Frugal Thread

How do you guys plan your meals? After a few years of living on my own I think I've got a pretty good system down, buying bulk and value and eating a very healthy diet. The best thing I've done is learn to cook. I hardly ever eat out because I like my own food much more, it's cheaper, and I enjoy cooking. I can go to the grocery store and get what's on sale, and think of new ways to put things together and not get bored. Anyway, I'll start with some of my staples.

Crock pot- One of the best investments I've ever made in the kitchen. Throw some food in this bad boy, turn it on for 6-8 hours, and come back to delicious food that will last the rest of the week. I can turn it on in the morning before work and come home to a house that smells so good I cum in my pants as I open the door. Stews, cheap cuts of meat, soups, chicken, you name it. This baby does it all.

Rice- I buy those 10 or 20 lb sacks at the store every few months. I'll make up to 10 servings at a time and then throw the rest in the fridge for leftovers. Fried rice, jambalaya, breakfast burritos with some egg, basically unlimited options. I usually cook in a pot but also have a nice rice cooker that you just turn on and don't have to watch, like with the crock pot. Simple.

Grocery list- I go once a week to the store. Usually I get eggs, milk, bread, and whatever protein is on sale. Usually chicken, ground beef, or a cheap cut of meat I can slow cook in the crock pot. For ground beef, I usually get the meatloaf mix that's a mix of beef/veal/pork, as it comes out like a dollar cheaper per pound. I get pasta when it's on sale and stockpile it at home. Same for sauces, spices, canned food and other non-perishables. I buy fruits and vegetables the same way, whatever's on sale. One week maybe apples, the next carrots, etc.

Usually I spend about $30 per week on food. This gets me breakfast lunch, dinner and snacks every day. I also feed my girlfriend 2-3 days a week when she's over.

How about you guys?

Yes, buy food in bulk and use coupons for other misc things.

i drink pee to save water

I roasted the sweat glands off my feet, armpits, and hands, so I won't have to drink so much to begin with.

I spend $50 a week on groceries, and that includes household stuff like toilet paper, shampoo, bodywash, etc.

I stopped paying for TV. I only ever used it to watch sports but now I know of subreddit's that have game threads full of links to free streams.

I also cut off my internet. My neighbor has one of those XfinityWifi hotspot things from their router and I just stole my Grandma's login and password of her Comcast account. I saw it written on a sticky note when I was over once fixing her computer.

Instead of paying $10/month for Netflix, I just buy phished accounts online. They cost like $1 and last a few months before reported/closed.

I quit smoking cigarettes. Saved me like $60-70 a week.

Instead of buying sodas, bottled water, etc. I got one of those filters for my faucet and make sweet tea at home.

I try to find decent clothing at Army surplus stores. A local surplus store sells packs of 24 t shirts for $50, and they are decent quality too. Comparable to the $5-7 t shirts you buy at Walmart. I also buy socks and underwear from there too.

To cut back on my fishing hobby, I started going to yard sales and flea markets to find cheap tackle, instead of going to Bass Pro Shop or Cabela's paying expensive prices.

I bought one of those home gym machines for $1,200 instead of paying $50/month at the Y. It's not the same gains as lifting but it saves me in the long run.

I tried to rent out my spare bedrooms to help with the mortgage but that never worked out. Every tenant I had move in I didn't get along with.

>I bought one of those home gym machines for $1,200 instead of paying $50/month at the Y. It's not the same gains as lifting but it saves me in the long run.

I always work out at home. Pieced together a pretty nice gym from yard sales and Craigslist. No need to spend hundreds of dollars, gas and time to go to a gym and work out with sweaty grunting strangers.

i work in a restaurant and get free meals

if i want to be really frugal i can just order a large meal with lots of veggies and save half for lunch the next day

I just eat fast food.

That used to be great when I was a server. Used to work in a really nice restaurant doing catering, got to take home days and days of food when we would take in the trays from a party. They used to let me take home crazy shit like 10 lb packs of mashed potatoes, steak, all kinds of shit. Great perk for a college student.

What food items do you buy to fall within the $50 budget and live above sustenance?

Rice, meat, and vegetables. I buy fresh fruit to snack on.

I usually purchase rice, frozen veggies, eggs, milk, etc. weekly. I go fishing a lot and usually have my freezer full of catfish. I fucking love deep fried catfish with a baked potato and green beans. I'll buy chicken breast when they are on sale. Not a fan of pork or beef really. I hate having that little bit of meat stuck between your teeth feeling.

I usually make eggs and oat meal for breakfast, and have catfish and veggies for lunch and dinner. I like deep fried catfish nuggets or grilled fillets with lots of cajun seasoning.

>$1.50 - $2.50 each
>heats in 4 minutes

That wouldn't make my 3 year old niece feel full. People who waste their money on cheap microwave dinners instead of buying real food are more pathetic than people who waste money on fast food.

>I go once a week to the store. Usually I get eggs, milk, bread, and whatever protein is on sale. Usually chicken, ground beef, or a cheap cut of meat I can slow cook in the crock pot. For ground beef, I usually get the meatloaf mix that's a mix of beef/veal/pork, as it comes out like a dollar cheaper per pound. I get pasta when it's on sale and stockpile it at home. Same for sauces, spices, canned food and other non-perishables. I buy fruits and vegetables the same way, whatever's on sale. One week maybe apples, the next carrots, etc.
>Usually I spend about $30 per week on food.

Is food really this cheap in the States?

I indeed forgot to mention that I'm a small guy. Perfect portion for me. They have a MEGA version with 50% more food for $1 more. Either way there is no way these are worse than fast food.

It boils down to yes. The problem is that most people are brainwashed into thinking real food is expensive, so they waste money on fast food or cheap $1-2 microwave dinners that couldn't fill an anorexic person up. So they buy 2-3 of those dinners then complain about how expensive it is.

If you buy food that's on sale and store brand instead of $27 NY strip steaks and $5 fancy brand bread, you can cut your costs down a lot. Go to Kroger's and get a sales paper. Also buy meat that's on Manager's Special. It means the meat is about to expire past their sell by date and they mark it down more than normal sales usually. Take it home and freeze it and it'll be fine. I personally shop at Aldi and go to Kroger to see what they have on Manager's Special every now and then. There's also this store near me called Sharp Shoppers. Basically all damaged or about to expire goods that local grocery stores receive, they donate to Sharp Shoppers instead of throwing it away. It's like a Goodwill for groceries and is very cheap.

Subway everyday, no kids, gf last two are keys

It's 170 calories.

I would have to eat over 10 of those to reach my tdee. I may as well eat the cardboard box it comes in.

Shit in the shower and waffle stomp it down the drain. Extra flushes add up

>running water while you shower
>not turning it off when you aren't rinsing off

Waste of water, more than flushing a toilet. Shit in grocery bags and throw them away.

Fucking lmow

>Instead of buying sodas, bottled water, etc. I got one of those filters for my faucet and make sweet tea at home.

Bit of initial investment, but in areas with shitty water, a good reverse osmosis machine is a god send. It's staggeringly cheap compared to those brita pitchers, and it's more or less distilled water.

Only issue is that some types of compounds require the membrane to be cleaned regularly, so you can end up wasting a lot of water. If your water is extremely expensive in the city, that can notably impact the savings.

Planet fitness is 10 bucks a month lol

Do they have showers?

>spending 8.3 years of gym expenses on a single machine
>muh frugal
>muh investment

Fucking cuck this is how you do it

>live in gfs rents townhouse
>only utility is electricity
>drive $1500 car
>eat only organic whole foods
>work out with shitty craigslist weights
>pay as you go phone
>no contracts
>get nice Normie clothes from goodwill >get 60K yr job with no degree
>sell everything that isn't nailed down
>eBay Etsy grailed Craigslist master
>never spend money on normie good boy point traps like festivals or restaurants

Funny how everyone cries because the system is broken. You're reading the checklist of how to actively participate in breaking it. Learn something, kids

Yes it is. We have so much fucking land to farm it's unbelievable. Add in some farming subsidies and you've got yourself some cheap, cheap food.

I just eat my meals at the company cafeteria.

Not weird about things like some of you but

buy everything in bulk
buy whole foods from Mexican markets around here in CA chicken breast 2$ / lb steak /tri tip 3.50$ /lb all fruit and veggies .50$ to 1$ / lb
All entertainment from internet. Stream football games otherwise download everything or use Stremio (get a VPN if you want to do this long term)
Drive 2 japanese cars over 10 years old take care of them do my own oil changes etc
Golden rule of try not to buy anything that won't last more than 4 years. example: spend 500$ on a home improvement project or some quality clothing rather than a vacation or electronics that go obsolete quickly.
Bring leftovers from dinner to work instead of eating out all the time

In general earning more is better than saving more, but a mediocre earner will bury a retard big earner in the long term for sure. Nothing is worse than someone who can't manage their money

a mediocre earner **that has basic spending and saving habits** will bury a retard big earner **who buys toys and doesn't prepare for the future**** in the long term for sure.

buy whole chickens and butcher them yourself. Where I live chicken breast alone is $12/kg or higher but whole chickens are $4/kg. an $8 chicken provides a week's worth of meat without having to eat shitty little 100g meals. I make curries with the breasts or fry them whole with veggies, I roast the Maryland cuts and wings and I make soup with the carcasses. You can save a lot of money by investing in a filleting knife and sharpener and teaching yourself some basic butchery skills. It gets depressing when you have to ration yourself out tiny little meat portions or eat vegetarian, with some butchery skills you can afford to eat at least one big meaty meal a day. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube on how to butcher, teach yourself that shit if you want to eat big on the cheap.

Where do you live?

I buy fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, chicken, fish, beef, and other random things like quacomole and chips.

I reap the benefits of a healthy diet and all is well.

I mainly buy Liver and Chicken, Liver i can get for 1kg/£1.10 which is by far the cheapest and most nutritious meat i can buy that i actually like eating, and chicken i buy mainly due to how bland it is, which makes it a good protein base with lots of flexibility taste/recipe wise if you are good in the kitchen/spice rack.

Only thing i splerge on breadwise is Olive bread, which is nice enough that sometimes i just eat a loaf by itself which gets me some strange looks haha

that's the spirit!
go eat that box!

Microwave meals are okay if you know what you're getting yourself into. Good if you just want something quick.

Iremember eating 10 canned hot dogs that i got for £0.83 from tescos and then waking up at 4am thirsty as fuck with pink eyes.

Might have been the salt, but i think it was just the additives trying to kill my body..

Brisbane, Australia

People shy away from effort and thriftiness, you would never get the average person to follow that list.

1st world countries are stuck in instant gratification mode, Humanity as it currently stands is doomed to fail.

I have a job that pays me while I'm on a 1 hour lunch break. It pays $23 per hour. So basically I'm always eating super hot food and you are fucking stupid.

>organic whole foods

Nigga, you dun fucked up.

I'm fat. As of late i been eating more grilled chicken and baked fish. Baked catfish is shit tho. And my bro kills wild hogs pretty much weekly so i eat a lot of pig. I dont plan shit. I work my fucking ass off so i van walk into the store and not have to buy always save shit like i did when i was a kid. Wonder breads ~$4 a loaf??? Fuckit i'll take 3.

Aside from that and my drinking problem i do budget pretty well. I'm about to make a fuckton of breakfast burritoes to freeze for work using free chicken eggs and shit from sams club.

Good luck user.

I suggest improving your income so you can live above your means instead of being frugal.

Its a shitty way to live.

HAHAHAHAHA!

>could be getting an extra $115 dollars a week