THE Cheapest meal ideas

jadedhippo

Im a uni student and I live off potatoes, brown rice and lentil soups. I add frozen veges to most things and grill any fresh veges.
I add different combos of herbs and spices to things for variety and also juice from lemons (you could always nick those from a nearby lemon tree? Heh!)

Tinned anything is great too!

But seriously, lentil/leek and potato/vege soups have been a life saver for me

CaffeinatedConfectionist

I'm pretty much perpetually broke, so I feel you (I got got paid yesterday, and my grocery budget for the next two weeks is $50). Like other people have said, I eat a lot of dried goods that I can buy in bulk, mostly grains and legumes - oats, rice, beans (black, kidney, pinto, chickpea, etc), quinoa, barley, lentils, etc. I don't eat a lot of processed food, because I feel like I don't get a lot of bang for my buck. Sure, I can get a hamburger for $1 at McDonalds, but I'm hungry again an hour later, so meh. I then try to always have milk and eggs on hand. I found a local farm that sells fairly cheap meat and eggs and dairy, so that is a useful alternative to the high grocery store prices. I can buy a whole chicken for a couple dollars, which gives me plenty of meat to use in things like pot pies or soups or stuffed rolls, and I can make a lot of stock from the carcass. I try to buy as much fruit and vegetables as I can when they are in season and therefore incredibly cheap, so that I can blanch and freeze them. Here this is a good time to buy really cheap corn - I found a store selling a dozen ears of corn for $4, which gave me something like 4-5lb of kernels, versus $1.50-$2 a pound when buying frozen kernels. Usually root vegetables are fairly inexpensive, too. You can get a giant squash for pretty cheap. I also keep a small garden. I don't have time to put a lot of work into it, but even without much work, it has produced a lot of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc. The challenge then is putting all those cheap ingredients together in a tasty way with enough variety that you don't go crazy. Usually when I have a little extra cash for groceries, I try to buy things like bacon or good cheese, so that I can add these sparingly to dishes to enhance flavor. Most of my meals are based on eggs, dairy, bread (I make my own - easy, delicious, and cheap), or grains. Fried rice, rice and beans, stratas, quiches, oatmeal, baked oatmeal, quinoa or various other grain and bean salads, etc, etc. Feel free to look at my diary, though I haven't been logging very consistently lately, and family has been visiting so I've been eating a bit better than usual. Feel free to friend me, too, if you want more ideas.

ETA, sorry, missed that you were gluten-free before, so nix the bread-based things. You can make a killer strata with eggs, spices and toasted cornbread. It's best with some cheese, corn, peppers, etc, if you've got em.

acpgee

http://www.theskintfoodie.com/

Foodie blog with recipes from a guy on benefits. He has good tips on how to plan shopping and budgeting.

devil_in_a_blue_dress

I like this website a lot: http://www.budgetbytes.com/

I think the cheapest meal I make is beans and rice. If you have a crock pot, you honestly don't even need to soak your beans. Just put a one pound bag of beans with 6 cups of water (add bullion if you have it), maybe a can of diced tomatoes (again if you have it), or peppers/onions (again, if you have) with whatever spices and make some rice and boom, dinner.

When I was my poorest, I would buy a largest sack of rice that was 7 dollars or less, 2 bags of black beans, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1 bag of frozen peppers strips, 2 bags of mixed veggies, 5 pound bag of potatoes, 1 dozen eggs, 2 cans of chicken, a loaf of the cheapest bread I could find and and butter. That was usually $25.00 us dollars and it fed me for 2 weeks.

keem88

rice, dried beans, frozen veg, eggs. hopefully you have some spices already to help switch things up. that sucks about the gluten though bc unfortunately the bread and pasta is much more pricier. maybe you can find a food pantry and get some staple/canned goods there and then use the money instead for the gf options.

if not then rice and beans with different seasonings and veggies, can make a stir fry. maybe buy a whole chicken cook in crock pot and you can use that for some different things like soups, casseroles, stir frys.

Rurouni_Kou

Income wise: I would be taking any type of job that you could part time to supplement your income. I would also see if you could qualify for temporary assistance from the gov't for food stamp like programs.

Food wise: Do you have any stores like Aldi's or Save a Lot? Aldi's is really cheap and has their own "Fit & Active" brand. Save a Lot is also really cheap. Eggs for breakfast. Soups are really cheap to make per serving and can last several meals. I would also check out local churches for food pantries.

This post annoys me because A) Aldi, not "Aldi's" (petty I know) and I think the OP is in the UK, but in the USA you basically can't get food stamps as a single person. I tried once, many years ago when I lost my job due to the store I worked in closing down. I was basically laughed at. The rule then was something like as a single person you could not have earned over $400 in the last 12 weeks. Of course I had! According to my friend who works in the social assistance field things have not changed for singletons whatsoever...

Edited to add: Ok, so that was kind of snotty. Sorry. And yes ALDI is awesome. They do have it in the UK (not sure about the OP's region). I shop there for about 80% of my groceries and they're cheap and fantastic!

I had a sibling who was on foodstamps for a while and he was a single person. Just because you had a bad experience with it doesn't mean the OP or anyone else will. Trying to dissuade someone from trying to get on a program that could help them and "getting annoyed" at people who are giving helpful advice like "try for foodstamps" is really petty and cruel. Please, unless you can give HELPFUL advice, stop being "snotty" to others who are trying to help.

OP, good luck with your financial situation. Being poor sucks *kitten*, me, my family, and my friends have all been there; but there is some very good info from other (non-snotty) posters in this thread. Take care!

hbunting86

Hi thanks for the other comments and advice!

I managed to get a shift last night so earned some money for food for the week (yay) - we have a cheap supermarket called Lidl here and there's Aldi too so I'm going to see what bargains I can bag (hopefully).

Unknown

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bkelley32148

bump

ms_leanne

Are you absolutely positive you have a gluten issue, or are you on the gluten bandwagon? In your position, you can't really worry about such nonsense unless it actually is a real problem.

Agreed with this as you didn't make it clear if you are actually coeliac or not.

Either way hun, well done getting the shift and check out Aldi and Lidl.

pricesteve

http://agirlcalledjack.com

this.

vtotheicky

You should definitely consider giving family/friends a call and seeing if someone can help you out until you start earning. Is there any way you can earn money doing cash in hand work? Perhaps helping out neighbours, working in a local cafe/pub etc?
In terms of food eggs are awesome- low in calories and are really filling. Also beans and noodles are good too.
Hope things get better for you!

SLLeask

Cottage pie (cheap mince, onion, garlic and an oxo cube with a mash potato topping, yum!) and veg soup (buy ANYTHING on offer, add a few potatoes and any herbs /garlic you have, boil up or roast and then blitz, also yum!)

geebusuk

Are you back in the UK? Your profile says you're off with the Kiwis.

If it's still an issue...
I've had to do this sort of thing a few too many times.

Potatoes - the Asian corner shop would do 2kg for £1 where I used to live.
1kg of basics rice is 40p,

If you can, get to the supermarket towards the end of the day when the deals are out.
Some supermarkets are better than others. Right at the end, Morrisons will mark stuff down by hand too. Once I got a massive bag of sandwiches, veg sushi and some other stuff for £1 because they just wanted it gone.
Easily a couple of days worth of food for £1 with giving some to my friends/dog. Recently got two massive 'basics' joints for £1 and £1.25 or something. Was going to give them to the dog, but they were surprisingly nice, so he had to make do with the trimmings .
Plenty of veg can be pretty cheap - a £1 iceberg lettuce usually lasts me a good while. Can get a lot of onions for not much if you buy a bag (don't buy in 3s.)

Otherwise, while 'basics' ham isn't ideal, it's still got a fair bit of protein and not much fat.
Turkey can be pretty cheap.
Basics eggs are good for protein and fat as well as being nutrient rich.

Depending on your budget, I wouldn't discredit ready meals.
For instance, I just a £1.50 iceland Chicken Korma. Pretty tasty and technically it should serve two with rice (I cooked the rice myself, of course), or if you're stingier and have more rice, you could probably get three meals out of that - so £1.50+ 10p rice for three meals not too bad.

Aldi's super 6 tends to be 'ok' (often smaller items) and the food is often good quality, but it's rare to see the end of day bargains that you get in others, which can make a massive difference.

willnorton

its not really healthy but if you go to McDonalds and get the Mcdouble for $1 and you get the side salad and be sure to tell them you want sliced tomatoes on yoru salad (not the grape tomatoes)....ask for a pack of mayo and get a nice ice water....

now you put the sliced tomatoes on your Mcdouble and some of the lettuce from the $1 salad.... then you put the mayo on the Mcdouble.... now..

you got a salad huge double cheese burger with lettuce tomato pickle onions..and a samll salad(you put the salad dressing on teh remaining lettuce)

that is really a huge meal.... for ONLY $ 2 where can you get a big meal like that for $2.....

at home...eggsare cheap...rice is cheap..... cook a big pot of dried beans....you can get those pinto beans for pennies... dont buy the canned beans...you got to buy the ones in the bag that you have to cook....

if it gets too bad, go to your local church and tell them whats going on....I promise they will help you.....

good luck.....

twinketta

Are you back in the UK? Your profile says you're off with the Kiwis.

If it's still an issue...
I've had to do this sort of thing a few too many times.

Potatoes - the Asian corner shop would do 2kg for £1 where I used to live.
1kg of basics rice is 40p,

If you can, get to the supermarket towards the end of the day when the deals are out.
Some supermarkets are better than others. Right at the end, Morrisons will mark stuff down by hand too. Once I got a massive bag of sandwiches, veg sushi and some other stuff for £1 because they just wanted it gone.
Easily a couple of days worth of food for £1 with giving some to my friends/dog. Recently got two massive 'basics' joints for £1 and £1.25 or something. Was going to give them to the dog, but they were surprisingly nice, so he had to make do with the trimmings .
Plenty of veg can be pretty cheap - a £1 iceberg lettuce usually lasts me a good while. Can get a lot of onions for not much if you buy a bag (don't buy in 3s.)

Otherwise, while 'basics' ham isn't ideal, it's still got a fair bit of protein and not much fat.
Turkey can be pretty cheap.
Basics eggs are good for protein and fat as well as being nutrient rich.

Depending on your budget, I wouldn't discredit ready meals.
For instance, I just a £1.50 iceland Chicken Korma. Pretty tasty and technically it should serve two with rice (I cooked the rice myself, of course), or if you're stingier and have more rice, you could probably get three meals out of that - so £1.50+ 10p rice for three meals not too bad.

Aldi's super 6 tends to be 'ok' (often smaller items) and the food is often good quality, but it's rare to see the end of day bargains that you get in others, which can make a massive difference.

lots of great ideas here, except you are in NZ, but you must have supermarkets there that offer similar items.

Good luck with the job also, sometimes it pays to think outside the box, instead of looking for a job try to create one. Offer cleaning/gardening/ironing/pet minding/house sitting/child minding/dog walking even voluntary work might lead to something.

Good luck hun :flowerforyou:

cathyg321

My mom used to make tomato soup (I believe that's one of the cheapest) and add baked potato quarters to it. The soup not only is filling with the potatoes in it, but is rather tasty. I have tried it myself and I can vouch for it! Good way to stretch the soup!

For breakfast, one box of cereal. Eat whatever the serving size is (3/4 1 cup.. or less to stretch it), WITHOUT milk. Cereal eaten dry can be quite tasty and not so soggy. It gives you something to chew on for longer.

My mom is a fan of the dollar stores. She buys these tuna and chicken mixes that come with crackers. I imagine they are a dollar each. She also started eating Ramen Noodles for dinner. That's all she has been eating. It's warm and fills you up as the noodles expand. She told me it cost her 1.20 for dinner .. for the entire week!

Hope these ideas help!

I realize these aren't the most nutritionist meals to suggest, especially the Ramen Noodles, but I hope you understand that exercise is a must with them...anything that gets you moving.. walking, running, stetching, turn on a radio and walk in place to the music for an hour, or 45 minutes. Walking is so easy. You can do it anyplace.. any time.

heatheralvina

Check out supercook.com
you just enter the stuff you have in your house and it gives you recipe ideas

Hscsusiq

Oatmeal soup!
oatmeal! boullion and lots of water.
If you have bacon, cook it first and brown the dry oatmeal in the drippings, then crumble the bacon over the soup. It's the most filling thing I've eaten when poor

Been Catfood poor.
Go to your local church, even if not a parishioner. They're there for you.
Protein is the main problem, so beans and rice, beans and corn. they're whole proteins and cheap.
One meal a day should do it, if you combine lots of carbs and some whole protein.
Good luck.