DISQUS

bfeld · 4 months ago

I general eat a different way. I focus on $0.33 / minute.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

I am much closer to that these days!

Larkin · 4 months ago

This is a fascinating post to read as I complete day 2 of my juice fast. I love the food-conscious living, and the fact that you probably ate healthier than most americans and spent 15% of their budget. Thanks for sharing Andrew!

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Thanks for the comment.

I would love to crunch the numbers to see how healthy (or not) I was.

Won't do that again. Have fun camping this weekend!

Taytayb · 3 months ago

Rice and beans extravaganza!

I think I make a similar version of this... microwave style.

Ginger Pelz · 4 months ago

My favorite line in the whole blog post is "The smaller your stomach is, the easier this is going to be." Ha. :)

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Yeah, I'm a big dude and can eat an amazing amount... so that was a big part.

rloaderro · 4 months ago

"add ground beef (a pound of 85% can be as low as $1.25) cheese and an avocado"

I think you must have left out the part where you happen to have an avocado tree and curdle your own cheese.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Depends on the food market you are in. There was a Mexican market near my house that had 5 avocados for $1 and cabot cheese (notheastern goodness) was $2 for a 10 ounce package.

In Boulder I couldn't come close.

Amanda/Loki · 3 months ago

Boulder was horrible with prices, I remember, but they have great food. They tend to accommodate for the hungry stoners, more than the people who need cheap food. XD

Sarah Welch · 4 months ago

Invest in flavorful add-ins: vinegars, strong spices, bacon. These can change the character of the food, even if you're basically using the same ingredients. I always have bacon in the fridge but rarely eat it as actual bacon strips (unless I have awesome tomatoes for BLT's!). I cut up one or two slices to add as flavoring. One of my faves: Amatriciana - tomato, onion, and bacon pasta sauce.

International foods in general are a good idea. A lot of these cuisines evolved to meet this problem. If you're worried about specialty ingredients, there are a ton of these things that are just simple food in different combos. Also, there are generally good regular grocery store substitutions, and when you have a little more dough, you'll be prepared to work with those more authentic ingredients.

Always save the bottom of jars, etc. You can make a great sauce with the bottom of mustard, mayo, jams, etc. Crunched up chips, pretzels, cereal, crackers, or nuts (or some combo) make a great crust for meat or fish.

Think of all bread as bread, not its specialty uses. Bread is one of those things that is hard to use up if there's only one or two of you. I've been known to make hot dog shaped hamburgers, because I only had hotdog buns. Bread also freezes great (and keeps longer in the fridge), so you can stock up on day-olds.

We're big fans of some of the simpler things, too. Earlier in the week we had bean burritos: 1 can fat free refried beans, a little cheddar, and a couple of whole wheat tortillas. Dinner was done. Not gourmet, but cheap and yummy :)

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Great additions!

My coworker was just telling me about the influence of spice on appetite. Very interesting.

Lucien · 4 months ago

Rice. I'll usually cook up about 4 cups of rice for the week. Add butter, salt and spices... and it becomes a tasty meal.. add the occasional onion, or sliced vegie for a little extra. I even will add a sauce or something to completely change it up so you don't feel like you're eating rice all week.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

A great staple.

Anonymous Guy · 4 months ago

Also note that if you put rice in Tupperware and store it in the freezer, after you've cooked it, it will pop back to life as if it were cooked fresh after a little time in the microwave on defrost.

boseiur34 · 4 months ago

umm. it seems to me begging would have been a much more profitable option. you would have surely got more than 40$ for food a month, more like 10$/day at least, at the expense, of course, of your dignity....

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

I was in college taking a 25 credit hour term and working a job, so didn't have the time to beg...

but looking back, the cost benefit of that would have made me eat quite a bit better... :)

Edward · 4 months ago

One key to eating cheap is to stock up when you see a good deal (like the hamburger in your example)

Frozen veggies are usually cheap and you can mix them in to the rest of your meal.

Tuna fish sometimes goes on sale for really good prices, same goes for Mac & cheese, mix them together and throw in frozen peas and it isn't a half bad one dish one pot meal (two or three servings).

I'll second Sarah's burrito meal

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

This is key and a really hard concept for some to grasp. Feast or famine on buying products based on the deal. Love the burrito meal too!

lauraglu · 4 months ago

A better perk than having friends at a restaurant is working at one yourself. I spent a summer where my main daily meal was at the restaurant where I worked (and it was healthy). I'd eat lots of fruits as well. Depending on the restaurant, you can also get your coffee fix you should otherwise cut out.

Setting a bar/drink budget really helps overall. When I'd go out, I'd bring $8-10 cash and that's it (it was a highly walkable city). I could get one nice cocktail or a couple beers. Often I'd only drink water, but as it wasn't going to happen that I cut out all drinking, I set the budget pretty low. This isn't going to work on your $36/month budget, but does help if you are just trying to be healthier or more budget-conscious. (That said, a bartender friend can be a saving grace!)

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

I loved my years working in the food industry. So much fun and well fed!

Great call on the bar budget as well.

CoreyinGA · 4 months ago

Yes, working at a restaurant can help with the budget. Unfortunately, I worked at pizza places, and while I ate LOTS of free food, I also weighed 50 lbs more at 23 than at 18!

name · 3 months ago

I worked at a Deli once (not really a restaurant but close) and while working there I ate very little. I ended up losing about 25 pounds in a couple months just from all the hard work and being too tired to eat lol.

daveangulo · 4 months ago

I was also very poor in college and even after as a vista volunteer. I learned to cook what I liked to eat in restaurants, for me I liked indian/thai food. One of the most satisfying meals is essentially lentils, an onion, a can of tomatoes and rice with a bunch of spices. Exceptionally nutritious, cheap, filling and easy to make. I've even made it for several dinner parties over the years and everyone loves it. Learn to cook what you would pay for and you can really enjoy yourself.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

I just made some thai food last night, amazingly tasty and economical.

Great advise!

Mike · 4 months ago

You forget that we live in a college town. Free food abides, and having a good network of fellow scavengers can't hurt. I'm constantly getting tips: "Free sandwiches in the law school" "free pizza in the engineering center." I clean up, and take the leftovers home.

Also, not to be extreme but lots of food goes to waste. It's common to find day old bread in the dumpster behind whole foods, or see some sorority girl leave half a burger on the table at a restaurant. the key is to keep it classy and not seem like a mooch when you go for the freebies.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

I didn't mention the college club meals!

KKS · 2 months ago

Hmm. I'm not into the half-eaten items. Garbage picking, I'll do, but nothing that's been bitten!

Evan Meagher · 4 months ago

Scope out local fruit stands. There's one in the U district in Seattle that sells leftover grocery store produce for dirt cheap.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

I'm amazed in how cheap the produce in NYC can be. It is the stuff you have to eat pretty much right away, but usually really good and quite cheap.

goalsguy · 4 months ago

Eye opening post... I'm setting a new goal to track and my food costs and keep them low. Thanks for the info!

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Post how it goes!

Amy · 4 months ago

We have been trying to get our food budget as low as possible, simply because there are alot of people starving in the world and we want to eat more simply so we can give more. I have 3 kids so it has to be healthy to grow their little brains so here's my best budget, healthy eating tips: I cook in bulk - crank out 80 burritos, wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them, I make bean, rice and cheese burritos, curry lentil and quinoa burritoes, breakfast burritos (roasted potatoes, egg, cheese), lasagna - I buy the big cans from costco and all the cheese etc in bulk quantities and make lots at once and freeze the extra. Also we make our own bread (super cheap) and have peanut butter toast/sandwiches for one meal every day and an egg based meal for one meal a day too. There are alot more things I do but your probably already tired of reading this comment. One more thing, we also have another family living with us for a year so I am feeding 8 people on $600 a month food budget and we are able to give away $800 to people who really need food/ shelter/education etc.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Amazingly inspirational comment, thank you!

Suzanne Lainson · 4 months ago

Grits are cheap. It's essentially uncooked polenta. Throw in some cheese and/or pepper and it's quite good.

Popcorn is another cheap, but filling, food. Buy it in bulk. Don't get gourmet or microwave versions.

Pasta with some veggies can be cheap, too.

Eggs.

Sam · 4 months ago

"Essentially uncooked polenta"?

I have no idea how you eat grits, but both are made from dried, ground corn, and both need to be cooked. Main difference is polenta is from yellow corn, grits from white, and polenta tends to use a finer grind.

Used to be you could get hominy grits, meaning the (white) corn kernels had the tough outer hull removed before grinding, but these days, it's mostly just dried and ground corn. Some "natural" brands include the inner germ-- it's more nutritious, but means it will go rancid faster.

You are right, however, about grits being quite good. I would say, "delicious."

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

For some reason I avoid grits. Nothing against them, but I never cook them at home.

yeahphil · 4 months ago

Gardening is where it's at... if you've got the space and are stable enough, you can do it quite cheaply. And once you get some zucchini, tomatoes, etc. going and make them happy, they can produce *amazing* amounts of food.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

My neighbor has an amazing garden that just goes nuts in the summer. If you have the time and space, this is one of the most rewarding things you can do.

davidki · 4 months ago

Many people in Nepal eat what they call dal bhat, twice a day, every single day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal_bhat
It's rice, lentil soup, and usually some potatoes. People eat tons of this and work hard all day. It's cheap. Plus they only eat 2 meals a day, so that makes it even cheaper.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Oh that looks tasty!

MarinaMartin · 4 months ago

Look for a bakery outlet. In Salt Lake City there's a Wonderbread factory outlet where you can get three loaves of bread for $1. The bread was perfectly fine but was cut wrong or the bag may have been misprinted.

A big pot of lentils and rice or chick peas and rice last for days in the fridge and is incredibly filling (and good for you).

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

I did a chick pea lamb stew the other month, lasted forever and was tasty as can be.

MichaelL65 · 4 months ago

The old stand-by, Mac 'n Cheese can be found for .28 a box. Add Tuna, a can of Tomato Soup, and that's a tasty meal or two from one box.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

to me that just isn't comfort or nutritious. Personal tastes I guess.

TJ · 4 months ago

Agreed, ALTHOUGH: with the shopping opportunity, I like to buy elbow mac & *real cheese* ($2/pound on sale). I like Beethoven, this was his favorite food, so I feel I shud do it right. You can equal or better box prices (never goes below $0.80 here) & it's much tastier. No tuna, try black beans.

Meghan · 4 months ago

When I was in college I lived on quesadillas. Usually just cheese, or if I was lucky, some pepperoni. I find pitas to be a great value becasue they last longer than a loaf of bread and have way more applications, especially pita bread pizzas. And I always buy spaghetti sauce and pasta when it's on sale, so it's always an option.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

That sounds like a classic college meal, the pita pizza.

Emily · 4 months ago

Wow thats pretty impressive. Did you have a really large amount of storage though? I think my main problem with taking advantage of offers is things going off before I even have a chance to eat them. I live in a house with 3 other people and we all just have a shelf each in the freezer and in fact I just have the bottom of the freezer rather than an actual shelf so it's smaller than a normal shelf and therefore I just don't have enough space to stock up which is really annoying. However I do love when you go to the supermarket really late at night and so all the food about to pass it's sell by date is reduced, I love 10p (I live in England) bread!

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

I had a decent amount of storage, but it isn't a ton of food to buy. The freezers in the states are larger than ones I have seen in the UK, so I know where you are coming from.

Emily · 4 months ago

Well I'm moving to the US in 2 weeks for a year so I'll revel in the freezer space. Definitely going to take some tips from this as I am not going with a lot of money and I really want to save as much as I can for travelling in the Uni holidays and food and alcohol are probably my 2 biggest expenses here.

conor · 4 months ago

something i did one summer when i was short on cash that helped a lot is that i would swing by la quinta inn before work and have a free continental breakfast by pretending i was staying there. generally no one asks, unless you hit the same place every day for a week or two. also, the place i worked at had burger toppings that they didn't charge extra for, so i would grab up a handful of lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, etc and a few ranch or honey mustard packets for a free lunch. grocery stores also have sample days, the costco next to me does theirs on sunday, if you grab a little something from every booth while purchasing your bulk goods for the week you can get a decent lunch.

Ethical1 · 4 months ago

Taking food from a hotel that offers a breakfast to their *paying* guests is theft, plain and simple. I'm sure the host of this blog did not have stealing in mind when he created the thread otherwise he would have entitled the article How To Live (UN-Comfortably) on Free Food (3 Squares are Provided in Jail, Afterall).

heather · 4 months ago

yes! I second this. Especially if you live in a place where there are a few of these continental breakfast type of places. In my gutsier youth, I've also invited myself to events, conferences and wedding receptions--but you have to dress the part too--you can't just walk in regualr street clothes. If there is a buffet you can fill a plate and take off and enjoy your *free* gourmet meal.

TJ · 4 months ago

It's easy to get all down on somebody's morals if you've never been hungry and without prospects. Some of the posters here might not have the luxury.

SO while I generally don't think it's wise to steal (going to jail bites), if you gotta you gotta. (Meaning: no food bank, nobody will give you a helping hand, your begging didn't bring in enough, no soup kitchen nearby, dumpsters are already expertly picked ... and you're HUNGRY.) In which case, if the alternative is sticking somebody up or starving, the hotel choice is a better one.

phil · 4 months ago

2 words: Bread Machine. I've been getting 50-pound bags of flour at costco for $15. My daily bread is delicious, warm, healthy, fresh, made precisely how I want, and dirt cheap.

Juan · 4 months ago

Totally second this. Thrift stores always have bread machines for a couple of dollars (given as gifts and never used). I use my bread machine to mix the ingredients and raise the loaf, then I throw the dough in a pan and into the oven. It costs pennies per loaf.

Corraghessan · 4 months ago

When I was in my teens I used to carry backpack filled with gallon size plastic bags to buffets. As long as you are not conspicuous. Lots of good food to take home.

erica2 · 4 months ago

Another recipe that is pretty inexpensive (if you are willing to take the time to make it from scratch) is this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ph%E1%BB%9F#Styles...

Hubby and I actually use his mother's recipe (biased opinion here, I think it is better than any other), but you can change it up any way you like.

I've become really addicted to this meal/ recipe, and if you make enough stock/broth ahead of time, it's fast and easy to prepare for future meals. Hubby's cousin told me once that her husband ate just this meal at every sitting and dropped about 20 lbs in 2 weeks. I don't know how other people would react to eating this at every sitting. But it is the kind of meal you can eat at each daily meal, if you choose to do so.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Link didn't work, would love to check out the recipe!

Nurta · 3 months ago

Think the link he was linking to was at http://tinyurl.com/ymzs69 It got messed up due to the comment system's encoding

georgewscottiii · 4 months ago

Local Albertson's Grocery store has buy 1 get 1 free pre-seasoned meats if I was single that would be about 3 to 4 meals but with a family of 4 I get 2 meals out of it.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

There are deals to be had!

Jach · 4 months ago

When I worked at a local Albertson's, I'd sometimes go to the bakery just before they closed and get a bunch of donuts. The workers would take what donuts they didn't sell that day, and then put them in random assortment day-old boxes to sell cheap. But they didn't use all the donuts, and would throw away a surprising amount of them. So I just collected them at closing and went home with a bunch.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

One of the perks of the food industry job.

dash212 · 4 months ago

Eat once every other day...win. Thats how I cope with lacking food money. Thank you education system for forcing me to live like a vagrant.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Oh no! Not fun!

Marc · 4 months ago

You could try getting a part time job. The "education system" owes you zilch. There are thousands of opportunities just waiting for you, if you would just look.

Fergix · 3 months ago

One of my favorite options. Luckily I've never been a big eater. And hot food isn't necessary every day too, skip a day once in a few days.

webmaster screenshotscores · 4 months ago

Okay you really had me there, until the dumpster diving, that got me all of balance. If you would have left that out, i would consider it even a healthy way of living.

Keane · 4 months ago

i was just going to post that exact same thing...

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Not something I do, but some love it.

Mike O. · 4 months ago

In college, I loved the dorm cafeteria. Lots of folk didn't, and would post their meal-tickets for sale on bulletin boards, usually for 1/2 or even 2/3 off the original cost. Came out to an average of less than a dollar per meal.

Andy Tolbert · 4 months ago

Alot of my friends and my husband hunt, so there's always venison, turkey, and fish in the freezer... really helps the budget!

heyrich · 4 months ago

Yep. The serious physical training will really put a strain on your food budget! It's still possible to manage it, though.

I was on a super low budget in college. When I first joined the rowing team, I lived in the dorms and had access to the cafeteria, where every day was an all-you-can-eat bonanza. In my Junior year, I moved out of the dorms and was on my own for food. Talk about sticker shock! I wound up finding a local market that had amazing artisan pumpernickel rye raisin bread. After a few weeks of perfecting my timing for when they set out the discounted loaves, the baker started just setting 'em aside for me.

Artisan bread, friendly bakers and caloric density FTW.

heather · 4 months ago

Whenever we're really broke and have time, we hit a circuit of stores that offer free samples . No kidding, if you time it right you can fill up all day for free. I live in Portland, OR so I can go by Zupan's, New Season's, Whole Foods, farmer's markets and Fred Meyers and they usually have a nice smorgasbord of samples available. Many deli counters will let you try a salad sample (like prepared salads, not lettuce-salads) or have olive bars, soup bars, etc where you have little cups available to try samples.

We would also go by pizza places and other faster-food type of non-corporate restaurants around closing time to see if they had extra food they were going to throw out.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Like I said, if you have the time!

I have always found this to take too much time than it is worth.

kit308 · 4 months ago

Perfect lunch or late evening meal: One onion, one tin of corned beef. Leftover rice or potatoes. Fry the onion diced up, maybe add some tabasco or worcester sauce to taste. Fry the corned beef in slices or mashed up. Add the spuds to fry or rice just to heat up. This feeds two easily for about 1 pound sterling or 1.50USD probably much less as food is expensive in the UK-this includes the original potatoes cost. If you have a spare tomato add that in near the end. Allow the beef to crisp up before adding the potatoes. Also try the Paupers Cookbook - its amazing.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Thanks for sharing, sounds pretty dang good!

Hil · 4 months ago

One of my favorite cheap foods to make is sweet n sour barbecue sauce. It's just 4 parts white vinegar, 1 part ketchup and 1/2 to 1 part honey (depending on what you use it for) plus a drop or two of mustard simmered until your preferred consistency, and you can put it on almost anything. The way I make it it comes out to about a dollar for a quart. You can use it for almost anything (rice, add to beef to make sloppy joes, add to beans/bean soup etc). Definitely makes bland, cheap meals more appealing week after week.

annielin · 4 months ago

some additions:

* make use of every last scrap if you have the tools, resources and ability to cook.
* if you have nearly-expired bread, make it into bread pudding.
* if you have wilting veggies, stir fry them in some oil and fold them into an omlet.
* if you have leftover pasta, chop it up and mix it into a salad or bake it into another dish.
* if you have leftover oatmeal, make some cookies.
* if you must eat cereal, buy the plain kind and dress with seasonal fruits.
* always buy fruits in season and on sale. if you live near your local chinatown or other street market, fresh fruits and vegetables cost a lot less than they do at grocery stores. for example, a flat of strawberries might cost $1.50 versus $4.99.

i've always found baking to be a straightforward method of food preparation that doesn't take too much time or attention: mix the ingredients, pour them into a bake pan, set a timer and walk away until dinner or dessert is ready.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

Great additions!

Ann · 4 months ago

I knew someone in college who would buy large bags of dry dog food and snack on it through the day. He said it tasted OK and he seemed to thrive on it. He bought low cost brands and ate it through four years of college, supplementing with small amounts of other foods.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

That sounds horrid.

jane · 4 months ago

I can't believe people are advocating stealing, which is basically what you are doing if you carry food out of a buffet or eat breakfast at hotels when you haven't purchased a room. You can be arrested for that behavior--I've been in a restaurant when the police have been called for this activity. The woman had kids and it was not pretty.

If you can afford it, a chest freezer is a great investment. Then when perishable grocery items go on deep discount, you can buy enough to last several months & freeze. Almost everything can be frozen, including milk and eggs. One local grocery store has been running a special where if you buy a freezer from them you get several hundred dollars worth of food, off setting most of the cost. A used one might increase your power bill, so you have to take that into account when shopping around. Scratch & dent sales are an option for new-but-cheap.

Also, if you have the space, as someone else noted a garden is another great investment. You can can, pickle or freeze fruits & vegetables to eat through the fall & winter. At the minimum, make friends with a gardener...they usually have more squash, zucchini, and tomatoes than they can eat and are willing to give it away.

Finally, the Tightwad Gazette book is a great resource for cutting costs. She explains in great detail how to comparison shop (is that 80% ground beef really cheaper than 90%?) and determine the cost of items per serving or use. One great tip: if you are buying produce priced per item or per bag rather than per pound, weigh the bag/item and make sure you are getting the heaviest one.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

The stealing bit was a surprise to me.

I learned how to can when I was growing up, wish I had the time a drive to still do it!

mjwolf · 4 months ago

Eat cabbage instead of lettuce. It's cheap, nutritious and lasts for weeks in the frig. Every Sunday I make 2 quarts yogurt and a big tub of steel cut oats for the week.

Chris Yeh · 4 months ago

I worked on a $1/day food budget when I moved to Boston after college (circa 1995). My staples were bulk purchases of rice, oats, black beans, and lentils. I would also splurge on pasta sauce and salsa, and if I was feeling particularly frisky, tortillas.

Rather than spending money on milk or juice, I would buy powdered milk and frozen orange juice.

The crazy thing in all of this is that I was working for a hedge fund and making more money than any of my old classmates--I was just obsessed with being cheap!

Kath1213 · 4 months ago

I love your rice/bean/cheese/avocado concotion- so delish!

Me · 4 months ago

When i need to save money on food i visit one special store near my flat in city where i'm studying. It's specialized on expired stuff. From things that will expire in few days to ones that expired year ago. good is that their sortiment is changing from day to day. as well as prices...

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

sounds like a crazy store, in the UK?

neighborjen · 4 months ago

dumpster diving is really where its at. this past winter i spent approx $40 a month at the grocery to supplement the abundance of the dumpsters w/ staples like olive oil, and bulk grains.

ok, so it can be gross at times. but usually there is perfectly fine (organic) produce in there. this is all due to the systems of the stores needing to make room for new shipments, rather than items being spoiled, old or bad. i recommend diving in the late fall to early spring portion of the year, and then garden or volunteer at farms for the growing season. when it's cold out, food in the dumpster doesn't spoil like it does in the summer.

the most important parts of dumpstering are knowing *how* food goes bad, clean up after yourself (try to un-tie bags at the knot, rather than tear them open and make a mess), work fast and quiet, watch for cops (you are trespassing), and process food fast, before it goes bad. oh, and it doesn't hurt to check the FDA recall page (updated daily!)

i usually came home after a dive and made a large veggie roast or pasta sauce. i also put a fruit juicer to work w/ so much produce and made 1/2- 1 gallon of juice at a time. i also peel bananas and put them in the freezer for smoothies. you can clean produce with a 1:3 vinegar to water dilution.

adriaanb · 4 months ago

Amazing! I did it once for 2 weeks, when travelling Australia...never ever gonna go down that road. But lots of respect and I think you should write a book about this stuff. Lots of people can really learn from this and have a rather healthy meal.

I had to survive for 2 weeks and had around 10 to 15 dollar. So I bought tinned food, like spaghetti in sauce and beans and all the most horrible stuff you can imagine. Ranging from 20 to 50 cents a can. So with some bread and a hot sun or small fire, I had the time of my life. But that first burger with a lot...was very very tasty!

Teej · 4 months ago

Wow, looka all the good stuff. Many of my secrets! (Some of this might repeat what others posted.)

I'll add a staple for me, quick & very filling: 1 cup rice + 1 15-oz can beans (kidneys OR garbonzo/chickpea, $0.79/can on sale) with soy sauce. Toss in some veggies and/or leftover meat scraps or whatever. 12 minutes and I'm STUFFED.

Buy in bulk (freeze if needbe) when stuff's on sale. (The best price is often the *middle* size, if you don't have cost/pound info.)
Pork chops, chicken breasts, hamburger (divvy packages up into meal size, store in recyled bread wrappers - masking tape wrap w/contents written with a felt pen). Great sale on instant oatmeal? Buy four, save all year. One minute to fullness.

I buy crackers (four pack sale $1.49) snack a whole pack for $0.37, filling.

POPCORN: try to find big bags, buy in bulk. GOOD for ya (fiber city), very filling.

mo8 · 4 months ago

ugh around here the cheapest 25 lb bag of jasmine rice is $16 or more and thats not at sams club. thats at asian store. If you buy it at a traditional grocery store it can cost a heck of alot more per lb for jasmine rice.

you might be saving money but what is it doing to your body. Billy bob thorton tried to live on nothing but potatos ..grin It wasnt the best idea he ever had ..

billo · 4 months ago

Folk seem to be forgetting the most basic methods of getting food -- hunting and fishing. When I was in college, I would occasionally go out to a local lake and set a "trot line." A trot line is a rope you string across some water that has hooks every few feet. You bait the hook and come back the next day and see what caught itself. It was nothing for me to pick up 60-70 lbs of catfish meat in one weekend that way.

Similarly, there are lots of places that are overrun with deer. Yes, it's a little work to kill and prepare your own food, but it's not expensive if you have some time. If you don't have your own weapon, then check with a local hunting club. Moreover, many hunters are happy to donate their kills to folk who need food. When I was in college, I dined frequently on venison, quail, duck, and goose.

Adding meat you kill yourself is cheap and adds a lot of protein and nutrient to other stuff. Add that to cheap fruits and veggies from the local farmer's market, and you not only dine well, but very inexpensively.

TxMike · 4 months ago

I liked Billo's comment about taking your own game. It can be an inexpensive way to fill your meat locker. But here in Texas, deer hunting has risen so much in costs (hunting leases now run $2000/season or better) that a pound of venison can reach $40-50/pound. One way I found around that costs is to approach the farmers and ranchers about helping to rid their place of varmints that destroy crops or livestock (coyotes, crows, rabbits, feral hogs, etc) Some of these varmints are good eating in themselves and I usually get invited to take a deer or two off their place for free come deer season. Be respectful and don't shoot any of the good bucks as these are what the rancher makes his money on and you'll be expected to pay for taking one of those. A nice fat doe taste better and culling the doe herd is a necessity anyway. Also, learn to bowhunt. There is much land available to hunt that is in too close a proximity to urbanized areas to allow the use of firearms. Bows are quiet and efficient so you won't disturb the neighbors. Good Hunting and Good Eating!

Jay · 4 months ago

I'm impressed with this guy's ability to survive on less money than I did in college in the '70s (and believe me, I was on a very tight budget).

I wonder, though, how nutritious and healthful his diet was. Generally, the cheapest foods are those that are "factory-farmed", as well as the most unsound, health-wise and environmentally. Most of our food comes from huge corporations that apply massive amounts of fertilizers and pesticides based on petroleum, chemicals, artificial growth hormones, etc.

I am frugal by nature and practice, but I made a long-considered decision years ago not to skimp on two things -- food and shoes. Sounds strange, maybe, but I see those as fundamental. Sure, you can save lots of money in the short term by going cheap, but I suspect the long term effects are not worth it.

andrewhyde · 4 months ago

I've been thinking about doing this analysis. Perhaps the next post!

r_e_on_a · 4 months ago

Eat lots of pancakes. They don't tell you this on the box but you can make them in the microwave :)

duranee · 4 months ago

While struggling through college and graduate school with no support beyond what I could earn within the department (unlike all the guys who had wives and/or parents to help), I came upon a lovely and useful book called "A Cookbook for Poor Poets and Others" by Ann Rogers. For years I lived on food out of this book and the Chinese food my friend taught me to cook. I don't know if the book is still available, but if you can find it, it's worth it. The recipes feed the body, and the words feed the soul.

png73 · 4 months ago

Hi,
I am not young nor poor but have been there in the past.
In reply to Jay about the nutritious value of frugality:
In England following WW2 we were told by the Administration that the people in England had never been as healthy as we were on rationing. We were forced to eat at very frugal levels and the whole country banded together growing gardens in public parks and sharing. Obesity disappeared and ill health was reduced.
We ate staple foods cooked at home with very few extras. An apple or orange was definitely a rarity! Life did not revolve around 'what' we would eat but 'if' we would eat!
I applaud all of you for being frugal and getting along without being a burden. Times will improve but don't ever forget these lessons!

danrogersblog · 3 months ago

This is a fantastic post - for the UK conscious I have noticed that ASDA, particularly the 24 hour opening stores mark down all of the baked goods heavily late in the evening from 10pm onwards. You can get some ridiculous bargains. Morrisons are also the only major retailer I know that has a marked down wine and beer section - literally end of line, or odd bottles and cans - nothing wrong with it and often placed in the corner or the aisle out of immediate view.

Name · 3 months ago

I do Ramen, a can of soup(mushroom or asperigus), a can of milk, and a can of veggies (corn, tomato, or green beans depending on the soup). Good for at least two meals.

I get a tub of vogurt(four serving, but good for six) add off brand grape nuts and fruit. Frozen fruit isn't as expensive as fresh.

Justin · 3 months ago

with a wok (my roommate's) i used to dine regularly on a stir-fry i made with ramen, frozen mixed veggies, and soy sauce. and you can save the seasoning packets to make stock for soup.

Tyler Willis · 3 months ago

Has anyone hacked together a pricing benchmark based on type of food and city yet? A simple version could probably be done by scraping major supermarkets online order sites. I know Safeway has one, bet Costco and 1 or 2 other ones do.

At most basic you could get a range for the staples (rice, canned food, meat, fish, oatmeal/cereal, frozen veggies, etc.), at a more complex level you could create something similar to farecaster.

Great post Andrew!

Edvard · 2 months ago

Also, depending on your income and area it can be very easy to get food stamps. First of the month feels like a feast- especially if you stick to the great suggestions.

Rocky Garcia · 2 months ago

Everything will be better with less.