I'm single, and I'm renting a room in what is essentially a boarding house. I don't have much money coming in...

I'm single, and I'm renting a room in what is essentially a boarding house. I don't have much money coming in, though it is increasing as I continue to pursue my writing career. I've been trying to spend my money sparingly yet I just found out via the receipts I've been saving that I spent $250 in groceries within the past month. I have PLENTY of canned goods all of which I bought on special, along with a good amount of ramen, Kraft Dinner, rice, and spaghetti, along with all the ingredients to regularly make hummus for weeks. I've got a back-up supply of various ingredients/condiments that I frequently use. Do I have a problem with grocery shopping? What is your living situation, how much money do you spend on groceries, and do you keep a good amount stocked up or do you just eat paycheque to paycheque?

Also, comfy pics.

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I buy dried things to last me for the month (rice, pasta, beans, coffee, tea)
I buy fresh produce to last me for the week (season vegetables and fruits, potatoes, eggs). I'm not a picky eater so I just buy whatever's cheapest at any given time.
And very few things on a daily basis (bread is the one that comes to mind)

If you already have a pantry full of shit, then stop buying more and eat that. Also learn how to cook, it's piss easy and you'll save a lot.

The things I buy most regularly is bread and milk. What I mostly eat is cereal in the morning (didn't used to eat it for years but got back into it since milk is very healthy), hummus sandwiches for dinner, perhaps a small bowl of hummus dip at some point in the day between meals, and then for supper whatever takes my fancy. Recently I picked up a pack of wieners and on-sale hotdog buns to eat with my home-made sauerkraut. I only have canned food or ramen on rare occasions, typically adding some canned vegetables whenever I have ramen, and Kraft Dinner is something I often make if I just feel like being lazy and making something for both dinner and supper.

About a month and a half ago I had been primarily eating spaghetti/rice/Kraft Dinner/ramen for practically every meal, which needless to say is THOROUGHLY unhealthy even if I add in a can of veggies from time to time. Sugar has a fair bit of sugar, yes, but milk has all kinds of healthy vitamins and my hummus sandwiches have practically no sugar at all. I also generally have less than two teaspoons of sugar in my morning coffee of which I might have 2 cups a day at most. I'd like to do more cooking, but I prefer to avoid my room mates as much as possible. Spending half an hour or an hour in the kitchen is something I never look forward to doing even though I enjoy cooking. Frozen chicken burgers were also on special, which I had recently with lettuce and hot sauce which was delicious. I also enjoy making tuna burgers (called tuna melts in the US I think), chicken sandwiches (with a can of flaked chicken) or ham sandwiches (with a can of flaked ham) from time to time. Perhaps once or twice a week. The cans of tuna/ham/chicken are only bought when on special for $1 USD which is pretty good I think.

Once I get my own house, I'll definitely do more cooking, but for now I don't think I'm doing too bad for myself, even eat whole grain bread instead of white. I was just shocked that I spent $250 in a month

This thread seems like too much work when For Me's ™ exist

Milk isn't healthy, you should stop using it as an excuse for having an otherwise pretty unhealthy diet
Your diet seems to lack vegetables quite a bit. Replace your canned veggies for frozen ones (they have no additives) and add fresh ones to those. Add fruit to your breakfast, you can have your cereal with honey/almond milk/chopped fruits and nuts instead of cow's milk. Drop the Kraft dinners and ramen, add potatoes to your carbs rotation. Buy canned beans, I hear they're dirt cheap on the US.
Stop avoiding your roommates, it'll only get worse.

Another thing I regularly keep stocked on is lettuce since I like to put it in my sandwiches as well as occasionally have a salad with vinaigrette dressing. As for beans, I believe chickpeas are a type of bean, and as mentioned I have them very regularly, pretty much on a daily basis. Little-to-no sugar, low sodium, high fibre, high protein, high iron, some calcium, no cholesterol, some vitamin C, low fat, and from what I can tell a 1lb (.45kg) batch of my home-made hummus is around 900-1000 kcal. It generally lasts me 2-3 days.

I don't particularly bother with fruit, and my mini-fridge isn't too good so I generally avoid frozen vegetables. It's VERY tricky to keep the stuff in the frozen compartment frozen while not freezing the things in the fridge compartment. I've had my container of milk become partially frozen before. But yeah, I have lettuce in my diet regularly along with home-made sauerkraut which is one of the healthiest things you can eat so I'm not entirely devoid of vegetables. I also like to keep stocked up on pickles and jalapenos though those have very little nutritional value from what I can tell. Not going to drop the cow's milk.

Potatoes sound good however again, takes a while to cook. I can't even just put it in the oven and leave it alone because I've had stuff fucked with before. I do have cans of beans, and as mentioned cans of chickpeas/garbonzo beans. I'm also not in the US, and as for the room-mates one of them is literally some kind of mentally unstable kleptomaniacal schizophrenic and the other is a compulsive liar who seems like a decent guy on the outside but is proven to be utterly untrustworthy. They're also both smokers and both stoners, also partaking in cocaine when they can get the money. Not my kind of crowd... the other one is like myself. Quiet, reserved, keeps to himself, likes writing, etc. Oddly enough I'm the youngest but also the biggest/strongest of the bunch.

Sounds pretty miserable, if I were you I'd focus on finding another place rather than adjusting your life to your current shitty place.
I have to insist on the fruit though, you don't even have to refrigerate most of it, it doesn't need cooking, and it's great for you. Just go grab a bunch of bananas man.

Fair enough, I'll pick up some bananas next time I go get groceries though thankfully that won't be for at least 2 more days. I'll get milk, bread, maybe lettuce if I'm low and as mentioned, bananas.

This place is cheap and there's a deadbolt on my door which I lock even when I so much as go to take a piss. As mentioned I'm bigger/stronger than the others so I'm not in too much immediate physical threat, they don't seem violent even though the schizoid does get into arguments with people who are not there. Essentially even though he's just walking around or whatever, he acts as though he's having an argument with someone that I suspect recently pissed him off. There's also potentially a problem with bedbugs developing but the last sighting was a fair while ago.

I do intend on finding somewhere else but as mentioned, this place is cheap. I'm going to continue working on my writings, increasing my income, saving money, and by the time I move out of this admittedly pretty shitty place I'll be going straight into a home that I'll be working on owning. Moving into an apartment would only be temporary, just like here, and I'd be paying money that I would NEVER get back. With a house, every payment is going towards an investment. I'm always about the long-term. Once I get my own house I'll be setting up a big vegetable garden in the backyard and also try making my own sea salt since it's on my bucket list to try.

Believe it or not, compared to where I came out of, this place is almost Heaven. I'm very happy, and I think I'm doing well for myself, but was just surprised at the $250 within a month. To be fair though I only moved here relatively recently so almost every time I go to the grocery store I end up getting a few non-food items that I need, and within the last month that's included a metal mixing bowl (plastic one is breaking), needle/thread for stitching up rips in clothes, paper towels, tinfoil, sandwich bags, more soap/shampoo/laundry detergent, etc.

I wasn't really referring to your roommates being a thread or anything, just the inconvenience of not having a place to cook your meals in peace.
If you can find a little toaster oven for cheap, get it, you can cook pretty much anything on those. A rice cooker can be very handy too, it's pretty much an electric slow cooker. Also try replacing the lettuce with chard or celery now and then to mix things up.
Good luck user, we're all gonna make it

Stop eating pre-packaged cereal and switch to oatmeal. Many of them are packaged with sugar and etc. and the boxes get expensive. Instead of buying boxes or store brand bran flakes or something similar, just get oatmeal and put nuts and dried fruit in it.

Also, if your mini fridge is this shitty, maybe it's time invest in a better one. From the sounds of it a toaster oven might be good to keep in your room too. You need to eat veggies that are more nutritious, just lettuce and stuff isn't going to cut it.

Some root vegetables are fine stored at room temp, like sweet potatoes and squash, so look into that. Sweet potatoes can be microwaved in minutes and they're a tasty snack.

I personally managed to feed 3 people on about ~$50 a week. My tricks were to buy less meat and eat more eggs and tofu, stock up during sales, buy veggies as they went on sale week to week, replace with frozen where possible. No eating out, not even coffee; no soda, no junk food like chips and cookies (too fucking expensive. I did some baking tho).

It is indeed an inconvenience to be sure. I have my own bread toaster and electric kettle in my room actually which allows me to do a lot on my own. The toaster oven and rice cooker does sound very appealing though. I'd like to get a bread-maker sometime so that I can make my own. It would save a lot of money on bread. I typically buy two loaves of the whole wheat stuff (I was mistaken about the whole grain) at a time for $4 (about $3.20 USD). I find I eat about a third to half a loaf of bread a day. Probably not the healthiest dietary staple in the world. I do enjoy celery though, never heard of chard before.

Oatmeal is obviously healthier than cereal, and I do enjoy oatmeal, but I quite like having cereal in my diet again. I find when I go to sleep at night that I actually look forward to waking up in the morning to have a nice cold bowl of cereal and a hot cup of coffee. It's the simple things in life, and since it had been years since I regularly ate cereal it's very nostalgic. I also got a big box of it on special for half price so a bowl of cereal is easily less than a dollar and gives me plenty of vitamins. I'm looking on the back of a carton now; protein, vit A, calcium, Vit D, Thiamine, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vit B6, folate, vit B12, Pantothenate, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Zinc (which I hear is great for testosterone), and the cereal I picked up has Protein, Iron, Thiamin, roboflavin, Niacin, vit B6, Folate, Pantothenate, Phosphorus, Magnesium, and Zinc. To be fair, there's about 130g of sugar in the whole box, but this box is still almost half full and has already served me several breakfasts. I also have very little sugar in the rest of my diet, as I mentioned.

I eat out MAYBE twice a month but always less than $10, no soda, only chips are tortilla for hummus dip, no cookies, I get about 55 cups worth of instant coffee for just $3 or so.

For people who actually know about vitamins/minerals, how's that cereal looking above?

>Milk isn't healthy, you should stop using it as an excuse for having an otherwise pretty unhealthy diet

kill yourself

I found it to be a very strange statement as well. Milk looks to be jam packed with various vitamins, minerals, and protein. Only down-side is the kcal, but an active lifestyle can curb that issue, and I do go on long walks pretty frequently.

Just had two hummus sandwiches. I don't always make it this way, but here's how I had it this time...

>Both slices of lightly toasted whole wheat bread lightly buttered
>One slice with cheese whiz, the other with hummus
>Give a few drops of Frank's Redhot sauce on the hummus (which also has some diced jalapenos)
>half a sliced-up pickle on each sandwich
>apply lettuce
>Put cheese whiz side on the hummus/veggie side and serve

To be honest, I don't know how I could make the sandwiches any more delicious than that, I find them to be amazing. I don't like red/green peppers, though I do enjoy sauteed mushrooms and onions... maybe I'll experiment with that sometime. As for my hummus...

>Can of chickpeas
>1/4 cup tahini & 1/4 cup lemon juice (not Reallemon lemon juice; this stuff actually has some vitamin C)
>2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
>roughly 1/2 tbsp cumin
>1/2 tsp sea salt and roughly 1/2 tsp black pepper
>A good bit of paprika and garlic powder
>5-6 rings of pickled jalapeno slices

If my math is correct, it gives me about 1lb/450g of hummus with a total of around 900-1000 kcal. I run the can itself under hot water once the label is removed, then after I do the rinse/drain a few times I partially crush the top of the can and use the can itself as the crushing tool for the chickpeas; all done by hand. I don't have a food processor. I enjoy such hands-on processes, same with reloading ammo, I like to do it all with a hand press rather than using a bench-mounted press.

I spend about $40 a week to feed two people at least two meals a day. But both of us are pretty hardcore. She's grinding grain to make bread right now, and she made almond milk this morning. I buy dried beans and cook them in the pressure cooker. Each meal I make takes about an hour in the kitchen from start to cleanup. We're both self employed and enjoy making our own food, so this is no big deal to us. And we only rarely eat dairy, meat or fish, so most of our groceries are pretty cheap.

Fair enough, sounds pretty cool. I literally have 33 cans of food here which I will be eating VERY sparagingly, mostly as a rare treat when I'm drunk, so it's not like my average of $80 a week on food has all been eaten as I go. It's going to take me months to go through all this canned stuff. By far the most common canned food item I eat is the chickpeas in my hummus, and like I said that lasts 2-3 days. Might go through 3 cans in a week, and as it turns out that's likely the healthiest canned good I have. Also got 5 cans of tuna, 3 cans of flaked chicken and two cans of flaked ham which will all be used for tuna melts and sandwiches, but not anywhere NEAR as often as when I eat hummus sandwiches. Ever since I discovered hummus it's something that has become at least one meal a day, and needless to say I definitely believe I'm all the healthier for it.

I'd like to try dried beans sometime; only ever had canned. Making home made bread is great too, definitely something I'm going to get into once I get the opportunity. I've heard about the HUGE amount of raw grain you can buy in bulk too, SUPER cheap, LONG shelflife, truly a fantastic survivalist thing to get. I hear amazing things about hemp seed as well, I think I bought a 15lb pale of it for like $5 once.

Convenience is a major food cost. People who just buy stuff they can eat as is or turn into a meal in 20 minutes spend A LOT more money than those who put in the time to turn less processed ingredients into meals. I have friends who don't eat nearly as well as I do and spend three or four times what I do on food. But these are people who prefer to minimize the time the spend in the kitchen. On the other hand I can through down a three course South Asian meal that will be dinner for two with leftovers for lunch the next day for less than $3, as long as I'm willing to spend just over an hour in the kitchen making it.

- buy a freezer. Really, the cost is €100 a year, but you don't throw away food and everything you buy frozen costs half.
- if you have some local Moroccan butcher nearby, they're pretty cheap.
- look for deals: 1+1 = 50% off or something like that.
I just bought 2KG chicken thighs for 5 euro.
- learn to butcher. a whole chicken is €3 :
2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks + wings.
- make the same food 3 days in a row but only change the sauce.
- prepackaged lasagna is like €1 (400Grams)
- beware!! buying in bulk doesn't mean it's cheaper!
- don't buy ramen
-

I know what you mean, same concept though to a greater extent with restaurants. Even fast food. I could go to Subway to buy a footlong for X-amount of money, or I can buy bread/meat/cheese to make even MORE footlong subs for the same price or cheaper while just using the condiments I already have in my fridge and I will likely have some of the ingredients left over. It is generally cheaper to buy the ingredients and make it yourself than to have it made for you. Unless you're in a Communist country in which case getting more money for something than what you spent on it is 'profiteering' and is punishable by law.

Anyhow, I've done the math, and making my own hummus costs half as much or a quarter as much as if I were to buy it in a store. If I got dried chickpeas (if that's a thing) then it'd probably be even cheaper since it probably costs less to dry chickpeas than it does to can them, not to mention the added bulk/weight of canning (all that metal and water) likely increases cost of shipping which ultimately results in more cost to the buyer in the end.

I think I'm going to write off this expensive month of groceries to stocking up. As mentioned I recently moved, didn't have much of anything, and I'm buying things I need as I go along. All this canned/processed food, for the most part, are basically back-up items. Things I won't be eating much (except for the canned chickpeas). I might get drunk sometime and crack open a can of spaghetti-O's which I bought for $1 USD a piece because they're nostalgic, or some beef ravioli because I want some easy protein due to having worked out priorly, or I feel like treating myself to some nice chicken or ham sandwiches or some nostalgic and protein-rich tuna burgers/tuna melts. I'm not living off of canned food, certainly not, but it's nice to have a store of tasty non-perishables for when I feel like treating myself for being a good boy. I wouldn't be surprised if over the next month I spend less than $100.

I don't have the space/funds to just buy a freezer (renting a room, and a pretty small room at that. It's about 10'x8' (around 3.3x2.6m?) and rougly 7' (2.3m?) to the ceiling. For some reason I have two dressers, one of which I'll be switching out for shelves sometime next time I talk to the landlord. He's pretty chill, got me this semi-shitty old mini-fridge for free and also got a really good dresser since one was actually broken and was ultimately tossed out.

Anyhow, buying in bulk does mean it's cheaper if there's a special on. If you buy 4 cans for $5 when they're usually $1.50 each, then you save $0.25 per can. Normally it would be $6 for 4 but you got them and saved a dollar, which is savings that can add up. I've taken advantage of that very deal about 4 times with different types of canned goods. That's 16 cans for $20 CAD, and one of the times I did that, I got 4 cans of name-brand flaked chicken that were usually over $3 each so I saved BIG TIME then. Then there's instances when you can buy the item singly, or in a pack. Generally speaking, if you buy a pack, they'll be cheaper per-item than when you buy them singly. This isn't a real example but just a demonstration; you can buy 1 roll of toilet paper for $2, 6 for $8, 12 for $12, or 24 for $20. Yeah, you're spending more money the more you buy, but per-roll you're saving money.

For the most part though, great advice, but I do enjoy having ramen on the rare occasion with some veggies thrown in. Simple meal, tasty, veggies add actual vitamins/minerals though not a significant amount, and if you've done a lot of sweating that day then it's not like all that sodium is wasteful or excessive. Are there better things you could be eating? Yes, of course! Will it kill you? Not if you eat it sparingly, which is what I do. It's just the occasional little easy-to-make meal when I'm feeling a bit lazy, and a pack only costs $0.29 CAD which is less than a US quarter.

>If I got dried chickpeas (if that's a thing) then it'd probably be even cheaper
This is true, but dried chickpeas are a bitch. Super long cook time, and best soaked overnight before cooking. Without a soak they take 40min in a pressure cooker, which translates to about 2 hours in a standard pot. If you're going to cook dry chickpeas I highly recommend just getting a pressure cooker. You can make lentil or split pea soup in the thing in under 20 min!
>I think I'm going to write off this expensive month of groceries to stocking up.
Stocking up is expensive. When I tell you my average weekly food cost is $40 that's not what I spend every week. Many weeks it's just under $30, but if I run out of olive oil, some spices and a couple kinds of dried beans all at the same time I might have to drop $70+ that week. Same is true when the bulk grain and nuts orders come in.

yeah about the bulk thing, I phrased that wrong: Here I have to option to buy 2 KG of bolognese sauce or 4 pots of 0.5KG
normally the on pot of 2kg would be cheaper, well it's not. in this example the 4 pots are cheaper then the one pot of 2KG.

about the freezer thing, yeah if your space is limited, you could use it as a stand?
but a freezer makes some noise too so not ideal for sleeping. But like I said, it will save you a lot of money.

Good luck user!

Definitely sounds like I'll be sticking to canned chickpeas, which is fine by me. I did the math on how much every individual batch costs me and it's something like $3 per pound or so. To buy a pound of hummus in a store is easily $6+ from what I've seen though I haven't looked too hard. Either way, general rule; almost always cheaper to buy the ingredients and make it than to buy it pre-made. Also probably generally more healthy. Similarly, when you make your own ammo it's always cheaper and sometimes even of higher quality than buying commercial ammo, but Military surplus is another matter. That stuff can get EXTREMELY cheap because it's made on such a massively industrial scale. I mean, to my knowledge, most nation's Militaries have MILLIONS of rounds of ammunition in storage, but I digress.

Yup, stocking up can be pricy, but now that I'm so sufficiently stocked up I really think my spending will ease up... even though specials are EXTREMELY tempting...

It was solid advice, user. Also, recently there was a special on the 3-packs of Irish Spring bars of soap. A 6-pack is $5.49 if memory serves, so the 3-packs were probably $2.99 or $3.49 each. They were going for two packs for $2.50 each meaning buying two 3-packs was cheaper than one 6-pack, so you're right, buying in bulk packages isn't ALWAYS cheaper but generally speaking I think it's safe to say it is. The word 'always', rarely truly applies.

The freezer suggestion was solid advice and I'll most definitely get a deep-freeze (as we call them) once I get my own house but for now I'm making do with what I have. I do intend on learning how to butcher, since I also intend to try my hand at hunting. Looking forward to making a stew made 100% with things I've hunted/grown myself, including sea salt I made myself, though I might use some store-bought spices, we'll see. I'm not even 30 yet so, God willing, I've still got decades of years ahead of me to try new things. Cheers!

I'm pretty hardcore about dried beans and the pressure cooker and even I buy canned chickpeas every now and then because dried are such a pain in the ass. Hummus protip: If you have the patience try peeling the chickpeas before making hummus with them. HUGE pain in the ass, but you get super creamy hummus as a result.

You know, that sort of confuses me. Why is it so important to have creamy hummus? Maybe it's just because I'm a rather unrefined guy, sort of rough-and-tumble I guess, but I don't mind if my hummus isn't all that creamy. I mean, I just stated that I make my hummus by hand and use the can itself to crush the peas/beans. Before that, I literally just used my fist, but found that wasn't effective enough because sometimes I'd end up with chunks of chickpeas so the can works a lot better. It's good enough for me, and I also have a suspicion that some of the fibre is in the shell so I just roll with it.

I also tried making hummus once with peanut butter instead of tahini... nope. It's just not the same. Tahini is probably the most expensive part of hummus, but it just can't be replaced, not in my experience. I heard about using sesame seed oil but that likely removes a lot of the nutritional benefits of sesame seed butter. I'm thinking of trying some chopped pickle in the hummus though, just to try it out, after all I have chunks of jalapeno in there too. What do you think?

This kinda reads like a 19-20th century Russian novel. The one thing missing is the depression, but it seems like op has things under control

Glad you've enjoyed the read, but I'm a hardy sort. I actually frequent Veeky Forums and am a self-published author as well as a ghostwriter. Not exactly a 'starving artist' as it were, considering I recently spent so much money on food, but it might seem like the kind of backstory that such a character would have I suppose.

Look for other stuff to safe money. like insurance, ISP costs, Mobile phone costs, car, clothes.

Food is one of the few things which i don't safe on. Quality of life is important too you know.

It's also jam packed with fat and sugar. This doesn't necessarily mean it's unhealthy, but it's not healthy either. It's just very caloric food.

Absolutely. To save on money I bought needle and thread to stitch up holes in clothes (primarily socks and underwear really), I actually don't have a cell phone at the moment but going to get one soon since my writing is going so well and looks like I'll be able to get a flip phone for less than $80 USD and I'll be spending about $8 USD per month to maintain the service so that sounds pretty good. I won't be using it much, ideally I wouldn't get one at all but it's pretty much a necessity I mean I've lost access to email accounts and other online profiles due to not having a cell phone. Very annoying, lost contact with some VERY cool people.

You're right; food is something you shouldn't feel bad for splurging on a bit, but now that I have a healthy pantry I dare say my weekly/monthly grocery spending will decline rapidly. I think I need to change my diet though; turns out too much fibre can be a bad thing, and I think I've been having too much lately. At any rate, yes, quality of life is important and I think in pursuing my writing career I will have a spectacular life ahead of me. I will be doing what I love, and it's a very lucky thing to make a living in doing what you love.

>I'm an aspiring writer in 2017

Enjoy living the life of Saroyan's short story, "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze." That story really made me appreciate food and the folly of trying to be a writer without a publicity gig already behind you.

Just put pickles on your bread and hummus. Totally works. As for the cost of tahini, the stuff is expensive at a typical Western supermarket because it's an exotic item they don't sell a lot of, and you're literally paying for them to stock the stuff. See if there's a Middle Eastern market near you. Stuff will be MUCH cheaper there. At the supermarket a jar of tahini is like $7 near me, but at the Middle Eastern market a similarly sized jar is $3.

Sounds interesting, but things are coming along fairly well. My 1-year anniversary of being self-published is approaching, and I've already made hundreds of dollars. Most self-published authors don't even make $100 in their first year so evidently I'm doing better than most. So in my second year of being self-published (which hasn't even started yet) it would seem I'm just about guaranteed (knock on wood) to make over $1000. Now, 4-digits a year obviously isn't enough to live off of but I'm making clear steps towards full-time writing. I'm in it for the long-haul. Not looking to get rich quick in fact I live such a simple and content lifestyle that I have no use for riches but I do think if I keep going how I'm going, the possibility is there for me to achieve such. Ultimately though, my goal is basically $1000 USD per month. That is most certainly possible with self-publishing on Kindle/Amazon, in fact some people even make 5-figures a month that way.

So things might sound tough, but I'm more optimistic for the future than, possibly, I've ever been in my life. Baby steps are fine by me, in fact my first 5 months of being self-published I made barely anything. I'm talking, MAYBE, $10 USD. That's for almost half a year. Now, however, since March 21st (6 months ago) I've made around $400+. I'm getting more offers for ghostwriting, I'm working on new writing projects to self-publish more work, and so I anticipate in the COMING 6 months from now to March 2018 I should easily make over $800. That's at how things are NOW though; things will continue to improve. I write/edit almost daily with very few days in which I do neither; typically after completing a major project whether it be one of my books or a ghostwritten book for someone else is when I might give myself a day or two just to chill but then I get right back at it. The money doesn't matter; I'm loving this journey.

Holy shit, I'll have to look into that! But yeah, lately when I have hummus sandwiches I take out a pickle and slice it up. Adds a nice little something to the flavour.

if you've got a blender or food processor or even just a potato masher.. just buy bulk garbanzos (dry or canned) and make your own. tahini, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, and cumin. blend it up.

you'll save a lot of money that way i think. hummus is really overpriced

On a budget of ~$4 a day
leannebrown.com/cookbooks/

Been making my own for years. Most of the stuff in the supermarket substitutes citric acid for lemon juice, which makes it taste cheap to me. So you end up paying more for cheap tasting hummus. Not a deal at all.

This guy is the best frugality expert I've seen on the internet: earlyretirementextreme.com/

When I'm in hardcore frugal mode:

>buy (brown) rice, potatoes, dried beans, cheap whole grain bread, oats and maybe pasta or bulgur or such in bulk
>use these as your staples with a variety of vegetables and the occasional cheap piece of meat
>drink water

That's it. Ramen is bullshit, Kraft Dinners are bullshit, a lot of canned goods are bullshit. Freezer veggies are your friend.

My only luxury is booze, which I make myself, so it's very cheap.

I've been making my own hummus for over a month, not sure exactly how long, but it's become a staple of my diet that I don't think is going to go anywhere anytime soon.

Don't have a blender, but I buy canned garbanzo beans whenever it's on sale and I make the hummus by hand (or rather, by can; I use the can itself to crush it up).

$4 a day doesn't sound too difficult to achieve if you REALLY know how to spend. I mean, I could just eat 3 canned meals a day and boom, that's less than $4.

I want to try making my own booze so God damn badly...

Plenty of resources online lad, it's not that hard. Plenty of people manage to make a drinkable cider out of store bought apple juice. And plenty of people make a good vodka alternative by distilling a simple sugar wash.

Yup, there's no excuse. Once I get settled away, with more disposable income and more room for shit, I dare say I'll start experimenting with booze and probably in time once I have everything perfected and memorized, end up making batches very regularly. I drink liquor regularly, about twice a week at least, and it's easily one of my biggest expenses. In fact usually I spend more money on booze than on food, but in the last month I probably broke just about even on both food and booze. If I could get a cheaper method of drinking, man, SO much saved money! A litre of 12-16% cider, if it didn't get me drunk it would get me pretty damn close. Another half-litre would for SURE do the trick I figure. I don't have much experience drinking wine-strength stuff. Typically either liquor or beer.

Depends on where you live. I spend 600 a month on food without eating out.

Here's my no-fridge no-kitchen hotplate-only final-destination diet.

Breakfast:
Two raw, room-temperature eggs
Coffee (grounds boiled in a saucepan)

Lunch:
Re-boil the grounds, add cocoa powder and brown sugar
Drink results
Optionally snack on olives or jalapeno slices

Dinner:
Fusilli boiled twice the amount of water it needs, with turmeric powder added
When soft, add miso paste and stir

Prepare bowl of shredded olives, cocktail onions and sliced japapeno peppers (all from room-temperature jars)
Pour on extra virgin olive oil
Grind on as much pepper as possible

Pour the miso-turmeric pasta soup into the bowl while it is still hot
Stir well

If you're a writer, why do you capitalize random words like a teenager and write so tedious? I wouldn't earn a living either that way.

I found myself in a similar situation recently and the best thing you can do is record every expense you make and look at them, look at them with shame. Then keep trying to lower it even if by very little every month or whatever time frame you have. You may just have to change your diet too, adapting to one that is more sustainable financially. Try to buy things that will have multiple uses over time. Get all the overhead out of the way like spices and condiments you think you'll use. Find a cheaper place to shop if you can or look for how you can get better deals. Think deeply about the things you buy. Do you really need them at that time?

literally the most jewish post i have ever read

not but this is really real advice, and one day you may find yourself in a time of hardship and really need to think about what you consume.

$250 for one person is way, way too much. you should be doing $150 at a maximum, and that's if you were making some dishes with expensive ingredients for whatever reason.

i already do live off a shit budget but i just eat $1 fast food and bum water out of drinking fountains or steal what i need like a normal human
only retards or jews still use the store when they are dirt poor

Which words do I capitalize that you think don't need to be?

I'm not that hurting for money, thanks to what I make via writing. In fact in spite of having spent so much money on groceries, I still have over $100 available which for now I'm just saving. Probably going to get a bottle of rum today though, I've been doing well in cutting back and it's most certainly saving money even if it's still a major expense.

This is true, earlier on when I wasn't making as much money in my writings I had to be careful about my expenses.

I was getting a fair few non-food items and also stocking up my pantry which had been empty. I recently moved and didn't bring much with me so I'm still getting straightened away. My next month won't see much spent in the way of groceries I don't think.

Stealing isn't human. I don't care how scummy some people think Jews are (which I'm still trying to understand), but thieves are infinitely worse. I've dealt with enough to know.

>$250 in groceries within the past month
what the fuck
>good amount stocked up or do you just eat paycheque to paycheque?
neither, I eat store visit to store visit. I keep a bank account with money rather than a pile of canned food and ramen or whatever the shit you're doing

post youre room.

>over $100 available
does that mean less than $200? because if so you are very much hurting for money

Only retards buy fast food when they're poor

Yes, less than $200, but I don't need much to get by.

Nyet.

I like having a store of canned goods available. Tuna, chicken, ham, beans, chickpeas for hummus, a bit of SPAM, and a few other things. It's not my main food staple, just some non-perishables that I have stored away. It would be better to eat fresh produce though, for sure. It'd be in my best interest to make more meals that actually involved prepping and cooking.

Okay fuck all this advise go suck dick for money plus get bonus protein then eat what you want

How did you start pursuing a writing career? How did you first start to get an income from it? Any tips?

I picked up some bananas and rum. They are very yellow. Not the rum.

Consider writing erotica and setting up a patreon. If some dumb cunt can make $4800 a month doing a visual novel with renpy surely a writeer worth his salt can make a decent wage.

>How did you start pursuing a writing career?
I've wanted to write a book for years. Finally, last year, I started writing it. Then I self-published it and just kept writing. Wrote over half a dozen books, most of which are novel-length, and I've recently also gotten into ghostwriting.

>How did you first start to get an income from it?
It took months, but eventually some people read my books and really liked them. I got my first review, and over a dozen more ratings/reviews have followed. I've been contacted by some fans (one of whom is self-described as a fan), I've gotten free downloads all around the world during promotional periods with KDP Select, and I've gotten paid downloads in various countries. I've also had several paperback books bought in Europe, so as I type, words that I wrote are in physical copies of paperback books in mainland Europe. None in the UK yet unfortunate, but I can't wait. I've gotten paid downloads from the UK though so there's digital versions of my books on the British Isles.

>Tips
-Write
-Keep writing
-Seek out unbiased feedback, good and bad, but the bad is more helpful

If you just want to make money, see what's popular and what's selling then write in that sort of genre. Personally, I write about what interests me, but if I had written in genres that are selling better instead of just what I'm into then I probably would have made over $1000 by now. It's quite possible. When you build friendships with people you've never met and have never even spoken to until AFTER they've read your stuff though... it's incredible. I love this life that I'm throwing myself into.

Who is this dumb cunt that made $4800 a month with a visual novel? As for patreon, is it necessary to use your real name? I write under a pseudonym. I looked into... shit, what's it called... anyways it turned out you needed your real name for it so I didn't bother.

Honestly, I don't need to be asking for hand-outs. I'm quite comfortable in spite of how it sounds, I really am, and I look forward to getting drunk tonight. As I continue working on my writing, my income will inevitably increase. I'll find more people who will like to hire me for ghostwriting, and I'll meet more fans whom I'll exchange emails with, not to mention as I get more money I'll hire actual graphic designers to make custom covers instead of the ones I have. I'll also eventually hire an editor to check out my stuff though likely only for a little grammatical clean-up but as-is I have pretty clean first drafts. As I continue along I'll look into paid advertising, and there's just so much I have to experiment with as I learn more about self-publishing. There really is a lot to it, but I'm loving the process.

They should be providing meals.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boarding_house

AFAIK you can use a pseudonym, unless Eva Kiss is a real name. Though with all things, it probably wouldn't be too hard to figure out who you are given enough effort and scrutiny.

This is true, yeah. I maintain a pseudonym for convenience but I do think once I'm comfortable with what I write, once I receive enough support and readers/followers, I'll be fine coming out and showing my real name and real face. I'm still an unknown though so putting in the effort to reveal who I really am isn't really worth much.

I guess it's not a real boarding house. We share a kitchen and a washroom, but we must provide our own food.

Also for record, Eva Kiss isn't a dumb cunt, I'm just salty she makes a bit more than I do selling a pre-alpha VN using renpy lol.

What's the Visual Novel?

this

>jam packed with fat and sugar.

no it fucking isn't

Oh, it would seem to be Good Girl Gone Bad. I've heard of it.

Thanks! That all sounds pretty great

PS you're not Gaskun are you

Makes me think of 'Gaston' from that on Disney movie with the bookworm chick. Anyhow, I don't know who Gaskun is so no, can't say I'm him, or her. I'm drunk. Rum is my lifeblood. Elton John is wicked shit.

My wife goes to the grocer daily and picks out fresh ingredients for the meals she prepares. Our pantry doesn't have much but bottles of water, juice, soda and beer/liquor. Can't remember the last time I had dried pasta in my home. 15 years maybe. I lived like you in my 20s. By your 40s you'll be like me. Enjoy your youth.

Gaskun is a guy who used to work at a truck stop. Over the years he worked on a multi thousand page manuscript that he eventually self published as a series of sci fi novels on Amazon. He posted on lit, cool guy. Your story sounds sort of similar to his hence why I asked

Check your local supermarkets online ads while you take your shits.

And get a side job or start donating plasma for supplemental income.

I remember his threads. Do you know what he's doing now?

I've been frequenting Veeky Forums for some time but I haven't gotten too familiar with the tripfags, as it were. I'm not him, but I've got around 400,000 words self-published in total.

Sounds like a good life, I do intend to enjoy my youth while I can, and I can only hope to be as settled away as you in the future. Sounds like you've got a damn good woman.

For me it's the 6 piece nugget combo

>Anyhow, buying in bulk does mean it's cheaper
>if there's a special on.
>If you buy 4 cans for $5 when they're usually $1.50 each, then you save $0.25 per can.
>Normally it would be $6 for 4
>but you got them and saved a dollar, which is savings
>that can add up
so... what are you saying?

I don't understand the confusion.

Saw him on lit a few weeks ago. He's working a new job (not a gas station anymore) and working on his books when he can. I believe he has the first couple books out, with more on the way. He's looking for proofreaders

Canned food is actually more expensive than fresh food. The only reason to buy it is if you're too lazy too cook it, or need to to last a long time. If you're trying to save money, you're don't need either of those things.

>paycheque

Brit?

nobody cares about your problems. either post interesting food related stuff here, or fuck you and die

Not quite as classy, not as many accents, not as many people, but with more firearms, WAY more land, and still pro-Queen; Canadian.

I think it depends on what sort of canned food you're getting. I mean, if you buy a pack of spaghetti/sauce/meat, then get the same monetary value of Chef Boyardee pasta and meatballs, they both cost the same amount but which would have more kcal? Well it goes without saying that the spaghetti/sauce/meat would be better but anyways yeah, freshly-cooked meals are probably in general cheaper and most certainly healthier than canned food but I didn't have much canned food so decided to stock up. For all intents and purposes it'll never go back because it'll definitely get eaten within the next 2 years so doesn't hurt to have it.

When you pour water into wormwood absinthe and watch the clear green liquor turn a milky light-green, that's called the 'louche' effect, and looks awesome. Is that interesting? If not, just drink a fuckload of it and you'll find LOTS of things become VERY interesting VERY quickly!

>nobody cares
>after a shitton of replies
Must hurt being this stupid

Please don't heat cans as they may have plastic linings.

start cooking with those canned goods and rice/pasta, OP. make some gumbo or jambalaya or red beans and rice -- they're super cheap, and all you need is a few fresh ingredients (peppers, onions, carrots, celery, meat if you want it)

>$250 in groceries within the past month

Shit. I spend like $75 max and that is for things like flour and special spices and ingredients online I can't get here or grow myself. This past month was only $61.49. Hell, I only make $200/mo and that's just for paying a few bills. Perhaps you should buy more bulk vegetables like beans, rice, potatoes, onions, etc. Also, go out and do some gardening.

Of course, I'm a farmer and grow/raise a ton of food just for my health. I think I'm up to about $6k of food grown/raised this year. I preserve via water bath canning, pressure canning, dehydrating & vacuum packing, and freezing. I have bout 6 months worth of food at any one time.

Right now, I'm snacking on sunflower seeds I grew, roasted, and salted myself. I have like 2lbs of sunflower seeds ready to eat and about 5 more pounds drying. This was my first year for sunflowers so I don't have much. Next year though, oh boy! I also make my own wines.

It's not heated by much. Just ran under hot water to try and get the glue off from the label. Then the can is opened, drained, and rinsed about 3-4 times with cold water. Quite a brief process.

Sounds interesting, can't say I've ever had gumbo or jambalaya. Sounds like it'd be cajun. Speaking of which I've had Cajun blackened chicken before, and it is AMAZING!

Awesome stuff, that's truly fascinating and impressive. As I get more settled away and figure out new recipes and what not, I'm certain my spending habits will change quite a bit. Well, I know they'll change; I have a healthy supply of canned food now and it's definitely going to last months. Sunflower seeds are awesome, haven't had those in years, but yeah I'm looking forward to working on my cooking! I don't really know how to cook much, even though I enjoy the process. Need to spend more time in the kitchen but it's just so annoying having to stick with the food I'm making. Similar with doing laundry; I don't want to leave it alone because it's been fucked with before by the room mates. Shitty situation, but I'm making the most of it.

The best advice I can give is to put your food in a locked box. For learning cooking, always make a recipe at least 10 times on 10 different occasions before giving up on that recipe. It normally takes that long for you to become proficient at it. If you still fail, try something else instead. Just never give up after 1-2 tries and fails.

Back when I lived with my ex, we'd split groceries. One of us would buy unnecessary items (snacks, soda, things we just wanted) while the other would buy things that are useful (replenishment on rice, vegetables, meat, other general ingredients)

On average I think the person who spent the money on meat and vegetables etc would be spending about ~100 for two weeks. There'd be specials where they'd package a good 10 pounds of variety meat for only 20 dollars.

I will say though, we did end up eating a lot of possibly or near-spoiled food spiced up to taste okay on rice. It helps to get creative.

gumbo and jambalaya are definitely cajun/creole. google a few recipes -- they're super easy and require basic ingredients and skills, but are nutritious, filling, and you can make GIANT pots of 'em that'll make you meals for days. i generally prefer jambalaya over gumbo, because you can make it in one pot.

i can take picture of my own feces and get a 'shitton' of replies on Veeky Forums. what's your point? people waste their time here on purpose. you think getting responses here means that people 'care'?

I keep all my food in my room, the door of which also has a deadbolt, and I've got my own mini-fridge so food theft isn't a worry as long as nobody breaks down my door. I hate it when that happens; had my door broken into twice, once while I was still in it. Not a fun experience.

I do like simplicity, for sure. Ideally though it must be something that can be cooked without too much time, because as mentioned when I have something cooking in the kitchen I must attend the food because I just don't trust leaving it alone. I'll look up simple recipes for gumbo and jumbalaya. I hear cajun food is often spicy too, which is good, I love spicy. Big fan of jalapenos. I think my next meal is going to be another simple one though; I'm eyeing a can of gravy and meatballs. Cook up some rice and mix it together. Rice and gravy can be pretty tasty, and I got the can for literally $0.99 Canadian which I suppose is maybe $0.80 USD so that's pretty badass. Simple, but it'll likely have enough kcal for two meals. Might toss in some canned veggies as well. I REALLY wish my mini-fridge's freezer wasn't so shitty; I've got it on high to keep the chicken burger patties from thawing and there's some ice in my milk. Only a bit, but still, kind of annoying. Going to pick up more milk and bread tomorrow but I'll do my best to resist buying ANYTHING else.

The bananas are delicious by the way. Picked up half a dozen and already only have three left. Definitely a good call; healthy snack, even though it was basically almost 50 cents per banana.

if you have an hour, you can make a big pot of jambalaya. use white rice to make it cook faster. in a pinch, you can use "minute rice" that you cook in the microwave and then add to the rest of the ingredients.

>buy canned foods
>add cooked egg noodles to them to extend the number of meals you can get from a single can

Like this beef stew from a can I eating right now. I added a little more salt, black pepper, and hot pepper to it.

forgot pic

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