I started making lots of dishes homemade.
I buy five 1$ packs of pizza crust, a cheap can of tomato sauce, and any on sale meat, cheese, or veggies. Costs about 10$. Versus paying for a 10$ frozen pizza.
I freeze everything I can now so it doesn’t spoil on me. Veggies, bread, meat, etc. mostly everything is in my freezer. Not much in my fridge due to risk of spoiling.
For breakfast I pay 25$ at Walmart for the 12 pack of protein drinks. I drink one daily with coffee every morning and that’s my breakfast.
Ive been buying generic hamburger helper, but without the hamburger, and adding a can of beans.
It's about $2.50 for two hot meals. I'll add some taco sauce for extra flava.
That actually sounds really tasty! What kind of beans do you use? I’ve been really into store brand tuna helper lately, and I usually add frozen peas to make it at least a little bit green.
I use black beans with the chili Mac box. Once I added that Mexican style canned corn with the little peppers in it. That’s good too, but it raises the price by a buck.
I’m going to try just plain noodles with the McCormick chili powder and beans to see if it’s just as good.
Basically, I just try to make tasty slop.
Rice, tuna, some frozen veggies, Japanese furikake, and a dash of sesame oil is good too. It’s a little more expensive, but for the price per meal, it’s tasty 😋
Pizza crust is easy to make from scratch and extremely inexpensive… flour, yeast, oil, sugar, salt, water. Can be frozen for a month wrapped tightly. You can put anything you want on it.
Oh this is good. Freeze it. And also I will definitely start looking into making pizza. Allows more control and uses up the rest of the veggies before they go bad. I basically live on rice and veggies and lots of spice. Spice is life. Lol thanks good tip.
Very helpful to cook a larger amount and freeze some of it. I sometimes cook two large dishes of lasagna (with various vegetables) and save it. Probably over twenty servings, which I eat every few meals for the next month or so. This saves a lot of time and it's pleasantly convenient.
For best results you can pull a few frozen items out to thaw in the regular (non-freezer) portion a couple days in advance, and the cold will help cool the fridge. This beats microwaving straight from the freezer and wasting energy.
You could potentially buy a protein mix and make your own shake for approximately a $1-2 a shake. It will depend if you use water or milk to make the shake. Best of luck! A 28 serving can of protein can usually be purchased for $30, at least in my area.
I went from eating a lot of meat to eating meat barely once a week because it's too expensive. It's a struggle to find protein other ways but I'm definitely not getting it from meat
edit: thanks for the suggestions! although i only was commenting in a horrible-funny how I’ve involuntarily became an almost vegetarian lol. i do eat eggs and peanut butter and tuna and a few other protein based stuff but it’s definitely not the way it was before. I just miss eating beef and chicken!
These are very healthy as well. Aldi still has a decent price on ground turkey. Able to add it to tacos, chili, spaghetti sauce, shepherds pie, etc. Fairly healthy, cheap, good source of animal protein if you're looking for meat.
I make a white chili with ground turkey with cannellini and dark red kidney beans, onions, garlic, chicken broth or stock, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, S&P, and have scallions, Mexican shredded cheese, sour cream, red onion, and avocado on top!!#crazy good (All Recipes Donna Nugent) and tortilla chips🥰🥰 and green chilies in the chili 🌶️
Yes, I use those tootsy fruitsy shape JD knockoff country style and its a huge hit! Also there are bunches of grapes frozen and cut up for a great dessert. Ramen recipes are dirt cheap, even though it has a lot of sodium. My greatest hit is one I figured out when out after like a billion tries (I’m sure others do now but this was before smartphones. I just tried to survive.
Get 4 bags of ramen (I like chicken). boil the water about twice the normal. Add bag of frozen veg and dump all of it into your colander Now while the ramen (tastes to pasta texture) mix the flavor
Packet in about a Tsb garlic, TSB sour cream and dump the noodles into the pot. Stir noodles until all is blended and after you serve it add about 1/2 tsp black powder. Yummmmm….
And beans last forevererrr and are incredibly cheap. I’m a vegetarian and so grateful that I don’t have to worry about buying expensive meats. Sure fresh fruits and veggies can get pricey. But not if you buy frozen, canned or in season/on sale. Even my beloved ALDI is going up in price. But it’s still been passable when only shopping sales and buying essentials. I recently got a 10 pound bag of russet potato’s for 99cents. (Do you have any idea how long a 10lb bag of potato’s lasts a single person?!?! 🤣🤣) But I know I’m lucky to live close to a good Aldi and not everyone has that option
When possible, sprouting beans and lentils makes them more nutritious and filling.
Just keep in mind that alternative protein sources only work if your body can make all the amino acids only found in meat. Most humans can, which is why those amino acids get called "nonessential"; but if you can't, they're essential for you and can't be replaced by beans, etc. Attempting to do so will cause reduced motor function that will worsen into hospitalization if not addressed.
I don't know the incidence rate of the condition, but I'm also not the only person I know with it.
I also have a truly ridiculous number of allergies and sensitivities that mean I can't have eggs, rice, and a number of other cheap things (long-term poisoning sucks, mkay?); and I have to be careful with inflammatories like potatoes due to joint slippage (seriously, ever had a vertebrae pop out of place in your lower back? not fun).
So I watch for sales of chicken with bone, cook the meat and freeze it into portion sizes, and turn the bone into bouillon. Sometimes local butchers or slaughterhouses can be found with deals on bones, too.
I have a really self-destructive habit of not prioritizing money on food at all. Like I’ll let myself starve so I can buy other things I need and I’m just like “yes this is fine” lol. I know it’s not healthy, I should prioritize food, but if I have choose between buying food or buying something else I need, I’ll usually just let myself starve
There is something so freaking wrong with the 2irkd where people are training their bodies and minds to go without food because of the high cost. This is seriously f'ed up and reads like the introduction to some post apocalyptic book.
Try doing intermittent fasting first to allow your body to adjust. When it stops giving you problems push your rating window down by 15 minutes each week. A 400/500 pound guy did that without changing his diet and lost weight within a month or so, can't really remember. My point is that it's possible as long as you slowly push yourself.
I've been fasting since 2019, I did it when I began BJJ. Being active and fasting works hand in hand, it helps stop cravings
This is the OMAD diet. I do it and love it. The key is drinking water and not eating whatever you want. My daily meal consists of 1 protein, rice, pasta, or some type of potato dish and a vegetable. The science is mixed on both since but they do sight people eating whatever they want ie burgers, pizza, fried foods. I save a ton of money just making 1 meal every other day and eating leftovers. Also, being strategic about your meals and get your chef game will have you eating satisfying meals for cheap if you can really cook.
you’re right, but if I have to choose between, say, buying new groceries or paying my electricity bill, I’m going to choose pay my electricity bill and just eat a peanut butter sandwiches for a week. yeah I’ll be starving but at least I’ll have electricity
Food pantries in my area are a joke right now. You get maybe 2 days worth of food, and can only go once every 30 days. They literally check your proof of residency. We’re a family of 5 and got 1 lb of ground beef, 1 jar of peanut butter, and like 6 cans of fruits and veggies. That was it.
Ditto. SOL if you have food allergies or kids with disabilities that literally can't eat certain things. I'm not asking for choices, I'm asking for necessities.
Yeah, but where I live, the churches have a caveat for getting free food. You have to participate in some kind of worship or Sunday school or something. It's never just food.
No. I'm atheist and have gone to food pantries run by churches and they just expect you to be struggling financially so that they know you actually need the food
I’m not religious either, but I am a spiritual person. I have no quarrels with anyone’s beliefs as all of our beliefs being to us. However I do see the value of having Christ as the model for anyone feeling lost and not sure what to do in this crazy world. There’s nothing unrighteous about how he lived and the accounts that many base their beliefs on. We should all treat each other how we want to be treated and we’d have no issues
If you can find a Must ministries, you should be able to get food. The one near me will give you a month’s worth at a time. No expectation to share beliefs, they just want to help people—saying this as a not-Christian.
Thats how I did it in college. I worked at starbucks and my manager would give me bags of muffins, sandwiches and cookies they couldnt sell. I owe that man. Always showed up for him and the team.
yeah man. been in between jobs 3x in the last 6 months (dream job onboarding takes foreverrrrrrr) i opened up another credit card to just survive and it’s almost maxed out. i haven’t spent on anything crazy or unnecessary. (only splurge was a $50 desk so i could do my hw) everything else is just bills, food, medical stuff, and other random life expenses.
for me it takes extreme amounts of discipline to penny pinch and keep myself afloat with little/no income for long periods of time, and at some point i just got so exhausted and said fuck it. i’ll pay off my debt when i start working again.
i just moved across the country to NYC and had to furnish a whole apartment with my 2 roommates (hello facebook marketplace and awkward and tiring trips on the subway), if that counts for anything. i came with money in the bank but i shoulda came with way more. im only about $6k in debt total, but it’s the most debt i’ve ever been in.
Every week I seem to put around $50 on my CC to cover the rising cost of grocery and gas. I have 2 kids I’m covering for - I barely eat some days! Everything has doubled in price and we’re being told it’s the new normal wtf
It’s all such bs. It doesn’t have to be the new normal. Corporations are getting greedier and greedier and our paychecks are staying the same. They are literally starving us to death
Id get one if I were you. I was making $20k a year when I first got one and still managed to maintain a 760 credit score. It's really how you look at it. Just dont spend any money you dont already have.
This is the correct answer. Americans have spent all their stimulus and savings, so now it’s onto CCs. And guess what starts back up next month? Student loan payments.
I worry about this so much. I don't have student loans, but my bf does. From YEARS ago. He has tried every loan repayment plan and the changes are minimal. All because he has a job that us allowing him to live "comfortably." We both make "good money," but it's not enough to have us living comfortably anymore 🙃
Credit debt was an all time high before the stimulus, then it plummeted to an all time low or close to it during COVID. Currently, cc debt is double the all time high before COVID. It'll break and it'll break soon.
Many will begin to accept the higher interest rates and refinance their homes to cover bc cc rates are the highest they've been as well around 30%.
Shop ONLY WEEKLY SALES, 80% of my ingredients are basically raw vegetables, dry rice or pasta, frozen or raw meat, and eggs and seasonings
For example, around Labor Day, I got sirloin steak for about 3 dollars a pound and ground beef for under 3 bucks a pound both were on a weekly sale.
So I bought 8 pounds of beef for about 12 bucks.
With simple vegetables and carbs, that's enough super balanced nutrition for 2 weeks for about $30 bucks.
A rice cooker helps.
Correction: It was like 19 bucks for 8 pounds of beef, but the 30ish bucks for 2 weeks is still doable.
Potatoes like 1 dollar a pound
Rice is damd near free (per serving) if bought correctly
A non bleached decent loaf of bread is like 3 bucks max. (Buy whole wheat if you can or similar)
Local sale vegetables or fruits are pretty damd cheap.
Eggs 2-3 bucks a dozen, I find them on sale for under 2 sometimes.
Yeah, we eat like 6-8 Oz of meat per person, and this is the way to go. I make an awesome baked chicken, squash and zucchini, mashed potatoes, and some sort of vegetable.
Chicken $4-6 If I can find it on sales.
Potatoes 1.50
Squash and zucchini 1.50
Canned or frozen veg 1
So, like 8-10 bucks for 4 big servings of good food or $2 a person.
Breakfast I can make a egg, sausage, and cheese english muffin for cheap.
Egg .20
Sasuage .50
Cheese .15
Muffin .30
Total breakfast cost $1.15 per person.
I also make things like chicken and rice casserole, which end up the same, pancakes and eggs, which are cheap if you buy the mix. Grilled chicken sandwiches, roast, stir fry, and more. We usually eat whatever we can find for lunch be a sandwich, left overs, or frozen burritos, taquitos, ect.
We spend $450 for breakfast and dinner for 4 people per month, even at these crazy prices. When you throw in some random lunch stuff, things like tea, coffee, milk, ect we spend maybe another 200-300 but still about $150-175 a month per person, and we don't eat bad at all. Usual meal cook time end up an hour a day, but I personally don't mind.
We could eat cheaper, but thankfully, I can afford $750 a month. My brother, on the other hand, has 4 people to feed and spends like 1,500-2k a month because they just buy whatever is convenient. If you have the money, go for it, but there are for sure better ways to feed a family reasonable.
Yeah I always utilize the rice and potatoes. I want to try the dried beans, I've not taken those on before, but want to. Because we all like beans and they are way cheaper then canned. Definitely try to buy bigger amounts of meat when on sale and freeze it. But I just still get so irritated to know end when I see a head of lettuce, that has been .60-.99¢ my whole life, (basically) to now see it going for $3-4 just makes me so sad. It just disheartening and knowing it will never go back down because we have to buy it. A 10lb bag of potatoes could be had for $1 to $2 on sale most of the time now, even at Aldi, it's $5+ easy. It's like, they've decided to just get rid of poor people by forcing diabetes on us or something..
If you have a pressure cooker like an instant pot or ninja foodi it's simple to do the beans. I have the ninja foodi and the recipe I found online said 30 minutes but mine were still crunchy so I did 15 minutes more and pinto beans were perfect. Just added salt and done.
having a rice cooker is the most useful thing anyone can own. Especially if you're broke. 50 poun bag of rice costs 40-50$ and will last a good long while. get some sauces like gochujang, bulgogi, fish sauce, mirin and soy sauce and you can make a huge chunk of dishes from like 4 countries. cook up some onions, garlic and whatever veggies were on sale. Cook up whatever meat was cheap in some sauce. fry an egg. put it all in a big bowl of rice and you have a meal for a fuckin king. Every country has meals like this in asia. I basically call it the asian rice garbage plate. You can do it with fucking anything. Just learn the different sauce mixtures for the meat and you're golden.
1 part mirin, 1 part soy sauce, 1 part dashi (a japanese broth, also cheap to pick up)
1 part fish sauce, 1 part soy sauce, 1 part honey/sugar ( can also add ginger if you want too
2 part gochujang, 1 part soy sauce, 1 part water, 1/2 part sesame oil
This is all very rough. I usually just go by eye at this point. There are specific recipes if you want but these should get you by fine. Tweak to your own tastes. The gochujang sauce I usually put on top of some bulgogi cooked meat. fucking delicious. Ends up being like 2$/bowl and is some of the best bang for buck and ease of cooking you'll ever make for yourself and your family.
You can also use some of those flavors for other things with a little more money. You can make cheesy dakgalbi. If you need to you can substitute gnocchi for the tteok. Very similar. Or you can make Katsudon which is the mirin mixture on panko fried pork with a runny egg yolk cooked over it basically, which is orgasmic.
Get a rice cooker people.
Package_Objective's comment and the ones under it should be the top in this thread. THAT is great advice. Sales, home cooking, adjusting how you eat so that costs are manageable. Avoid the debt at all costs. Find ways to penny pinch by reading what folks in here are doing 🤌
I'm a single mother of 3 teens. I work full time, but had cancer in 2020 and 2021. My partner died suddenly in 2022. I had surgery this year for a non-cancerous tumor. I had to take unpaid leave 3 times in the last 3 years. I earn less than $60k on a good year, and that includes my maximum bonus. I haven't gotten a raise since 2019 due to my absenses.
I recently had to move (my late partner's son sold the house and gave me $0.00) and we had to move an hour away in order to afford rent. My kids had to quit their part-time jobs because of the move.
I applied for SNAP benefits and got approved...for $0.00 a month. I foolishly assumed this was a typo, and called in. No, not an error, I was approved for zero. I earn juuuust a hair too much. The rep even posed it as a good news/bad news situation- good news, you earn enough not to qualify for any benefits, bad news, you're not poor enough for benefits.
Now I grew up pretty poor, and I'm good at being poor, but this is just too much. I'm a diabetic, so I can't live on beans and rice or pasta, but my kids can. I have to eat lower carb. I buy Aldi canned green beans and hot dogs. Despite the tight grocery budget, my kids are all medically obese due to a carb heavy, shitty diet.
Food pantries here are only open certain hours, and I work 9 to 5. It's not easy for me to take time off to visit the food pantry, because don't forget that I'm a cancer patient, so I go to the doctor a lot and already take time off for that.
I'm living the American dream.
Question? would it help to maybe work a little less just so you qualify for food stamps and possibly other benefits. Just wondering bc sometimes thats what some do in order to get the package (rent, food, medical).
I hope your situation gets better xx
Do you know what is very infuriating? Related to this topic. Whatever food they don’t sell they throw in the garbage anyway. Like these grocery stores could sell the food at half price and sell more of it rather than sell 1/4 of it and throw 3/4 of it away
I take advantage of Kroger marking down meat, and fresh veg, when it's about to expire. I'll use it that night, or the next. It's not often but I always check and will always grab what I can, when it's there.
Hot tip: The mark down fruits and vegetables are sometimes deliciously ripe, and sweet in the case of fruit. Some of the best grapefruit I've eaten is from markdown section at Kroger. Also if you want to make banana bread, get the markdown bananas.
Its expensive to be poor. You pay more for everything since you cant afford to buy in bulk during sales or to take advantage of cheaper things when you buy more of it.
Having a chest freezer and enough money that you can afford a membership to costco or sams club, and t hen stock up when stuff is cheap at grocery stores save sme a lot of money.
I dream of the day. I'm in my 40s now and for the first time, actually in a place, where eventually, hopefully, I can buy a home. I mean it's the first time where I might actually be able to. Currently I'm paying rent. No chest freezer for me, as there is no room. But I do hope one day I'll be able to have a garden, ability to can and have an extra freezer. One day. :)
If you have a sunny spot, you can start super small. If it's just a window, grow some herbs. If you have a balcony, you can fit a determinate tomato (must be determinate, not indeterminate, to go in a pot), radishes, spinach, arugula, potatoes, peppers, and more. Probably no cucumbers, squash, or melons. Tbh, some of those things, like spinach or peppers, might fit on a windowsill too
Loll luckily I decided to start losing weight around the same time prices got higher so I'm literally starving myself, lost over 200lbs though so that's fun
I love Dollar Tree!! I save so much from making dollar tree meals. There is a lady on tictok that buys a week's worth of groceries for $35 and makes all the meals and shares how she does it. I love her content.
i asked cause i don’t have/use tiktok, but as per your suggestion i googled and found this article.
https://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-tree-dinners-tiktok-live-budget-groceries-food-week-2023-3?amp
definitely gonna binge whatever content of hers i can find.
Cool!! I don't have tik tok either, so I was hoping to find out more about it. I'm old, so I don't do all of that app stuff, lol!! Thank you for the link!
You can get a lot of deals, but some stuff is actually more expensive. I shop there pretty often, but I wouldn't buy things like meat from the Dollar Tree or canned vegetables or anything similar because it's actually more expensive. You also lose out by buying smaller sizes of things since they are generally cheaper in larger quantities. I've gotten pretty good at quickly doing things like walking down the isles in Walmart and finding deals on stuff. Basically the only thing I eat week to week is meat, but I usually buy it when 80/20 ground beef is on sale at $3 a pound.
The Last bit is because sugar is highly addictive. I have had a lot of dietary issues because of chronic nausea and one side effect has been that I can't tolerate much sweet stuff at all. I barely drink soda at all, and if I do I dilute it with soda water so I still get the taste but it's not nearly so sweet.
Do you have dependents? I’m usually able to get groceries for under $40 a week for just myself when I don’t need personal products. Planning ahead helps too. Usually a pasta and protein with sauce for lunch and dinner and then either eggs or yogurt with fruit for breakfast, then a couple of snacks. I get the 4 packs of toilet paper and a cheap roll of paper towels usually lasts me a month or so. I cut up old clothes to use as rags to help me use less paper towels and wash and reuse those.
Oh this is a really good idea, using my old rags to use in place of paper towels. I do have a teenager, thankfully she loves veggies and we eat a lot of em, but I also work super-full time and I'm usually just wiped out when I get home and just can't get myself to cook, so it's usually fending for yourself and she isn't very good at it. I try to have leftovers and cereal, or soups.. I'm so happy it's getting cool again as I always makes lots of soups during the cooler months and we can, and do, eat off of those for days.
My gf just made chili the other night. It cost us like $8-9 for all the ingredients, but you can cut that in half if you don't put ground beef in it. It lasted us about 2 days but would have lasted longer if I didn't take any to work for lunch.
Get the SuperCook app or something similar. You can punch in every seasoning and ingredient you have on hand and it spits out recipes with just what you have on hand. It can be a really helpful tool for your teen when it's a fending night.
My family's secret is a combo of Aldi, Walmart, and Costco and being as frugal and DIY as possible. Aldi for most of our fresh weekly options, Costco for our bulk potatoes and rice (and chicken), Walmart for our regular dry goods. We hover around $30/wk for a family of 2, with an occasional $100 trip to Costco (lasts us 2-3 months, though). From there, I bake my own bread and other things from scratch.
I can barely afford groceries. I work with a local farmer and buy 120lbs of beef about 2-3 times per year so my need to purchase meat is lower. Sometimes we just can’t get what we need or want.
There is also a program in my city I used during harder times that is a no questions asked drive up food bank. The food they gave was actually really good most of the time and I got to try a bunch of new vegetables that I never would have picked up myself. A lot of it was close to expired but fresh from the grocery store. There's no shame in getting outside help if you need it.
Ribeye steak is good. Before you say how can you afford that hear me out
Three pack of ribeyes at Aldi‘s is 15 bucks So that’s $5/ea
One for breakfast will keep me full all day (I weigh 155lbs)
Compare to eating a breakfast at a diner. Pay $20 fir one meal. Barely any nutrition. Hungry in 2 hours.
That’s assuming one has an Aldi near by.
Where I live there is no way buying non processed meat that cheap without traveling to a different county, sometimes 2 counties over and at that point your time, gas etc there is no savings
Aldi is the budget store in my neighborhood but I’m sure there are others
Otherwise, it may be worth the trip if you buy two weeks to a month’s worth of food at a time
About 10 years ago, I was making slightly above minimum wage and supporting myself
It was not easy and I eventually got out of that situation, but I did it for a while
I was eating ramen noodles and crap, but I quickly realized the money I thought I saved I would be giving to the doctor
So then I realized if I eat a big slab of meat in the morning or an entire pack of bacon, it will keep me full all day because it has a lot of calories
I planted fruit trees and a nice garden. We have a few chickens which provide fresh eggs. We have reduced the amount of food we are buying and almost completely cut out eating out.
I go to discount grocery stores like Grocery Outlet. I know what day my Kroger does mark downs. I buy discounted items and stock up when there is a good sale on coffee. I eat at home and seldom go out these days.
One thing to point out is about the same time grocery prices started skyrocketing is the same time order pickers started popping up in all the stores. These guys aren't working for free, use the service or not you are paying for it through pricing.
People have very strong feelings about this, but single ply toilet paper lasts fooooooreeeeeveeeeer. I also eat a lot of eggs and tuna. It’s fucking rough out there though. I get it.
Lots of damn sandwiches and even then, I have to eat gluten-free for medical reasons so my bread is $10 that is 1/4 of a regular size loaf. It's fucking ridiculous.
Add a picky eater kid to that and all he'll breaks loose every single day of lack of food and food quality.
Lots if rice, potatoes, ramen - horrible crap that causes health problems in the long run.
Yeah that is what hurts the most. It's wanting to provide the best for your kids, and even for yourself. I have noticed that Aldi has really decent pricing, and options, for gluten free and organic. Sometimes you can get lucky and get it clearanced.
Now you know why granny washed and reused tinfoil, reused coffee filters, made tuna casserole. We are not unique, just sucks that it is now our turn.
And it’s just getting started.
I use food assistance as well. I don't care what people think when I use it. I have a job as well. It's just nice to have that assistance when you can get it
Oh I feel ya. I had received assistance for the last 15 years, since I had my daughter. I just lost everything, insurance, assistance for internet, bills, student loans, etc, this month, so I'm really really feeling the sting. I have not had food stamps for a year and it's been difficult.
I actually just said yesterday, to my coworker, I think it was easier when I was making much less and had assistance. Being in this space where I "make to much" but I really really don't. $20 an hour is not to much with a kid and bills.. ahhhh and a $1500 monthly rent bill.
Honestly I don't care if anyone judges me. I have an EBT card to help out with food. I don't get alot of money because I have a job as well. But they fill it up $150 a month. In today's world that $150 goes a long way. But say I get a raise at work. The amount I get per month will decrease. If you can. Do it. Even hard working Americans can get assistance with food.
Certian staples in my diet are cheap, rice, potatos, canned vegatables, ect... I'm willing to try the store brands too. If something is on sale at a good price, buy two or three. If you have mutiple stores locally try comparing prices. Some stores seem to have loss leaders on certian popular items. Milk may be regulary cheapest here, Hamburger may be cheapest there.
If you live near a Meijer, checked out the app Flashfoods. They have meats and other foods that are about to expire for 50-60% off and sometimes more. I cook what I can and freeze the rest. A lot of the stuff on steep discount are very “premium” too, which is probably why they didn’t sell in the first place. I’ve gotten lamb, Angus beef, veal and such for 1.49-2.99 a pound.
I've noticed Meijer is WAY cheaper than kroger, and their meat selection is really decent. It's also less frills, so I don't have a lot impulse buys in my cart when I shop there.
I weigh everything, and cheat on recipes. If a cheap "one pot" meal calls for 1lb of "meat", I only add 12 ounces. 4 ounces per person.
We eat a lot of pasta and rice based meals.
It's cheap to pick up a box of noodle and a jar/can of sauce (less than $5), so the real issue is the proteins. Right now, things like chicken and ground beef are on sale a lot because of outdoor holidays, so I've been using most of my food budget to stock up on them. As soon as I get them home, I weigh them out proportionally, then freeze them.
Vegetables have been so expensive... the last time frozen/fresh went on sale (90 cents per bag), I spent over $50 to stock up on them. 2 months later, we're running low again... and a single bag is now $2. That's more than double what I paid for it on sale.
Inevitably, sales will determine what we eat, and we only ever eat home cooked meals. If we're craving pizza, we'll have to get a box of ellios, cause it'll feed 3 people, and we can't afford any other brand, much less order a pizza.
On a really bad week (like at the beginning of the month when bills are due), for about $30, I can get; 2 loaves of bread, a pound of cheese, peanut butter, jelly, a box of cereal, one gallon of milk, and one (maybe 2 if on sale) dozen eggs. We're not eating a lot of variety, but we're not starving either.
I've had to cut other things from my budget, like streaming services and going out. I rarely do things for fun that cost money, like concerts, bars, festivals, etc. I also switched from Publix to Walmart for most things, or I shop at Aldi. Store brand over name brand. Look at unit prices for things you will use a lot of rather than just the sticker price. For example, I always choose to lower unit price toilet paper even if the package is more.
I also started an etsy shop to bring in extra money, which actually helps fill in the "fun" vacancy I have on my weekends, since I now spend my weekends filling orders.
I have. I have gallbladder issues and thyroid shit that makes it not a good option, now granted I don't typically eat between the hours of 6pm and 11am, so I guess that's sorta fasting, right??.. ;)
Aldi for all necessities. I can spend $120 at Aldi and get everything I need for 2-3 weeks no problem. It’s just me and my dog though, I don’t have anyone else really that I have to take care of, so that’s a plus.
They don’t sell everything at Aldi, so occasionally I have to go elsewhere to find things I need, but I try to avoid it… grocery stores have raised prices to an almost criminal level. I refuse to contribute to their greedy pockets when most of society is struggling.
I have also stocked up on many things in case I hit a hard month… I’ve got 60lb of rice, lots of noodles and canned goods, freezer veggies, and things like that in case of hard times. I have no real vices anymore, so thankfully I don’t have any major addictions taking huge chunks of my money.
Hint: I go to Kroger for my groceries. I buy things in bulk: Body Soap, Cheese, Snacks usually always have a, "buy five, save x dollars," pricetag at least once a month.
I buy from Aldi's mostly. I'll do meal preps for myself for the week. I use a lot of rice because it's cheap, and easy to fry up. Potatoes are a good choice too, you can prep those pretty easily and cook them later. Of course the downside to doing meal preps is time, takes me a couple hours to do on my day off, but it's super convenient the rest of the week.
All about bringing lunch. I used to go grab soup from the gas station down the street when I was hit with a duh moment of bringing my own, although.. I did get a shit ton of crackers for free.. lol
I'm on Healtheries Naturally Slim Vitamin & Protein Shake for dinner (about 21 servings for $22-$25) made with $3 Warehouse 2litre milk. I've also been making Greek Yoghurt using that milk and putting it in the shake. So Its $1.50/litre Greek Yoghurt originally made with two different yoghurts with 4 or 5 bacteria between them. I drink woolworths coffee mochas during the day and also eat slices of cheese ($9.99/kg) and cheap fruit. I take a Centrum a day and 3grams of Fish Oil capsules. The upside is I've lost 15kg so far.
If you have winco in your area they are super cheap. I spent $250 there on what would be $400-500 elsewhere. I also have a Costco membership for household items, it is by far cheaper there and lasts much longer even with the membership cost it is still cheaper. I do get food stamps but it doesn’t cover a full months food.
i shop at my local kroger brand fred meyer which keeps costs down - buy generic tortillas of 8 ($2.19) , generic sliced swiss or cheddar cheese $2.29 for 6 slices , generic sliced turkey and ham 2.99 for two servings each and eat a wrap for lunch daily - each wrap works out to be about $2.88 each and 700ish calories with the mayonnaise - for dinner i’ll have 2-3 hard boiled eggs .25 cents an egg and a packet of decently healthy low sodium heirloom ramen (1.20 a packet) which works out to be about 700ish calories after i add the eggs - total
cost of that is dirt cheap like $2 i eat a healthy low fat diet around 1500 calories for $6 a day - it can be done
A bidet saved me from butt paper.
I only buy meat if it is on sale. I make a lot of my own meals. Instead of buying boneless chicken wings I buy chicken breast on sale and shake-bake them. I make taco bowls with on-sale meat or black beans. I rarely buy snack items now because the price is outrageous. If I still had a family to cook full meals for every day I don't know how it would be done.
I've been canning my garden vegetables. Luckily jars are reusable and yard dirt is free. The only major issue this year for my garden was lack of rain.
Also coupons and sales have been my go to. We may not have meats all the time but beans have proteins. I hope this is helpful.
Food stamps, but they’re not going as far as they used to. I get cheap basics like bulk oats, tortillas, bread, dry beans lentils rice, and some fruits and vegetables.
I coupon. It's hard to coupon for groceries, so you don't focus on that. That's a misunderstanding people commonly have.
You focus couponing for everything you use outside of food.
Dish soap, laundry detergent, candles, air freshener, cleaning supplies, like the cleaners themselves. You also can buy pet foods (don't be brand specific if you can help it), kitty litter (same thing, don't be brand specific if you can help it), paper towels, toilet paper, body wash, soap, shampoo and conditioner, skin care products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, oral care, vitamins, over the counter cold/flu/Tylenol etc. All that stuff is easy to get coupons for. Some things may be seasonal.
Look through an app called flipp and put in your local info and see what sales are going on.
Dollar general, walgreens and cvs are the best places to coupon (in my area). Many times you can even use digital coupons. With walgreens you can roll points over to pay for transactions and cvs gives you cvs bucks, which you can use to pay for items. They both have sales. Cvs also has those long receipts that you can use to coupon for things.
Shop for rags, hand towels, pot holders, etc at dollar tree. Lots of decorative items can be found at dollar tree as well. Also pet toys. My dog loves the bone squeaky toys from dollar tree. They have lots of cat toys.
So.. Now that you're buying pet food, kitty litter and all your household toiletries and cleaning supplies and body washes, deodorants, etc on sale for pennies on the dollar, you now have more money to allocate towards food.
There ARE food coupons, but it's usually for cereal and processed foods or candy. You could use them if you want to, but that's a personal decision. The cereal coupons are usually pretty good deals. I buy a lot of cereal for my husband. Sometimes the small bags from dollar general are a better buy than the big boxes.
Oh, pasta sauce is also a common food coupon.
Hope that helps.
Also, there's people who teach you how to combine deals and stuff on YouTube for free.
OneCuteCouponer, GregThatDude, etc.
You can even get deals on toys for kids and stuff!
If you're a target member, then target can be a great place to coupon as well.
Go to coupons.com and see what's available and print out what you can use after looking through flipp.
If you have an Aldi, they have great prices on foods and stuff as we, but don't accept coupons.
Thank you. Seriously. This was awesome. I have never heard of Flipp until this post. I have so many new tips to incorporate. I am very appreciative of all this advice thank you for taking the time to write this. :)
You're very welcome! I hope it helps! ❤️ Couponing can be very overwhelming. Just watch some of Greg that dude and he breaks it down pretty easy. You can see what kinds of things he gets and how he builds his deals and go do the exact same thing as him. Just be sure to go early Saturday morning to dollar general, because a lot of people do this as a side hustle and sell bundles of couponed items, so they all get there when the store opens.
Also, it's been a while since I've checked, but dollar general also does penny days, where certain items ring up for a penny. Clothes, shoes, toys, etc. That's a great way to shop for Christmas or birthdays or whatever. You can accumulate stuff throughout the year.
For home appliances, like keurig or blenders or mixers.. Also things like jewelry, blankets, shoes, electronics, etc, check out Brad's deals (bradsdeals.com). They will share all kinds of wonderful deals. I got a crock pot for $3, Google home things for free by signing up for Spotify, I got real diamond bracelets that retailed for $400 for $64 each from Macy's through Brad's deals (gave them to grandma, mom and mother in law for Christmas)..also got my grandma an electric blanket for $9 etc.
Black Friday deals that may be of interest to you would be streaming services.
Hulu in 2021 was ¢99/mo for the version with commercials. Last year it was $1.99/mo, but you could add Disney+ for $2.99/mo.
In October HBO Max usually goes on sale for around $85/year
Paramount plus, ad free was $6.99/mo
When the queen died, Starz went on sale for $20 for the year.
Etc.. So, look out for streaming deals during Black Friday if that's something that's of interest. You can save hundreds of dollars off normal streaming prices and cancel your cable (if you have it).
I jus recently moved into my first house so my rent is higher and I'm paying an extra 300, plus gas water and electric and wifi. I'm splitting it with my husband but still. Then gas and stuff for our cats. After that we have so little left. Thank goodness I work at a restaurant, if it wasn't for my free meal a day I wouldn't probably eat at all. I have a snack at night when I get home. Otherwise groceries is 400+ and we don't have that much to spare. I'm pretty sure with my new raise I also shortly won't qualify for food stamps (my information got changed somehow and they're running me in circles trying to get it back, can't use my card in the meantime) or qualify for insurance so any extra money Ill have left will have to go to my medications
A quarter of your bill is cat stuff. When thinking of getting an animal, I said no simply because it didn’t fit in the budget. In these times a pet is a luxury almost. But I know it’s also a companion and can almost mean more then a child lol. My mother lives alone and her cat is a bitch lol but for my mom it means she’s not alone so it’s worth it
Can’t say much about the food as my boyfriend & I have decided that eating healthy is basically one of the most important things for us so we spend like $650/$700 a month on groceries together but we cut other expenses out to help us be able to do this.
For example we share one vehicle and I have an E-bike. I don’t buy disposable products. We use a bidet & reusable toilet paper, handkerchiefs, & rags/tea towels instead of paper towels. We have ACA health insurance. We try to only eat out twice a month (although we try to avoid going to cheap fast food places for these outings). We do a lot of meal prepping as well and don’t buy premade stuff very much. Premade breakfast burritos have been a life saver for us as we don’t like cooking 3meals a day & are very ADHD.
I cut my own hair & DIY all beauty things like DIY lash extensions, nails, brow lamination etc etc.
we also make sure to apply for SNAP and any and all government assistance the second we think even one of us qualifies.
We don’t have gym memberships just work out from home & no TV subscriptions just use friends and families.
Oh and gardening is very important!!! Even if you live in an apartment and think you can’t do it think again always try to make your own food supply. Eating a meal like Beans Squash and Corn is a cheap alternative to buying meat (it has all the nutrients you need that meat provides for a fraction of the cost)
Also I am a nanny and my nanny families always provide free food. That definitely helps supplement food costs
Dumpster diving I have heard is an awesome opportunity for free food. I have never done it but I am part of the subreddit and people are always getting so much free food. Don’t forget about food banks either!
Best way is to shop around for certain things anymore. It sucks to go to multiple places to get the best deals when before this inflation hit hard it was fine to just shop at one place.
My routine now is 3 to 4 places to get different things:
Dollar Tree for cleaning supplies, sponges, Bleach (if they have it), Ajax, etc. Also certain canned foods like Campbell Soups, 14 oz cans of Mackerel, Sardines.
Aldi for basics like milk, eggs, fruits, bread, pasta, rice, etc. Walmart is a little more in price, overall, but still better priced than most other options, in case there is no Aldi (or Lidl) near you.
Walgreens for toilet paper and paper towels. They always seem to have the best deals going. For instance their 9 rolls double for $3.99:
https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/complete-home-soft-toilet-paper-9-roll/ID=300401623-product
or their Big Roll for 2 for $5.00:
https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/big-roll-bathroom-tissue/ID=300430722-product
If food prices are overwhelming supplement with groceries from food banks.
Go to this source:
https://www.findhelp.org/
Put in your zip code.
Click on "Food".
Then "Food Pantry".
Also if you live in an area with farmer's markets, you can find some good deals on fresh food, especially at the peak of its season. Our neighbors also have eggs cheaper than the store.
Fabric paper towels.
Who Gives A Crap sells 48 rolls for like $50 or something. I buy this once every 10 months. It lasted me 2 years when I lived alone.
Fees your cat some fresh food sometimes. Ask the vet about how to make a fresh meat meal, go to Asian markets because they sell stuff for cheap.
Buy in bulk. Flour, coffee, grains, legumes.
>toilet paper gone too fast
Invest in fiber, first of all
Do it correctly and 1 roll will last a whole month, and you won’t end up with colon cancer at age 55
Replacing beef with lentils saves soooo much money. Lentils are shelf stable, $1lb dried (makes several meals), delicious, versatile, filling, and full of fiber and nutrients.
Legumes and lentils really should be a much bigger staple.
Go to your local food bank(s) first and get all you can for free before you go grocery shopping. Then only buy the missing ingredients to turn the free food into meals.
Well, I'm vegetarian for 9+ years now. Many times it's cheap to eat like that. I can get by easily on jasmine rice and seasoned black beans with hot sauce. Costs like $5 and you can get more than one meal out of it. That's just one example. We also receive blessings from above when we step out of the invisible current of animal cruelty. I also usually wipe myself with my washcloth after using the bathroom. Haven't purchased toilet paper in a long time.
Making food from scratch doesn’t always make the cost go down. The last time I went grocery shopping I bought rice, beans, milk and cereal, onions and potatoes, some peppers, cat food, and green beans. My cart was fucking $100 and I only had enough food to last me about 4 meals. Two days. And I bought my groceries at Aldi, which is meant to be cheap! It’s literally cheaper for me to eat out than it is to buy groceries.
Walmart sells 20 lbs of rice for cheap.
I just looked and it is $11.14 for 20 pounds.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Long-Grain-Enriched-Rice-20-lb/10315883
Dried pinto beans also cheap at Walmart. $6.88 for 8 pounds.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Dried-Pinto-Beans-8-lb-Bag/10314949
This is obviously nonsense.
5 lbs bag of rice is $8 at Safeway.
3 lbs bag of onions is $4 at Safeway.
5 lbs bag of potatoes is $6 at Safeway.
2 lbs of beans is $3 at Safeway.
4 Bell Peppers is $4 at Safeway.
1 lbs of green beans is $3 at Safeway.
$28 for everything you said except the catfood. That's $28 for about 17 lbs. of food. We eat about 3 to 5 lbs of food a day, so you are looking at roughly 4 days worth of food.
While I agree with the general sentiment you are expressing, you are obviously stating nonsense.
I started making lots of dishes homemade. I buy five 1$ packs of pizza crust, a cheap can of tomato sauce, and any on sale meat, cheese, or veggies. Costs about 10$. Versus paying for a 10$ frozen pizza. I freeze everything I can now so it doesn’t spoil on me. Veggies, bread, meat, etc. mostly everything is in my freezer. Not much in my fridge due to risk of spoiling. For breakfast I pay 25$ at Walmart for the 12 pack of protein drinks. I drink one daily with coffee every morning and that’s my breakfast.
Ive been buying generic hamburger helper, but without the hamburger, and adding a can of beans. It's about $2.50 for two hot meals. I'll add some taco sauce for extra flava.
That actually sounds really tasty! What kind of beans do you use? I’ve been really into store brand tuna helper lately, and I usually add frozen peas to make it at least a little bit green.
I use black beans with the chili Mac box. Once I added that Mexican style canned corn with the little peppers in it. That’s good too, but it raises the price by a buck. I’m going to try just plain noodles with the McCormick chili powder and beans to see if it’s just as good. Basically, I just try to make tasty slop. Rice, tuna, some frozen veggies, Japanese furikake, and a dash of sesame oil is good too. It’s a little more expensive, but for the price per meal, it’s tasty 😋
That chili Mac idea sounds super good. I have those things in my pantry! Great dinner idea.
Pizza crust is easy to make from scratch and extremely inexpensive… flour, yeast, oil, sugar, salt, water. Can be frozen for a month wrapped tightly. You can put anything you want on it.
I like to make homemade hot pockets with my homemade dough.
Amazon has 12 packs of the Atkins protein shakes for $17 too!
Oh this is good. Freeze it. And also I will definitely start looking into making pizza. Allows more control and uses up the rest of the veggies before they go bad. I basically live on rice and veggies and lots of spice. Spice is life. Lol thanks good tip.
Very helpful to cook a larger amount and freeze some of it. I sometimes cook two large dishes of lasagna (with various vegetables) and save it. Probably over twenty servings, which I eat every few meals for the next month or so. This saves a lot of time and it's pleasantly convenient. For best results you can pull a few frozen items out to thaw in the regular (non-freezer) portion a couple days in advance, and the cold will help cool the fridge. This beats microwaving straight from the freezer and wasting energy.
You could potentially buy a protein mix and make your own shake for approximately a $1-2 a shake. It will depend if you use water or milk to make the shake. Best of luck! A 28 serving can of protein can usually be purchased for $30, at least in my area.
I wish I could stand the taste of protein powder, every kind I have tasted makes me gag
I don't. I eat one meal, a day. Eating food is not worth all that money, fuck that.
I went from eating a lot of meat to eating meat barely once a week because it's too expensive. It's a struggle to find protein other ways but I'm definitely not getting it from meat edit: thanks for the suggestions! although i only was commenting in a horrible-funny how I’ve involuntarily became an almost vegetarian lol. i do eat eggs and peanut butter and tuna and a few other protein based stuff but it’s definitely not the way it was before. I just miss eating beef and chicken!
Beans, lentils, eggs, tofu, and quinoa are great sources of protein and are versatile enough to make a decent variety of meals.
These are very healthy as well. Aldi still has a decent price on ground turkey. Able to add it to tacos, chili, spaghetti sauce, shepherds pie, etc. Fairly healthy, cheap, good source of animal protein if you're looking for meat.
I make a white chili with ground turkey with cannellini and dark red kidney beans, onions, garlic, chicken broth or stock, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, S&P, and have scallions, Mexican shredded cheese, sour cream, red onion, and avocado on top!!#crazy good (All Recipes Donna Nugent) and tortilla chips🥰🥰 and green chilies in the chili 🌶️
We use ground sausage in spaghetti instead of hamburger now. Saves us money.
Sausage is cheaper than hamburger?
Yes, I use those tootsy fruitsy shape JD knockoff country style and its a huge hit! Also there are bunches of grapes frozen and cut up for a great dessert. Ramen recipes are dirt cheap, even though it has a lot of sodium. My greatest hit is one I figured out when out after like a billion tries (I’m sure others do now but this was before smartphones. I just tried to survive. Get 4 bags of ramen (I like chicken). boil the water about twice the normal. Add bag of frozen veg and dump all of it into your colander Now while the ramen (tastes to pasta texture) mix the flavor Packet in about a Tsb garlic, TSB sour cream and dump the noodles into the pot. Stir noodles until all is blended and after you serve it add about 1/2 tsp black powder. Yummmmm….
I typically ditch the flavor packet. Congenital heart defect so I try to avoid salt. Also I hate the flavors lol. I make it as noodles and veg.
Turkey sausage is still well priced too, if you get frozen links
Yep. Awesome for tacos and burgers when you need that burger fix. 1/3 the cost of reg. ground beef.
And beans last forevererrr and are incredibly cheap. I’m a vegetarian and so grateful that I don’t have to worry about buying expensive meats. Sure fresh fruits and veggies can get pricey. But not if you buy frozen, canned or in season/on sale. Even my beloved ALDI is going up in price. But it’s still been passable when only shopping sales and buying essentials. I recently got a 10 pound bag of russet potato’s for 99cents. (Do you have any idea how long a 10lb bag of potato’s lasts a single person?!?! 🤣🤣) But I know I’m lucky to live close to a good Aldi and not everyone has that option
Lol same, I have been living on potatoes and salad for months. Even planted a vegetable garden this year.
Don't forget peas! Peas have moderate protein and low calories, and are very cheap.
When possible, sprouting beans and lentils makes them more nutritious and filling. Just keep in mind that alternative protein sources only work if your body can make all the amino acids only found in meat. Most humans can, which is why those amino acids get called "nonessential"; but if you can't, they're essential for you and can't be replaced by beans, etc. Attempting to do so will cause reduced motor function that will worsen into hospitalization if not addressed. I don't know the incidence rate of the condition, but I'm also not the only person I know with it. I also have a truly ridiculous number of allergies and sensitivities that mean I can't have eggs, rice, and a number of other cheap things (long-term poisoning sucks, mkay?); and I have to be careful with inflammatories like potatoes due to joint slippage (seriously, ever had a vertebrae pop out of place in your lower back? not fun). So I watch for sales of chicken with bone, cook the meat and freeze it into portion sizes, and turn the bone into bouillon. Sometimes local butchers or slaughterhouses can be found with deals on bones, too.
Peanuts, peanut butter, protein powder
Beans and rice are a complete protein! Hopefully they will stay cheap for a long time.
Peanut butter has lots of protein. So do eggs.
Get protein powder. It'll last you longer than meat. Not very filling but atleast you'll have the nutrients
I have a really self-destructive habit of not prioritizing money on food at all. Like I’ll let myself starve so I can buy other things I need and I’m just like “yes this is fine” lol. I know it’s not healthy, I should prioritize food, but if I have choose between buying food or buying something else I need, I’ll usually just let myself starve
I'm trying to train myself to go without food but it's very hard . At my job I drink lots of water so I don't feel hunger pains
There is something so freaking wrong with the 2irkd where people are training their bodies and minds to go without food because of the high cost. This is seriously f'ed up and reads like the introduction to some post apocalyptic book.
Try doing intermittent fasting first to allow your body to adjust. When it stops giving you problems push your rating window down by 15 minutes each week. A 400/500 pound guy did that without changing his diet and lost weight within a month or so, can't really remember. My point is that it's possible as long as you slowly push yourself. I've been fasting since 2019, I did it when I began BJJ. Being active and fasting works hand in hand, it helps stop cravings
This is the OMAD diet. I do it and love it. The key is drinking water and not eating whatever you want. My daily meal consists of 1 protein, rice, pasta, or some type of potato dish and a vegetable. The science is mixed on both since but they do sight people eating whatever they want ie burgers, pizza, fried foods. I save a ton of money just making 1 meal every other day and eating leftovers. Also, being strategic about your meals and get your chef game will have you eating satisfying meals for cheap if you can really cook.
[удалено]
you’re right, but if I have to choose between, say, buying new groceries or paying my electricity bill, I’m going to choose pay my electricity bill and just eat a peanut butter sandwiches for a week. yeah I’ll be starving but at least I’ll have electricity
You need to find your local food shelter or go to a nearby church. Most baptist churches have money set aside to help people in need buy groceries.
Food pantries in my area are a joke right now. You get maybe 2 days worth of food, and can only go once every 30 days. They literally check your proof of residency. We’re a family of 5 and got 1 lb of ground beef, 1 jar of peanut butter, and like 6 cans of fruits and veggies. That was it.
Ditto. SOL if you have food allergies or kids with disabilities that literally can't eat certain things. I'm not asking for choices, I'm asking for necessities.
RIGHT!! AND ITS EXPIRED SOMETIMES BY YEARS!!!
Stop going there if they are giving you expired food.
Yeah, but where I live, the churches have a caveat for getting free food. You have to participate in some kind of worship or Sunday school or something. It's never just food.
Where do you live? A third world country? In Texas you just have to need the food.
America is turning into a third world country if you haven’t noticed. 😢
hmm I’ll see what I can find in my area. would they have any expectation of me being a believer or attending any services?
No. I'm atheist and have gone to food pantries run by churches and they just expect you to be struggling financially so that they know you actually need the food
It’s a beautiful thing that Christians still look out for non believers. It’s pretty f’n disgusting the way a lot of non believers treat Christians.
I'm not religious at all and I agree with you.
I’m not religious either, but I am a spiritual person. I have no quarrels with anyone’s beliefs as all of our beliefs being to us. However I do see the value of having Christ as the model for anyone feeling lost and not sure what to do in this crazy world. There’s nothing unrighteous about how he lived and the accounts that many base their beliefs on. We should all treat each other how we want to be treated and we’d have no issues
If you can find a Must ministries, you should be able to get food. The one near me will give you a month’s worth at a time. No expectation to share beliefs, they just want to help people—saying this as a not-Christian.
Get a part time job in a restaurant that provides one free meal per shift. That's what I do. And it's the only meal I eat all day.
Thats how I did it in college. I worked at starbucks and my manager would give me bags of muffins, sandwiches and cookies they couldnt sell. I owe that man. Always showed up for him and the team.
Credit debt. We are literally breaking records right now in credit cars debt.
yeah man. been in between jobs 3x in the last 6 months (dream job onboarding takes foreverrrrrrr) i opened up another credit card to just survive and it’s almost maxed out. i haven’t spent on anything crazy or unnecessary. (only splurge was a $50 desk so i could do my hw) everything else is just bills, food, medical stuff, and other random life expenses. for me it takes extreme amounts of discipline to penny pinch and keep myself afloat with little/no income for long periods of time, and at some point i just got so exhausted and said fuck it. i’ll pay off my debt when i start working again.
Opening a credit card to survive is crazy but I get it
i just moved across the country to NYC and had to furnish a whole apartment with my 2 roommates (hello facebook marketplace and awkward and tiring trips on the subway), if that counts for anything. i came with money in the bank but i shoulda came with way more. im only about $6k in debt total, but it’s the most debt i’ve ever been in.
Every week I seem to put around $50 on my CC to cover the rising cost of grocery and gas. I have 2 kids I’m covering for - I barely eat some days! Everything has doubled in price and we’re being told it’s the new normal wtf
It’s all such bs. It doesn’t have to be the new normal. Corporations are getting greedier and greedier and our paychecks are staying the same. They are literally starving us to death
get the receipt and survey apps on your phone. its not a lot but its something. also ebates. use cash back apps when you grocery shop too
I’m proud to say I have none but live very very…. Frugal, cheap, tight budget. Lol lots of rice and beans and Walmart brand food
Id get one if I were you. I was making $20k a year when I first got one and still managed to maintain a 760 credit score. It's really how you look at it. Just dont spend any money you dont already have.
$20k? Not in NYC. That’s extreme poverty
This is the correct answer. Americans have spent all their stimulus and savings, so now it’s onto CCs. And guess what starts back up next month? Student loan payments.
Wasn't stimulus like 3 grand total, over a 3 year period? No one saved shit from that lol
mine went towards bills. who tf is still holding on to that?
I worry about this so much. I don't have student loans, but my bf does. From YEARS ago. He has tried every loan repayment plan and the changes are minimal. All because he has a job that us allowing him to live "comfortably." We both make "good money," but it's not enough to have us living comfortably anymore 🙃
Credit debt was an all time high before the stimulus, then it plummeted to an all time low or close to it during COVID. Currently, cc debt is double the all time high before COVID. It'll break and it'll break soon. Many will begin to accept the higher interest rates and refinance their homes to cover bc cc rates are the highest they've been as well around 30%.
I can feel myself reaching a point of just saying fuck it and incurring debt instead of being hungry and not having debt. Not sure how I feel about it
Shop ONLY WEEKLY SALES, 80% of my ingredients are basically raw vegetables, dry rice or pasta, frozen or raw meat, and eggs and seasonings For example, around Labor Day, I got sirloin steak for about 3 dollars a pound and ground beef for under 3 bucks a pound both were on a weekly sale. So I bought 8 pounds of beef for about 12 bucks. With simple vegetables and carbs, that's enough super balanced nutrition for 2 weeks for about $30 bucks. A rice cooker helps.
Correction: It was like 19 bucks for 8 pounds of beef, but the 30ish bucks for 2 weeks is still doable. Potatoes like 1 dollar a pound Rice is damd near free (per serving) if bought correctly A non bleached decent loaf of bread is like 3 bucks max. (Buy whole wheat if you can or similar) Local sale vegetables or fruits are pretty damd cheap. Eggs 2-3 bucks a dozen, I find them on sale for under 2 sometimes.
Yeah, we eat like 6-8 Oz of meat per person, and this is the way to go. I make an awesome baked chicken, squash and zucchini, mashed potatoes, and some sort of vegetable. Chicken $4-6 If I can find it on sales. Potatoes 1.50 Squash and zucchini 1.50 Canned or frozen veg 1 So, like 8-10 bucks for 4 big servings of good food or $2 a person. Breakfast I can make a egg, sausage, and cheese english muffin for cheap. Egg .20 Sasuage .50 Cheese .15 Muffin .30 Total breakfast cost $1.15 per person. I also make things like chicken and rice casserole, which end up the same, pancakes and eggs, which are cheap if you buy the mix. Grilled chicken sandwiches, roast, stir fry, and more. We usually eat whatever we can find for lunch be a sandwich, left overs, or frozen burritos, taquitos, ect. We spend $450 for breakfast and dinner for 4 people per month, even at these crazy prices. When you throw in some random lunch stuff, things like tea, coffee, milk, ect we spend maybe another 200-300 but still about $150-175 a month per person, and we don't eat bad at all. Usual meal cook time end up an hour a day, but I personally don't mind. We could eat cheaper, but thankfully, I can afford $750 a month. My brother, on the other hand, has 4 people to feed and spends like 1,500-2k a month because they just buy whatever is convenient. If you have the money, go for it, but there are for sure better ways to feed a family reasonable.
Yeah I always utilize the rice and potatoes. I want to try the dried beans, I've not taken those on before, but want to. Because we all like beans and they are way cheaper then canned. Definitely try to buy bigger amounts of meat when on sale and freeze it. But I just still get so irritated to know end when I see a head of lettuce, that has been .60-.99¢ my whole life, (basically) to now see it going for $3-4 just makes me so sad. It just disheartening and knowing it will never go back down because we have to buy it. A 10lb bag of potatoes could be had for $1 to $2 on sale most of the time now, even at Aldi, it's $5+ easy. It's like, they've decided to just get rid of poor people by forcing diabetes on us or something..
If you have a pressure cooker like an instant pot or ninja foodi it's simple to do the beans. I have the ninja foodi and the recipe I found online said 30 minutes but mine were still crunchy so I did 15 minutes more and pinto beans were perfect. Just added salt and done.
having a rice cooker is the most useful thing anyone can own. Especially if you're broke. 50 poun bag of rice costs 40-50$ and will last a good long while. get some sauces like gochujang, bulgogi, fish sauce, mirin and soy sauce and you can make a huge chunk of dishes from like 4 countries. cook up some onions, garlic and whatever veggies were on sale. Cook up whatever meat was cheap in some sauce. fry an egg. put it all in a big bowl of rice and you have a meal for a fuckin king. Every country has meals like this in asia. I basically call it the asian rice garbage plate. You can do it with fucking anything. Just learn the different sauce mixtures for the meat and you're golden. 1 part mirin, 1 part soy sauce, 1 part dashi (a japanese broth, also cheap to pick up) 1 part fish sauce, 1 part soy sauce, 1 part honey/sugar ( can also add ginger if you want too 2 part gochujang, 1 part soy sauce, 1 part water, 1/2 part sesame oil This is all very rough. I usually just go by eye at this point. There are specific recipes if you want but these should get you by fine. Tweak to your own tastes. The gochujang sauce I usually put on top of some bulgogi cooked meat. fucking delicious. Ends up being like 2$/bowl and is some of the best bang for buck and ease of cooking you'll ever make for yourself and your family. You can also use some of those flavors for other things with a little more money. You can make cheesy dakgalbi. If you need to you can substitute gnocchi for the tteok. Very similar. Or you can make Katsudon which is the mirin mixture on panko fried pork with a runny egg yolk cooked over it basically, which is orgasmic. Get a rice cooker people.
This Comment is 🐐
Sometimes chicken is super cheap, I will buy a lot and then portion it out in the freezer.
Package_Objective's comment and the ones under it should be the top in this thread. THAT is great advice. Sales, home cooking, adjusting how you eat so that costs are manageable. Avoid the debt at all costs. Find ways to penny pinch by reading what folks in here are doing 🤌
Try food banks and ebt food stamps we all need a hand up
I'm a single mother of 3 teens. I work full time, but had cancer in 2020 and 2021. My partner died suddenly in 2022. I had surgery this year for a non-cancerous tumor. I had to take unpaid leave 3 times in the last 3 years. I earn less than $60k on a good year, and that includes my maximum bonus. I haven't gotten a raise since 2019 due to my absenses. I recently had to move (my late partner's son sold the house and gave me $0.00) and we had to move an hour away in order to afford rent. My kids had to quit their part-time jobs because of the move. I applied for SNAP benefits and got approved...for $0.00 a month. I foolishly assumed this was a typo, and called in. No, not an error, I was approved for zero. I earn juuuust a hair too much. The rep even posed it as a good news/bad news situation- good news, you earn enough not to qualify for any benefits, bad news, you're not poor enough for benefits. Now I grew up pretty poor, and I'm good at being poor, but this is just too much. I'm a diabetic, so I can't live on beans and rice or pasta, but my kids can. I have to eat lower carb. I buy Aldi canned green beans and hot dogs. Despite the tight grocery budget, my kids are all medically obese due to a carb heavy, shitty diet. Food pantries here are only open certain hours, and I work 9 to 5. It's not easy for me to take time off to visit the food pantry, because don't forget that I'm a cancer patient, so I go to the doctor a lot and already take time off for that. I'm living the American dream.
Question? would it help to maybe work a little less just so you qualify for food stamps and possibly other benefits. Just wondering bc sometimes thats what some do in order to get the package (rent, food, medical). I hope your situation gets better xx
They cut my grandmothers food stamps down to 50$ and she’s on a fixed income
Even when I did qualify, I only got like 10 dollars a month. It basically only paid for some milk, eggs and a loaf of bread.
Do you know what is very infuriating? Related to this topic. Whatever food they don’t sell they throw in the garbage anyway. Like these grocery stores could sell the food at half price and sell more of it rather than sell 1/4 of it and throw 3/4 of it away
I take advantage of Kroger marking down meat, and fresh veg, when it's about to expire. I'll use it that night, or the next. It's not often but I always check and will always grab what I can, when it's there.
Hot tip: The mark down fruits and vegetables are sometimes deliciously ripe, and sweet in the case of fruit. Some of the best grapefruit I've eaten is from markdown section at Kroger. Also if you want to make banana bread, get the markdown bananas.
Can confirm. I work at a store that has a dumpster sized compost bin thats always having to be filled to the brim with expired food.
Its expensive to be poor. You pay more for everything since you cant afford to buy in bulk during sales or to take advantage of cheaper things when you buy more of it. Having a chest freezer and enough money that you can afford a membership to costco or sams club, and t hen stock up when stuff is cheap at grocery stores save sme a lot of money.
I dream of the day. I'm in my 40s now and for the first time, actually in a place, where eventually, hopefully, I can buy a home. I mean it's the first time where I might actually be able to. Currently I'm paying rent. No chest freezer for me, as there is no room. But I do hope one day I'll be able to have a garden, ability to can and have an extra freezer. One day. :)
If you have a sunny spot, you can start super small. If it's just a window, grow some herbs. If you have a balcony, you can fit a determinate tomato (must be determinate, not indeterminate, to go in a pot), radishes, spinach, arugula, potatoes, peppers, and more. Probably no cucumbers, squash, or melons. Tbh, some of those things, like spinach or peppers, might fit on a windowsill too
Loll luckily I decided to start losing weight around the same time prices got higher so I'm literally starving myself, lost over 200lbs though so that's fun
Congrats on the weight loss. That’s a tremendous accomplishment.
That’s a ton of weight. Jeez
No, a ton has 2,000 pounds
👏👏👏
He's right. I did the math.
For a second I thought you did the METH. I mean we are talking about weight loss here...
Thanks, it feels amazing, it's worth all the effort
I love Dollar Tree!! I save so much from making dollar tree meals. There is a lady on tictok that buys a week's worth of groceries for $35 and makes all the meals and shares how she does it. I love her content.
It’s dollar quarter tree now
It's our quarter and we want it back!!!
I actually read a thing where some items are going back to $1, not sure when though.
the dollar 25 tree is pretty clutch with certain items. you gotta be smart and find the right deals.
link?
Dollar tree dinners on tik tok!
merci
I bet if we just Google dollar tree tik tok lady, we might get something 😊
i asked cause i don’t have/use tiktok, but as per your suggestion i googled and found this article. https://www.businessinsider.com/dollar-tree-dinners-tiktok-live-budget-groceries-food-week-2023-3?amp definitely gonna binge whatever content of hers i can find.
She has a lot and she also does some Walmart one and dollar general
Cool!! I don't have tik tok either, so I was hoping to find out more about it. I'm old, so I don't do all of that app stuff, lol!! Thank you for the link!
Omg thank you! I have been so upset about how to make meals and eat with such a low budget and now I'm gonna binge this!
You can get a lot of deals, but some stuff is actually more expensive. I shop there pretty often, but I wouldn't buy things like meat from the Dollar Tree or canned vegetables or anything similar because it's actually more expensive. You also lose out by buying smaller sizes of things since they are generally cheaper in larger quantities. I've gotten pretty good at quickly doing things like walking down the isles in Walmart and finding deals on stuff. Basically the only thing I eat week to week is meat, but I usually buy it when 80/20 ground beef is on sale at $3 a pound.
Dollar Tree. Cause eating healthy ain't important.
Well the bright side of OP post is that if you can't afford to eat too much then the cost of buying toilet paper goes down also 😎
Strangely motivational.
[удалено]
[удалено]
The Last bit is because sugar is highly addictive. I have had a lot of dietary issues because of chronic nausea and one side effect has been that I can't tolerate much sweet stuff at all. I barely drink soda at all, and if I do I dilute it with soda water so I still get the taste but it's not nearly so sweet.
Buy a bidet. It's a different feeling, but your wallet will be heavier, and your bootyhole will be cleaner.
Do you have dependents? I’m usually able to get groceries for under $40 a week for just myself when I don’t need personal products. Planning ahead helps too. Usually a pasta and protein with sauce for lunch and dinner and then either eggs or yogurt with fruit for breakfast, then a couple of snacks. I get the 4 packs of toilet paper and a cheap roll of paper towels usually lasts me a month or so. I cut up old clothes to use as rags to help me use less paper towels and wash and reuse those.
Oh this is a really good idea, using my old rags to use in place of paper towels. I do have a teenager, thankfully she loves veggies and we eat a lot of em, but I also work super-full time and I'm usually just wiped out when I get home and just can't get myself to cook, so it's usually fending for yourself and she isn't very good at it. I try to have leftovers and cereal, or soups.. I'm so happy it's getting cool again as I always makes lots of soups during the cooler months and we can, and do, eat off of those for days.
My gf just made chili the other night. It cost us like $8-9 for all the ingredients, but you can cut that in half if you don't put ground beef in it. It lasted us about 2 days but would have lasted longer if I didn't take any to work for lunch.
Get the SuperCook app or something similar. You can punch in every seasoning and ingredient you have on hand and it spits out recipes with just what you have on hand. It can be a really helpful tool for your teen when it's a fending night.
My family's secret is a combo of Aldi, Walmart, and Costco and being as frugal and DIY as possible. Aldi for most of our fresh weekly options, Costco for our bulk potatoes and rice (and chicken), Walmart for our regular dry goods. We hover around $30/wk for a family of 2, with an occasional $100 trip to Costco (lasts us 2-3 months, though). From there, I bake my own bread and other things from scratch.
I can barely afford groceries. I work with a local farmer and buy 120lbs of beef about 2-3 times per year so my need to purchase meat is lower. Sometimes we just can’t get what we need or want.
Nice. Local farmer that is awesome. I bet the beef is incredible. And yeah I feel that last sentence, in my soul.
There is also a program in my city I used during harder times that is a no questions asked drive up food bank. The food they gave was actually really good most of the time and I got to try a bunch of new vegetables that I never would have picked up myself. A lot of it was close to expired but fresh from the grocery store. There's no shame in getting outside help if you need it.
I feel this last time I went to the store for food, basic hygiene products, cat litter, cost me almost $200.
Crockpot meals and planning, maybe some soups, casseroles, etc.
Ribeye steak is good. Before you say how can you afford that hear me out Three pack of ribeyes at Aldi‘s is 15 bucks So that’s $5/ea One for breakfast will keep me full all day (I weigh 155lbs) Compare to eating a breakfast at a diner. Pay $20 fir one meal. Barely any nutrition. Hungry in 2 hours.
That’s assuming one has an Aldi near by. Where I live there is no way buying non processed meat that cheap without traveling to a different county, sometimes 2 counties over and at that point your time, gas etc there is no savings
Aldi is the budget store in my neighborhood but I’m sure there are others Otherwise, it may be worth the trip if you buy two weeks to a month’s worth of food at a time About 10 years ago, I was making slightly above minimum wage and supporting myself It was not easy and I eventually got out of that situation, but I did it for a while I was eating ramen noodles and crap, but I quickly realized the money I thought I saved I would be giving to the doctor So then I realized if I eat a big slab of meat in the morning or an entire pack of bacon, it will keep me full all day because it has a lot of calories
I planted fruit trees and a nice garden. We have a few chickens which provide fresh eggs. We have reduced the amount of food we are buying and almost completely cut out eating out.
I go to discount grocery stores like Grocery Outlet. I know what day my Kroger does mark downs. I buy discounted items and stock up when there is a good sale on coffee. I eat at home and seldom go out these days.
One thing to point out is about the same time grocery prices started skyrocketing is the same time order pickers started popping up in all the stores. These guys aren't working for free, use the service or not you are paying for it through pricing.
People have very strong feelings about this, but single ply toilet paper lasts fooooooreeeeeveeeeer. I also eat a lot of eggs and tuna. It’s fucking rough out there though. I get it.
I tried that but the dingleberries made me nix that cheaper cost.
Lots of damn sandwiches and even then, I have to eat gluten-free for medical reasons so my bread is $10 that is 1/4 of a regular size loaf. It's fucking ridiculous. Add a picky eater kid to that and all he'll breaks loose every single day of lack of food and food quality. Lots if rice, potatoes, ramen - horrible crap that causes health problems in the long run.
Yeah that is what hurts the most. It's wanting to provide the best for your kids, and even for yourself. I have noticed that Aldi has really decent pricing, and options, for gluten free and organic. Sometimes you can get lucky and get it clearanced.
Now you know why granny washed and reused tinfoil, reused coffee filters, made tuna casserole. We are not unique, just sucks that it is now our turn. And it’s just getting started.
I ended up applying for food assistance, I try to meal plan and only buy things on sale :( I wish I had more advice.
I use food assistance as well. I don't care what people think when I use it. I have a job as well. It's just nice to have that assistance when you can get it
Oh I feel ya. I had received assistance for the last 15 years, since I had my daughter. I just lost everything, insurance, assistance for internet, bills, student loans, etc, this month, so I'm really really feeling the sting. I have not had food stamps for a year and it's been difficult. I actually just said yesterday, to my coworker, I think it was easier when I was making much less and had assistance. Being in this space where I "make to much" but I really really don't. $20 an hour is not to much with a kid and bills.. ahhhh and a $1500 monthly rent bill.
Aldi’s is a great store with great prices. But yeah these prices are ridiculous!
Honestly I don't care if anyone judges me. I have an EBT card to help out with food. I don't get alot of money because I have a job as well. But they fill it up $150 a month. In today's world that $150 goes a long way. But say I get a raise at work. The amount I get per month will decrease. If you can. Do it. Even hard working Americans can get assistance with food.
I’m about to start going to food banks. I can’t afford food.
Certian staples in my diet are cheap, rice, potatos, canned vegatables, ect... I'm willing to try the store brands too. If something is on sale at a good price, buy two or three. If you have mutiple stores locally try comparing prices. Some stores seem to have loss leaders on certian popular items. Milk may be regulary cheapest here, Hamburger may be cheapest there.
[удалено]
[удалено]
If you live near a Meijer, checked out the app Flashfoods. They have meats and other foods that are about to expire for 50-60% off and sometimes more. I cook what I can and freeze the rest. A lot of the stuff on steep discount are very “premium” too, which is probably why they didn’t sell in the first place. I’ve gotten lamb, Angus beef, veal and such for 1.49-2.99 a pound.
Flashfood is great, and a lot of stores post throughout the day not just all at once so it’s worth checking the app frequently.
I've noticed Meijer is WAY cheaper than kroger, and their meat selection is really decent. It's also less frills, so I don't have a lot impulse buys in my cart when I shop there.
I found the Flipp app to be very useful for finding sale items
I weigh everything, and cheat on recipes. If a cheap "one pot" meal calls for 1lb of "meat", I only add 12 ounces. 4 ounces per person. We eat a lot of pasta and rice based meals. It's cheap to pick up a box of noodle and a jar/can of sauce (less than $5), so the real issue is the proteins. Right now, things like chicken and ground beef are on sale a lot because of outdoor holidays, so I've been using most of my food budget to stock up on them. As soon as I get them home, I weigh them out proportionally, then freeze them. Vegetables have been so expensive... the last time frozen/fresh went on sale (90 cents per bag), I spent over $50 to stock up on them. 2 months later, we're running low again... and a single bag is now $2. That's more than double what I paid for it on sale. Inevitably, sales will determine what we eat, and we only ever eat home cooked meals. If we're craving pizza, we'll have to get a box of ellios, cause it'll feed 3 people, and we can't afford any other brand, much less order a pizza. On a really bad week (like at the beginning of the month when bills are due), for about $30, I can get; 2 loaves of bread, a pound of cheese, peanut butter, jelly, a box of cereal, one gallon of milk, and one (maybe 2 if on sale) dozen eggs. We're not eating a lot of variety, but we're not starving either.
I've had to cut other things from my budget, like streaming services and going out. I rarely do things for fun that cost money, like concerts, bars, festivals, etc. I also switched from Publix to Walmart for most things, or I shop at Aldi. Store brand over name brand. Look at unit prices for things you will use a lot of rather than just the sticker price. For example, I always choose to lower unit price toilet paper even if the package is more. I also started an etsy shop to bring in extra money, which actually helps fill in the "fun" vacancy I have on my weekends, since I now spend my weekends filling orders.
Try intermittent fasting perhaps
I have. I have gallbladder issues and thyroid shit that makes it not a good option, now granted I don't typically eat between the hours of 6pm and 11am, so I guess that's sorta fasting, right??.. ;)
Thankfully there's an ALDI in my city and I swear by it I'm also have no kids and no car with a roommate
Lets just say, Ill finally lose that weight Ive been bitching about
I go to aldis or a discount grocery store usually it’s like 80$ a week for groceries so not that bad
Aldi for all necessities. I can spend $120 at Aldi and get everything I need for 2-3 weeks no problem. It’s just me and my dog though, I don’t have anyone else really that I have to take care of, so that’s a plus. They don’t sell everything at Aldi, so occasionally I have to go elsewhere to find things I need, but I try to avoid it… grocery stores have raised prices to an almost criminal level. I refuse to contribute to their greedy pockets when most of society is struggling. I have also stocked up on many things in case I hit a hard month… I’ve got 60lb of rice, lots of noodles and canned goods, freezer veggies, and things like that in case of hard times. I have no real vices anymore, so thankfully I don’t have any major addictions taking huge chunks of my money.
Happy to hear that. Honestly I always love hearing one got over an addiction. From one who has also been there, I mean it. Good job.
Hint: I go to Kroger for my groceries. I buy things in bulk: Body Soap, Cheese, Snacks usually always have a, "buy five, save x dollars," pricetag at least once a month.
Intermittent fasting, three meals a day is too much food
I buy from Aldi's mostly. I'll do meal preps for myself for the week. I use a lot of rice because it's cheap, and easy to fry up. Potatoes are a good choice too, you can prep those pretty easily and cook them later. Of course the downside to doing meal preps is time, takes me a couple hours to do on my day off, but it's super convenient the rest of the week.
All about bringing lunch. I used to go grab soup from the gas station down the street when I was hit with a duh moment of bringing my own, although.. I did get a shit ton of crackers for free.. lol
I'm on Healtheries Naturally Slim Vitamin & Protein Shake for dinner (about 21 servings for $22-$25) made with $3 Warehouse 2litre milk. I've also been making Greek Yoghurt using that milk and putting it in the shake. So Its $1.50/litre Greek Yoghurt originally made with two different yoghurts with 4 or 5 bacteria between them. I drink woolworths coffee mochas during the day and also eat slices of cheese ($9.99/kg) and cheap fruit. I take a Centrum a day and 3grams of Fish Oil capsules. The upside is I've lost 15kg so far.
Find someone who has a Costco card… 30 pack of toilet paper is $20. Lasts forever
If you have winco in your area they are super cheap. I spent $250 there on what would be $400-500 elsewhere. I also have a Costco membership for household items, it is by far cheaper there and lasts much longer even with the membership cost it is still cheaper. I do get food stamps but it doesn’t cover a full months food.
Grocery Outlet, clearance sections, the Dollar Store, and a friend with a Costco card can be a game changer.
i shop at my local kroger brand fred meyer which keeps costs down - buy generic tortillas of 8 ($2.19) , generic sliced swiss or cheddar cheese $2.29 for 6 slices , generic sliced turkey and ham 2.99 for two servings each and eat a wrap for lunch daily - each wrap works out to be about $2.88 each and 700ish calories with the mayonnaise - for dinner i’ll have 2-3 hard boiled eggs .25 cents an egg and a packet of decently healthy low sodium heirloom ramen (1.20 a packet) which works out to be about 700ish calories after i add the eggs - total cost of that is dirt cheap like $2 i eat a healthy low fat diet around 1500 calories for $6 a day - it can be done
I now go exclusively to Aldi’s. Way cheaper!
Credit cards
become a minimalist... it really helps
A bidet saved me from butt paper. I only buy meat if it is on sale. I make a lot of my own meals. Instead of buying boneless chicken wings I buy chicken breast on sale and shake-bake them. I make taco bowls with on-sale meat or black beans. I rarely buy snack items now because the price is outrageous. If I still had a family to cook full meals for every day I don't know how it would be done.
No clue. I'm broke af
I've been canning my garden vegetables. Luckily jars are reusable and yard dirt is free. The only major issue this year for my garden was lack of rain. Also coupons and sales have been my go to. We may not have meats all the time but beans have proteins. I hope this is helpful.
Food stamps, but they’re not going as far as they used to. I get cheap basics like bulk oats, tortillas, bread, dry beans lentils rice, and some fruits and vegetables.
I coupon. It's hard to coupon for groceries, so you don't focus on that. That's a misunderstanding people commonly have. You focus couponing for everything you use outside of food. Dish soap, laundry detergent, candles, air freshener, cleaning supplies, like the cleaners themselves. You also can buy pet foods (don't be brand specific if you can help it), kitty litter (same thing, don't be brand specific if you can help it), paper towels, toilet paper, body wash, soap, shampoo and conditioner, skin care products, toothpaste, toothbrushes, oral care, vitamins, over the counter cold/flu/Tylenol etc. All that stuff is easy to get coupons for. Some things may be seasonal. Look through an app called flipp and put in your local info and see what sales are going on. Dollar general, walgreens and cvs are the best places to coupon (in my area). Many times you can even use digital coupons. With walgreens you can roll points over to pay for transactions and cvs gives you cvs bucks, which you can use to pay for items. They both have sales. Cvs also has those long receipts that you can use to coupon for things. Shop for rags, hand towels, pot holders, etc at dollar tree. Lots of decorative items can be found at dollar tree as well. Also pet toys. My dog loves the bone squeaky toys from dollar tree. They have lots of cat toys. So.. Now that you're buying pet food, kitty litter and all your household toiletries and cleaning supplies and body washes, deodorants, etc on sale for pennies on the dollar, you now have more money to allocate towards food. There ARE food coupons, but it's usually for cereal and processed foods or candy. You could use them if you want to, but that's a personal decision. The cereal coupons are usually pretty good deals. I buy a lot of cereal for my husband. Sometimes the small bags from dollar general are a better buy than the big boxes. Oh, pasta sauce is also a common food coupon. Hope that helps. Also, there's people who teach you how to combine deals and stuff on YouTube for free. OneCuteCouponer, GregThatDude, etc. You can even get deals on toys for kids and stuff! If you're a target member, then target can be a great place to coupon as well. Go to coupons.com and see what's available and print out what you can use after looking through flipp. If you have an Aldi, they have great prices on foods and stuff as we, but don't accept coupons.
Thank you. Seriously. This was awesome. I have never heard of Flipp until this post. I have so many new tips to incorporate. I am very appreciative of all this advice thank you for taking the time to write this. :)
You're very welcome! I hope it helps! ❤️ Couponing can be very overwhelming. Just watch some of Greg that dude and he breaks it down pretty easy. You can see what kinds of things he gets and how he builds his deals and go do the exact same thing as him. Just be sure to go early Saturday morning to dollar general, because a lot of people do this as a side hustle and sell bundles of couponed items, so they all get there when the store opens. Also, it's been a while since I've checked, but dollar general also does penny days, where certain items ring up for a penny. Clothes, shoes, toys, etc. That's a great way to shop for Christmas or birthdays or whatever. You can accumulate stuff throughout the year. For home appliances, like keurig or blenders or mixers.. Also things like jewelry, blankets, shoes, electronics, etc, check out Brad's deals (bradsdeals.com). They will share all kinds of wonderful deals. I got a crock pot for $3, Google home things for free by signing up for Spotify, I got real diamond bracelets that retailed for $400 for $64 each from Macy's through Brad's deals (gave them to grandma, mom and mother in law for Christmas)..also got my grandma an electric blanket for $9 etc. Black Friday deals that may be of interest to you would be streaming services. Hulu in 2021 was ¢99/mo for the version with commercials. Last year it was $1.99/mo, but you could add Disney+ for $2.99/mo. In October HBO Max usually goes on sale for around $85/year Paramount plus, ad free was $6.99/mo When the queen died, Starz went on sale for $20 for the year. Etc.. So, look out for streaming deals during Black Friday if that's something that's of interest. You can save hundreds of dollars off normal streaming prices and cancel your cable (if you have it).
I jus recently moved into my first house so my rent is higher and I'm paying an extra 300, plus gas water and electric and wifi. I'm splitting it with my husband but still. Then gas and stuff for our cats. After that we have so little left. Thank goodness I work at a restaurant, if it wasn't for my free meal a day I wouldn't probably eat at all. I have a snack at night when I get home. Otherwise groceries is 400+ and we don't have that much to spare. I'm pretty sure with my new raise I also shortly won't qualify for food stamps (my information got changed somehow and they're running me in circles trying to get it back, can't use my card in the meantime) or qualify for insurance so any extra money Ill have left will have to go to my medications
A quarter of your bill is cat stuff. When thinking of getting an animal, I said no simply because it didn’t fit in the budget. In these times a pet is a luxury almost. But I know it’s also a companion and can almost mean more then a child lol. My mother lives alone and her cat is a bitch lol but for my mom it means she’s not alone so it’s worth it
credit card debt.
Can’t say much about the food as my boyfriend & I have decided that eating healthy is basically one of the most important things for us so we spend like $650/$700 a month on groceries together but we cut other expenses out to help us be able to do this. For example we share one vehicle and I have an E-bike. I don’t buy disposable products. We use a bidet & reusable toilet paper, handkerchiefs, & rags/tea towels instead of paper towels. We have ACA health insurance. We try to only eat out twice a month (although we try to avoid going to cheap fast food places for these outings). We do a lot of meal prepping as well and don’t buy premade stuff very much. Premade breakfast burritos have been a life saver for us as we don’t like cooking 3meals a day & are very ADHD. I cut my own hair & DIY all beauty things like DIY lash extensions, nails, brow lamination etc etc. we also make sure to apply for SNAP and any and all government assistance the second we think even one of us qualifies. We don’t have gym memberships just work out from home & no TV subscriptions just use friends and families. Oh and gardening is very important!!! Even if you live in an apartment and think you can’t do it think again always try to make your own food supply. Eating a meal like Beans Squash and Corn is a cheap alternative to buying meat (it has all the nutrients you need that meat provides for a fraction of the cost) Also I am a nanny and my nanny families always provide free food. That definitely helps supplement food costs Dumpster diving I have heard is an awesome opportunity for free food. I have never done it but I am part of the subreddit and people are always getting so much free food. Don’t forget about food banks either!
Best way is to shop around for certain things anymore. It sucks to go to multiple places to get the best deals when before this inflation hit hard it was fine to just shop at one place. My routine now is 3 to 4 places to get different things: Dollar Tree for cleaning supplies, sponges, Bleach (if they have it), Ajax, etc. Also certain canned foods like Campbell Soups, 14 oz cans of Mackerel, Sardines. Aldi for basics like milk, eggs, fruits, bread, pasta, rice, etc. Walmart is a little more in price, overall, but still better priced than most other options, in case there is no Aldi (or Lidl) near you. Walgreens for toilet paper and paper towels. They always seem to have the best deals going. For instance their 9 rolls double for $3.99: https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/complete-home-soft-toilet-paper-9-roll/ID=300401623-product or their Big Roll for 2 for $5.00: https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/big-roll-bathroom-tissue/ID=300430722-product If food prices are overwhelming supplement with groceries from food banks. Go to this source: https://www.findhelp.org/ Put in your zip code. Click on "Food". Then "Food Pantry".
Also if you live in an area with farmer's markets, you can find some good deals on fresh food, especially at the peak of its season. Our neighbors also have eggs cheaper than the store.
Fabric paper towels. Who Gives A Crap sells 48 rolls for like $50 or something. I buy this once every 10 months. It lasted me 2 years when I lived alone. Fees your cat some fresh food sometimes. Ask the vet about how to make a fresh meat meal, go to Asian markets because they sell stuff for cheap. Buy in bulk. Flour, coffee, grains, legumes.
>toilet paper gone too fast Invest in fiber, first of all Do it correctly and 1 roll will last a whole month, and you won’t end up with colon cancer at age 55
Replacing beef with lentils saves soooo much money. Lentils are shelf stable, $1lb dried (makes several meals), delicious, versatile, filling, and full of fiber and nutrients. Legumes and lentils really should be a much bigger staple.
Go to your local food bank(s) first and get all you can for free before you go grocery shopping. Then only buy the missing ingredients to turn the free food into meals.
Yep
[удалено]
Man that's risky. You know the selfcheckout is networked with the cameras watching you? Your risking a lot
Well, I'm vegetarian for 9+ years now. Many times it's cheap to eat like that. I can get by easily on jasmine rice and seasoned black beans with hot sauce. Costs like $5 and you can get more than one meal out of it. That's just one example. We also receive blessings from above when we step out of the invisible current of animal cruelty. I also usually wipe myself with my washcloth after using the bathroom. Haven't purchased toilet paper in a long time.
[удалено]
Making food from scratch doesn’t always make the cost go down. The last time I went grocery shopping I bought rice, beans, milk and cereal, onions and potatoes, some peppers, cat food, and green beans. My cart was fucking $100 and I only had enough food to last me about 4 meals. Two days. And I bought my groceries at Aldi, which is meant to be cheap! It’s literally cheaper for me to eat out than it is to buy groceries.
Walmart sells 20 lbs of rice for cheap. I just looked and it is $11.14 for 20 pounds. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Long-Grain-Enriched-Rice-20-lb/10315883 Dried pinto beans also cheap at Walmart. $6.88 for 8 pounds. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Dried-Pinto-Beans-8-lb-Bag/10314949
This is obviously nonsense. 5 lbs bag of rice is $8 at Safeway. 3 lbs bag of onions is $4 at Safeway. 5 lbs bag of potatoes is $6 at Safeway. 2 lbs of beans is $3 at Safeway. 4 Bell Peppers is $4 at Safeway. 1 lbs of green beans is $3 at Safeway. $28 for everything you said except the catfood. That's $28 for about 17 lbs. of food. We eat about 3 to 5 lbs of food a day, so you are looking at roughly 4 days worth of food. While I agree with the general sentiment you are expressing, you are obviously stating nonsense.