How to survive on 40-50 dollars per month on food.

buMP

I like corn beans and rice, with different spices and toppings on it.
canned or frozen corn, canned beans, and bulk rice go pretty cheap in the US, and it doesn't take too much to fill you up! My favorite is to add a little hummus or a small pat of butter and a little red pepper flakes.

bump

See if bountifulbasket.org is available in your area. 15 dollars for a huge amount of veggies in a trucked in co op.

If you go to the local farmers market late in the day..they will practicaly give you produce...

To save money on fresh produce try going to a farmer's market! You can buy a TON of produce for super cheap.

If it is only available on a certain date, for a certain time. then go towards the end, most of the vendors will give you a deal, if you ask, rather than pack up their wares and bring it back home.

To save money on fresh produce try going to a farmer's market! You can buy a TON of produce for super cheap.

Really? Our farmers market is a lot more expensive than any grocery store.

If you have storage space available, it can work out much more cheaply to bulk buy dry and canned items/ingredients from a caterers' store or similar. You may have to pay a small joining fee, but the price/lb is usually much, much lower than in a supermarket.

Also, frozen fruit & vegetables are often cheaper than fresh and work well for cooking, though it seems that may not be your problem in CA!

I'm sure others have already mentioned this, but making things from scratch is almost always more cost-effective (and better for the waistline).

Slow-cooked meats (so you can use cheaper cuts) and beans/pulses are also cost-effective, in general - look at recipes from France, Italy and the Middle East.

Making your own bread can also be inexpensive - a foccaccia recipe is simple to make (no breadmaker required!), and you end up eating less of it, I find, as the loaf is thinner. You could also look into bulk buying and preserving fruits and veg in season, to eat later in the year.
Good luck! Even a reasonably frugal shop for two people in the UK is hard to bring in at under £50 a week... Food costs are skyrocketing.

Seems like you've got the right idea already. Cooking everything form scratch is a lot cheaper, and when you use pulses always use the dried ones, they go so much further than tinned ones. It can sometimes cost more at first, but if you are buying loads of veggies and spices and whatever, then making several dishes, and freezing some, it starts to get cheaper, and take up less of your time after a week or two.

Personally I spend WAY less on food if I make a mealplan, for at least a weeks meals (most of the meals you can make double and freeze) then AFTER the mealplan make a shopping list and you should have very little waste. The following week you can do the same, and dip into the frozen meals, whilst getting some more frozen meals in, and so on.

You can do it, it is amazing how much you can cut back when you really need to. I have been doing this for a few weeks now and I could probably live out of my freezer for a week if I had to. Good luck, $50 is achievable!

check out exstream couponing on youtube it is so cool how people with the time and the mind to do it can really save. Me, I don't have the kind of mind it takes for it to keep it all organized and to put all the deals together . My sister does and really saves big time and says she wishes she was on t this when her boys were small say they would have never went without anything :happy: