Broke

gmon87

I have to say beans like the many others that have said beans. If you can find a store that has bulk bins go there. Dry beans are cheaper than canned beans and there is such a variety. Garbanzo, pinto, black, red, white, split peas, red, green, yellow lentils are just some of them. Also wild rice, brown rice etc.. are good options. You can make soup, put them in salads, make stews, put them in eggs, you can do so much with them.

asystolern

are you on pinterest?? there are always postings for recipes/food shopping on a budget!! ive gotten many budgeting money tips there also. hope everything works out for you!!

lillauraseymour

I'm a broke uni student and this was i eat alot

Tinned soup - 200 cals around and on special you can get a tin for $2. If you make it and freeze portions you can work out alot cheaper.

Cheese and Mac - 260 cals - For lunch not the best for you but its low in cals and price

Spaghetti/baked beans, Tinned - 370 cals around for lunch or dinner

Make your own salads also works out very cheap and can be under 200 cals

carinnaj

Oh I missed the coupons! I tried couponning but I only found coupons for things I don't need and bad foods!

what stores do you have nearby? around here we have Bi-Lo (where I shop most often), Publix, Save a lot, piggly wiggly, food lion, harris teeter (which is a bit of a drive). Save-a-lot and food lion put out $5 off $25 and $3 off $30 purchase coupons sometimes which bi-lo will take, and publix will take them too but not from save a lot. if you have a store that will take competitor coupons, and a store that puts out $/$ coupons like that , that can be used on your total purchase of anything, that could help some. I am ALWAYS looking for these coupons LOL

ToughTulip

I spent $30 the last month on food while eating 3,000 calories a day.

Bulk is your friend!
I will admit that Rice and beans was a daily thing :P

jenniferscheller

Have you ever tried using coupons? I am able to be a stay at home mom because of it. I use my coupons on the things we always need like toothpaste,soaps,feminine products and the money I am able to save goes to buying the healthier food. Last week there was a coupon for 2.00 off stayfree pads and they were on sale for 2.50 at kmart so I paid .50 each and now I don't have to buy them for a few months. If you like a product on facebook often there will be a coupon you can print out. you would be surprised at what you can save when you use coupons and sales put together.

AnneM69

Healthy food should be the most important thing after housing and electricity, but I'm sure you know that already. Budgeting is your friend, if $40 a week isn't enough, maybe you and your parents need to cut back elsewhere so you can have more in the food budget. Sorry for being blunt, but people often have no idea how much money is being wasted until they sit down and work it out. Do you pay them rent? If you do you should get some say in what your mum buys. If you really are eating that much bread and she's buying it all anyway she should be able to buy you 1-2 loaves a week for yourself.
If you don't pay rent what is the maximum in a bad week you can afford? Even if it's only $5 you can afford to buy wheat bread and some vegetables for that. In good weeks you can buy dry stuff like bulk yogurt, milk powder, rice, dry beans, 12 eggs, cans x6, rolled oats, frozen veges and long lasting fruit like apples and oranges as well. Here in Australia, where prices are higher than the US, I could buy all of the above, minus the beans*, for about $35, and feed myself for about 2 weeks.
I budget hard so we can afford entertainment, preschool (4yo dd), internet, etc. as neither of us work, and there are no coupons here.





* I can't eat beans as they make my IBS worse, though I have a can of baked beans occasionally.

apedeb09

My staples are tuna, eggs, peanut butter, oatmeal, pasta, beans, veggies and fruit. You can make a good amount of healthy meals with what I just listed alone.

Espressocycle

Cabbage and cauliflower are both very cheap and filling. So are beans, especially cooked from dry. If you have a crock pot, just throw in a bag of dry black-eyed peas, a chopped onion, 4 cups of water and $2 worth of smoked turkey neck and switch it on. You can eat that all week.

dodihere

I am broke too! Eggs, potatoes, rice, I bought salad this week from Aldi's which was .49 cents. Tuna is cheap and you can eat a half can per serving. Dry milk with oatmeal. Buy produce that is on sale. I bought 2 cucumbers for .35 each.

Dry beans are good, next time you can afford bacon (I know i can't either) drain the bacon grease and save it for bean flavoring.


I feel sorry for anyone who is struggling in today's economy. Being broke does make you creative.

Koldnomore

If you love to cook you will never be hungry.

Pasta can be made with 1 egg and half a cup to 1 cup of flour (depends on the type of flour) for 1-2 servings. You can roll it with a rolling pin and cut it with a knife if you don't have a machine, or make lasagna, or just cut squares and fill it with something then roll it up.. Spinach & cottage cheese or onion or ground beef or chicken or anything you can think of.

Pasta sauce is easy - even more easy if you have a food processor. I make it in huge pots and freeze it in big yogurt containers - lasts forever. 1 celery stick, a couple cloves of garlic, an onion, some spices, some other veggies if you wish (I put carrot, peppers and zucchini in mine also) a couple cans of crushed tomatoes will give enough sauce for 3 or 4 meals.

Perogies can be made like pasta with mashed potato, egg and flour (use about 1 egg for every 2 cups mashed potato and just keep adding flour until you can roll it out without sticking) roll flat with a rolling pin (or pasta machine) cut into circles using a glass, fill with more mashed potato, onion, cheese (or whatever you have), boil and / or fry as you like. 2 cups of mashed potato, 1 egg and about 2 cups of flour will give you about 100 small perogies.

Hummus is also easy/cheap to make. Dried chick peas, lemon juice and oil for plain hummus. Add peppers or garlic if you wish.

Pancakes need flour, egg, sugar, baking powder and milk - though people have all kinds of other recipes for "healthier" versions. For crepes, you add butter, vary the amounts of other ingredients and leave out the baking powder.

Between the dried beans, canned fish, a couple lbs of ground beef/turkey, a big bag of flour, potatoes, rice, 4 tins of tomatoes, a bag of frozen veggies and a dozen eggs you can feed 4 people lunches and dinners for a very long time. With just a few more dollars you can add fresh fruit/ veggies / salad and some oats and have breakfasts too.

If you want step by step to make anything I listed I can give them to you (or anyone else) just send me a message.