I have a food budget of exactly $50 per two weeks.
I can only shop for food once every two weeks, so I have to get stuff with appropriate shelf life, and the only place I can shop at is Wal-Mart.
Considering tax, my budget is actually more like $45.
As for quantity, I'm 5'8, weigh about 140 pounds, and I'm in my 30's, so I don't need a whole lot to survive, but I do enjoy having excess food with much longer shelf life just in case of emergency, like canned stuff, whenever possible.
With these absolute restrictions in mind, what's the best I can do for myself? I'm getting tired of rice and canned vegetables/soups every single day. I feel like I really need more variety in my diet.
>getting tired of rice and canned foods what did you expect, poorfag? get rotisserie chickens, use them to make chicken sandwiches, soup, etc rice, lentils, etc all can taste great if cooked properly and you can always season them..if you are poor you shouldn't be picky.
Jordan Cruz
Do you have a fridge/stove/mirowave/etc?
I can't be a great deal of help but it may help other if they knew what you're working with. Fresh veggies are cheaper than canned veggies, though. Potatoes instead of rice, too.
Dominic Allen
Sorry that my poorness offends you. I do the best I can for my current circumstances in life.
Yeah I have access to a stove and microwave, and a fridge and freezer.
"two weeks" for me includes both sets of weekends so the entire 14 days, so I've been avoiding fresh vegetables since near the end I fear they would go bad and I cannot afford to waste food.
As I specified, I can only shop every two weeks, and do not have the luxury of shopping more frequently to have access to stuff with lower shelf life.
Benjamin Cooper
You do not have room to complain about variety. Buy other grains and beans instead of rice.
Dylan Flores
>you can't have variety >but here's some other options you can try for variety
What?
Blake Rodriguez
Yeah, but you could eat the fresh veggies in the first week and have frozen stuff later on. Could save some pennies and get more nutrition out it. Pototoes will last two weeks.
Jacob Gutierrez
There's no sales tax on food, just alcohol and stuff you buy at restaurants.
Joshua Collins
Hmm I had no idea fresh veggies could be cheaper than canned. I'll definitely give this a look, thanks.
Also I thought I was getting a lot more food for my dollar out of rice than I could out of potatoes.
I can't imagine what dishes I could make with potatoes as my main staple instead of rice though.
Dunno what country/state you live in, but my food groceries carry a 10% tax here in the southern US.
Ayden Long
Eating is a meme. Buy a Veeky Forums Pass instead.
Charles Bell
Gosh, I wonder if anyone's ever just tried not eating. I bet we only die from hunger because we're convinced we need to eat, and that's what actually kills us.
Connor Green
Add baked beans to your list of canned food. Perfect side dish or hot snack.
Jaxon Diaz
>canned foods You don't need these apart from maybe canned fish
>cheapest rice >cheapest oats >dry legumes >eggs, shitloads of these >potatoes, white >frozen chicken thighs >some milk >whichever vegetables are on sale (ALDI is great for this) >liver from the butchers >some canned sardines spend the rest on things like olives, nuts, sweet potatoes, cheese - basically anything you want
Ayden Hughes
Go for frozen veggies. What little you lose out on in terms of texture/taste you gain in savings.
For instance, fresh spinach at my store is roughly $3/lb, but frozen is only $1.25/lb.
Don't spend too much on meat, but do watch for sales. I've seen pork and chicken as low as $1/lb.
Aiden Harris
two road kill patties special sauce lettuce cheese gmo onions on aspartame seed bun
A month's worth of food on $45 isn't all that difficult. You gotta avoid luxury and value added products. No meat, no dairy, no prepared food. Dried beans instead of canned. No luxury vegetables (asparagus, fancy mushrooms, spinach). I would do a little research into Indian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cooking. They have lots of dishes made from cheap ingredients, and many are delicious (though some are labor intensive to make).
Looking to live on $1.50 a day means you're looking to make dishes that give 2-3 meals for about $1.50 in food cost. Off the top of my head some of these dishes would be:
Oatmeal with toasted walnuts for breakfast Sicilian lentil soup with pasta Rajma with rice and some spicy cooked greens French lentil salad served with potato salad in vinaigrette Minestrone White beans in a sage and garlic flavored tomato sauce served over pasta Bean and corn chili Chana aloo masala served with rice and spicy cooked greens Stir fried soy sauce noodles with cabbage, onion and garlic
That kind of stuff. If you need more protein eggs are probably the easiest cheap source.
Also: it's the height of summer in the US, so buying vegetables at Walmart is borderline absurd. See if there are any farm stands near you. Right now farmers are overloaded with cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, peppers and the like, and they will sell that stuff cheap just to get rid of it. It shouldn't be hard to get half the shit you need for vegetable dishes way cheaper than Walmart if you can find a local farm. I hardly ever go to the supermarket this time of year.
Lucas Wood
>No meat
If OP is willing there's plenty of free meat available but the options are limited. Here's a good source of recipes: deadfood.com Yes, I'm talking about road kill but desperate times... etc. I recomend the Kangaroo Tail Soup.
Logan Rivera
Don't get any frozen chicken packs, get a whole chicken, maybe two or three. Use that for stock and flavoring. Also a massive fucking cabbage to braise with the chicken stock.
Carson Martin
Stock up on shit like rice, flour, dry noodles and beans; then buy nice stuff to have with these on a weakly basis. I also recommend pickling and canning. I feed myself and my mother on about $60 every two weeks.
Make bibimbap (just add spinnach, beef, eggs, your home made kimchi) or any pasta (buy some tomatoes, garlic and onion and make a marinara; some parmesan, cream and mushrooms; spinnach pesto with poached eggs). Make rice bowls with beans, fried plantains and arepas or flour tortillas and some braised pork.
Michael Parker
The way I see it is it's summer (here in the States at least), so all the local vegetables (and even many fruits) are cheap and available. There isn't much point to eating meat this time of year if you're on a budget.
Lucas Hughes
Next time you buy potatoes, cut a few of them in half and throw them into your yard. You now have an endless supply of potatoes.
Jose Rivera
I probably spend less than that but I eat rice/macaroni/potatoes every day usually make burritos (18pc 30cm diameter for €4 lasts me 2 weeks, which is just about the shelf life if kept dry and air tight)
usually add lentils, beans, eggs, chicken breast etc. also get onions (fairly cheap), olives, pickles and some other cheap shit
put a nice sauce on it, and it will always tastes fucking GREAT
