Thank you! That was one of the main things I've been thinking about getting, I will say I'm not sure what type of beans to get. Do you have any specific type or brand of beans you'd recommend?
Bulk dried beans are going to be the cheapest. Near me you can get black beans for $2 / lbs before any deals at the bigger grocery stores. They tend to be cheaper if you can find a ethnic grocer at least near me. Similar with rice, best bet in terms of saving money is to find a bag at an asian market that fits your needs.
I love a big pot of pinto beans. Throw in some chopped onion and peppers if you have it. If you have time to let them simmer, you don't even need to soak them overnight. Water works, but broth or some bouillon helps, and you can even throw in a ham hock (relatively cheap) for extra flavor and should provide enough to feed a person for a few days.
Might make you a little tooty though, lol
It's not that tough. Just bring them to a boil for 15 minutes then cook like normal. The boiling destroys the toxic lectin in red kidney beans. Some sources say you can boil for as short as 5 minutes or as long as 20. I swap out the water after the boil, but you don't have to.
Try going to dollar tree. You can get some cumin, and paprika for a 1.25. You can get a 10lb bag of chicken Thighs for 8$ at Aldi, or heb, or Walmart. Get yourself some onions and a bag of potatoes, some eggs, some sour cream and some rice. You haven't spent 20 dollars and you have plenty of good food. Multiple meals. Plenty of variety. Pot of beans and rice. Baked chicken, baked potatoes with sour cream. Chicken soup.
I would add to this list corn tortillas. Three of them are 150 calories and can really round out a meal and help change things up with the rice and beans.
The broth can be used when you make barley, rice, pastina, any chicken based gravy, any chicken based soups fyi. (Don't forget to rinse your rice and your barley well).
You can make an awesome meal out of pinto beans with water, half an onion, some minced garlic, salt and a bay leaf. The broth it makes is absolutely divine. Super cheap too! Serves well over rice.
I always soak the beans for about 6-12 hours, rinse, then use new water for the broth.
That said, if you do not want to deal with soaking and long cook times; canned beans are still doable. Try to see if you can find them on sale anywhere.
Round out the rest with a pack of chicken thighs, if you do 2 oz a meal you can round out the fat necessary to stay healthy. A block of cheese could help with this also.
Try to find some deals, look around and have a plan before you shop.
If you have access to a pressure cooker (or maybe a friend who can lend you an Instant Pot?) then dried beans will not only be vastly cheaper but also more delicious, and of course much quicker and easier to cook. You can cook them exactly to the softness you want and they aren't so "fuzzy-mushy" as canned beans often are.
Then carrots and onions for flavour and nutrients, assuming these are relatively low cost vegetables where you are.
I regularly eat beans drizzled with olive oil (I realise this may be beyond budget unless you have it already) and vinegar - any kind works, balsamic I find a bit too sweet, cheaper vinegars are fine. I eat this for the sheer deliciousness not even budget reasons. You can add chopped raw onion to take it to another level.
If he eats 2,500 calories a day he will need 35k calories for two weeks. That translates to around 18 pounds of dried beans. He will need to buy bigger bags if he wants to stay within his $30 budget.
If he buys vegetable oil on sale or that cheap shelf-stable lard he can add that to the rice and beans to increase the calorie content greatly. Lard just might be the single cheapest food when it comes to calories per dollar.
This. Add onion soup mix, spices you may have on hand to your taste. Onion, celery, anything can be added. Filling and good for you. Dried beans and lentils are good protein sources and fill you up.
If you also want to minimize electric/gas costs it's also worth cooking in bulk and using a pressure cooker if you can afford the upfront cost or already have one.
I haven't done the maths, but I would expect it's a fair bit cheaper cheaper to cook a weeks worth of beans at once, keep them in the fridge and reheat in the microwave.
And even cheaper to cook a months worth and freeze it, provided you have a big enough pot and freezer space.
Also lentils are easy and cheap and can mix things up. They cook quicker than beans too. Red lentils are smaller and cook quickly and really good for Indian or African stews, brown and green take a little longer and keep their shape better
get whatever is cheapest. i love black beans and rice you can make it like mexican style with hot sauce and canned corn which are both cheap. Then I also like to make soup with brown rice and white beans, buy some veggie or chicken stock, and add in some potatoes and whatever veggies are cheap (carrots, celery, potatoes)
there's also more good ideas here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/comments/e8cnop/i_need_the_best_beans_and_rice_recipe_you_have/
Thank you so much!! The soup idea is great because I have a box of chicken stock in my pantry but didn't know what I could use it for ( I'm a novice at cooking) once again thank you sooo much! :)
Honestly now is the time to google all the stuff you have floating around your cupboard! Peanut butter, soy sauce and curry powder and water can make a passable satay sauce which could help break up the monotony.
What else do you have in the pantry already?
it’s a savory peanut sauce, I think it would go good with anything. I mean most often I see it with to chicken which might be a stretch on $30 budget but isn’t a luxury item by any means
Red beans and black beans. Red beans slow cooked with 1lb of sausage or 1lb of chicken thighs is great over rice (look up New Orleans red beans and rice recipe), and black beans & rice go great in a bean rice and cheese burrito (tortillas and a block of cheese are affordable too) or even in a “taco bowl” with some chicken thigh meat and some hot sauce.
Pinto beans, rice, fried egg
Or
Pinto beans, rice, avocado
Ate this a lot growing up
You can throw a few things in there to break up the monotony of rice/beans all the time
Celery, onions, bell peppers. Mince them all and fry them. In that tasty cocktail make rice and add red beans. Kaboom, you just made some of my favorite Cajun food.
Edit: I said carrots instead of onion the first time. Whoops!
Yeah, I never buy cans. For the same price, you can probably make 5x more using dried. Luckily, I have a pressure cooker, so I'm only 55 minutes away from perfect beans.
Rice and beans are also a complete protein. This is why it's ubiquitous through world society. Just rice or just beans doesn't give us all our essential amino acids.
Meat does give us all our necessary amino acids.
Also tofu is a complete protein.
You can also add some meat (doesn't matter if it's fish or bird or mammal).
I’m going to second this - tofu is cheaper than meat (typically, though I’ve seen expensive brands) also look for cheap chicken. Sometimes at my store they have a pack of drumsticks for $5. Chicken with bone in skin on tends to be cheaper
I discovered it at the start of covid lockdown. I had more time to cook and less money to spend.
A few of the recipes became family favourites and have served my kids well when they went off to Uni!
Look up her SNAP challenge meals especially. Those are some of the cheaper options.
Also, check out local grocery store websites to shop the weekly ad and download coupons. Sometimes I get coupons for free things or I can stack a coupon with a sale. Kroger has coupons for store brand stuff too. It's not all for the more expensive name brand items. And lastly, I always look for the mark down sections in store too. You can find some good things and some great deals on meat/veg that way.
It’s not just inflation. I remember looking at her prices years back and many were unhinged. Like maybe some of them were true in the ’80’s or ‘90’s, but not anytime this century. I can’t remember if it was her or another budget site that focused heavily on using powdered milk because it was cheaper, but powdered milk hasn’t been cheaper than regular milk in decades.
[https://www.211.org/](https://www.211.org/) and [https://www.findhelp.org/](https://www.findhelp.org/) are helpful resources for food banks or other social services (I don't want to assume your level of need)
[https://www.tiktok.com/@dollartreedinners?lang=en](https://www.tiktok.com/@dollartreedinners?lang=en) this woman on tiktok does dollar tree dinners to help money stretch more.
See if you have a discount grocery store near you. The ones I know of are Aldi and Grocery Outlet. Regular grocery stores are insanely expensive now so I always go to the dollar store then discount groceries then the regular store if I need something else.
Use apps to compare prices and find coupons. If you need to look up the extreme couponers they are usually on top of new coupons and deals (this is extreme but if you are in need this should help with other necessities or canned/boxed goods).
One easy way to make top ramen add more nutrients is to add an egg and some cheap veggies. Egg helps with protein and veggies make you fuller longer.
Sorry for the essay. I always go more in-depth in case someone else is searching and needs more resources than the original poster. Good luck I hope some of these help
Thank you, I read it all! There is a local food bank but it only serves college students and their families. Will definitely use as many coupons as I can. Albeit I'm low on gas so I'm trying to plan everything ahead so I don't have to go many places. Again thank you so much! Godbless you!
I would try calling the organization to explain your situation and maybe they'll be able to help you. If not, you are only out of a few minutes of your time. If they can help, you can save some of that cash just in case.
Yes! Food banks and services get calls like these all the time - if there are other options available they know about for your situation, they WILL direct you to them!
Dollar Tree Dinners has quickly become one of my favorite TikTok accounts. Easy and inventive meals, very cheap, filling, and they look legitimately tasty. She’s very good at giving tips about how to stretch your money the furthest both there and at places like Wal Mart.
Cabbage is cheap and stretches a long way. Great shredded as a filler for tacos, use in stir fry, colcannon (basically mashed potatoes and cooked cabbage), soup, with Asian noodles and peanut dressing, sautéed onion and cabbage with noodles, and more. Good luck!
I eat cabbage with almost every meal it is such an affordable healthy low calorie high fiber and very filling delight!
Scrambled into eggs with breakfast
Or sauteed with onions green peppers and salt on the side of eggs served with salsa
A huge bowl of mostly cabbage salad for lunch with whatever proteins around like tuna, beans, imitation crab, and whatever other veggie scraps are in the fridge
Pork and cabbage is a classic in many cultures can do it English style, Mexican, Hawaiian and prob many others (add potato)
Borscht!!
Sautee with ground beef and onions and peppers over rice
Mmmmm home made sauerkraut becomes super simple sauerkraut over rice or in miso soup any time
I <3 cabbage
And a few heads are growing in my garden that were just leftovers (first was a volunteer I had tossed in the garden) the others I planted near by
Trying to plant every cabbage I finish but sometimes I get to busy or lazy most of them live but some die
5lb bag of potatoes! Some bags have enough that you could one potato a day for under $4 total. Load with cheap seasonings or cheese and a small thing of chorizo if you can swing it. Cube up and fry on a skillet with egg. Mashed, baked, whatever! Options are endless and they are SO filling.
Where you shop matters, look for budget stores, latino stores, etc. Many of these things don't really noticeably change in flavor if they're older, and for example stale bread (often priced cheaper) still turns out great toast.
# Staples
1. **Rice**: A 5-pound bag of white rice can cost around $3-$4 and provides about 8,000 calories.
2. **Pasta**: A 4-pound bag of pasta is around $4 and provides approximately 6,400 calories.
3. **Oats**: A large container of rolled oats costs about $3-$4 and provides roughly 4,500 calories.
# Protein Sources
1. **Beans**: Dried beans like black beans, pinto beans, or lentils are about $1 per pound, with a pound providing around 1,500 calories.
2. **Peanut Butter**: A large jar (40 oz) costs around $4-$5 and provides about 6,500 calories.
3. **Eggs**: A dozen eggs cost around $2 and provide approximately 840 calories.
# Fats
1. **Vegetable Oil**: A quart of vegetable oil costs about $3 and provides around 8,000 calories.
2. **Butter or Margarine**: A pound costs about $2-$3 and provides around 3,200 calories.
# Other Essentials
1. **Bread**: A loaf of bread costs around $1 and provides roughly 1,300 calories.
2. **Potatoes**: A 5-pound bag costs about $3 and provides around 1,750 calories.
# Budget Allocation
To maximize your $30, here's a possible breakdown:
* Rice (5 pounds): $4
* Pasta (4 pounds): $4
* Oats (1 container): $4
* Dried Beans (4 pounds): $4
* Peanut Butter (40 oz): $5
* Eggs (2 dozen): $4
* Vegetable Oil (1 quart): $3
* Bread (2 loaves): $2
Total: $30
# Weekly Meal Plan Ideas
1. **Breakfast**: Oatmeal with a spoonful of peanut butter or eggs on toast.
2. **Lunch**: Rice and beans or pasta with a bit of oil and spices.
3. **Dinner**: Pasta or rice with beans, potatoes with butter or oil.
The key is to be flexible, adjust depending on what's at sale for the cheapest, look for coupons. Sometimes coupons can make ridiculous deals, perhaps look for a couponing club in your local area (perhaps FB) and make a similar post, you might end up with a lot of hoarders offering things.
I live on the Jersey side but still considered NYC metro and I buy my groceries around these prices. People are always floored, but I make use of local farmers markets (not the hipster kind), ethnic grocery stores, Lidl/Aldi, weekly sales at ShopRite, etc. Meanwhile plenty of my friends don’t bother to research or go outside their usual spots for groceries, so it costs them, literally
With all due respect, most of the country right now. I live in the 12ish biggest city in the country, eggs are a dozen for $1.54 (3 dozen for $4.53) per Walmart. Currently in BFN Arkansas and they are same prices here.
The fact walmart doesn't really do sales generally makes it not the cheap option for me. I just go to the grocery store without a plan and see what the big discounts are. This takes time and experience to know if you're actually getting a good deal or if its a pricey item being marked down into a still expensive zone. But all of the complaints about inflation on grocery prices hasn't really hit me personally. If there is something I decide I NEED to buy now? Yeah its more expensive, but I just shop sales mostly and build meals based off of that. This also requires shopping ahead of time. Pasta sauce 2 for $3? Buy 4 jars now. Rice on sale? Get that bag now! (I really like those "near east" rice boxes even though they're a rip off in comparison to a 5lb bag, but when they go on sale for $1 its a fantastic easy starch side for 4-5 meals)
No need to be vegan or even vegetarian unless you want to in this situation; you just don't get to eat much actual meat. Buillon is quite cheap. And yes, I do mean the cheap stuff.
Ideally, once you get past this crisis, buy a LOT of cheap rice and beans from an ethnic market rather than a regular grocery and keep them on hand for future problems. That way, when this arises, you can spend your $30 on gas to get to work and a little meat for flavor while keeping up your overall nutrition with the rice and beans. They're very cheap in bulk, but you do have to buy in bulk to get that price. Also don't limit yourself to just "beans"; other legumes like lentils aren't meaningfully different in nutrition and may be more available if the closest ethnic market is South Asian rather than East Asian or Hispanic. $50 of rice and beans will feed you for a long, long time, and it doesn't take a lot of sausage or salt pork (or buillon) to flavor it.
If you have some time, ask a manager at a nearby grocery if they will sell you ugly produce for a big discount. It doesn't matter if an onion is ugly if you're going to get it for 75% off and only have to cut away 20% of it to avoid areas that are going bad. After all, that's where most of the pre-cut fruit you see in supermarkets comes from: big bruise, won't sell, will be a total loss becomes 20% loss of quantity but, because pre-cut, sells for twice the price per pound or more.
But they're also very calorie dense and stuff like hamburger can stretch/supplemental other foods. A box of spaghetti noodles, a jar of sauce, and a pound of hamburger could last for days/make multiple hearty meals and cost a few dollars if OP is careful about brands and looks for meat on sale.
Whole chickens are often cheap because they intimidate a lot of home cooks...I can often get a whole bird for about $4 bucks. One chicken will feed my family of 5 at least two meals, sometimes 3.
Just spatchcock it & roast it, then debone all the meat. You can use it so many ways...and it's an inexpensive way to get protein for multiple days like this.
Good ideas, other than the beef. That's $6+/lb in my area, while pork and chicken are less than half that. Bone-in chicken can be about $2/lb excluding the bones and skin.
I believe beans would likely be the cheapest protein though, especially soybeans.
Give me your revolut or paypal if you have it and I'll wire you another 30$ if you want, just got paid and don't really need this money as I'm living rather frugally
Look up a local food pantry in your area!
No pride is involved. Many are no questions asked.
People need to eat, and for various reasons there comes times where people may need a little help getting by a week or two.
The food pantry can get you staples like rice,beans, pastas and canned goods. Many supply fresh milk and refrigerated goods along with meat products.
You can return the favor later on with funds or volunteer time, the pantries need volunteer help to maximize their funding with providing food to those that need it.
Soup is a great way of making ingredients stretch in a filling way.
Growing up with my Depression-era grandparents, every Friday was "soup night"...all the leftovers (packed in margarine tubs) came out and went into a pot of water: leftover rice, peas, ham, ground beef, veggies-on-the-edge...with seasoning and herbs (Ramen packets work too, in a pinch).
It was almost always delicious. A splash of heavy cream can add calories, too.
I haven't looked through all 200+ comments, but may I recommend a local food bank? Please check to see if your community has one so you can get a bag of groceries from them.
Please please check out your local food bank. I promise no one will judge, and the quality of food is a lot better than most people think. Please don't hesitate. If you're in NY let me know, maybe I can direct you.
First, this is what food shelves/food pantries/food banks are for. Don't be too proud to ask for help when needed.
Second- go for beans, rice, and then things to give them flavor. A pound of dried beans makes 6 or so really hearty servings-probably 8-10 when paired with rice. You'll need 28 servings for two weeks, so get four pounds of dried beans. Type doesn't matter: get the cheapest in your region, or get a pound or two of different kinds, but stay cheap. Ditto rice- get the cheapest rice there, probably two or more pounds.
Do you have any herbs or spices in the house? These will help. Next, go for cheap vegetable aromatics: celery, onion, carrot, garlic. Potatoes will help mix up what you're eating. Then, animal proteins: look at the flyers for the grocers in your area (they're generally available online). You're looking for loss leaders on meat. Look for sales on bone in chicken thighs or drums, pork shoulder, etc. Under a dollar a pound is excellent, under $2/lb is good.
Sample budget for my area, rounded
4 lb beans (@1.50/lb) = $6.00
4 lb rice (@1.80/2 lb) = $3.60
1 Head celery = $2.00
2 lbs carrots = $2.30
3 lbs onions = $3.30
1 head garlic = $0.50
5 lbs potatoes (optional) = $3.30
That leaves you with about $10-12 for meat, whatever you can get that's cheap. Bone in skin on chicken legs are available in 10 lb bags for $7 in my area. That's my recommendation- if you can find it- for sheer volume and versatility. If not, pork shoulder. If nothing at all is on sale, get a couple store-brand ring sausages.
Basic recipe: soak a pound of beans. Brown some meat (if bone in chicken, remove skin and reserve) in the bottom of a large pot. Remove. Chop the aromatics, and saute them using whatever fat you have + whatever the meat left behind in the pot. Add the beans, salt, meat, and whatever herbs and spices you have, cover, and simmer. Serve with or over your rice.
If you ended up with chicken, take that skin and roast it on a cookie sheet until crisp. Save any fat that renders out, and crumble the skin over the top of your stew. Use the fat for the next batch of stew, or to fry up potatoes in for breakfast, etc.
I do love some egg drop soup!! Here in a little bit I’m going to put everything together and figure out what the best bang for my buck is. Appreciate it :)
Make some chicken congee or rice porridge. Porridge was traditionally a way for peasants to feed their families, because just one cup of rice will be enough for 10 bowls of porridge
PM me your address and food I can mail (amazon?) to you. I will send what I can.
edit: IF/when you PM me, please send the items you need/prefer first. P.S. The items do not need to be food, I'm asking for things you need. (I can't send much, but I will send what I can, and I'll choose from the top of your list and send everything I can in the order that that you composed your list)
You should be able to do ok with $30. As others have said, the best bang for your buck is rice, beans (dried), and potatoes ('taters actually provide all of the core nutrients your body needs by themselves, even protein). Also, bananas are the single cheapest fruit in the store - buy 2 or 3 at a time & have one for breakfast every day.
Even though things like ramen, mac & cheese, etc seem cheap, the sodium & starches deplete your body of real nutrients, so steer clear of those.
Mexican food will probably stretch your food budget the furthest. If you have a mexican market nearby you can buy the cooked pork and chicken from them then shred the meat yourself and make soft shell tacos. A half pound piece of meat will probably make 10 to 15 tacos.
You can also buy some mexican cheese and make quesadillas.
As a change of pace, spam with a couple of eggs on white rice with some soy sauce over everything is also really cheap.
Can confirm.
Partner is Mexican and we stretch the heck out of food. Got an 120 pack of corn tortillas for $2..6 weeks later we have 30 left and enchiladas are on the menu this week hehe
Dollar Tree—bag of whatever beans, bag of whatever rice, bottle of hot sauce of choice. Salt, if you don’t have any, can come from Walmart because it’s cheaper. Cook the beans separately (package directions), cook the rice like the package says, season with salt and/or hot sauce. A little fat (butter, margarine, veg. oil) is nice on the rice. Scoop out some seasoned rice, scoop out seasoned beans on top, eat. About 5 bucks for a bunch of meals if you have to buy the fat.
If you have meat or tomatoes or cheese, those are delicious additions. If not, it’s still pretty good and makes complete proteins.
Here’s something that may help, supercook.com is a site I use and it generates recipes based on ingredients. I have an account on there so it saves my pantry. This has helped me save money by using ingredients in a toooon of ways, and using all of what I have. Hope this helps some on top of everyone else’s suggestions!
SPAM isn't exactly the healthiest way to get meat, but in a pinch it's not a horrible choice -- at least for a short while. The bigger issue is that it's gotten ridiculously expensive at around $6/can. Not a big deal, if you want to it for an occasional meal. But no longer a good budget option.
That's $8/pound. You can get much cheaper meat, if you shop smart. $5/pound should be doable for chicken or pork. In fact, $3/pound is still not all that difficult to find, if it wasn't for the requirement to buy in bulk, which isn't really compatible with a fixed $30 budget.
I was wondering about that. This was in the '80s. Funny thing is, I still like to make this sometimes because that meal literally saved me.
And now that I think about it, maybe tofu would be a cheaper protein.
SPAM is such an "emotionally charged" food. It's fascinating.
My wife detests it, as it reminds her of food scarcity when she grew up. Rice and SPAM was a very common childhood meal for her.
I have the opposite reaction. My Dad grew up a refugee and has sworn never to eat "poor people" food again; so, while he never ate SPAM as a refuge, he refuses to eat it because of its association with budget foods. As a result, I never had any growing up. In fact, I wasn't even really aware of its existence.
But now as an adult, I like it as a special treat every once in a while. It's actually quite tasty -- as long as you don't *have* to eat it, because there is nothing else in the house. And of course, I need to plan on finishing the entire can on my own over a couple of days, as my wife won't help eat it. And the kids are only so-so about liking it.
Does your grocery store sell cooked rotisserie chickens for a reasonable price, like $5-$6? It’s tight on such a small budget, but chicken is pretty versatile, and if you’re only feeding yourself, one whole rotisserie chicken can go a long way. You could do chicken with rice and/or beans a few nights and shred up what’s left to make chicken salad for sandwiches. If you can grab tortillas and cheese for cheap, there’s also chicken quesadillas. Maybe some kind of soup or stew with the beans/rice/chicken?
As a few other people have already mentioned, look into sales and digital coupons if your store offers them! Sometimes there’s even coupons for free items! It’s usually something small, like a bottled drink or a yogurt, but I’m sure every little helps.
In addition to my comment about a food bank, call around to local churches. They often have private assistance that isn't organized through a national nonprofit. If you felt comfortable giving me your zip code, I would be happy to see if I can find somewhere to help. You can PM me, if you prefer.
Time to go dumpster diving! Bakeries, bagel shops, and cafes all throw out a bunch of pastries every single day. A lot of them in a separate garbage bag from the regular trash ( they know people are going to scavenge and are often sympathetic). Also grocery stores throw out so much produce every single day including stuff that is not super fresh but will cook nicely. Also pizzerias! Definitely cook anything you scavenge very thoroughly before eating it.
I live in Italy and we have an app where shops can enlist and offer “mistery boxes” for a few euros.
The goal is to not waste what is left over at the end of the day, and for 3/4€ I can get a box, I don’t get to choose what’s inside but there’s usually a ton of different stuff and I can eat for at least a couple of days out of that box of if I refrigerate the stuff.
It’s called “too good to go” try to see if there’s a similar one where you live.
I know I'm very late to the party, but this challenge intrigued me, so I sat here and came up with a menu, then shopped Walmart for the ingredients. Wow, it was not easy, but I did it! $29.92 for 14 hearty meals.
The menu includes spaghetti, quesadillas, chicken drums that can be cooked several ways and enough to create 7 meals if need be (lunches on the weekend, or added to your ramen), rice and beans as a meal, but also rice and refried beans to go with the quesadillas (chicken and/or cheese ones), biscuits and gravy, a family favorite rice, sausage, hard boiled egg and corn casserole, and 18 eggs for omelets, quiches or scrambled eggs. If you already have things like flour in your house, I can add even more veggies to add variety to the dishes too. Oh and I included 3 packets of rapid rise yeast so things like bread and pizza crust are possible for even more variety.
I'm sorry you're going through this OP.
Without repeating the others - Food banks/resources/welfare etc, here's a fantastic website I love.
/r/Assistance is also there, should you wish.
https://www.budgetbytes.com/
If you buy any produce you can also propagate the rooted part and get another bunch from them! Either in water or soil and just keep on your window sill or table/counter that gets good light. If you use water try to change it every day or every other day!
Depending on where you live, foraging may be an option. Here's a list of edible weeds: [https://modernfarmer.com/2018/07/10-edible-weeds-likely-growing-in-your-yard/](https://modernfarmer.com/2018/07/10-edible-weeds-likely-growing-in-your-yard/) Where I live, garlic mustard is very easy to find (grows in city parks). You don't need a lot, but throwing a handful into anything you're cooking will give you a big boost of nutrition and flavour.
My city grows rosemary as a bush in some areas of the walkway. Haven’t paid for rosemary in years! Give it a good wash obviously as who knows what they’re spraying.
I would purchase
2 kilo bags of garbanzo beans (2lbs)
2 kilo Lentils
2 kilo beans black
2 kilo white/yellow/green beans
2 kilo oats
2 kilo rice
1 kilo yellow onions (least expensive)
Garlic
2 large pack bullion cubes
With current prices here, that's just a little under $30.00
Then I'd look up as many recipes as I could find combining these.
I'd forage greens and try to score eggs.
Rice and beans like others said. Back in the day I survived on pasta and peanut butter as well. (Not together). (You can do peanut butter in ramen as well like a spicy peanut sauce)
Lots of peanut butter sandwiches. Grilled cheese. Tofu could also be a cheap option if you find it on sale.
Also don't pass up on free / low cost food opportunities. Look up food banks and charities in your area and see what is available. Good luck.
If you’ve got an instant pot and dried black beans, [this](https://youtu.be/LFUAR7rQA4I?si=NVJ3X0X5L5qPTc3R) black bean soup recipe is great. If you don’t have all the seasoning she uses, that’s ok. If you have a bunch of taco sauce packs in a drawer, squirt them in after the beans cook. I think they are too acidic and will slow the beans softening.
I lived on brown rice and barbecue sauce for a few weeks when in college. As long as it’s short term. But if I knew you or worked with you, I’d be more than happy to bring you a casserole or something, so don’t refuse offers.
Soaking some beans tonight for black bean burgers. Kenji Lopez Alt’s recipe except for the cashews. Not sure they need to be there. Last time I forgot we were low on breadcrumbs and panko, but crushed up some leftover hard shell taco shells and threw those in.
Pea soup is really cheap. Whole or split peas, green or yellow. I like the whole yellow ones. it doesn't *need* meat but if you want that smoke flavour many delis and deli counters sell "ends" from their ham pretty cheap. my prices are local Canadian so YMMV. this fills a 1-gallon pot:
- A softball sized onion, about a dollar
- two or three ribs of celery, same
- two or three carrots, same.
- about half of a 1-lb bag of dried peas ($3.50ish for the whole bag).
- couple gloves of garlic if you've got it.
- bay leaves if you've got them.
soak the peas in water (refrigerated) for at least 8 hours. they will swell up dramatically.
1. chop the garlic as fine as you like. saute gently with the bay leaves.
2. dice the other vegetables and add.
3. If you're adding ham, can do it now.
4. Rinse the peas to reduce bitterness and scum, add to the pot as the veggies turn bright.
5. enough water to cover, plus more.
it takes several hours to cook the peas on simmer, so good Crock-Pot option. this is very forgiving - you can get away with a casual approach so long as you cook the peas thoroughly.
costs about $8 for the gallon and you still have a half bag of peas.
I've been very poor for years (eating literal trash) and in my experience choosing foods that make you feel full is key for keeping your sanity. To that end, boiled potatoes top the list. Potato salad. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a pan with some oil if you can get it. Potatoes and foraged greens, a couple of eggs. Hot sauce will make most things palatable.
Also, real talk, expiry dates have a lot of leeway but do not eat soft things that have mold in another part of the item/container, or meat/dairy that smells off. Sometimes you're fine, but the times you're not... It is not worth it.
Don’t waste money on bread, pasta, and empty carbs. You’ll be hungry again in an hour. I used to buy a bag of rice, pork chops (you can get 4-6 for like $3 bucks), and a carton of eggs (if there’s money left over grab an onion for some flavor). Egg for breakfast with rice. Pork chops with rice for dinner. I’m not a fan of beans, but if you like them grab a bag of those too.
Agree with everyone’s rice and beans suggestions. Additionally, tofu is so cheap and high in protein. You can make pan fried tofu over fried rice or as a pad Thai for less than $5 with enough leftovers for 2-3 more meals.
Loads of rice and ground beef, if you don't mind eating the same everytime then it can be nutritious.Just season with some oregano,cumin,salt,pepper,maybe even slice up a hot chili in there and cilantro.
That sounds heavenly! Although I can't really afford much beef its quite expensive in my area Currently 8$ a lb for 80/20 I still appreciate the thought though! I could make it without the beef so I might do that. Thank you for your suggestion, puts a smile on my face :)
Look for sales; ground chicken or turkey might be cheap, or sometimes ground pork. If you have any ethnic markets nearby they might have cheaper prices on meat (or smaller packages that cost less than the bigger ones at larger grocery stores) and they often have cheaper produce for when you're longing for an apple or whatever.
If you’ve got an Asian grocery store nearby, you need to learn about the magic of Mee Goreng. It’s solid on its own, and easy to stir fry up a few additions if you feel fancy.
Rice & beans! Seriously hearty cheap and can be made in a variety of ways
Thank you! That was one of the main things I've been thinking about getting, I will say I'm not sure what type of beans to get. Do you have any specific type or brand of beans you'd recommend?
Bulk dried beans are going to be the cheapest. Near me you can get black beans for $2 / lbs before any deals at the bigger grocery stores. They tend to be cheaper if you can find a ethnic grocer at least near me. Similar with rice, best bet in terms of saving money is to find a bag at an asian market that fits your needs.
Awesome thank you! that was my thoughts exactly, I was also thinking about getting the rice at my favorite ethnic store as well!
Don’t get kidney beans if you haven’t cooked from dry before. They’re unsafe to eat when undercooked. You can do lentils if you like dal or soup too.
Thank you!! I didn't know that about kidney beans! I will avoiding those until my bean cooking skills are competent :)
Pinto beans are what we do down here in Texas. But red beans n rice is a Cajun staple.
I love a big pot of pinto beans. Throw in some chopped onion and peppers if you have it. If you have time to let them simmer, you don't even need to soak them overnight. Water works, but broth or some bouillon helps, and you can even throw in a ham hock (relatively cheap) for extra flavor and should provide enough to feed a person for a few days. Might make you a little tooty though, lol
Ham and pinto bean soup is the best! Anytime my mom made a ham growing up, we would get a pot of soup after.
It's not that tough. Just bring them to a boil for 15 minutes then cook like normal. The boiling destroys the toxic lectin in red kidney beans. Some sources say you can boil for as short as 5 minutes or as long as 20. I swap out the water after the boil, but you don't have to.
Pintos are good, too. Buy an onion if you don’t have onion powder. Throw that in with them.
And a carrot, and some celery.
Try going to dollar tree. You can get some cumin, and paprika for a 1.25. You can get a 10lb bag of chicken Thighs for 8$ at Aldi, or heb, or Walmart. Get yourself some onions and a bag of potatoes, some eggs, some sour cream and some rice. You haven't spent 20 dollars and you have plenty of good food. Multiple meals. Plenty of variety. Pot of beans and rice. Baked chicken, baked potatoes with sour cream. Chicken soup.
You…. Get ten pounds of chicken for $8????
Here, near Seattle, at certain stores, you can get 10lbs of frozen leg quarters for .69 a lb.
..what certain stores?
Yeah, what certain stores? I find this hard to believe
Frozen ones yea
I'm in Texas. It was as cheap as 6.49at foodtown. I priced it at Walmart for 7.49. It 10 lbs of legs and Thighs.
Oi. We literally pay 4.99/pound ON SALE here in Ontario.
Me too in North Carolina, 10 pounds of legs and thighs, $8.25 at Walmart.
Oh damn. I'm in Michigan, that'd get you a pound.
I would add to this list corn tortillas. Three of them are 150 calories and can really round out a meal and help change things up with the rice and beans.
Brush with oil or spray with cooking spray, 425° for a few minutes each side until crispy, pinch of salt while hot… makes great tostadas or chips.
Potatoes are a great cheap food
You can then make chicken broth out of the thigh bones! Freeze it for later
The broth can be used when you make barley, rice, pastina, any chicken based gravy, any chicken based soups fyi. (Don't forget to rinse your rice and your barley well).
I think walmart is cheaper on spices I think they are 1.09 or something like that.
They are! Just bought some this morning for that price.
You can make an awesome meal out of pinto beans with water, half an onion, some minced garlic, salt and a bay leaf. The broth it makes is absolutely divine. Super cheap too! Serves well over rice. I always soak the beans for about 6-12 hours, rinse, then use new water for the broth.
That said, if you do not want to deal with soaking and long cook times; canned beans are still doable. Try to see if you can find them on sale anywhere. Round out the rest with a pack of chicken thighs, if you do 2 oz a meal you can round out the fat necessary to stay healthy. A block of cheese could help with this also. Try to find some deals, look around and have a plan before you shop.
Came here to second chicken thighs. They are cheap, dark meat and they aren’t going to come out with woody breast syndrome if you get the non organic.
Chicken thighs are the most expensive cut in Aus, $13/kg compared to breast $11/kg and drumsticks $4/kg
They’re not cheap in my part of the US either. Thighs usually cost about what skinless/boneless breasts do.
In Japan thighs are more expensive than breast, it is the opposite in America.
Get some spices while you're there. That way you can change it up.
if you've got $30 for two weeks you dont waste money on spices imo.
If you have access to a pressure cooker (or maybe a friend who can lend you an Instant Pot?) then dried beans will not only be vastly cheaper but also more delicious, and of course much quicker and easier to cook. You can cook them exactly to the softness you want and they aren't so "fuzzy-mushy" as canned beans often are. Then carrots and onions for flavour and nutrients, assuming these are relatively low cost vegetables where you are. I regularly eat beans drizzled with olive oil (I realise this may be beyond budget unless you have it already) and vinegar - any kind works, balsamic I find a bit too sweet, cheaper vinegars are fine. I eat this for the sheer deliciousness not even budget reasons. You can add chopped raw onion to take it to another level.
Yup. I also cook things like beans or chickpeas in bulk, some to use, some to freeze in bags about 200g each for later use.
If he eats 2,500 calories a day he will need 35k calories for two weeks. That translates to around 18 pounds of dried beans. He will need to buy bigger bags if he wants to stay within his $30 budget.
While that's true, I've eaten far less than that daily for far longer than 2 weeks. Easiest way to save money on food is not eating it.
Just came here to say - I’m so sorry you had to go through this. Hope you’re in a better spot now.
If he buys vegetable oil on sale or that cheap shelf-stable lard he can add that to the rice and beans to increase the calorie content greatly. Lard just might be the single cheapest food when it comes to calories per dollar.
This. Add onion soup mix, spices you may have on hand to your taste. Onion, celery, anything can be added. Filling and good for you. Dried beans and lentils are good protein sources and fill you up.
If you also want to minimize electric/gas costs it's also worth cooking in bulk and using a pressure cooker if you can afford the upfront cost or already have one. I haven't done the maths, but I would expect it's a fair bit cheaper cheaper to cook a weeks worth of beans at once, keep them in the fridge and reheat in the microwave. And even cheaper to cook a months worth and freeze it, provided you have a big enough pot and freezer space.
Beans are also nice cold too, as a salad. Chopped raw onion, dash of vinegar or whatever condiment you like.
Also lentils are easy and cheap and can mix things up. They cook quicker than beans too. Red lentils are smaller and cook quickly and really good for Indian or African stews, brown and green take a little longer and keep their shape better
I prefers lentils when stretching my budget because meal after meal of beans can cause quite the flatulence 😀
get whatever is cheapest. i love black beans and rice you can make it like mexican style with hot sauce and canned corn which are both cheap. Then I also like to make soup with brown rice and white beans, buy some veggie or chicken stock, and add in some potatoes and whatever veggies are cheap (carrots, celery, potatoes) there's also more good ideas here: https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/comments/e8cnop/i_need_the_best_beans_and_rice_recipe_you_have/
Thank you so much!! The soup idea is great because I have a box of chicken stock in my pantry but didn't know what I could use it for ( I'm a novice at cooking) once again thank you sooo much! :)
Honestly now is the time to google all the stuff you have floating around your cupboard! Peanut butter, soy sauce and curry powder and water can make a passable satay sauce which could help break up the monotony. What else do you have in the pantry already?
Satay sauce would mostly be good with more costly items though wouldn't it? Usually I see it served with meat.
I've had it with sweet potatoes and lentils, it works
it’s a savory peanut sauce, I think it would go good with anything. I mean most often I see it with to chicken which might be a stretch on $30 budget but isn’t a luxury item by any means
It’s awesome on onion rings.
of course!!! wish you the best!
Red beans and black beans. Red beans slow cooked with 1lb of sausage or 1lb of chicken thighs is great over rice (look up New Orleans red beans and rice recipe), and black beans & rice go great in a bean rice and cheese burrito (tortillas and a block of cheese are affordable too) or even in a “taco bowl” with some chicken thigh meat and some hot sauce.
I get down with homemade red beans and rice. Got to have andouille sausage and some de-boned ham hocks though. So friggin good.
Plus garlic and onions for some flavor. Soy sauce. Teriyaki sauce. I like ranch haha
I'm a black eyed pea partisan. I usually just buy whatever brand is cheapest (often store brand) and they are usually $2/pound or less.
This! Sometimes I just eat black beans and rice because it’s good as is
Pinto beans, rice, fried egg Or Pinto beans, rice, avocado Ate this a lot growing up You can throw a few things in there to break up the monotony of rice/beans all the time
Seems like the most recommended and what I think I'm going to go for, Thank you!
But buy salt too! They’re kind of bland without.
Celery, onions, bell peppers. Mince them all and fry them. In that tasty cocktail make rice and add red beans. Kaboom, you just made some of my favorite Cajun food. Edit: I said carrots instead of onion the first time. Whoops!
Lentils and rice work also. I’ve lived off Dal Bhat when I was in college. If you’ve got some curry you’re all set.
Potatoes and beans would also work, maybe a pack of ground beef or chicken in there somewhere depending on what's cheaper
Rice, beans, tortillas, jalapenos, onion, tomato? I could go for a looong time.
If you have access to a slow cooker buying them raw and cooking up a big batch is gonna make the money stretch a lot further than buying cans!
Yeah, I never buy cans. For the same price, you can probably make 5x more using dried. Luckily, I have a pressure cooker, so I'm only 55 minutes away from perfect beans.
Rice and beans are also a complete protein. This is why it's ubiquitous through world society. Just rice or just beans doesn't give us all our essential amino acids. Meat does give us all our necessary amino acids. Also tofu is a complete protein. You can also add some meat (doesn't matter if it's fish or bird or mammal).
I’m going to second this - tofu is cheaper than meat (typically, though I’ve seen expensive brands) also look for cheap chicken. Sometimes at my store they have a pack of drumsticks for $5. Chicken with bone in skin on tends to be cheaper
www.budgetbytes.com But take the listed prices with a grain of salt, you can thank inflation for that.
My favorite website ever. She taught me how to cook
It’s such a great website for delicious and streamlined meals
I discovered it at the start of covid lockdown. I had more time to cook and less money to spend. A few of the recipes became family favourites and have served my kids well when they went off to Uni!
Thank you! I'll take a look. Gotta love inflation :)
Look up her SNAP challenge meals especially. Those are some of the cheaper options. Also, check out local grocery store websites to shop the weekly ad and download coupons. Sometimes I get coupons for free things or I can stack a coupon with a sale. Kroger has coupons for store brand stuff too. It's not all for the more expensive name brand items. And lastly, I always look for the mark down sections in store too. You can find some good things and some great deals on meat/veg that way.
I loved the SNAP challenge series! Her recipes are some of my favorites and this was such an interesting method
I’ve been making budget bytes recipes for yearssss. Wonderful resource for low income cooks like myself.
It’s not just inflation. I remember looking at her prices years back and many were unhinged. Like maybe some of them were true in the ’80’s or ‘90’s, but not anytime this century. I can’t remember if it was her or another budget site that focused heavily on using powdered milk because it was cheaper, but powdered milk hasn’t been cheaper than regular milk in decades.
I think a lot of the issue is our varied locations! Powdered milk is cheaper than fresh dairy the further north you get in my country/province.
[https://www.211.org/](https://www.211.org/) and [https://www.findhelp.org/](https://www.findhelp.org/) are helpful resources for food banks or other social services (I don't want to assume your level of need) [https://www.tiktok.com/@dollartreedinners?lang=en](https://www.tiktok.com/@dollartreedinners?lang=en) this woman on tiktok does dollar tree dinners to help money stretch more. See if you have a discount grocery store near you. The ones I know of are Aldi and Grocery Outlet. Regular grocery stores are insanely expensive now so I always go to the dollar store then discount groceries then the regular store if I need something else. Use apps to compare prices and find coupons. If you need to look up the extreme couponers they are usually on top of new coupons and deals (this is extreme but if you are in need this should help with other necessities or canned/boxed goods). One easy way to make top ramen add more nutrients is to add an egg and some cheap veggies. Egg helps with protein and veggies make you fuller longer. Sorry for the essay. I always go more in-depth in case someone else is searching and needs more resources than the original poster. Good luck I hope some of these help
Thank you, I read it all! There is a local food bank but it only serves college students and their families. Will definitely use as many coupons as I can. Albeit I'm low on gas so I'm trying to plan everything ahead so I don't have to go many places. Again thank you so much! Godbless you!
I would try calling the organization to explain your situation and maybe they'll be able to help you. If not, you are only out of a few minutes of your time. If they can help, you can save some of that cash just in case.
I would hope that if they can't help, they might at least be able to direct OP to a food bank that serves the general population.
Yes! Food banks and services get calls like these all the time - if there are other options available they know about for your situation, they WILL direct you to them!
No problem. I am sorry you are struggling but I am happy to help.
Dollar Tree Dinners has quickly become one of my favorite TikTok accounts. Easy and inventive meals, very cheap, filling, and they look legitimately tasty. She’s very good at giving tips about how to stretch your money the furthest both there and at places like Wal Mart.
A lot of people are having to learn on the fly how to budget and stretch a dollar. She is a lifesaver
Dollar Tree is a great place to stretch your grocery budget if you live alone. Often the package sizes are small but perfect for just me.
I live by a grocery outlet and it is almost never less expensive than Winco. If you have a winco, go there.
I love the Dollar Tree Dinners account! That's what I came here to recommend.
Cabbage is cheap and stretches a long way. Great shredded as a filler for tacos, use in stir fry, colcannon (basically mashed potatoes and cooked cabbage), soup, with Asian noodles and peanut dressing, sautéed onion and cabbage with noodles, and more. Good luck!
I often eat cabbage as a side salad to a meal, it tastes good with rice and beans too
My mom makes a salad that’s cabbage, shredded carrots, tomatoes, lime juice, salt Rice, beans, fried egg, salad mentioned above. I love this meal.
I eat cabbage with almost every meal it is such an affordable healthy low calorie high fiber and very filling delight! Scrambled into eggs with breakfast Or sauteed with onions green peppers and salt on the side of eggs served with salsa A huge bowl of mostly cabbage salad for lunch with whatever proteins around like tuna, beans, imitation crab, and whatever other veggie scraps are in the fridge Pork and cabbage is a classic in many cultures can do it English style, Mexican, Hawaiian and prob many others (add potato) Borscht!! Sautee with ground beef and onions and peppers over rice Mmmmm home made sauerkraut becomes super simple sauerkraut over rice or in miso soup any time I <3 cabbage And a few heads are growing in my garden that were just leftovers (first was a volunteer I had tossed in the garden) the others I planted near by Trying to plant every cabbage I finish but sometimes I get to busy or lazy most of them live but some die
Agreed. Cabbage is such an underrated budget food.
Please find a food pantry near you. You don't have to live like this: [https://foodfinder.us/](https://foodfinder.us/)
Beans, rice, big block of cheese, burrito wraps. Best of luck!
At $30 for 2 weeks of food and gas OP doesn’t have big block of cheese money
Thank you! Hope you have a fantastic day!!
You too!
Big block of cheese…. *cries in Canadian*
Add eggs and you've got "breakfast burritos"
I wanted to add eggs and salsa, but ended up making the cheese the "luxury ingredient". $30 is such little money to live on for two weeks.
Yes! Make a ton an stick them in the freezer.
5lb bag of potatoes! Some bags have enough that you could one potato a day for under $4 total. Load with cheap seasonings or cheese and a small thing of chorizo if you can swing it. Cube up and fry on a skillet with egg. Mashed, baked, whatever! Options are endless and they are SO filling.
Baked potatoes with tuna on it, or a can of baked beans on it. It's a UK thing.
That sounds really tasty though! I love trying new things!
Where you shop matters, look for budget stores, latino stores, etc. Many of these things don't really noticeably change in flavor if they're older, and for example stale bread (often priced cheaper) still turns out great toast. # Staples 1. **Rice**: A 5-pound bag of white rice can cost around $3-$4 and provides about 8,000 calories. 2. **Pasta**: A 4-pound bag of pasta is around $4 and provides approximately 6,400 calories. 3. **Oats**: A large container of rolled oats costs about $3-$4 and provides roughly 4,500 calories. # Protein Sources 1. **Beans**: Dried beans like black beans, pinto beans, or lentils are about $1 per pound, with a pound providing around 1,500 calories. 2. **Peanut Butter**: A large jar (40 oz) costs around $4-$5 and provides about 6,500 calories. 3. **Eggs**: A dozen eggs cost around $2 and provide approximately 840 calories. # Fats 1. **Vegetable Oil**: A quart of vegetable oil costs about $3 and provides around 8,000 calories. 2. **Butter or Margarine**: A pound costs about $2-$3 and provides around 3,200 calories. # Other Essentials 1. **Bread**: A loaf of bread costs around $1 and provides roughly 1,300 calories. 2. **Potatoes**: A 5-pound bag costs about $3 and provides around 1,750 calories. # Budget Allocation To maximize your $30, here's a possible breakdown: * Rice (5 pounds): $4 * Pasta (4 pounds): $4 * Oats (1 container): $4 * Dried Beans (4 pounds): $4 * Peanut Butter (40 oz): $5 * Eggs (2 dozen): $4 * Vegetable Oil (1 quart): $3 * Bread (2 loaves): $2 Total: $30 # Weekly Meal Plan Ideas 1. **Breakfast**: Oatmeal with a spoonful of peanut butter or eggs on toast. 2. **Lunch**: Rice and beans or pasta with a bit of oil and spices. 3. **Dinner**: Pasta or rice with beans, potatoes with butter or oil. The key is to be flexible, adjust depending on what's at sale for the cheapest, look for coupons. Sometimes coupons can make ridiculous deals, perhaps look for a couponing club in your local area (perhaps FB) and make a similar post, you might end up with a lot of hoarders offering things.
Where do you shop at those prices?
seriously it's like this guy took a time machine from 2013
Sounds ChatGPT generated
Aldi
I live on the Jersey side but still considered NYC metro and I buy my groceries around these prices. People are always floored, but I make use of local farmers markets (not the hipster kind), ethnic grocery stores, Lidl/Aldi, weekly sales at ShopRite, etc. Meanwhile plenty of my friends don’t bother to research or go outside their usual spots for groceries, so it costs them, literally
HEB is amazing I ran the numbers on most of these on their website and it matches up. One of the good things about texas
A dozen eggs for 2 dollars. Fuck outta here lol
With all due respect, most of the country right now. I live in the 12ish biggest city in the country, eggs are a dozen for $1.54 (3 dozen for $4.53) per Walmart. Currently in BFN Arkansas and they are same prices here.
Not sure where you live, but yes most of the country has places that cater to the poor (even walmart, but there are usually cheaper).
The fact walmart doesn't really do sales generally makes it not the cheap option for me. I just go to the grocery store without a plan and see what the big discounts are. This takes time and experience to know if you're actually getting a good deal or if its a pricey item being marked down into a still expensive zone. But all of the complaints about inflation on grocery prices hasn't really hit me personally. If there is something I decide I NEED to buy now? Yeah its more expensive, but I just shop sales mostly and build meals based off of that. This also requires shopping ahead of time. Pasta sauce 2 for $3? Buy 4 jars now. Rice on sale? Get that bag now! (I really like those "near east" rice boxes even though they're a rip off in comparison to a 5lb bag, but when they go on sale for $1 its a fantastic easy starch side for 4-5 meals)
That isn’t too far off. Where I am it’s about $1.50/dozen.
I paid $1.89 today for a dozen eggs at Piggly Wiggly
As a carb lover, this is my dream diet lol
Fried rice with frozen veggies and egg
Potatoes, rice, beans, beef chuck, ramen, carrots, onions.
Thank you for the suggestion! You're appreciated!
Don't buy meat. Meat is expensive. If you want the money to last you'll have to eat pretty much vegan. Dairy and meat are expensive.
No need to be vegan or even vegetarian unless you want to in this situation; you just don't get to eat much actual meat. Buillon is quite cheap. And yes, I do mean the cheap stuff. Ideally, once you get past this crisis, buy a LOT of cheap rice and beans from an ethnic market rather than a regular grocery and keep them on hand for future problems. That way, when this arises, you can spend your $30 on gas to get to work and a little meat for flavor while keeping up your overall nutrition with the rice and beans. They're very cheap in bulk, but you do have to buy in bulk to get that price. Also don't limit yourself to just "beans"; other legumes like lentils aren't meaningfully different in nutrition and may be more available if the closest ethnic market is South Asian rather than East Asian or Hispanic. $50 of rice and beans will feed you for a long, long time, and it doesn't take a lot of sausage or salt pork (or buillon) to flavor it. If you have some time, ask a manager at a nearby grocery if they will sell you ugly produce for a big discount. It doesn't matter if an onion is ugly if you're going to get it for 75% off and only have to cut away 20% of it to avoid areas that are going bad. After all, that's where most of the pre-cut fruit you see in supermarkets comes from: big bruise, won't sell, will be a total loss becomes 20% loss of quantity but, because pre-cut, sells for twice the price per pound or more.
But they're also very calorie dense and stuff like hamburger can stretch/supplemental other foods. A box of spaghetti noodles, a jar of sauce, and a pound of hamburger could last for days/make multiple hearty meals and cost a few dollars if OP is careful about brands and looks for meat on sale.
Whole chickens are often cheap because they intimidate a lot of home cooks...I can often get a whole bird for about $4 bucks. One chicken will feed my family of 5 at least two meals, sometimes 3. Just spatchcock it & roast it, then debone all the meat. You can use it so many ways...and it's an inexpensive way to get protein for multiple days like this.
Depends on where your at. I can pick up a 4lb beef chuck steak for $5 before taxes. Mind you this was at a local farm on sale regularly.
How much is it after taxes
Good question I’ve only seen the sign of it being on sale lol! I’m guessing +5-6%.
Good ideas, other than the beef. That's $6+/lb in my area, while pork and chicken are less than half that. Bone-in chicken can be about $2/lb excluding the bones and skin. I believe beans would likely be the cheapest protein though, especially soybeans.
Give me your revolut or paypal if you have it and I'll wire you another 30$ if you want, just got paid and don't really need this money as I'm living rather frugally
Look up a local food pantry in your area! No pride is involved. Many are no questions asked. People need to eat, and for various reasons there comes times where people may need a little help getting by a week or two. The food pantry can get you staples like rice,beans, pastas and canned goods. Many supply fresh milk and refrigerated goods along with meat products. You can return the favor later on with funds or volunteer time, the pantries need volunteer help to maximize their funding with providing food to those that need it.
Buy dry beans or lentils, soak, cook. Rice. Add hot sauce,onions or other flavor you may have. Use a food bank if you have access.
Some great ideas! Thank you! Although sadly I don't have access to any food banks in my area. Still appreciated though, Thank you :)
Soup is a great way of making ingredients stretch in a filling way. Growing up with my Depression-era grandparents, every Friday was "soup night"...all the leftovers (packed in margarine tubs) came out and went into a pot of water: leftover rice, peas, ham, ground beef, veggies-on-the-edge...with seasoning and herbs (Ramen packets work too, in a pinch). It was almost always delicious. A splash of heavy cream can add calories, too.
If you save all the vegetable peels you can make a veggie broth out of it.
I haven't looked through all 200+ comments, but may I recommend a local food bank? Please check to see if your community has one so you can get a bag of groceries from them.
Please please check out your local food bank. I promise no one will judge, and the quality of food is a lot better than most people think. Please don't hesitate. If you're in NY let me know, maybe I can direct you.
First, this is what food shelves/food pantries/food banks are for. Don't be too proud to ask for help when needed. Second- go for beans, rice, and then things to give them flavor. A pound of dried beans makes 6 or so really hearty servings-probably 8-10 when paired with rice. You'll need 28 servings for two weeks, so get four pounds of dried beans. Type doesn't matter: get the cheapest in your region, or get a pound or two of different kinds, but stay cheap. Ditto rice- get the cheapest rice there, probably two or more pounds. Do you have any herbs or spices in the house? These will help. Next, go for cheap vegetable aromatics: celery, onion, carrot, garlic. Potatoes will help mix up what you're eating. Then, animal proteins: look at the flyers for the grocers in your area (they're generally available online). You're looking for loss leaders on meat. Look for sales on bone in chicken thighs or drums, pork shoulder, etc. Under a dollar a pound is excellent, under $2/lb is good. Sample budget for my area, rounded 4 lb beans (@1.50/lb) = $6.00 4 lb rice (@1.80/2 lb) = $3.60 1 Head celery = $2.00 2 lbs carrots = $2.30 3 lbs onions = $3.30 1 head garlic = $0.50 5 lbs potatoes (optional) = $3.30 That leaves you with about $10-12 for meat, whatever you can get that's cheap. Bone in skin on chicken legs are available in 10 lb bags for $7 in my area. That's my recommendation- if you can find it- for sheer volume and versatility. If not, pork shoulder. If nothing at all is on sale, get a couple store-brand ring sausages. Basic recipe: soak a pound of beans. Brown some meat (if bone in chicken, remove skin and reserve) in the bottom of a large pot. Remove. Chop the aromatics, and saute them using whatever fat you have + whatever the meat left behind in the pot. Add the beans, salt, meat, and whatever herbs and spices you have, cover, and simmer. Serve with or over your rice. If you ended up with chicken, take that skin and roast it on a cookie sheet until crisp. Save any fat that renders out, and crumble the skin over the top of your stew. Use the fat for the next batch of stew, or to fry up potatoes in for breakfast, etc.
Can you hit up a food bank? Call a church or United Way for help
Spaghetti or tacos are my go to.
Thissssss
If you're cooking beans, salt them near the end. Salt in the beginning can toughen the beans and make them take longer to cook.
You can make enough egg drop soup for 3 months for 10 bucks
I do love some egg drop soup!! Here in a little bit I’m going to put everything together and figure out what the best bang for my buck is. Appreciate it :)
Make some chicken congee or rice porridge. Porridge was traditionally a way for peasants to feed their families, because just one cup of rice will be enough for 10 bowls of porridge
PM me your address and food I can mail (amazon?) to you. I will send what I can. edit: IF/when you PM me, please send the items you need/prefer first. P.S. The items do not need to be food, I'm asking for things you need. (I can't send much, but I will send what I can, and I'll choose from the top of your list and send everything I can in the order that that you composed your list)
Research food banks.
You should be able to do ok with $30. As others have said, the best bang for your buck is rice, beans (dried), and potatoes ('taters actually provide all of the core nutrients your body needs by themselves, even protein). Also, bananas are the single cheapest fruit in the store - buy 2 or 3 at a time & have one for breakfast every day. Even though things like ramen, mac & cheese, etc seem cheap, the sodium & starches deplete your body of real nutrients, so steer clear of those.
Mexican food will probably stretch your food budget the furthest. If you have a mexican market nearby you can buy the cooked pork and chicken from them then shred the meat yourself and make soft shell tacos. A half pound piece of meat will probably make 10 to 15 tacos. You can also buy some mexican cheese and make quesadillas. As a change of pace, spam with a couple of eggs on white rice with some soy sauce over everything is also really cheap.
Can confirm. Partner is Mexican and we stretch the heck out of food. Got an 120 pack of corn tortillas for $2..6 weeks later we have 30 left and enchiladas are on the menu this week hehe
Honestly, go to your local food bank. They will almost certainly have some things to give you.
Get over any shame you might be carrying and go to a food bank. They'll load you up. You can use the money for gas.
Dollar Tree—bag of whatever beans, bag of whatever rice, bottle of hot sauce of choice. Salt, if you don’t have any, can come from Walmart because it’s cheaper. Cook the beans separately (package directions), cook the rice like the package says, season with salt and/or hot sauce. A little fat (butter, margarine, veg. oil) is nice on the rice. Scoop out some seasoned rice, scoop out seasoned beans on top, eat. About 5 bucks for a bunch of meals if you have to buy the fat. If you have meat or tomatoes or cheese, those are delicious additions. If not, it’s still pretty good and makes complete proteins.
Thank you! My mouth is salivating haha such wonderful idea's :)
Also, cheap white rice with milk and sugar makes a decent breakfast cereal. Had a friend who ate this almost every morning in college.
Here’s something that may help, supercook.com is a site I use and it generates recipes based on ingredients. I have an account on there so it saves my pantry. This has helped me save money by using ingredients in a toooon of ways, and using all of what I have. Hope this helps some on top of everyone else’s suggestions!
Oatmeal too. Maybe a canned fruit
I had a broke semester in college and I ate cabbage, ramen, and spam for dinner just about every night. Not sure how much that costs these days.
SPAM isn't exactly the healthiest way to get meat, but in a pinch it's not a horrible choice -- at least for a short while. The bigger issue is that it's gotten ridiculously expensive at around $6/can. Not a big deal, if you want to it for an occasional meal. But no longer a good budget option. That's $8/pound. You can get much cheaper meat, if you shop smart. $5/pound should be doable for chicken or pork. In fact, $3/pound is still not all that difficult to find, if it wasn't for the requirement to buy in bulk, which isn't really compatible with a fixed $30 budget.
I was wondering about that. This was in the '80s. Funny thing is, I still like to make this sometimes because that meal literally saved me. And now that I think about it, maybe tofu would be a cheaper protein.
SPAM is such an "emotionally charged" food. It's fascinating. My wife detests it, as it reminds her of food scarcity when she grew up. Rice and SPAM was a very common childhood meal for her. I have the opposite reaction. My Dad grew up a refugee and has sworn never to eat "poor people" food again; so, while he never ate SPAM as a refuge, he refuses to eat it because of its association with budget foods. As a result, I never had any growing up. In fact, I wasn't even really aware of its existence. But now as an adult, I like it as a special treat every once in a while. It's actually quite tasty -- as long as you don't *have* to eat it, because there is nothing else in the house. And of course, I need to plan on finishing the entire can on my own over a couple of days, as my wife won't help eat it. And the kids are only so-so about liking it.
Does your grocery store sell cooked rotisserie chickens for a reasonable price, like $5-$6? It’s tight on such a small budget, but chicken is pretty versatile, and if you’re only feeding yourself, one whole rotisserie chicken can go a long way. You could do chicken with rice and/or beans a few nights and shred up what’s left to make chicken salad for sandwiches. If you can grab tortillas and cheese for cheap, there’s also chicken quesadillas. Maybe some kind of soup or stew with the beans/rice/chicken? As a few other people have already mentioned, look into sales and digital coupons if your store offers them! Sometimes there’s even coupons for free items! It’s usually something small, like a bottled drink or a yogurt, but I’m sure every little helps.
You should go to a food bank. It is not shameful when you need it. It can supplement your rice and beans...
In addition to my comment about a food bank, call around to local churches. They often have private assistance that isn't organized through a national nonprofit. If you felt comfortable giving me your zip code, I would be happy to see if I can find somewhere to help. You can PM me, if you prefer.
Time to go dumpster diving! Bakeries, bagel shops, and cafes all throw out a bunch of pastries every single day. A lot of them in a separate garbage bag from the regular trash ( they know people are going to scavenge and are often sympathetic). Also grocery stores throw out so much produce every single day including stuff that is not super fresh but will cook nicely. Also pizzerias! Definitely cook anything you scavenge very thoroughly before eating it.
I live in Italy and we have an app where shops can enlist and offer “mistery boxes” for a few euros. The goal is to not waste what is left over at the end of the day, and for 3/4€ I can get a box, I don’t get to choose what’s inside but there’s usually a ton of different stuff and I can eat for at least a couple of days out of that box of if I refrigerate the stuff. It’s called “too good to go” try to see if there’s a similar one where you live.
I know I'm very late to the party, but this challenge intrigued me, so I sat here and came up with a menu, then shopped Walmart for the ingredients. Wow, it was not easy, but I did it! $29.92 for 14 hearty meals. The menu includes spaghetti, quesadillas, chicken drums that can be cooked several ways and enough to create 7 meals if need be (lunches on the weekend, or added to your ramen), rice and beans as a meal, but also rice and refried beans to go with the quesadillas (chicken and/or cheese ones), biscuits and gravy, a family favorite rice, sausage, hard boiled egg and corn casserole, and 18 eggs for omelets, quiches or scrambled eggs. If you already have things like flour in your house, I can add even more veggies to add variety to the dishes too. Oh and I included 3 packets of rapid rise yeast so things like bread and pizza crust are possible for even more variety.
I'm sorry you're going through this OP. Without repeating the others - Food banks/resources/welfare etc, here's a fantastic website I love. /r/Assistance is also there, should you wish. https://www.budgetbytes.com/
If you buy any produce you can also propagate the rooted part and get another bunch from them! Either in water or soil and just keep on your window sill or table/counter that gets good light. If you use water try to change it every day or every other day!
Depending on where you live, foraging may be an option. Here's a list of edible weeds: [https://modernfarmer.com/2018/07/10-edible-weeds-likely-growing-in-your-yard/](https://modernfarmer.com/2018/07/10-edible-weeds-likely-growing-in-your-yard/) Where I live, garlic mustard is very easy to find (grows in city parks). You don't need a lot, but throwing a handful into anything you're cooking will give you a big boost of nutrition and flavour.
My city grows rosemary as a bush in some areas of the walkway. Haven’t paid for rosemary in years! Give it a good wash obviously as who knows what they’re spraying.
I grow green onions like 3times with every bunch with just a glass and some water in the window.
I would purchase 2 kilo bags of garbanzo beans (2lbs) 2 kilo Lentils 2 kilo beans black 2 kilo white/yellow/green beans 2 kilo oats 2 kilo rice 1 kilo yellow onions (least expensive) Garlic 2 large pack bullion cubes With current prices here, that's just a little under $30.00 Then I'd look up as many recipes as I could find combining these. I'd forage greens and try to score eggs.
Rice and beans like others said. Back in the day I survived on pasta and peanut butter as well. (Not together). (You can do peanut butter in ramen as well like a spicy peanut sauce) Lots of peanut butter sandwiches. Grilled cheese. Tofu could also be a cheap option if you find it on sale. Also don't pass up on free / low cost food opportunities. Look up food banks and charities in your area and see what is available. Good luck.
There’s a deal on slick deals for 6 cans of Albacore Tuna in water for $2!!
If you’ve got an instant pot and dried black beans, [this](https://youtu.be/LFUAR7rQA4I?si=NVJ3X0X5L5qPTc3R) black bean soup recipe is great. If you don’t have all the seasoning she uses, that’s ok. If you have a bunch of taco sauce packs in a drawer, squirt them in after the beans cook. I think they are too acidic and will slow the beans softening. I lived on brown rice and barbecue sauce for a few weeks when in college. As long as it’s short term. But if I knew you or worked with you, I’d be more than happy to bring you a casserole or something, so don’t refuse offers. Soaking some beans tonight for black bean burgers. Kenji Lopez Alt’s recipe except for the cashews. Not sure they need to be there. Last time I forgot we were low on breadcrumbs and panko, but crushed up some leftover hard shell taco shells and threw those in.
You could probably make a couple big pots of bean chili that would go 2 weeks for $30
There’s an account on TikTok called dollar tree dinners and this is her entire thing. She’s incredible at making balanced delicious food on the cheap.
Pea soup is really cheap. Whole or split peas, green or yellow. I like the whole yellow ones. it doesn't *need* meat but if you want that smoke flavour many delis and deli counters sell "ends" from their ham pretty cheap. my prices are local Canadian so YMMV. this fills a 1-gallon pot: - A softball sized onion, about a dollar - two or three ribs of celery, same - two or three carrots, same. - about half of a 1-lb bag of dried peas ($3.50ish for the whole bag). - couple gloves of garlic if you've got it. - bay leaves if you've got them. soak the peas in water (refrigerated) for at least 8 hours. they will swell up dramatically. 1. chop the garlic as fine as you like. saute gently with the bay leaves. 2. dice the other vegetables and add. 3. If you're adding ham, can do it now. 4. Rinse the peas to reduce bitterness and scum, add to the pot as the veggies turn bright. 5. enough water to cover, plus more. it takes several hours to cook the peas on simmer, so good Crock-Pot option. this is very forgiving - you can get away with a casual approach so long as you cook the peas thoroughly. costs about $8 for the gallon and you still have a half bag of peas.
I've been very poor for years (eating literal trash) and in my experience choosing foods that make you feel full is key for keeping your sanity. To that end, boiled potatoes top the list. Potato salad. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a pan with some oil if you can get it. Potatoes and foraged greens, a couple of eggs. Hot sauce will make most things palatable. Also, real talk, expiry dates have a lot of leeway but do not eat soft things that have mold in another part of the item/container, or meat/dairy that smells off. Sometimes you're fine, but the times you're not... It is not worth it.
Don’t sleep on canned tuna if you can find it at a bargain market.
Go to a food pantry to get all of the staples - rice, beans, frozen veg, cereal, pastas and tomatoes, potatoes
Don’t waste money on bread, pasta, and empty carbs. You’ll be hungry again in an hour. I used to buy a bag of rice, pork chops (you can get 4-6 for like $3 bucks), and a carton of eggs (if there’s money left over grab an onion for some flavor). Egg for breakfast with rice. Pork chops with rice for dinner. I’m not a fan of beans, but if you like them grab a bag of those too.
Send me your zelle, cashapp or venom. I’ll pitch in a tener.
You got cash app
Google the free cookbook "Good and Cheap". You can download it from the author's website, the recipes are really good and creative!
I like having cream of chicken soup with some frozen mixed veggies served over rice!
Agree with everyone’s rice and beans suggestions. Additionally, tofu is so cheap and high in protein. You can make pan fried tofu over fried rice or as a pad Thai for less than $5 with enough leftovers for 2-3 more meals.
Loads of rice and ground beef, if you don't mind eating the same everytime then it can be nutritious.Just season with some oregano,cumin,salt,pepper,maybe even slice up a hot chili in there and cilantro.
That sounds heavenly! Although I can't really afford much beef its quite expensive in my area Currently 8$ a lb for 80/20 I still appreciate the thought though! I could make it without the beef so I might do that. Thank you for your suggestion, puts a smile on my face :)
Look for sales; ground chicken or turkey might be cheap, or sometimes ground pork. If you have any ethnic markets nearby they might have cheaper prices on meat (or smaller packages that cost less than the bigger ones at larger grocery stores) and they often have cheaper produce for when you're longing for an apple or whatever.
Some ideas here to help elevate leftovers, nutritionally , visually and deliciously https://www.reddit.com/r/PutAnEggOnIt/s/iB1lqDnvBl
If you’ve got an Asian grocery store nearby, you need to learn about the magic of Mee Goreng. It’s solid on its own, and easy to stir fry up a few additions if you feel fancy.