If you only had 100$ a month to spend on food...

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  • gogojodee
    gogojodee Posts: 1,261 Member
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  • kenna44cat
    kenna44cat Posts: 105 Member
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    You could probably get away with this suggestions, eggs, occasional meat, and lots of frozen veggies, no drinks. I think I'd buy a huge bag of rice, too.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
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    oats
    frozen stirfry vegetables
    rice
    coco
    artificial sweetener
    kiwi fruit
    thai curry ingredients
    eggs

    ....

    lol actually for the last 3 or so months I spent $30nz on food a week, which is pretty much $100us.

    its not hard.
  • fenna3107
    fenna3107 Posts: 46
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  • Deanna149
    Deanna149 Posts: 147 Member
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    I feed me and my daughter on about 100-125 month due to limited income! it is very possible, I buy meats, frozen veggies and brown rice / potatoes/bread, oatmeal, juice, milk, eggs, cereal, lunch meat and sliced cheese etc. basically food I have to cook! i get her some simple foods like ramen and whatnot also when budget allows. and a lot of planning, we shop once a month with exception of milk and eggs, and store in freezer. precook big meals and eat off it for a few days by heating it up. by buyng like this i think saves a lot also.
  • eamconnor
    eamconnor Posts: 130 Member
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    I have oatmeal almost every morning. i think it works out to seven cents a serving. My big splurge is fresh fruit on top sometimes.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,452 Member
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    It depends where you are. I know that where I am, you wouldn't be able to get much in the way of meat, so you have to look for other protein sources. Eggs are good. When I've been short of money in the past, I've eaten a lot of lentils - so much that I'm not a big fan of them now! But red lentils are cheap and versatile. They are handy for soups and curries, or use instead of minced meat in dishes like lasagne. Dried beans can be cheap but take a lot of soaking and cooking, and personally, I don't like them.
  • Booksandbeaches
    Booksandbeaches Posts: 1,791 Member
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    High quality eggs
    high quality coffee beans
    frozen vegetables
    local fruit
    canned beans
    peanut butter
    rice
    coconut oil
    good oatmeal
    chicken
    ground meat
  • lcransaw
    lcransaw Posts: 95
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    Wow..I have a kid with food allergies, so this would be impossible for us, but if I did not consider this, I would buy:

    Frozen bulk veggies
    Apples
    Bulk chicken and ground tukey
    Dry beans
    Eggs
    Tuna
    Quiona
    Orzo Pasta
    Olive Oil
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Well $100 a month = approx £67. My guess is that food in the US is a ****-load cheaper than it is here in the UK then because even if you decided to live on Veg alone there is no chance in hell you'd survive a month on £67.....let's put it this way, a lettuce I bought yesterday from the local supermarket was £1.20. That'd be over half the daily budget gone on a lettuce.

    TBH $100 a month is £100 a month in purchasing terms. The US Federal minimum wages is about the same $ as ours is £.

    Consumer expenditure surveys come up with numbers like "average weekly £44.20 grocery bill" or "Households spend an average £53.40 a week on food" so I agree that £100 a month is a stretch. While the households might have 2.4 people in them it isn't necessarily proportionally cheaper to buy for one person.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
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    Well $100 a month = approx £67. My guess is that food in the US is a ****-load cheaper than it is here in the UK then because even if you decided to live on Veg alone there is no chance in hell you'd survive a month on £67.....let's put it this way, a lettuce I bought yesterday from the local supermarket was £1.20. That'd be over half the daily budget gone on a lettuce.

    TBH $100 a month is £100 a month in purchasing terms. The US Federal minimum wages is about the same $ as ours is £.

    Consumer expenditure surveys come up with numbers like "average weekly £44.20 grocery bill" or "Households spend an average £53.40 a week on food" so I agree that £100 a month is a stretch. While the households might have 2.4 people in them it isn't necessarily proportionally cheaper to buy for one person.

    It's pretty tight. Frankly you can't buy fresh veg and even canned or frozen is a treat and not something you can eat a lot. Salad is horrendously inefficient as far as getting calories into you for a price, but for example I've been able to find frozen broccoli occasionally at 99c/lb and peas/carrots at 69c/lb. When I do find them, I stock up so I can get at least a little veg in. Occasionally the stores will have bargains/meat sales and I buy (for example hamburger is normally like $4/lb but they had some trays at 99c/lb then) and freeze them, and sometimes tuna cans go on sale, but usually it's eggs and beans.
  • FrenchMob
    FrenchMob Posts: 1,167 Member
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    ...or cut back on your internet & cable TV package, or anything else that's not a necessity. I'd rather either better than having a few more channels on tv.
  • Lucillexoxo
    Lucillexoxo Posts: 1
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    Oats, eggs, frozen fruit, canned beans, rice... And always look prices:)
  • HMVOL7409
    HMVOL7409 Posts: 1,588 Member
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    Food on a budget can be done. I just made a Costco trip and this is what I got for $180. I think it can last the average person awhile. :)

    16lbs of Chicken Breasts
    12lbs of Tilapia
    12lbs of Brown Rice
    10lbs of Oatmeal
    16lbs of Tuna
    120 Eggs
    20lbs of Veggies
  • kenna44cat
    kenna44cat Posts: 105 Member
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    Food is a lot cheaper in the US than in Canada, judging from your lists. But the UK is much more expensive than either Canada or the US. Also, our Canadian dollar usually doesn't buy as much as the American dollar. But I suspect our wages might be higher.
  • SJVZEE
    SJVZEE Posts: 451 Member
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    What would you buy? I'm not looking at anything that drastic, but I am looking to save on my food budget (I'm saving up for a down payment on a house). Money is tight for everyone, so I thought this would be a neat experiment.

    During the summer months it would be easy for me, since I have an awesome local farmers market that has a couple of inexpensive vendors-check around and see if you have one around you :)

    For me at the farmers market for a month:
    6 dozen local, free range chicken eggs $15
    bags and bags of fresh produce, mostly veggies, (kind depends on what's in season) $40 (seriously, I can fill a plastic bag for like $10!)
    2 8 ounce chunks of local, grass fed cheese $10 (my splurge :) )
    local honey $5

    Then at the grocery store- 2 large tubs of plain, whole milk Greek yogurt $10
    Clearance beef and pork for the rest of the $20, and then also some more produce from the clearance rack.

    And if I had a few extra dollars I'd get some white rice and a couple whole chickens for around $15 and make a couple big batches of chicken 'fried' rice and then chicken salad (on a bed of lettuce). Oh, and a bottle of evoo from Aldi for around $4-one bottle lasts me several months :)


    Also, unique to my situation-I can get local, grass fed beef free from my in-laws and also eggs and some produce. Really look into what options you have around you to get cheaper foods-farmers markets, friends and neighbors with gardens (you could pay them a bit, but it would still be cheaper than the store), road side produce stands, U Pick farms, Craigs List, and also check out Local Harvest-a huge directory of local food sources :)http://www.localharvest.org/
  • SJVZEE
    SJVZEE Posts: 451 Member
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    MOAR tips to save on money OTHER than through your grocery bill:

    Cut cable. No, seriously. We lived without cable until *just* recently...so we went 3 1/2 years with just the basic subscription to Netflix. Didn't even miss cable after awhile.

    Cut home telephone...unless you have no cell phone. But why?

    Cut internet to the minimum. Ask your internet provider about sweet deals. Threaten to leave and they'll do anything to keep you.

    Talk to your cellphone provider about cheaper plans.

    Invest in a window unit air conditioner/heat your home with space heaters.

    Save on water. Wash up in your sink on days where you're really not that dirty/your hair looks ok. Hard for me to do that with naturally greasy, flat hair...but y'know. You can go no 'poo. I personally haven't, but it saves water money and product money from what I've heard.

    Shop around for cheaper auto insurance. Try to find the niche ones that don't have fancy ads to pay for.

    Just some thoughts. :3

    ETA: Make homemade, natural cleaners. Pinterest has a WEALTH of these. Sounds gross, but I've been making my own laundry materials, dish cleaning materials, all purpose cleaner, floor cleaner and scouring materials for the last two years. Costs me PENNIES.

    Going 'no poo' really isn't as scary as it sounds :) I've cut back to just using conditioner a couple of times a week and my hair is the nicest looking that it's ever been-even my stylist commented on how good it looked last time I saw her and she asked what I was using lol. Also, white vinegar diluted in water in a spray bottle is an amazing all purpose cleaner-I even use it on my toilet!
  • Baseballfan158
    Baseballfan158 Posts: 39
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    2 things of chicken breast about $10 to $15 each

    About 5 things of canned chicken and 5 things of canned tuna about 50 cents each

    1 thing of whole wheat bread and 2 things of whole wheat bagels along with 1 thing of whole wheat hamburger buns. For about $2.00 $3.00 each

    1 bag of lemons $4.00 each and 2 bundles of bananas $1.50 each


    3 cartons of eggs $3.00 each

    3 bags of salad

    And 1 bag of spinach

    And 1 bag if baby carrots.

    Along with lite ranch dressing.

    And 3 packs of sugar free gum.
  • SJVZEE
    SJVZEE Posts: 451 Member
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    I hope this is a purely hypothetical question because I can't see how you could spend so little unless you A) lived on a farm or B) ate crap.

    I absolutely emphatically disagree.

    Not everyone can live on organic, farm-raised "good for you" foods due to the cost. People live on "that little" and less EVERY SINGLE DAY. And guess what? They can actually eat a wealth of nutrient-rich foods without spending a fortune.

    Please keep closed minded comments to yourself.

    Yep-my real grocery budget for a family of five is $360 for the month ($90 a week). That includes everything from toilet paper, to my kid's school lunches that I pack every single day during the school year. We eat well rounded meals with lots of variety and lots of meat :) But, I've gotten creative in what I make/buy and I use resources that I have available-like trading help for free food from my in-laws (my kids weed their garden and we get free produce, we help them with their chickens and we get free eggs etc). I also spent a lot of time looking into local resources and found that we have several U Pick farms nearby-so far this year we've picked/flash froze strawberries and next week we're picking cherries. In a few weeks it will be blueberries. Even if you live in the city (like we do), you may have options within driving distance. Some cities also allow backyard chicken coops so having your own chickens/eggs may be a viable option for some as well.
  • MelissaL582
    MelissaL582 Posts: 1,422 Member
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    That's about my grocery budget a month nowadays. Lol! I shop at Aldi and make sure to plan out my meals. I no longer buy bottled water, instead I buy the water enhancers but don't add lots of it to my water- my tap taste nasty. I've come up with creative meals using zucchini, a couple frozen bags of chicken tenderloins, cold sandwiches are good as well. You have to get creative with the food you buy so it doesn't get boring. If you haven't checked our Pinterest, you should..gives you great ideas on a tight budget.

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