$30, 9 days, empty fridge

gaelicstorm26

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

lauries8888 wrote: »

"TeaBea wrote: »

Yeast packets (baking aisle....probably top shelf) aren't cheap when sold individually. You have to buy a jar ($5+) to get a good price.

Not in PA. The yeast (packets and jars) are in the refrigerator section.

i wonder why? Here in NC its on the baking aisle.

Also in PA and yep...it's with the refrigerated stuff and is really cheap per packet. My husband makes his own soft pretzels so we frequently buy the individual packets.

RoxieDawn

This the second post in two weeks on someone with $30 bucks and 9 to 10 days to eat on it.

This is where my whole days of calories would come from a 750 calorie honey bun at $2 bucks and a cup of coffee or pint of milk at a convenience store. In this case it is calories and cheap.. I have been poor before.

But seriously, trying to eat on $30 is next to impossible. Where are my good friends and family when I need to eat? Hopefully just a phone call away.

FOOD BANK... Where I live, $1 donation at our food bank buys 6 pounds of food, you can get free and cheap cheap food... never too proud to do what you have to to eat healthy otherwise you cannot work, get sick and well the bills do not get paid that way.

E_Brault

Look around your house. If there is something you have not used in a year, sell it. If you live in a residential area, look for any houses with leaves over-flowing the gutters. Knock on the door, introduce yourself as a neighbor and ask them if they would like to save $1000 dollars, because that is what it will cost to replace the gutters. The weekend is coming, make flyers, put it on 50 doors - saying some things you are willing to do.

Chances are you will be eating steak on Monday eve - she says with a smile.

blankiefinder

This post is closed due to derailing, but there are some worthwhile ideas in it: community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10249741/what-would-you-buy-with-20#latest

jgnatca

Check out your food bank goodies before you go shopping. No matter the expense, please keep eggs on your list. Flour too if you can swing it. With a little salt, margarine or butter and baking soda you can with these ingredients make scrambled eggs, pancakes, biscuits, dumplings, pie crust, or noodles (in order of difficulty).

I find chick peas/garbanzos to be the least gassy. Rinse their soaking water and cook in fresh to reduce the gassiness.

The empty fridge is short of vegetables and fruit and that will be your biggest expense. Cabbage is very sturdy and inexpensive. An onion too can be used in dozens of ways.

andrikosDE

If you have a butcher in your area, pay them a visit and explain your situation.
A kind butcher will gladly provide you with trimmings, offal and other goodies for free.

dizzieblondeuk

I don't know whether you have an equivalent, but here in the UK, the supermarkets have 'yellow stickers' on produce that is end-dated, usually in the early evening, a few hours before closing. I've picked up bread and veg for 10p, sliced meats for 20p, and large pots of natural yogurt for a similar amount. It's luck of the draw, of course, but when I was on Job Seekers Allowance (£75 per week), I had so little money left to buy food after I'd paid my bills. I went several times a week, and nearly always got something that was useful. Don't get hung up on expiry dates - if it's meat or fish, and you don't plan to use that day or the next, freeze it. Veg, bread goods and dairy can be safely used beyond sell-by and even use-by dates - use your eyes and nose, not blindly following manufacturer-logged dates. But my advice is to find the discount stores - we have 'pound shops' and similar discount 'warehouse' style shops, where tinned and packaged goods are at least half the price of a normal supermarket. They were a life saver for me!

My shopping basket, in your circumstances, would have oatmeal, milk, eggs, flour, pasta, potatoes, carrots, cabbage (cheap veg), tins of tuna and beans (dried and tinned). Perhaps a cheap, strong flavoured cheese (strong cheddar), which can zip up all kinds of veggie or pasta dishes. If you have stale bread, wizz it in the processor and make breadcrumbs, or use some for baked croutons - again freezable. Finally, make sure you know what's lurking right at the back of your store cupboards - it's amazing what you find! Don't throw any food away until you know for sure it's completely unusable for anything!

Siobhanekent

Buy whole milk and water it down you can nearly double what you have instead of buying skim milk.
Poach chicken thighs or legs instead of breast
Buy frozen veg
Get eggs you can 7se them as the main protein source in a dinner
Baked potatoes are cheap and yummy
Porrige for breakfast is cheap

Acg67

gia07 wrote: »

This the second post in two weeks on someone with $30 bucks and 9 to 10 days to eat on it.

This is where my whole days of calories would come from a 750 calorie honey bun at $2 bucks and a cup of coffee or pint of milk at a convenience store. In this case it is calories and cheap.. I have been poor before.

But seriously, trying to eat on $30 is next to impossible. Where are my good friends and family when I need to eat? Hopefully just a phone call away.

FOOD BANK... Where I live, $1 donation at our food bank buys 6 pounds of food, you can get free and cheap cheap food... never too proud to do what you have to to eat healthy otherwise you cannot work, get sick and well the bills do not get paid that way.

While I spend much much more per week to feed myself, it's far from impossible if you have some cooking skills.

http://giantcarlisle.shoplocal.com/GiantCarlisle/BrowseByPage?storeid=2667288&promotionid=119226&promotionviewmode=1&pagenumber=1&listingid=0&sneakpeek=N&redirected=1

^ $.99/lb for whole chicken or bone in pork shoulder. Let's say a 5lb chicken so we're at $5

5lb bag of flour ~$2

36oz of frozen veg for $5

Dozen large eggs ~$3

Canned tomatoes ~$1

fill in some of the remaining budget on veg for a stock, maybe some cheese or something, legumes etc and you could easily feed yourself for 9 days and with a good deal of variety

gramarye

Whole chickens are a great idea. Ours (in KS) go about $5 - $6, and if you're eating alone, you can shred the meat for several meals, and then use the carcass to make stock. Then freeze all of that. I used to eat a lot of soups with chicken, beans, and rice, because soups can be stretched for several days and all of those ingredients are inexpensive. Soups also tend to be somewhat filling, at least for me.

I used to be very broke and did a lot of baking to stretch through paydays. Flour is cheap, though yeast is not. You can make stuff like skillet flatbread without yeast, though. Biscuits are good, though you need butter. (Expensive.) If you go the soup route, you can even make your own crackers. (I've never mastered this, but it can be done!)

Spice-wise, if you don't have anything going on, consider a local hippie mart, actually. They're god-awful expensive for everything, but ours has great prices on bulk spices, and I buy them in such small amounts that it's actually cheaper than buying whole jars that sit in my cupboard forever. Also: a packet of taco seasoning can go far in soup-land.

pootle1972

A girl called jack....she's a food blogger who spends pence on food.....check her out.

cocates

Francl27 wrote: »

You could check the dollar store for bread too. Or see if one of your store has a clearance section. Mine always has random bagels and rolls there for like $1 for 6 (plus cheese, deli meat, some prepared food and cut fruit and veggies at 50% off).

+1; grocery stores either mark down after 7:00pm or first thing in the morning.

Plus, http://greatist.com/health/44-healthy-foods-under-1 (hope the link works)

corgicake

Learn to like pumpkin for a week and render one of those giant ones people usually buy to stick on their front porch. Everything but the skin and stringy part of the guts can be eaten. Pull the guts and save the seeds. Cut into chunks with the skin still on and bake at 300 degrees in deep baking dishes until the skin can be peeled. There will be sweet water that will pool in the baking dishes and there will will be some in the chunks. They come out pretty waterlogged.
The water can be spiced and boiled down into a syrup that must be kept in the fridge. Give at least part of this away to people who will use it as this stuff doesn't last. Seeds can be soaked in saltwater and baked until dry. Portions destined for the freezer should have the skin peeled but kept waterlogged. Portions to be pureed should have the skin peeled and excess water squeezed out with a mesh strainer after being run through the blender.

Chicken leg quarters come in massive bags. Separate the skin and bone from the meat. Use the meat as normal. Crack the bones and boil them along with the skin for soup base.

Also, find out if there are any out of town farmers that sell directly to people. Some are as expensive as the regular store but others are obscenely cheap.

Here's how the shopping list would go... pumpkin, potatoes, onions, carrots, pasta, chicken, and processed tomato things. There would be a solid day and a half in the kitchen but it would work.

JoRocka

black beans and rice my friend- black beans and rice.

AngelAura777

Packets of dried legumes are awesome. They are filled with lots of protein, fiber and carbs and are satisfying and cheap. Or after you get paid if you can afford it plant some kale and spinach etc and you wont have to buy those you can just get it from the backyard.

jgnatca

My daughter reminded me this week that sometimes the ready-cooked fresh roasted chickens are cheaper than the raw! Check prices.

Lounmoun

spacelump wrote: »

Alright, you savvy MFP's. I have $30, 9 days til payday, and an empty fridge but for about a pound of chicken and bag of brown rice.

Please share all your frugal meal suggestions for this broke little dieter trying to stay on the fed and healthy path.

I intend to buy skim milk, bananas, some tuna, and eggs. What else might I add as filling staples for meals?

Thank you all in advance!

I would buy things like oatmeal, dry beans or lentils, bread, peanut butter, potatoes, onions, carrots, canned tomato.
Soup is a good dollar stretcher. Bean or lentil soup can be very inexpensive and filling to make.
I use onions and garlic a lot in recipes.
A large container of yogurt usually lasts me a week.
I would cut up or shred your chicken and put it in soup, stir fry or casseroles.
You can do a lot with beans or lentils-> http://www.lentils.ca/recipes-cooking/recipes/
budgetbytes.com has many recipes that my family has enjoyed.

ModernRock

In graduate school I lived on a monthly stipend paid by the University on the first of each month. Keep in mind that I knew how to cook meals far more elaborate than what I list below, but at that time in my life food was mostly an annoyance and only served the purpose of providing sufficient energy and nutrition. I can't tell you the number of times my lunch and dinner consisted of one of the following:

a. Rice and peas, topped with chopped onion, garlic powder, shredded cheese.
b. Tortilla pizza topped with chopped onion, garlic powder, shredded cheese, tomato sauce, any other fresh vegetable on sale.
c. "Succotash" consisting of one can of corn mixed with one can of black-eyed peas.
d. Leftover tomato sauce mixed with rice.
e. Free food I could find at events on campus.

My special treat once a month (PAYDAY!) was a new bottle of multivitamins, a frozen pizza, and a bottle of wine.

_Terrapin_

melodicraven wrote: »

Black eyed peas and Lima beans are both easy to make. And potatoes are inexpensive as well. Big 8-10 lb bag will only set you back a $2-3 and you can do a lot with them (baked, boiled, soup, oven fries, etc).

I've got a recipe for sausage veggie soup that runs me about $10 for everything, but it makes this gigantic stock pot of soup if you're interested.

You can also puree them in chicken stock and add salsa to freeze. Trying it with garbanzo beans this weekend.