Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
10lb Bag of Chicken Leg Quarters - $8
1lb of Hamburger Meat - $4
Loaf of Bread - $1
1lb of Your Favorite Dried Beans - $1
42oz Can of Quaker Oatmeal - $4
1lb of Store Brand Pasta - $1
Can of Del Monte Pasta Sauce - $1
Big Bag of Store Brand Mixed Veggies - $4
Small Bunch of Bananas - $1
Breakfasts can be toast or oatmeal with bananas.
Boil all of the chicken leg quarters at once. Shred meat. Then, use meat to make sandwiches throughout the week. Boil bones and skin to make broth, then add mixed veggies, some of the chicken and some of the pasta to make soup; it should last for a couple of servings and can be served with toast to be more filling. You can also eat the chicken plain with a small side of the mixed veggies and some beans.
Use the rest of the noodles and pasta sauce, add browned hamburger meat and make spaghetti. With your leftovers, add water and lots of dried beans to make a hearty chili.
Since the oatmeal contains about 30 servings, it should last several weeks. This means that next week, you can take that $4 to buy more fruit, or perhaps peanut butter and jelly for different types of sandwiches. Beans will probably last two weeks too, so you can alternate each week between buying beans and rice. You can buy a cheap taco kit instead of the pasta fixings too. You won't have lettuce and cheese, but the packet should come with seasoning, salsa and tortillas or crunchy shells.
This thread does nothing except illustrate the differences in food costs throughout the country. I haven't seen a loaf of bread for a dollar in years, let alone a jar of mayo or a pound of chicken thighs or legs.
This thread does nothing except illustrate the differences in food costs throughout the country. I haven't seen a loaf of bread for a dollar in years, let alone a jar of mayo or a pound of chicken thighs or legs.
Ive never seen a vegetarian lion (doesnt mean one doesnt exist).
Multiply this by 10 which is how many I have in my family and it would cost roughly $250 at $25 per person.. We actually spend just on food, $1215 every 2 weeks which is $10.75 per person per week.... But I am able to buy in bulk.....
$25 for a single person is doable... If you have a slow cooker you can make lots of stuff and have leftovers....
Also to those folks who are buying cans of beans for 50 cents or $1:
You can buy a pound of dried beans for $1, and that pound will go a lot further than the single can. If you can save 25 cents per week, then the beginning of the following month you can get a 5-pound bag of dried beans for only $2, and that'll last you the entire month, with some left over for the month after, and that will net you enough at the end of the second month that you can afford to buy something in bulk the week after.
I was one that suggested cans of beans. I did so as it's a single guy that might not know how to cook. I simplified the menu to reflect that.
If a person can cook, my suggestion for a $25 budget would be drastically different.
Ohiogirl, yes there are reguons where you can't get fresh in season on sale fruit or veg for under $2.50 a pound, anywhere, ever. There are regions where a farmer's market is not prohibitively expensive. There are regions where fresh ginger is available in most supermarkets as a matter of course. My current local supermarket has a line of discount spices for 99 cents each. I've never seen that anywhere else in the country (and I go into supermarkets on holidays, so I know my grocery prices).
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
Also to those folks who are buying cans of beans for 50 cents or $1:
You can buy a pound of dried beans for $1, and that pound will go a lot further than the single can. If you can save 25 cents per week, then the beginning of the following month you can get a 5-pound bag of dried beans for only $2, and that'll last you the entire month, with some left over for the month after, and that will net you enough at the end of the second month that you can afford to buy something in bulk the week after.
The problem with dried beans is this guy is working poor. He's probably working long and/or erratic hours, possibly with a long public transport commute, plus he's poor. The stress of being poor is exhausting, as are many low wage jobs. Having the energy and forethought to soak and boil dried beans when he's used to eating Taco Bell for every meal is unrealistic. In addition there's the dread hard bean syndrome when you buy old beans or don't cook them right and the meal is inedible. Canned beans only need warming and seasoning to eat, and $1 is the non-sale price. I think it's a reasonable compromise. If you want to encourage drued pulse cooking, start with red lentils, although they are quite expensive in large swathes of the US.
I had a friend who had to do this. Her freezer had quite a few pot pies. they are under $1 each. Lunch meat, bread and chips for lunch, Cereal, milk, toaster pastries for breakfast. And she bought packs of the peanut butter crackers as a pick me up during the day. Said she thought about Ramen, but she could only eat so many of those.
Financially, you'd still be better off cooking the pot pie yourself, or an easier deconstructed pot pie, like chicken and veg with dumplings.
1 pound chicken $1 (cuts vary, but whole leg is usually best value, and you can ask them to package just one for you. Save bones and skin in the freezer for stock)
1 pound frozen vegetables $1.50. (those mixed bags of peas corn and carrot)
flour (2 pound bag for $1, you'd only use a fraction)
milk (half gallon $1.50)
tbsp oil or butter ($2 for a whole bottle of oil)
for $7 total outlay you've got five or six meals, with leftover half gallon of milk, bottle of oil and lots of flour. The milk is used in the oatmeal for breakfast ($1.50 for two weeks worth), flour and oil for all sorts of things. But the actual cost of the meals if you prorate the oil, milk, flour and count it as five servings is about $3.
You don't need to stoop to those disgusting crackers during the day. For $2 prorated our man in the OP could cook a chocolate cake to snack on through the week ($1 for cake mix, and three of his dozen eggs $2.19 total, about 60 cents, and about 1/5 of the $2 bottle of oil, 40 cents).
If we assume our guy has a totally bare cupboard in week one he buys:
Breakfast $3.80
small box quick oats $1.50. (14 servings)
half gallon milk $1.50 (2L, make porridge with 50/50 milk water and use just under a litre)
four bananas 80 cents
sugar sachets stolen from coffee shops/work/Taco Bell (next week he'll buy a bag)
Lunch $3.60
loaf bread $1.10 (most loaves have 14 slices)
jar peanut butter $2.50
Snacks $6
boiled eggs (one dozen, $2.20)
cake ($1 cake mix plus part of $2 bottle of oil, plus three of the eggs)
pound carrots 80 cents
Dinner $6.60
1 pound chicken $1
2 pound pasta $2 (8 servings)
pasta sauce made of big tin tomatoes, $1, an onion, 40 cents, pound of carrots 80 cents, bag frozen pepper pieces ($1.29)
Leaving less than $1 to spend on something for the pantry, like a spice mix, a tin of olives for future pasta sauces, some garlic or soy sauce. And in the pantry for next week is a litre of milk (frozen on day one of week one) and oats for the weeks porridge plus most of a bottle of oil. Next week's budget has $4.80 spare because breakfast is already taken care of so he can buy something like herbs, spices or seasonings (about $2 each for cheap ones), tahini for hummus (expensive up front, $4-5 dollars, but then only use tbsp or two at a time to make hummus, great snack with carrot sticks) and/or an extra pound or two of frozen vegetables (root vegetables are about 80-90 cents a pound, frozen are $1-1.50 per pound, spinach is 89 cents for a box in my very cheap supermarket). Week three is tight again because he needs more breakfast stuff, but he'll still have the oil, plus he'll have some flavourings for his boring dinner.
It would be awfully tight, but I can't see how you'd even eat off the dollar menu all week for only $20.
ETA: oh, wow! I misread, he has $5 more than I thought! Such riches! My man can treat himself to a box of frozen spinach (89 cents) and a block of cheese ($2.50) for his pasta and still have $2 to spend on an Italian herb mix to flavour it!
Last edited by WildColonialGirl; 01-12-2015 at 12:27 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Love that reference, lol.