Living paycheck to paycheck

lydaugherty

I'm a full time student, and while my husband works full time, we obviously don't make enough to live above comfortably.
(We have two kids) I'll admit, we are on food stamps. Grateful for the help, it's "not enough". (But gosh, that sounds greedy doesn't it?)

Well. Eating okay is all fine and dandy until the last week of the month.

Ramen noodles anyone?
carbs and sodium for a week, woohoo. Lol.

Just kind of a bummer. Is there anything better that I can eat?
For those that don't really know ramen noodles ..it's 6 packages (6 meals) for $1.
(the true cost is your health. If I recall, it's nearly 2000mgs of sodium in a bag lol)




(and before any personal bashings of "omg u have 2 kids and cant support them", frankly I myself made $2,500 a month before quitting my job to attend the university full time. Combine that with my husbands income and we did fine :P )

fraiseroja

Have you ever thought about couponing? I save a TON of money that way which gives me some freedom. Check out southernsavers.com which is a great website that helps with grocery stores and with drugstores. It's not your typical couponing..it's kind of a whole new system.

dothompson

Dried beans, peas and lentels are cheaper than Ramen and a nutritional powerhouse. Get some receipes and get ready for the end of the month.

ana70

I think you are admirable for going back to school and you are doing a great job balancing the budget. I also agree that beans, rice and lentils are economical and healthy. But they take time and planning. I wish you all the best, I really do. Good luck!

MisdemeanorM

I feel you here!

Eggs (if you can make a friend with chickens you will have more than you can ever eat!), peanut butter, sales, BOGOs, gardening (look locally for free dirt or old manure so you dont have to buy dirt if you dont have a good spot ready), eating veggies in season, skip the salt packets in the ramen and mix in a scrambled egg, spaghetti (just portion control), mexican rice (with canned tomoatoes), rice with chicken and can of vegall (feeds 4 for about $3 - we buy the canned chicken when it isi 2 for $5 or the frozen breasts when they hit $0.99 - 1.99 at Dollar Gen market), cereal (when it's BOGO) and get your milk at ALDI for like $1.70 a gallon!, dried beans, potatoes. i buy shredded cheese when it goes on sale for $1.50 and stock up for potatoes and quessadillas. Carbs are the cheapest, but you can avoid sugars and fats pretty easily and just stick with unprocessed carbs (ie potatoes not frozen french fries) when possible and use portion control.

My husband asked me recently when did I suddenly turn into a hippie and started eating wheat bread. My answer to him was - since we could afford $1.50 for bread and not 70 cents and even then only if we had it!

aippolito1

You could definitely buy lentils and beans like dothompson said. I don't know if you live near a Kroger but they have an organic section where you can buy fresh lentils, beans, quinoa, rice, oats, wheat, whatever. It's usually $7-9 per pound but you can get however little or however much you want and that could be an option. Rice goes forever because it expands! I hear great things about quinoa and lentils but myself have not tried them. I know they're very versatile though and would be something to look into.

MisdemeanorM

Have you ever thought about couponing? I save a TON of money that way which gives me some freedom. Check out southernsavers.com which is a great website that helps with grocery stores and with drugstores. It's not your typical couponing..it's kind of a whole new system.

Do you find you save more with coupons than with generic? I tried coupons but even with the coupon most often the generic item was still cheaper per OZ. Often even if the coupon item was on sale already.

kalebsmama07

im in the same position so i understand by the end of the month i only have carbs left in my house! i too have food stamps! i usually ennd up eatten salad for that week! or just try to eat what i have even if it means working out harder!

Alysgrma

I use to live on Ramen noodles!! Even before started watching what I ate I would not use the packet of seasoning because
that is where the salt comes into play. Use your own spices and put left over veggies, meat and even hot dogs. I bet the little ones will even eat it.
Do you have a Aldi's or Save O Lot around you? They are a discount food store that I save a ton at.

Good Luck
Mary

punkrockpickles

Dried beans, peas and lentels are cheaper than Ramen and a nutritional powerhouse. Get some receipes and get ready for the end of the month.

We love beans in the crockpot here!

lutzsher

I feel for you and have lived in a similar fashion myself on and off depending on our work status, schooling, etc. I decided to make a menu for 14 days, keeping in mind cost and nutrition. From that menu I create a grocery list and ONLY buy what is on the list. I would actually have the grocery store flyers on the table and create my menu from the sale items that week also to keep the cost at bay. By doing this consistently I found that we saved a few hundred dollars each month on our grocery costs (we had 3 hungry teenagers to feed at the time also).

When I started doing this we were spending approximately $250 to $300 every 2 weeks on groceries, by following this I brought the total down to about $175 every 2 weeks so it was pretty substancial. My mom did this my entire childhood to keep costs at bay and it really works.

Read labels! There are always options with lower soduim amounts, etc.

Good luck!

Rubes

Local farmer markets and butchers are a great place to find cheep and fresh food. You can get locally grown and in season fruit/veg on the cheep and save a ton!

We also do a lot of bulk buying and freezing/storing the extras. It takes longer but it saves a bunch of money.

Homemade chili, soups and stews are a great way to make money stretch.

I am so glad to hear that you are going back to school. The next year or two might be rough, but you are setting such a great example for your kids!

vanessadawn

I agree with the previous post eggs are awesome. Scrambled, on toast, egg salad sandwiches, hard boiled, poached, french toast, I even put it in my oatmeal for extra protein. Also making a big batch of soup like cabbage soup with brown rice can make a huge batch and eat for a long time. I buy frozen veggies and add it to everything, add it to campbells soup, ramen noodles , curry, frozen meals etc. Lots of meals are cheap meatloaf, pasta, etc. It is hard to eat well on a low budget, but save up and buy bulk goods when you have some extra cash like brown rice, lentils, beans, bread (freeze it), lean ground beef, oatmeal etc. So you can have it on hand when you need it. Good luck!

LittleSpy

I agree with couponing. There are websites that do a lot of the work for you and combine coupons with weekly sales at different grocery stores. I often get stuff for *free* or for just a few cents this way (using a coupon during a BOGO sale, for example).

Also, unseasoned frozen vegetables are my best friend. Just as nutritious as fresh (or more so in some cases) and WAAAAYYYYYY cheaper than fresh (usually -- sometimes there are good sales on fresh during peak season). But what I really love about them is how long they take to go bad (months and months to get freezerburned as opposed to a few days to spoil like fresh).

If there's a big sale on something, I plan meals around it. If I find meat on really great sale, I'll buy some to freeze and use a few weeks down the line.

Anyway, we're the same situation as you, sans kids and reversed -- I'm the "breadwinner" right now because I'm the one with a degree. Df goes to school full time-year round and I work full-time (and part time x2 -- 50-60 hours most weeks). If we have an emergency & are strapped for cash, df works part time for a few shifts (we have a connection at a very low-end job.... pizza delivery... that will allow him to slip in there & do that for a couple weeks & slip back out any time he needs).
So yeah, that's my final suggestion. Consider getting a part-time job. Even if it's just 5-10 hours a week, I'm sure it would help a lot. Try serving tables a couple weeknights or something -- that could easily bring in $100/week for groceries and won't steal you away from your studies or children too long.

As soon as df graduates in December, I'll be going back to school for my Master's degree. I plan to work full time while I'm in school. I got my Bachelor's while working full time. It's not at all unheard of to school and work full time at the same time.

tiffanygil

I live pay check to pay check too with 2 kids and a stay at home husband (by our choice). I only go to the groc. store twice a month ~period. and fresh fruits and veggies last a lot longer than people think if kept right. I also try and buy in bulk and divide meat up in the right portion sizes then freeze.


Also the great value brand frozen veggies are not bad tasteing and if portioned out last longer than canned. If you dont take the core out of the letuce (iceburg) and keep in in a ziploc frozen storage bag it last longer than if cored and put into a reg storage bag. Also wrap your tomatos and oinions carrots and potatoes in news paper. I swear they keep forever that way, If your veggies like celery or carrots get that dry hard look to them put them in a bag with water and let them soak and they will be good as new.

Or you can pre cook meals portioned out and kept in the freezer for you. I know we dont throw anything out, it all gets refrozen and saved for another meal....

Good luck I know its tuff but the reward is great.

nopeekiepeekie

Local farmer markets and butchers are a great place to find cheep and fresh food. You can get locally grown and in season fruit/veg on the cheep and save a ton!

I'm moving by you! Our local butcher is extremely more expensive than our local chain grocery or even Wal-Mart. But their meat selection is oh so yummy.

I really liked Alysgrma ideas with tossing out the ramen noodle flavor packet and putting your own stuff in. In all honesty, you can get one of those steamfresh frozen veggie packs for less than $2 and have your family a good meal.

elzettel

We coupon here too. I like the CouponMom website (free). I used to do generic and sometimes still do but a local store will double up to $1.00 and many items I get for nothing or for less than 50 cents. Planning is key and sticking to your list is a must. I find saving with the coupons helps me to buy items that don't normally have a coupon (meat, chicken, etc). Also, I think just about every store will have a value bag of frozen chicken breast or tenders. They vary in price but run anywhere from $6-$10 (Target and Meijer are on the cheaper end and the product is good) and I think the bags are a couple of pounds--don't quote me on that. I like them because some you don't have to thaw to cook which is great for fast meals in a pinch (check the bag for 'no need to thaw'). Also, we went in with some family members to buy a quarter cow. I have ground beef for the year and it is super lean---I barely have to drain it at times. Normally, you can select what you want (steaks, ground beef, etc) but it was last minute for us and our family member just happened to get too much ground beef. The lean beef in the store is near $5/pound here and I think we paid a little less than $2/pound for what we bought. I also love the kraftfoods website since they have a healthy living section, nutritional breakdowns on all foods, and you can do a search with ingredients on hand for quick meals plus you don't have to be a memeber to search or print recipes. I used to LOVE ramen noodles but they do get old quick :yawn:

DwightJenkins

I'm a full time student, and while my husband works full time, we obviously don't make enough to live above comfortably.
(We have two kids) I'll admit, we are on food stamps. Grateful for the help, it's "not enough". (But gosh, that sounds greedy doesn't it?)

(and before any personal bashings of "omg u have 2 kids and cant support them", frankly I myself made $2,500 a month before quitting my job to attend the university full time. Combine that with my husbands income and we did fine :P )

Good for you! Anyone that would bash you for giving up a comfortable lifestyle to get an education which will improve yourself and your family in the long run is an idiot. You've already gotten great advice here about buying beans and things in bulk so I won't go over that again. My wife works with a church that runs a food bank once a month, just for people like yourself that need a little help to make it to the next paycheck. Look in your area to see if there is a similar program.

dothompson

Good for you! Anyone that would bash you for giving up a comfortable lifestyle to get an education which will improve yourself and your family in the long run is an idiot. You've already gotten great advice here about buying beans and things in bulk so I won't go over that again. My wife works with a church that runs a food bank once a month, just for people like yourself that need a little help to make it to the next paycheck. Look in your area to see if there is a similar program.
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I couldn't agree more. You will never regret this portion of your life, the sacrifices you are making now will pay huge dividends.

You also might check out food co-ops. I used to belong to a produce co-op and for $5 twice a month I would get a ton of very fresh produce. I didn't have a choice about what came, but that became part of the fun. I probably wouldn't have ever learned how to cook fresh beets had I not been in the co-op and now roasted beets is one of my favorite things.

lisawest

Here is a link to a great organization, and you can check if they deliver to a church near you.
https://www.angelfoodministries.com/
Basically, they offer a box of food (menu varies month to month, but generally contains the staples) for $30. There are different boxes you can order, as well as additional packages you can get that help round out the basic box.

For $30 you get quite a bit of food. Here is this month's menu:
Qty Size Item Description
1 1.5 lb. Sirloin Steaks (4 x 6 oz.)
1 2 lb. Mac & Beef Dinner Entrée
1 2 lb. IQF Chicken Breast (Boneless/Skinless)
1 1 lb. Lean Ground Beef
1 1 lb. Chicken Breast Fajita Strips
1 1 lb. Breaded Crunchy Fish Bites (32. ct.)
1 1.5 lb. Smoked Chicken Sausage
1 2 lb. Heat and Serve Green Beans
1 1 lb. Fajita Blend
1 1 lb. Rice
1 25 oz. Pasta Sauce
1 1 lb. Pasta
1 3 lb. Idaho Potatoes
1 32 oz. 2% Shelf Stable Milk
1 Dozen Eggs
1 Dessert

I know it probably won't solve the problem for this month, but for my family of 4, that would be enough for about 2 weeks (when I suppliment with more fruits and veggies). There is another website that has recipe ideas for the food included in the boxes. I'll try to find it and post it.

There are other programs similar. Some have income restrictions, some require community service. Also, contact local food banks or churches for other ideas

I've been there, dealt with this. (Although I wasn't concerned about my own healthy eating, only my kids' at the time:blushing: )

ETA: Here is one place that I had bookmarked for recipes: http://www.bethanynaz.org/angelfood I'll add others when I come across them!

megamom

The 5 bean soup is awesome and great for you. With Ramen noodles I don't use the broth that comes with, I mix in vegetables or garlic and dried Parmesan for poor mans garlic noodles. Lots of veggie stir with little meat goes a long way.