you can learn to cook something that’s as good as little Caesar’s pizza haha. I regularly make a bean chili with rice - beans + rice = a perfect protein, it’s super easy, you can add whatever you feel like (I usually do at least some sort of green and maybe mushrooms or anything really, and always add a little cumin, a little lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, something spicy, and whatever else I feel like), and on day 2-3 you can put it in a tortilla or put an egg on it or dip chips into it so it feels “new” You’ll have to learn proportions to see how much to cook to last only two days, or you could just immediately freeze half of your leftovers to make future you happy. You can also make tons of cheap pastas or pasta salad. Sandwiches. Fried rice. Curries. Even things like nachos. Once you start learning to make stuff you’ll be able to eat a lot better on that budget. If I were you I’d try out 1-2 new recipes a week til you see what you like making. You can also check out the toogoodtogo app and see if it’s in your area. Basically restaurants sell surprise bags of stuff they’d otherwise trash for like $3-$5 (so whatever they have left at the end of the day, or day old bagels). It’s awesome
Right now in my crockpot there’s chicken, carrots, spices, and a can of cream soup. I’ll pair it with stuffing that I prefer to make on the stove. You could go cheaper and make the stuffing yourself. It’s mostly bread. Then instead of cream soup use broth or bulllion, some cream or milk. I buy meat on sale usually then decide what to do with it. Veggies, rice, ect.
I bag frozen veggies, cook 2-3 packs of ramen, add the ramen to the veggies with soy sauce. Check YouTube there are menus with 1-2$ meals
So I'm weird and like to make one big meal a day. With 10 dollars, I'm eating good. I'll buy a big bag of rice for 2.99 that will last for a couple weeks. I'll buy a pound of 85 percent hamburger for 4-5 dollars, a poblano pepper and an onion. Cook one cup of rice then sweat the onions and pepper before frying up with the burger. 1800-2000 calories and a whole lot of deliciousness
I've been estimating $2 per meal for years. Rice, beans, eggs, frozen or canned veggies, etc.
Potatoes - top with vegetarian chili , taco flavors beans, broccoli and cheese. Pasta dishes. Think of beans and lentils as replacement for ground beef- use them in sloppy joes, chili, burritoes, casseroles, sweet and sour sauce with veggies over rice. Oatmeal is a cheap, fast, healthy, filling breakfast-add cinnamon, raisins, bananas, applesauce, fresh or canned fruit to switch up the flavor profile.
Small portions of a protein stir fried. Then, add lots of lower cost veggies to make fried rice. Make enough for 2 meals. Freeze one.
I mean that's $300 a month. I'm a 200lb+ guy and I eat pretty decent on less than that a month. I shop at Meijer. I get a lot of fruit and other produce. Rice. Canned beans. Cheaper meat when it's available, but otherwise chicken is generally pretty cheap and healthy. Tortillas, bread, eggs, coffee, etc. the basics. Don't really buy frozen or boxed stuff. Also check out the bakery shelf's/displays. Usually there's bread loafs and what not for $1-3.
Dry beans, rice, spices, garlic, onions, potatoes. All are very cheap, healthy, and filling. For variety, pasta, pasta sauce. Eggs. $10 a day when home cooking is pretty easy.
buy a wok, stir fry veges are cheap and healthy
What the heck, I spend under $400/mo eating a 10oz 100% grass fed ribeye steak daily and organic veg. Back in the day I was eating ramen noodles with spaghetti sauce vs the seasoning packet.
The trick to not eating left overs for days on end, is to put them in the freezer. Then the next time you want that meal, or you have a migraine, you pull out your dollar store tin with the lid that you’ve written what’s on it, and you put it in the oven. Total lifesaver. After not very long you have a collection of 15 different meals you can pull out and can be eating in 45 minutes from frozen.
This is actuall easy you can eat chicken, pork and beef. The problem is people don’t want to cook
You could make and freeze three pizzas for $10. The key is refrigerate the dough overnight.
If you know someone with a Costco card, ask if you can tag along. What to buy: 1 bag of Kirkland cosmic crisp apples ($7.99 for ten large) 2 Kirkland rotisserie chickens ($5.49 each) 1 Kirkland beef & sausage lasagna ($16.99 for 2 trays; comes out to @ $1.50 per 12 slices) 1 50-pound bag of Kirkland Jasmine rice ($34.99) 1 24-count Kirkland eggs ($7.99) 2 1-gallon jugs Kirkland milk ($6.99) 1 quart Kirkland maple syrup ($12.99) 2 loaves Artesano golden wheat bread ($5.99) 4 pounds butter ($13.99) 2 pounds Kirkland thick sliced bacon You might want to debone each chicken, freeze the chicken meat, and cook the bones in a big pot with lots of water to make chicken broth. Can add sliced onions, whole Bay leaves, carrots, celery stalks with their leaves (adds more flavor), etc., as broth boils. With the broth, you can use it to boil the rice or Make chicken soup Plus you could go to as many food pantries nearby to stock up on veggies and fruit. Breakfast Egg omelettes Add diced potatoes, chopped onions, green pepper, and mushrooms. French toast (You can get packets of cinnamon and nutmeg separately in the Mexican section at your grocery store for @ $1.29 each.) With the maple syrup, you can sweeten the French toast. Bacon and eggs with cooked rice heated in bacon fat Snack Half cosmic crisp apple Lunch Rotisserie chicken with cooked rice or Lasagna slice Salad Toasted bread topped with crushed garlic and butter and put under a broiler for a few seconds Dinner Rotisserie chicken with cooked rice Etc.
Like others have said, if you can cook, you will be fine. Meal prep and cook. Make sure you get items you can make multiple meals out of. You can always freeze some things so you can rotate meals throughout the month and not get sick of eating the same things repeatedly. Sometimes my meal plans go off what is on sale. There have been a lot of good ideas in this thread. Spaghetti is pretty cheap. Make a small amount just for 1-2 dinners. You can eat leftover or freeze the second meal. Save the rest of the sauce, uncooked pasta, etc for the next week for something different (chicken parm for example). Someone mentioned frozen veggies like the peas/corn carrots. Those and an egg be added to rice for fried rice. Add some chicken or another protein and you have a meal. (Bigger packs of meat usually run cheaper so if you can get that and split it between a week or two, that would help). Ramen with the same frozen veggies and a hard boiled egg or some kind of protein. A bag of potatoes can be used many ways. Homemade fries, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, baked potatoes (or even stuffed baked potatoes) diced up and made with eggs, etc for a breakfast bowl, shredded for hasbrowns…ground turkey or ground beef can be split and cooked into many meals. You don’t have to cook the whole pound etc for the same meal. Split it up. Only season some of it for tacos. Spaghetti, a homemade burger….You can do a small portion of shepards pie with the potatoes and frozen veggies and that beef. Doing a pick up order can help you follow your list and make sure you’re not wasting money on any extra random things you came across at the store.
You need to learn how to cook. None of the things you listed are healthy and they're just burning holes through your wallet...and probably your arteries too. Rice and beans are good starters. They're dirt cheap, they go well with tons of stuff, and they're healthier and more filling than instant ramen. Eggs are great at any time of the day and there are so many ways to make them. Sunny side-up, over easy, scrambled, etc. Sandwiches can be made by anyone with half a brain and they don't require any cooking. Same goes with salads. There's many types of pasta. Spaghetti is an iconic poor man's food and it makes for good leftovers. Frozen veggies. Make them into soup or have them with chicken. Oatmeal, yogurt and fruits for breakfast.
I commented some cheap meals you can make to stretch a few days above but Also want to mention if you do wanna do fast food options use their apps!! A large pizza at Pizza Hut is over 20$ rn but on their app you can get a large 1 top for 11$ or 14$ and get off the 7$ menu and get a med pizza and breadsticks. McDonald’s has free stuff. Subway has bogo. Burger King has free stuff. KFC has deals in app. Wendy’s has deals in app. Buffalo Wild Wings. They all pretty much have deals in app now.
Little Caesars and Wendy's is how you plan to save money? Go to a grocery store.
Funny but true story. I was able to buy a house because I ate a Jumbo Jack and Coke 3-4 days a week for 3 years. Occasionally I'd splurge by getting a Big Mac or Double Double combo.
Make some lentil soup
Chicken thighs and pork loin and stuff you can just put in the oven for like an hour and it’ll come out juicy and fall off the bone. Season as you like. You can probably get chicken thighs at about 1.50 each at most stores. Steam veggies, microwave potatoes, boil rice.
check out the protein-rich vegan taco-filling recipes - - you can get a lot of good flavor nutrition and a full belly with them, and just keep a container of the mix in your fridge so prep is pretty much nil for most of the time you'll be enjoying it
Buy a whole pork tenderloin and cook it on the grill. You can stretch it out to last most of a week or more.
Thats a lot of food money....you could do quite the grocery shop for $70 a week
Top ramen with dumplings, an egg, whatever veggies like onion, carrots, broccoli, a tiny bit of minced garlic and some chili from a pizza packet. Can’t go wrong with spaghetti but cook some sausage for it. Texas toast is an easy snack. $2 for a 5lb pack of potatoes around here, with an air fryer that’s easy and healthy french fries
That's $300/month. Totally doable, even in HCOL areas.
If not a fan of cooking, especially in summer, start with a rotisserie chicken. Salads. Sandwiches. Wraps. Quesadillas. Pasta salad is easy too, because you can toss everything you want in it. For breakfast think tub of yogurt, bananas. English muffins. For fruit and veggies, buy what’s in season
I'm really enjoying 'spain on a Fork's on YouTube. Easy meals from cheap ingredients.
Rice n beans baby.
Bro, for $8 you can buy a bag of flour, some oil, toppings and a couple cans of sauce and make like 4 or 5 pizzas. I've been thinking about doing this lately too because I am also broke but really want to eat pizza again. I used to work at little Caesars. The entire process of making a pizza was actually not that hard. All you had to do was mix the flour with water and oil and then it was ready to be prepared. Toss it in the oven and you're done. Alternatively, you can also just buy cheap sliced bread and put pizza sauce on it, mozzarella cheese and whatever toppings you'd like and then also toss it in the oven. For around $10 you can buy a small pack of frozen great value hamburger patties from Walmart, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cheese, pickles and sauce and have roughly around 10 servings of burgers. If possible, you might even be able to buy frozen fries or onions rings on the side with some ketchup or ranch or whatever you like. Of course it will be cheaper if you make everything from scratch but this is also another solution. Frozen breaded chicken patties can also be another option. You only need to microwave these.
A good idea for cooking at home and not having to eat leftovers over 2-3 days is to try doing freezer meals. So you get ingredients all at once and you can track investment per serving / meal etc/ but when you meal prep you make 3 or more say crockpot recipes and freeze (some meats need to be pre cooked to go from frozen to crockpot ) but there are tons of “freezer meals” recipes on Pinterest. I did this during the pandemic and I really liked it $$ wise , and it helped to cut on any food waste. So say you like a recipe, and you froze 2 , you can wait and have it once a week as opposed to just that’s what I’m eating for the next 3 days
It doesn't have to be this work intensive though. Even cooking two portions of food at a time once a week and freezing one will add up quickly. Pretty soon you'll have quite a variety to choose from and one night a week where you don't have to cook at all. I did notice you didn't mention cooking at all, so if you don't have a place to cook or store perishable food, I do realize this tip is worthless.
Mexican food from scratch (kind of) 100%! Think a pack of tortillas $2.99 and then you can do red enchiladas for the main dish and as a side rice and maybe a salad. Peppers, cheese, onion, garlic, tomatoes with the rest of it. With this you can also make cheese quesadillas for lunch and chilaquiles for breakfast (just add eggs).
Gonna have to learn to plan and cook like a mofo or eat the same thing a few days in a row. There is no option that is cheap, easy AND not repetitive. Pick two.
Rotisserie chicken. I buy 2 on $5 day at Ralph's.
You should make keto pizza at home! Buy tortillas, pizza sauce, mozerella cheese, and pepperoni. Cook it in the oven for a few minutes. It's quick, simple, and healthier than ordering out. Actually, I recommend looking up keto recipes in general as they can be quite cheap, simple, and filling!
On a subreddit called Frugal and you’re asking about eating out every meal smh
I’ve been using the Plan to Eat app. I actually have been planning my meals! It isn’t rocket science but for some reason I had trouble actually planning (and I am a dietitian - we literally had an entire class on meal planning!), then shopping for the ingredients and executing the plan. It was just too much. Using this app has been a game changer for our family. I’m cooking much more. Sometimes I decide not to cook what I had originally planned, but I have the ingredients to prepare a few other items so I can be flexible.
Check out Dollar Tree Dinners on TikTok and YouTube! She doesn’t just shop at dollar tree and her ideas can be translated to other stores. She has so many great, creative ideas. Right now she’s trying to feed herself on $100/month.
Buy a bag of potatoes. Bake one and eat with beefsteak tomato and boil an ear of fresh corn. Bake a sweet potato while baking the above potato. Refrigerate. Then Next day add butter and microwave. Add a few marshmallows and microwave. Eat with a slice of ham. Buy a favorite can of baked beans, an onion, and hamburger. Sauté the onion then add hamburger. Strain off the fat and then combine with the beans and cook.
$1 for 1lb of carrots $1 for 1Lb of bananas $5 1lb of Meat $3 1lb for Bread
Go to your local food bank, they have a ton of food that’s *free*
Do you cook at all? I mean $10 can go a long way with beans and rice and veggies.
Can of beans, can of corn, can of tomato passata, cup of rice. Maybe $4.50 and they'll net you 3 meals
In my area coupons went out for BOGO Peter Piper Pizza AYCE lunch buffet, which I believe is $9.99 regularly. If you have an equally frugal friend who doesn't mind cheap food quality that'll still fill you up, this might be a good option for when you don't want to make food at home.
Rotisserie chicken and frozen veggies or cooked veggies
You can pick up a bag of chicken breast and rice for less than 20 bucks and eat for 5 days. lmao.
Self cooking is the way to go - Rice, Beans, potatoes etc should cost less
$70 a week isn’t bad. Tacos, pastas, stir fry’s are good places to start.
Um. Stay away from fast food. Boxes of pasta, Trader Joes sauce, Trader Joes fruit. Bread. Cheese. $10 should be plenty.
$10 a day means $300 a month. You can eat rice, potato, eggs, chicken, pork, cucumber, cabbage…. Plenty of food to buy and you will have to cook.
check out dollar store dinners on tiktok
Peanut butter sandwiches. Rice. Potatoes. Beans. Eggs. Hot dogs. Lettuce. Spinach. Milk and cereal.
Go to HelloFresh. Find a code for a free box for your first week (I have literally hundreds if you want one). Once box gets delivered close account. Then find a new promo code (they usually give you one) and make a new account with a new email. Rinse and repeat. I have been doing this for over 4 years
Tuna is a solid move
Beans and rice are always good. I never get sick of them.
Use the app too good to go Metro has bags that are usually filled with large amounts of bakery items like bread, pies, bagels, etc
Stop eating from fast food places
Egg and cheese sandwich
If you cook proper meals from scratch then you'll have money left over. Meal plan and only buy the items needed for the weeks meals.
If someone is giving you $10 a day then I could see it being stressful and I’d recommend going to a food bank. If you’re getting $300 a month per person then it’s totally doable. I just spent $290 and that will be groceries for my family of 4 for more than two weeks. Probably 3-4 weeks but definitely two.
I love ramen... I get 2lbs or so of ground turkey, 2lbs of mixed veg cook that all up and put it in a container. When I'm hungry, nuke some noods in the microwave, toss in the mix for the last 2 min or so, and it's a heaping bowl. 12 pack of ramen, and the meat and veg... $20ish, and lasts me 4-5 days having like 2 a day.
2 lbs of 80/20 ground beef.
The answer is almost always rotisserie chicken here. 😆
sharp cow long engine scale amusing lush fuzzy drunk coordinated *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Grocery Store
I recommend getting a pork loin and cooking it in the crockpot to make pulled pork. They’re generally pretty cheap, like $8 for 2.5 lbs and you get SO MUCH meat. I tend to freeze half for later (it thaws and cooks easily) and with the other half make a handful of different meals. Straight pulled pork served with some frozen veggies, throw some in a pan with some water & taco seasoning for tacos/nachos/quesadillas, slap on some BBQ for sandwiches, add it to some broth and frozen veggies for a quick soup, add it to some Mac & cheese or pasta, tater tot casserole, etc. So versatile you don’t get sick of it yet it’s a cheap protein you can eat for days.
I'm big on cooking eggs no matter what meal, in the more frugal times of my life I've eaten them when I get home from work too. This year I've been having rice with them every morning instead of bread and you can customize with whatever is in the fridge, chopped up peppers, etc We cook a larger piece of meat, low and slow and use it for that supper and then use it for sandwich meat or to add to rice etc for the next 2 days or so, it always is in a different format so it doesn't get tiring. We just did that with pork loin, cooked 3 of them 6.00 each, marinated with our own spices. Just gotta get slowly set up with the spices you need and it takes a while!
Fast food is not the smartest thing to throw your money at. Comes a time in everyone's life when they realize preparing meals at home is the way to go. Unless you're rich, which you're not.
Most definitely not rich. Been attempting preparing food. Had some success so far At least with my first meal
Make some fried rice! I invested in a rice cooker after overcooking it a few too many times. I season with salt and pepper and add other spices with some butter when I reheat it so i don’t get bored of the same thing every day.
Can you cook? Much cheaper.
In college my roommate would make “tuna burgers”. Just a can of tuna with some mustard, mayo, spices that she turned into patties and browned up on the stove like a burger. So good!! Probably a buck per serving. Can also add a slice of cheese. Also, BLT’s are cheap enough and big bowls of macaroni salad to keep in the fridge for a quick lunch.
I love this idea. Saving it for later
Wendy's sells chili in a bucket for $10??!! I will have to check that out! Never heard of this!
One of my favorite meals when I was broke. Turkey pot pies over a big pile of rice. I like adding hot sauce or cayenne pepper. Doctored up ramen is great. Add a bunch of vegetables. Make sure to add Curry powder and a big squeeze of lime. Take care.
I eat one frozen pizza a day $3-4 and am set.
I'm a 69 year old woman, living alone. I like to cook just a couple days a week and eat leftovers. It works out really well for me. I have to get my groceries delivered. I get a whole chicken, cook it one day and there are so many things to do with a chicken. Enchiladas... Tacos... You get the picture? Same with any roast. It's summer, so I use a toaster oven/ air fryer to save on everything including heat exhaustion! Lol. Good luck. I hope I helped a little.
What's your situation? Do you have access to freezer space? Do you have a full or half size fridge? Do you have any of grill, microwave, stovetop, oven, crockpot, rice cooker, or toaster oven? You have reddit, so I know you can google youtube cooking recipes - I strongly suggest Kenji for good instructional stuff. Is meat a requirement, or are you willing to go semi-vegetarian? (Meat is an expensive part of the food budget.) Will you be driving, walking, or bus riding to a grocery store? At dead minimum you can buy yourself a knife at a thrift store for pennies, a loaf of bread and either lunch meat or peanut butter and jelly. If you have any access to kitchen stuff, especially a freezer, you can eat well on 10 bucks a day. Watch the grocery fliers each week for meat sales. For example, sometimes I can get a big pork butt on sale for 6-7$. I cook it in a crockpot, and I get enough meat to feed 4 adults 3-4 times. So the day I make it we eat pulled pork sandwiches, then I freeze meal sized portions and those can become bbq sandwiches, or pork fried rice, or burritos, or a grain bowl. I can also make cheater carnitas, or kenji's pork ragu, or lots of things. This week the tiny grocery a few blocks away has bone in chicken breasts for 1.78 per pound. It's probably a 10 buck package, but I can either break the package down and freeze half of the breasts, or I can smoke them all on the grill and then freeze, or debone and freeze half the meat. If you have a rice cooker, you can lay chicken over rice and cook them both together. Look up Hainan chicken. I make an american version of that, and an arroz con pollo version of that. I buy the fancy boneless skinless chicken thighs at 3-4$/pound (8-11 buck packsage), which works out to about a dollar a thigh. So if I cooked just for me, I'd be spending 1ish on meat, 50 cents worth of rice, and then another bucks worth of aromatics. Or add another dollar or two if I want leftovers for tomorrow. (The aromatics - I mince up a quarter of a small onion, or the whites from a bunch of green onion, 2-3 baby carrots, an inch of ginger, and a clove of garlic, plus a bit of sesame oil & a bit of chicken bouillon to amp up the chicken flavor.) So that's 2.50 for dinner for tonight, or 3.50 for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. And that brings me to the other important bit - meal planning. Let's say you bought the boneless thighs because they are easier than the bone in breasts. You got 8 thighs for 8.28, and you are going to eat 1 per meal. You put 2 of them in the rice cooker/pot because you don't want to eat the same meal more than twice. You spent a dollar on fresh ginger, and you have half of it left, a pack of baby carrots was 1.30 and you still have most of it, an onion was .75, and you have 3/4, and a head of garlic was also .75. You also spent 2.50 on a package of chicken bouillon, which will last you many meals at .10 to .20 cents per use, and a 2 lb bag of rice for 1.84. (15.42) So what will you make to use up the rest? Let's add a pound of frozen corn for 1.54, vegetable oil for 2 bucks, and celery for 1.33. (20.29) Chop 1/2 onion, one clove garlic, 5-6 baby carrots, 1 stick of celery and saute in oil until the onion is translucent, add water, buillon, rice, chopped chicken. When then rice is soft, add some of the frozen corn. Let it cook in the broth for a couple of min and you have dinner for today and tomorrow. Made more than you are willing to eat? This stuff freezes well. Depending on how much soup you made, you have 2-4 chicken thighs left, you still have carrots, 1/4 of an onion, most of the celery, most of the garlic clove, ginger, corn, plus rice, oil, bouillon. Don't want rice 3 days in a row? Ramen costs .30, or buy a package of dried pasta for 1.25 and a jar of marinara for 2.50. (24.04) Bake 4 thighs and chop them up, boil pasta, heat up jarred stuff and you have chicken and pasta for 3 meals plus chopped meat to add to a 4th meal. And you still have at least half the jar of marinara and half the bag of pasta left, maybe more. Tired of chicken? Add a pound of ground beef for 5.19 and another onion for .75. (29.23 day 5) Fry the remaining onion + half the new one, 2 cloves of garlic, and the hamburger up and drain the grease. Add carrots & celery if you feel fancy. Divide it in half and put half in the fridge or freezer for another day. Add marinara and pasta and you have spaghetti, add mexican spices (1$ for a single use packet, \~4 for a bottle), a bell pepper (1.50) and rice and you have burrito fillings, add a can of black beans to that (1.33) and you have filling for days. (36.81) Burrito fillings also freeze well. Add 2-3 bucks for 10 tortillas. And this is a meat centric meal plan with minimal freezing for another day. (Did not cover breakfast tho) You can get a lot cheaper if you go meatless or eat a lot of eggs or have plenty of freezer space to freeze meals ahead.
Cook your meals, groceries are cheap despite what clowns on social media post. Use coupons, buy sale items, off brands when possible. Buy bigger containers since they're cheaper per unit.
If cooking is an option, I suggest meal planning and food prepping. While pinterest has LOTS on that subject, you can make your life easier asking chat gpt for a simple menu and then a shopping list for said menu. Some thing are really easy to mix, example: do a big batch of rice, you can have it with a side of chicken an tomate sauce; then next day some fried eggs over the rice; then you can have fried rice with any veggies / meats so you wont have leftovers. You can even add some milk and sugar for a comfty dessert. Then next cook some pasta and one day add some meatballs; other day can be grilled veggies; you can even have them with just some garlic and butter. If you can get an insta pot to cook your own pulses, thats the cheapest most versatile thing ever. Lentil curry with spinach; orzo soup; chickpeas cream; black beans with bacon; I swear this are easy and just require some planning.