Great depression cooking. Cooking of a tight budget.

[bttrflyvld]

Food is so expensive.  It seems like everytime I go shopping I get less food for my money.  I'm trying to figure out how to make my budget work.  We have a family of 4 and I have to keep our food bill for the month under $350.  It's a struggle.  I need some ideas.  How do you make it work? 

 

Do you have any limited ingredient recipes you mind sharing?

Know of any blogs with good tasting, inexpensive meal recipes?

 

I came accross the blog Great Depression Cooking and watched some of her youtube videos and it got me thinking. There has to be a less expensive way to cook.  Anyone bought her book? How are the recipes?

 

I want to cook healthy meals for my famiy and just feel stumped.  Any ideas?

[saraha]

There are lots of threads on here with great tips if you search for them.  Good luck

[Bambam]

I would look at Hillbilly Housewife's site - http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

[kewb]

I have found that for me to keep the budget down and provide satisfying meals it requires a lot more planning from me. 

 

For example, I buy dried beans in bulk and I have to remember to soak them the night before to cook for the next days meal. I buy local and seasonal.  If it is not on sale it does not go in the cart. 

I stretch ground meat with oats.

I bake from scratch. Muffins, cookies, bread, granola bars, fruit bars, etc.

I just borrowed this book http://www.amazon.com/The-Homemade-Pantry-Buying-Making/dp/030788726X from the library and have been experimenting with making my own ricotta cheese and toaster pastries.

[Prairie~Phlox]

Cooking from scratch, simple, non processed/storebought snacks. Have a garden, lear to preserve, menu plan, shops sales. Those are a few of my tips.

[kbutton]

Echoing above, esp. about sales. When we first got married, I noticed that some things went on really big sales and some things on little sales. Some of the items on little sales also had a big sale cycle. I started buying what we used on big sale cycles in as big of a quantity as I could handle (ideally as much as we would use until the next big sale). At first, I had about five dollars available for this type of buying. Over time, most of my buying became this type of buying, and the rest was fresh stuff. We didn't have a lot of storage, so I had to be careful about buying things that went with a variety of dishes.

 

I would also recommend looking into anything that can be used in more than one way--bones for broth, etc. I keep a pile of chicken bones in a container and make my broth all at once if I'm busy. I read that bone broth (preferably from animals raised well) allows people to stretch their calories both because it offers good nutrition and because it makes a person feel more full (we're incorporating more into our diet). If you are not good at eating leftovers, that needs to become a priority, or you need to learn to freeze some for later, cook just enough for a meal, etc. If your family likes leftovers, by all means, make enough for more than one meal or for lunches.

 

It seems like frugality likes to clash with convenience...when I cook dry beans, I cook a bunch, sometimes in more than one pot (it doesn't take longer than one batch), and then I freeze them--then they are as convenient to use as canned beans. I am currently gluten free (the rest of the family eats it), and I eat a lot of brown rice. I do not feel well on the pricey GF items. We eat a fair amount of potatoes and sweet potatoes.

 

We eat a lot more veggies than we used to, and we buy them frozen or in whole form. I keep cans for LT storage--emergencies, electricity out, layoff, etc.

 

When you can, take advantage of points offered by stores. They can be more trouble than they are worth, but they can also be wonderful. Figure out what's worth it and plan well. One expensive store by us has specialty items, and they offer points. The points can be used for ordinary things, like milk for 49 cents per gallon! I collect and use them strategically. One item that racks up points quickly is pretty ordinary. It's only marginally pricier than the other stores, but it's generous on points, and I can use coupons. I buy that item every time I go.

 

We switched to natural personal care products in many areas. We buy soap that is real (like Kiss My Face brand), and we now rarely have to use or buy lotion. And now, I am starting to make what little we need. The soap is a bit more expensive, but it lasts long, and it cuts down on the pricey lotions.

[Carol in Cal.]

Garden a bit.  Start with easy things that are either expensive to buy, or much better than store bought.  That means tomatoes, dwarf fruit trees/bushes, fresh herbs--especially perennial ones like rosemary, greens. 

 

Invest in 5 gallon buckets and alpha seals and buy beans, white flour, sugars, and rice in bulk at Costco or a similar store.  Make all your own bread.  Eat less meat and more beans.

[DianeW88]

This is a great site. http://theprudenthomemaker.com/

[applethyme]

I shop seasonally.  For example catsup, mustard and salad dressing all go on sale in the summer months.  If the sale is good enough I buy a years worth.  In the winter months beans and canned tomatoes go on sale I will buy 6-8 months worth.  The savings really add up and that way I have built up my pantry.  When I first started I took $10-20 out of my grocery budget to really stock up on the  things we use that were greatly on sale.  It was a great way to ease into it and from there is snowballed.  If I have catsup for the year then I could take it off my grocery list and use that money to buy something else.  As a result there are times when the only groceries I need are milk and eggs because the pantry is so full. 

[LucyStoner]

That is a little less than $3 per person per day. IME to make that work, lots of rice and oatmeal are really in order to make budget room for enough (on sale) fruits and veggies. A lot of bulk purchases, not a lot of variety. By way of comparison the thrifty plan that the USDA gathers from actual grocery price data puts the per person cost per day for a 4 person family with little children at more like $4.51 a day. I buy in bulk, shop seasonally, cook from scratch meals from a meal plan, bake and serve many low or no meat meals and pretty much every suggestion you are going to get on a thread like this and I spend more than $350.

 

If $350 is truly all you have in your budget to spend, I wouldn't hesitate to urge you to apply for food stamps and go to the food bank.

[Truscifi]

I just checked our total for the month for groceries, and we spent $318 this month. We live in a low COL area, which makes a huge difference, but we also have a garden and keep chickens for eggs and for meat, buy bulk produce when it is cheaper in season and freeze or can it, buy a half cow with some friends every year to get a better price on beef, have my brother bag us a deer every year for venison that is very much like beef if you cook it right, shop sales, and coupon. We also qualify for WIC which covers milk and a few other things for the little guy.

 

We didn't jump into all that at once, but we have gradually added things to reduce our overall food costs. And when our food budget was even leaner (at one point I was working with $200/month including paper goods and cleaning supplies) we went to a food bank for help.

[LucyStoner]

I just checked our total for the month for groceries, and we spent $318 this month. We live in a low COL area, which makes a huge difference, but we also have a garden and keep chickens for eggs and for meat, buy bulk produce when it is cheaper in season and freeze or can it, buy a half cow with some friends every year to get a better price on beef, have my brother bag us a deer every year for venison that is very much like beef if you cook it right, shop sales, and coupon. We also qualify for WIC which covers milk and a few other things for the little guy.

 

We didn't jump into all that at once, but we have gradually added things to reduce our overall food costs. And when our food budget was even leaner (at one point I was working with $200/month including paper goods and cleaning supplies) we went to a food bank for help.

So in short you consume more than $318 a month because your garden, chickens, beef purchase, your brother hunting and WIC etc are not actually free. Your total expenditure for food is more than what you spend in any given month if you are making annual or irregular bulk buys and raising some of your own food. Also, WIC supplements your budget by $30 or more per recipient if you are using all the checks.

[Truscifi]

So in short you consume more than $318 a month because your garden, chickens, beef purchase, your brother hunting and WIC etc are not actually free. Your total expenditure for food is more than what you spend in any given month if you are making annual or irregular bulk buys and raising some of your own food. Also, WIC supplements your budget by $30 or more per recipient if you are using all the checks.

 

Yes. Including our bulk buys, the cost of garden/animal supplies, and processing cost for the deer (he just shoots it, we pay for the butchering) we are at $398/month for the year. While the WIC is certainly not free, it is free to us, so I don't include that in our budget. We have one recipient and a chunk of what it covers is milk for him which we just wouldn't buy without it. My point in mentioning both it and the food bank is that there are ways to supplement food supplies without adding to the budget if you qualify. However if you are looking at our total food costs it would bump us up to around $430-440/month. It was not my intention to argue with you, though I suppose it may have looked that way since my post was right after yours. I was merely trying to answer the OP's question.

[Serenade]

What's on sale determines what we eat, and I think we eat pretty well for a low cost.   When we were really tight a couple of years ago, I could get by on about $320 a month for 4, but it's true that prices have gone up since then.

 

We do buy meat and veggies reduced for quick sale.  We shop loss leaders.  We buy bagged fruit rather than individual pieces of fruit.  We shop at Aldi when we can.   We've found that we can get 3 or 4 meals from a $12 - $14 pot roast on sale -- eaten first as pot roast with veggies and potatoes, then stretched into things like curries, meat pies or hot roast beef sandwiches.   We don't mind eating leftovers, so that helps.  

 

[Vida Winter]

If I had to cook on a limited budget I would make homemade tortillas, fried eggs and beans, meat when I could manage, and salads. This can taste like a gourmet meal if prepared correctly. Learn to make tortillas on a comal. You will not regret it.

 

ETA: Clean with diluted white vinegar - it can replace many cleaning items. I have been doing this for years.

 

[readinmom]

This is a great site. http://theprudenthomemaker.com/

 

Just spent time looking at all of the great things on her site.  I bookmarked the embroidery site.  Thanks so much!

[Mom in High Heels]

Interesting stuff.  I'd love to cook from scratch more, but it's so time consuming, and I'm so lazy. :D  

 

[Joker]

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/real-food-resources/recipe-index/

 

 

 

 

ETA: Whoops! I didn't mean to just post the link and run. My dds love the pizza, mac n cheese, and chicken nuggets recipes from this website. I plan on trying out more of her things but just haven't yet found the time.

[Melissa in Australia]

soup, soup and more soup.

 I grew up in a very poor family, and my other grew up in an even poorer one.

 

We  had a chicken boiled to make broth, then roasted. the roasted chicken did one meal the broth was made into soup- thickened with rolled oats, split peas or lentils, a few veggies,  any leftovers from other meals were thrown in  and did for 2 other meals.

 

More than 2 fillings on a sandwich was an extravagance. You could have to tomato and lettuce, or cheese and tomato - not all three

 

porridge for breakfast every day or boiled eggs - no commercial cereal

 

 

so glad I don't have to live like that now.

[----]

.

[Prairie~Phlox]

Interesting stuff. I'd love to cook from scratch more, but it's so time consuming, and I'm so lazy. :D

The more you cook, the easier it is. It's so much better for your family too.

[DawnM]

This book is great:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Feed-Family-More-Less-Month-ebook/dp/B00710A0V6

 

It is $1 on Kindle or free to borrow if you have a Kindle.  She has a lot of recipes on how to make your own seasoning mixes and drink mixes.   I don't subscribe to her meat plan as she eats mostly beef, but the rest of it is good info.

 

The updated version of the above book is $2.99, but I think she has only revised the costs, not much else.   http://www.amazon.com/Family-Guide-Groceries-under-Month-ebook/dp/B00703HTGS/ref=pd_sim_kstore_5

 

Another valuable book is this one:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Feed-Family-Month-Without-Coupons-ebook/dp/B008QQ9VHI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1388235771&sr=1-1&keywords=%24500+feed+10

 

She advocates having a food/cost comparison book with you and having a "this is the most I will pay for X" plan.

 

I got the most info from the first book.   When I need to cut back, I refer back to it.  I have a family of 5, and can budget more than her $250, so I do some add ins, but overall, she has great info.

 

[DawnM]

My goal for 2014 is to learn to cook more in the crock pot.  Our schedule for the next several months is NUTS……we will be out of the house for up to 6 nights per week.  I cannot eat out that often!   Cost and health prohibit it.

 

So, if I can get some good crock pot recipes and lots of leftovers, we will be ok.

 

Having to leave the house by 5pm will be an issue a couple of nights, but overall, we should be able to manage.

 

Dawn

 

 

Interesting stuff.  I'd love to cook from scratch more, but it's so time consuming, and I'm so lazy. :D  

 

[MomOfOneFunOne]

My goal for 2014 is to learn to cook more in the crock pot. Our schedule for the next several months is NUTS……we will be out of the house for up to 6 nights per week. I cannot eat out that often! Cost and health prohibit it.

 

So, if I can get some good crock pot recipes and lots of leftovers, we will be ok.

 

Having to leave the house by 5pm will be an issue a couple of nights, but overall, we should be able to manage.

 

Dawn

A Year of Slow Cooking has a ton of recipes and for most, I think, she puts a not at the bottom with her family's response. I think it's crockpot365.com or so.

 

Also, there are a lot of (meat) recipes for stocking bags for the freezer and then onky having to put it from the freezer bag into the crockpot. I keep meaning to come up with a bunch of veggie recipes like that but haven't yet. If that sounds good google "freezer to crockpot meals" or something like that.

 

. . . And then there's pintrest.

 

Good luck learning!

 

The thing that helps me most with time crunches, though, is cooking for the week in one day and using the delay timer on my oven.

[Χά�ων]

Honestly, the best thing I did to cut grocery expenses was to cut back on portion sizes. It took a bit of getting used to but I managed. I drank more water and became aware of how much I was over eating. Eating a serving vs eating until I am full really impacted my budget because the servings I was used to where actually 2-3 servings.

 

I will not share my monthly food costs. I have a huge garden and chickens and the cost of seeds and food is not comparable. I can make it seem so but that does not reflect reality.

[Lady Marmalade]

I shop seasonally.  For example catsup, mustard and salad dressing all go on sale in the summer months.  If the sale is good enough I buy a years worth.  In the winter months beans and canned tomatoes go on sale I will buy 6-8 months worth.  The savings really add up and that way I have built up my pantry.  When I first started I took $10-20 out of my grocery budget to really stock up on the  things we use that were greatly on sale.  It was a great way to ease into it and from there is snowballed.  If I have catsup for the year then I could take it off my grocery list and use that money to buy something else.  As a result there are times when the only groceries I need are milk and eggs because the pantry is so full. 

 

This is an excellent tip, and one I need to think on and attempt to act on!  2013 was already the year of seasonal eating for us.   We had extenuating circumstances where I was not able to garden much at all, but what I did do was buy local and in season- and in abundance.  So when the strawberries were in the fields, we took the time to pick $100 worth of berries.  I took those berries and made tons of jam and froze a bunch, and of course we ate all we could hold.  Then we did the same thing for the blueberries, raspberries, apples, tomatoes, cherries, etc.  I have a freezer and a pantry FULL of preserves that are drastically reducing what I need to buy at the store- and we always have fruit on hand.   I bought four cases of citrus fruit from local band students a few weeks ago, and those are taking care of our need for fresh fruit for some time.  (Plus fresh squuezed juice whenever we want!)

 

In early November a local farmstand was preparing for the freeze by offering bushel baskets of winter squash for a steal.  I bought two, and we've been eating them ever since.  They're storing nicely in the basement, where I choose one or two a week to prepare.   When the farmers markets were in full swing, I started my weekly grocery shopping there.  Just $20 bought me a huge bag of fresh, seasonal produce, and then I could meal plan and fill in the week around the fresh produce that I bought.

 

But I need to remember that other food items have seasonal offerings as well.  I should take a little extra to the store this week and stock up yet on a few baking supplies that are still on sale for the holiday season.

[BlueTaelon]

Youve gotten great advice from people, shopping at places like winco also helps if you have one near by. I drive an hour to ours but I save a ton on food that more then covers the cost of gas.

[Miss Mousie]

One thing I rarely see mentioned on threads like this is seed-sprouting.  Alfalfa, mung beans, etc. are very cheap as seeds (check out Pinetree - superseeds.com) and pack a powerful nutritional punch.  And you can do it in a Ball jar on a windowsill if you want!

 

 

[LucyStoner]

Yes. Including our bulk buys, the cost of garden/animal supplies, and processing cost for the deer (he just shoots it, we pay for the butchering) we are at $398/month for the year. While the WIC is certainly not free, it is free to us, so I don't include that in our budget. We have one recipient and a chunk of what it covers is milk for him which we just wouldn't buy without it. My point in mentioning both it and the food bank is that there are ways to supplement food supplies without adding to the budget if you qualify. However if you are looking at our total food costs it would bump us up to around $430-440/month. It was not my intention to argue with you, though I suppose it may have looked that way since my post was right after yours. I was merely trying to answer the OP's question.

I am sorry. My intention wasn't to argue with you either. Just to illustrate that your budget was quite a bit larger than one month of receipts. The topic of food costs is one that I care about a lot (maybe too much! ;) )and know a lot about and I tend to be brusk about the topic. If you weren't getting WIC (which also covers cheese and cereal and a protien and a small amount of produce here), you'd need to find those calories elsewhere in your budget.

 

I think that programs to help people add to small food budgets are great. I encourage people who are trying to get by on really limited budget to use them all the time. I am skeptical of the very low budgets some people post for groceries though and tend to chime in that at least in my area (which is not LCOL) all of the tricks and tips for food buying absent a very large garden operation will take an omnivores food budget from around $900 or even more for four to perhaps a $500-600. I could do a few $300-400 months but not without my pantry and freezer, neither of which is free. Also the time that we use to stock up, track sales, garden, plan and cook from scratch is also not free.

[DawnM]

Do you make everyone in the family cut back on portions?  I wouldn't tell my husband or my teen sons that they couldn't eat what they needed to eat to feel satisfied.

 

However, in The Tightwad Gazette, she talks about portioning out the more expensive items, like meat.  So, everyone got 6 ounces of chicken/meat and a decent sized salad, but could have as much of the grain as they needed (rice, pasta, potatoes, etc…)

 

Dawn

 

 

Honestly, the best thing I did to cut grocery expenses was to cut back on portion sizes. It took a bit of getting used to but I managed. I drank more water and became aware of how much I was over eating. Eating a serving vs eating until I am full really impacted my budget because the servings I was used to where actually 2-3 servings.

I will not share my monthly food costs. I have a huge garden and chickens and the cost of seeds and food is not comparable. I can make it seem so but that does not reflect reality.

 

[Truscifi]

I am sorry. My intention wasn't to argue with you either. Just to illustrate that your budget was quite a bit larger than one month of receipts. The topic of food costs is one that I care about a lot (maybe too much! ;) )and know a lot about and I tend to be brusk about the topic. If you weren't getting WIC (which also covers cheese and cereal and a protien and a small amount of produce here), you'd need to find those calories elsewhere in your budget.

 

I think that programs to help people add to small food budgets are great. I encourage people who are trying to get by on really limited budget to use them all the time. I am skeptical of the very low budgets some people post for groceries though and tend to chime in that at least in my area (which is not LCOL) all of the tricks and tips for food buying absent a very large garden operation will take an omnivores food budget from around $900 or even more for four to perhaps a $500-600. I could do a few $300-400 months but not without my pantry and freezer, neither of which is free. Also the time that we use to stock up, track sales, garden, plan and cook from scratch is also not free.

 

No problem. :)  I do agree with you that one month of receipts doesn't tell the whole story, and that the time I spend doing all those things is valuable too. We have some resources that wouldn't be available for a lot of people too - the deer from my brother for one, but also we are able to eat out once a month because dh is a manager at a restaurant and we get comped a certain amount.

[Scarlett]

Food is so expensive. It seems like everytime I go shopping I get less food for my money. I'm trying to figure out how to make my budget work. We have a family of 4 and I have to keep our food bill for the month under $350. It's a struggle. I need some ideas. How do you make it work?

 

Do you have any limited ingredient recipes you mind sharing?

Know of any blogs with good tasting, inexpensive meal recipes?

 

I came accross the blog Great Depression Cooking and watched some of her youtube videos and it got me thinking. There has to be a less expensive way to cook. Anyone bought her book? How are the recipes?

 

I want to cook healthy meals for my famiy and just feel stumped. Any ideas?

I think $350 per month is nearly impossible to feed a family of 4 on....how old are your kids? Even in my LCOL area $350 would be VERY difficult. Are you including paper products and household cleaning and toiletries in that amount?

[Χά�ων]

I do not allow anyone, including myself, to just sit and eat because it is there. I make a balanced meal that includes 1 serving of protein, 2 servings of veggies and a carb. I use fruit as snacks. I ask that DS drink a large glass of water and wait an hour before getting more food. I do not mean sitting at the table waiting for an hour. If he is still hungry I offer him fruit or another easy to fix vegetable. So far the only times he has come back for more are during growth spurts. Why? Because he is full but the signal has not reached his brain. We over eat because of the lag between being full and feeling full.

 

I started this at the suggestion of his trainer at the gym. It works.

 

Do you make everyone in the family cut back on portions? I wouldn't tell my husband or my teen sons that they couldn't eat what they needed to eat to feel satisfied.

 

However, in The Tightwad Gazette, she talks about portioning out the more expensive items, like meat. So, everyone got 6 ounces of chicken/meat and a decent sized salad, but could have as much of the grain as they needed (rice, pasta, potatoes, etc…)

 

Dawn

[Χά�ων]

My garden costs me $200 a year between seeds, storage supplies and misc equipment. That does not include what I save by trading hay for services.

[LibraryLover]

We love Clara! DD and I spent some good hours in the kitchen together following those recipes. She reminded me so of my grandmother. Basic foods items can make some hearty meals.

[busymama7]

My goal for 2014 is to learn to cook more in the crock pot. Our schedule for the next several months is NUTS……we will be out of the house for up to 6 nights per week. I cannot eat out that often! Cost and health prohibit it.

 

So, if I can get some good crock pot recipes and lots of leftovers, we will be ok.

 

Having to leave the house by 5pm will be an issue a couple of nights, but overall, we should be able to manage.

 

Dawn

We have one night a week we have to leave by four. I make dinner at lunch time while supervising school and then we just "brown bag" dinner. It has comepletely saved my sanity.

[mytwomonkeys]

Meal planning and sales (stock up when it's on sale). I also coupon, but that's a hot topic here - so I'll leave that alone :-)

[bettyandbob]

If this was my budget, I'd focus on beans. Black beans, pinto beans, lentils, split peas, red beans. I'd be getting dried beans and brown rice in bulk. For variety we'd have beans and sweet potatoes or beans and white potatoes instead of rice. On days we didn't have beans, we'd have eggs. Breakfast would be oatmeal purchased in bulk. You can get recipes on the internet to increase the variety of ways to present these items. 

 

If brown rice throws it over budget, I'd get white rice at the Asian grocery. If you go to an Indian grocery you can get the lentils and rice in bulk. Both Chinese and Indian groceries have spices. You couldn't purchase a variety of spices at once, but I'd set aside a little every other month. The spices add variety to the flavors of these foods so you would not feel like you would be eating the same meal every day. 

 

If you don't qualify for food stamps or WIC, can you go to a food pantry. There used to be charity that would delivery boxes of food to a local meeting place (like a church) once a month. You just had to sign up and show up at the meeting place at the designated date and time. Perhaps someone here remembers this charity. 

 

 

[Lady Marmalade]

If this was my budget, I'd focus on beans. Black beans, pinto beans, lentils, split peas, red beans. I'd be getting dried beans and brown rice in bulk. For variety we'd have beans and sweet potatoes or beans and white potatoes instead of rice. On days we didn't have beans, we'd have eggs. Breakfast would be oatmeal purchased in bulk. You can get recipes on the internet to increase the variety of ways to present these items. 

 

If brown rice throws it over budget, I'd get white rice at the Asian grocery. If you go to an Indian grocery you can get the lentils and rice in bulk. Both Chinese and Indian groceries have spices. You couldn't purchase a variety of spices at once, but I'd set aside a little every other month. The spices add variety to the flavors of these foods so you would not feel like you would be eating the same meal every day. 

 

If you don't qualify for food stamps or WIC, can you go to a food pantry. There used to be charity that would delivery boxes of food to a local meeting place (like a church) once a month. You just had to sign up and show up at the meeting place at the designated date and time. Perhaps someone here remembers this charity. 

 

While I love me some amazing spices and spice blends (huge Penzey's fan here), if I'm going through a lot of spices and dried herbs, the spices in the dollar stores/dollar sections of grocery stores are better than you'd think.  I purchase the "Spice Supreme" line of spices from my store all the time. They're regularly priced at 99 cents for about 3/4 of a cup of spice.  They go on sale often too- as low as 69 cents.  These are the spices I use to make homemade chili and taco seasonings. 

[KarenNC]

It was Angel Food Ministries, but it no longer exists. Unfortunately, it appears that the family running it was using it as a personal checking account. http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2013/february/founders-of-angel-food-ministries-plead-guilty-to-skimming.html

[bttrflyvld]

Thank you for all the nice suggestions. They are all great and I've had fun looking at the blogs too.

 

I ad match a lot at Walmart. That helps a ton. I need to find me some good bean recipes. Any favorites?

[Χά�ων]

It was Angel Food Ministries, but it no longer exists. Unfortunately, it appears that the family running it was using it as a personal checking account. http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2013/february/founders-of-angel-food-ministries-plead-guilty-to-skimming.html

I wondered what happened to it. One of the local churches would deliver unclaimed boxes to shut ins, elderly and families in need. Sucks that the people at the top were greedy.

[Scarlett]

Thank you for all the nice suggestions. They are all great and I've had fun looking at the blogs too.

 

I ad match a lot at Walmart. That helps a ton. I need to find me some good bean recipes. Any favorites?

One of my fav low cost meals I got from a fellow boardie but I can't remember who. It is one cup of lentils one cup of brown rice, 1 package of taco seasoning ( I use 2) 4 1/2 cups of water. Cook in crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. Use in place of taco meat. So yummy, so healthy and everyone likes it. My family does prefer beef tacos if they have a choice, but they never fail to eat this veggie version.

[Scarlett]

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posted links....I saved them all for later reading and I can't wait to check them all out.

[Berta]

I think $350 per month is nearly impossible to feed a family of 4 on....how old are your kids? Even in my LCOL area $350 would be VERY difficult. Are you including paper products and household cleaning and toiletries in that amount?

 

I was able to cut out having to buy most paper products and household cleaning supplies by making my own. We use cloth kitchen napkins and use vinegar for all of our cleaning. I use vinegar in the washer instead of bleach and as a fabric softener and I make my own laundry soap.

 

Due to health issues I had to stop using store bought feminine supplies.  I was able to make all of my own girly things. We also use family cloth (same health reasons as above) so we don't buy much TP (my DH won't use family cloth, so I buy TP for one person).

 

I spend about $300 a month for our family of 4 but I also have a well stocked pantry. I could go 9 months to a year without shopping for anything other then milk and butter.

 

Every day I stop at my local grocery store and see what meats they have marked down. If it's not marked down, I don't buy it. I know not everyone can do that, but I pass the store every day and it only takes a few mins to look down the meat aisle, but saves me a lot of $$ since I eat paleo. I have more time than money :)

[Berta]

dup

[Deb in NZ]

Do you make everyone in the family cut back on portions?  I wouldn't tell my husband or my teen sons that they couldn't eat what they needed to eat to feel satisfied.

 

However, in The Tightwad Gazette, she talks about portioning out the more expensive items, like meat.  So, everyone got 6 ounces of chicken/meat and a decent sized salad, but could have as much of the grain as they needed (rice, pasta, potatoes, etc…)

 

Dawn

 

 

When $$ is tight I dish up from the stove, dividing up what is available among those eating, based on need.  (i.e. my plate has less on it than dh's, etc.)  Anyone who is still hungry knows that they are welcome to make a bowl of porridge for dessert.  Serving "family style" in bowls on the table definitely isn't as frugal.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

One of my fav low cost meals I got from a fellow boardie but I can't remember who. It is one cup of lentils one cup of brown rice, 1 package of taco seasoning ( I use 2) 4 1/2 cups of water. Cookin crock pit on low for 6-8 hours. Use in place of taco meat. So yummy, so healthy and everyone likes it. My family does prefer beef tacos if they have a choice, but they never fail to eat this veggie version.

AMDG

 

I also got that recipe. I liked it in the crockpot but prefer it in the oven. I now follow the cooks illustrated recipe for oven brown rice. I double the recipe by using one measure of rice and one of french green lentils and add taco season to equal 2 pkts.

 

A texture more to my liking.

[wingedradical]

You might do a search on menus of people doing the SNAP (foodstamp) challenge. I've seen some good (and some ridiculously bad) recipes on those sites.

 

I don't really believe it is useful to do the Challenge, for various reasons (mainly, it doesn't change anything plus, while I am concerned about hunger in America, I just think a lot of people don't understand the logistics of the SNAP program - they include people who only qualify for partial help in their calculations, so it is not really true that the government expects people to get by on $4.50/day), but I did find some nice ideas for cheap meals occasionally.