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By the way, 3 glasses of milk and two slices of bread would eat up most of that $5/day budget. Milk is a lot more expensive than you think. Last time I checked milk was around $4.50 a quart,
$4.50 a quart? Where? In California? NYC? In Hampton Roads Virginia you can get a gallon of milk at the gas station under $4. If you shop around a bit you can find it under $3 a gallon.
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Originally Posted by normie
making each glass of milk about $1 (unless your glass is smaller than a dixie cup). Even cheap white bread costs $1.50/loaf, and cheap bread is not a great source of nutrition.
I routinely find cheap white bread for .99, but I'll give you $1.50 for bread. So thats about 7.5 cents a slice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by normie
Bulk foods can help reduce your budget... but when you live in a camp ground and only have a motorcycle, you can't buy most foods in bulk.
She has a camper. Depending on the size, you can store a great deal of bulk items.
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Originally Posted by normie
There's no way to transport it, no way to store it. You end up getting the over priced small sizes at the campground store.
You can transport a few bags of groceries in a back pack, and some in saddle or side bags.
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Originally Posted by normie
As for the planters, they're great for occasional vegetables, but not as a main source of food. You can get herbs from them, and probably a decent number of tomatoes if you have a sunny spot in your campsite. But you can't live on tomatoes day in and day out, and a planter is not going to pop out a head of lettuce every day like a chicken pops out an egg. I do a lot of gardening, and at most I get enough to make salad fixings maybe 3-4 times a year.
My mother is growing tomatoes, spinach, potatoes, about 10 different fruit trees, lettuce, and various herbs at this very minute in planters. In past years she has produced enough to solely meet the needs of a 4 person family, AND can, freeze and make sauces out some. She has all the planters stored in an area less then 4 feet wide and 15 foot long.
If this woman were really so inclined, she could construct a garden on the roof of her camper.
OK, I feel better now. We just went to Costco and a gallon of milk is $2.90. So it's not quite as dire as I feared (and that'll teach me to believe things in wikipedia! )
I still don't see how a $150 food budget is doable, though. I cook for two people and just went to Costco. I bought basic staples (tomato paste, canned fruit, a rotisserie chicken, juice, bread, etc.) No desserts, no prepared foods, nothing special with the exception of steaks for Memorial Day that were $30 for 4. My bill came to $120, and that food might last through the weekend if we're careful. I just can't see how it's done.
Hmmm, guess this could be a good subject for a new thread.
I routinely live on less then $50 a month for groceries, and my girlfriend and I rarely go over $100 together a month unless our "grocery bill" also includes cleaning supplies, candles, or other non food items. That will be reduced significantly when my garden comes up and we can cut the insane produce portion out of that, especially peppers.
I'll give you the steak (it was a memorial day treat), but chicken and tuna fish are staples, IMO. We stretch one of those chickens over several meals, but I do think a little bit of animal protein is essential. Yes, I know vegetarians would disagree.
You can routinely get a whole entire bag of frozen chicken for half of what you paid for that rotisserie. I can promise you that. Canned tuna is amongst the cheapest forms of animal protein, and you can get that for less then .25 per serving if you look a bit.
I was commenting on the rotisserie part of the chicken, not the meat itself.
Apparently, I spoke too soon. I'm not a Costco shopper, so when I saw another post that indicated the price was $4.99 for a fully-cooked bird, I did a double-take. That's a steal if it's a decently-sized chicken, and definitely a "do" for the frugal grocery list. Make sure to make soup stock with the carcass. The canned versions are a budget buster.
Regarding broth, if you're lucky enough to have an Asian grocery nearby, check the meat dept. for chicken feet, which make a wonderful, gelatinous stock. Google for instructions. Once you've made your own, the canned & boxed versions will pale by comparison. I store my home-made stock in a re-purposed pickle jar or freeze small quantities in an ice cube tray and store them in a zipper bag.
Last edited by formercalifornian; 05-21-2009 at 09:13 AM..
Frugality, like anything else, can be taken too far. If she's burning a hole through what's left of her money that is certainly not frugal. It sounds like she got over zealous about frugal living, tried to make way to many changes at once, and got in way over her head. Now, she's trying to pass it off as the "ultimately frugal lifestyle" because she doesn't want to admit she may have made a mistake. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do besides be supportive if/when she comes to you for help. Like 20yrsinBranson said, frugality is about being resourceful so one can live well on less. While your friend's intentions were probably good, her poor planning is going to leave her in a hole. Even living "the simple life" takes some thoughtful planning.
You can routinely get a whole entire bag of frozen chicken for half of what you paid for that rotisserie. I can promise you that. Canned tuna is amongst the cheapest forms of animal protein, and you can get that for less then .25 per serving if you look a bit.
That might have been true about canned tuna a while back, but no way is it true now. The "standard" can has recently been shrunk from a nominal 6 oz to 5 oz. I have not found any recently that sells for less than about 75 cents per can. When you squeeze out all of the water in the can, you can expect about 2 oz of dry tuna. With 16 oz in a pound, you end up paying $6 per pound or more. On sale, chicken can go as low as 69 cents per pound, and pork is often at about the dollar mark. About the only inexpensive fish anymore is catfish, and even that has gone up in price.
The rotisserie chickens at Costco are 3lb chickens. Every other place that sells rotisserie chickens has 2lb chickens for much more $$. Ralph's here in CA has 3lb chickens for $8.00.
I am not sure this would be considered extreme,more like ridiculous (at least to me...).
For a 1st communion for their only daughter,we have friends who asked around between family & Friends to see if someone would or had a communion dress to lend to them.. I find this ridiculous honestly.
It is a very special day and I think it is terrible that they were that "cheap" that they didn't want to spend the money on their own dress for their daughter who could some day pass it down possibly to her own.
They got several "hand me downs" from people and also ended up borrowing someone else's veil as well.
A very pretty dress could have been found at a normal dept.store such as J.C.Penny's for not a lot of money...
I am not sure this would be considered extreme,more like ridiculous (at least to me...).
For a 1st communion for their only daughter,we have friends who asked around between family & Friends to see if someone would or had a communion dress to lend to them.. I find this ridiculous honestly.
It is a very special day and I think it is terrible that they were that "cheap" that they didn't want to spend the money on their own dress for their daughter who could some day pass it down possibly to her own.
They got several "hand me downs" from people and also ended up borrowing someone else's veil as well.
A very pretty dress could have been found at a normal dept.store such as J.C.Penny's for not a lot of money...
Here is a sticking point....what is your definition of "not alot of money". I refuse to pay more then $20 for any piece of clothing, period (shoes included). If it is $20, then it better be a very nice pair of slacks for work.
To me, over $20 is "a lot of money". On the other hand, Ive heard people refer to things that are $20 as "cheap", and I even have known people who wouldnt be caught dead in something that cost $20.
I actually got in an argument with someone about eating out, and they refused to be convinced that $100 wasnt completely unreasonable for one meal, and even argued that it was a "cheap date".
That might have been true about canned tuna a while back, but no way is it true now. The "standard" can has recently been shrunk from a nominal 6 oz to 5 oz. I have not found any recently that sells for less than about 75 cents per can.
How many "servings" are in that can though? I bet its 3 or 4.
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