Have you changed spending habits yet? (Hermon, Danforth: houses, camping, living in)
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Am I missing an entire row at the supermarket? Are you subsisting on a cup of rice at day and thats it? How do you possibly get enough fruits and vegtables in your diet?
You mentioned buying in bulk...but still I can't see how you do it.
I'll give you an example, but word of warning...*my* menu may not be palatable for everyone. I have a limited variety and may eat the same stuff multiple times during the week, and again the next week, etc.
Yields about 4 good size servings at about $.25 each. I could stretch it further, but I like to eat. On the other hand, I don't stuff myself silly either.
Most of my meals are one pot with everything together- meat, veggies, starch. More convenient and only one pan to wash. I make a big pot and eat it 'til it's gone. Sometimes I'll make something different the second day and alternate.
Saturday night is always baked beans and hotdogs. I caught a good sale on B&M, 28oz cans at 10/$10, bought a bunch. Guess I didn't reduce their inventory enough 'cuz the next week they were on sale at .78 each. Got more. My beans from scratch are better, but this is way cheaper than I can make them for.
Got a deal on breakfast sausage, $1/pkg. Bacon, .99/lb.
I often start with packaged or canned foods, then add stuff to make complete meals.
Mac & cheese- start with a box (.25-.50, depending on where), add cheese (Amer slices, or Monterey Jack, or cheddar or pepper jack) about 4-8oz, 1lb hamburger, 1 med onion, 1lb peas, 1 or 2 cans stewed tomato. Makes a big pot, lasts me about 2 weeks.
Jambalaya- Start with Zaterain's box (about $1.25), add 1lb smoked sausage (sometimes some chicken too), 1lb peas, 1lb corn, 8oz can tomato sauce, sometimes some stewed tomato. Makes a real big pot, lasts me a couple of weeks.
I got a deal on bologna and salami at $1/lb.
Sandwich bread at $1.49/22oz loaf
Italian bread $1.89 for a biiig unsliced loaf...don't know how much it weighs. I'll have a hunk of that with supper.
If I see something that's a real good deal, I've been known to buy multiple cases of the product and make repeat trips into the store if they get uppity and try to limit quantities. I try to buy enough so that it lasts until the next time I see a deal that good.
I don't do the foolish thing of wasting gas driving around to 3 or 4 stores to save a nickel each on a few products. I scan the sale papers and make a list of things I use that are on sale, I keep the list with me and when I'm going somewhere else and it takes me past a store that has something I want, I stop and get it.
I can be a cheap b*stard and I've noticed that some stores do some real funny things with the pricing and the labeling for unit pricing. It used to be that if you bought the larger sizes of goods it was always a cheaper per qty price- not necessarily so any more. Sometimes they use different units of measure on different sizes of the same product- the bigger size may *look* like a better deal if you just glance at the unit price but you have to be sure you're looking at the same units. Sometimes they put the screws to you if you aren't careful.
One more thing- I DON'T buy cookies, cakes, candy, soda, potato chips or any other junky type foods except on *very* rare occasions. No snacky crap. I was brought up to eat relatively healthy, and as the other forum members who have seen me can attest, I haven't got a single pound of excess weight on this bod at 48 yrs old.
Last edited by Zymer; 10-21-2008 at 01:29 PM..
Reason: Add something
I can see a sandwich for less than a dollar (and only if you use your own lunch meat....I don't think you can make a sandwich for under a dollar with store bought lunch meat, not to mention the other stuff), but Zymer was talking about $1 A DAY.
Most people need more than a sandwich per day...
LOL, I can make a heckuva lot more than one sandwich for a dollar.
Thanks for the reply Zymer...I guess you really can get alot of meal for less than a buck a day. I'll also agree that your diet really isn't my thing (prefer fresh fruit and veg, try to avoid processed foods), but if it works for ya...more power to you.
I just wish Zymer would come back and share some of the meal plans with us. I would love to try that at least a couple of times a week, maybe more, but don't have clue #1 as to where to start.
There's a magazine called "Taste of Home".... in every issue there is a section called "meals on a budget", and they give the approx price per plate for that meal. I've been getting their "annual" every year for a few years now, and some of the recipes in the budget section for the year 2008 are:
Perhaps BS was the wrong verbage, but not by much. I apologize for that term. I have found that much of what is written on forums needs to be taken with some latitude, as people exagerate and lie all the time. Are you lieing - probably not, but perhaps stretching the truth?
Acepted.
[quote=shadowfax1997;5786863]
Eating on a 1$/day I still think is a stretch. This is $7/wk, roughly $30 per month. I certainly can't/don't do it. Don't think I want to either. quote]
Yes, it is a stretch, and you probably *wouldn't* want to do what I do. But, for me it is a necessity at this point in time. I'd rather I didn't have to do it like this, but that's the way it is for now.
I can see your need for specific foods at the right times, I don't have that problem and sometimes I may only eat twice in a day, some days only once. (I'm not starving, there are simply some days when I don't need to eat as much as other days and I'm just not that hungry.)
Definitely not something me or my family would eat. Ramen noodles and hotdogs. YUCK. Sorry but I consider those as junk type food. To each their own.
For my lunch I had a roast beef on wheat bread with miracle whip.
Dinner will be burgers and potato salad. Not too fancy as we're picking our daughter at the airport so need something quick.
Tomorrow night will be steak on the bbq grill with baked potatoes and a veggie or two. We can bbq year round out here, so I am in heaven. My favorite is to slice potatoes, onions, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers,and anything else that catches my fancy. I put these in a zip lock bag that I have olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed garlic in. Add the sliced veggies and shake well to coat. Then put the veggies in foil pockets I have made and cook on the grill til tender.
Definitely not something me or my family would eat. Ramen noodles and hotdogs. YUCK. Sorry but I consider those as junk type food. To each their own.
For my lunch I had a roast beef on wheat bread with miracle whip.
Dinner will be burgers and potato salad. Not too fancy as we're picking our daughter at the airport so need something quick.
Tomorrow night will be steak on the bbq grill with baked potatoes and a veggie or two. We can bbq year round out here, so I am in heaven. My favorite is to slice potatoes, onions, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers,and anything else that catches my fancy. I put these in a zip lock bag that I have olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed garlic in. Add the sliced veggies and shake well to coat. Then put the veggies in foil pockets I have made and cook on the grill til tender.
We grill year 'round here too.....it just takes longer to heat up the grill when it's below zero. Plus I usually have to dig the grill out of a snow bank.
LOL, no beer, it doesn't fit in the budget. I bought a case of (*YUCK*) Bud earlier in the Summer, I'd rather go without than drink that stuff, I won't buy any more.
Right now, for my evening relaxation it's Old Crow bourbon. $19 for a 1.75 liter, I have a half a shot with some water before supper, and the same after. "Early Times" is about the same price, if the store I'm in doesn't have one, it'll be the other. They are both actually pretty decent whiskies. They ain't Booker's or any of the Single Barrel whiskies I like, but they'll do.
Side note- my usual store has some 5 liter mini-kegs of Gritty MacDuff(?) Porter and I was tempted to buy one 'til I saw the price- $25. Way too high as far as I'm concerned.
There's a magazine called "Taste of Home".... in every issue there is a section called "meals on a budget", and they give the approx price per plate for that meal. I've been getting their "annual" every year for a few years now, and some of the recipes in the budget section for the year 2008 are:
The thing I find is that even if I don't use their particular recipe, it's a jumping off point for me to something else that will work for us.
I do subscribe to "Taste of Home". Have you tried the Cinnamon-Chocolate cake? Yummmmmmm. Like you, I use TOH to get ideas. We are both semi-picky eaters so I have to made adjustments but I have gotten some good recipes out of the magazine in the months I've been receiving it.
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