Budgeting

Elkie

Elkie

I've been on a tight budget for two weeks now, but I'm really getting tired of eating peanutbutter sandwiches every day. Yeah, I tend to go a tad overboard when I panic about money.
Does anyone have suggestions about really cheap recipes? Preferably things that I can freeze easily without spoiling the dish? I'd like to try making a batch of chili sometimes, but I haven't tried it before and I can't find/ can't afford a very extensive ingredient list.

Thanks a bunch in advance!
 
When my budget is tied - like right now - I like to make a pot of pasta sauce and freeze some of it for later. Pasta itself isn't expensive and for the sauce I use (I'm not mentioning any amounts, it depends on how much you wanna make):
-some cans of diced Pizza tomatoes
-a jar of (black) olives
-fresh chilis and/or chili powder and/or hot sauce to your liking (I like to use all three of them)
-garlic
-onions
-a little (olive) oil
-spices to your liking

Heat the oil, fry the onions and garlic (both diced/chopped) for a minute, add the rest, spice up as you cook. Ta-daa! :) Done! Tastes great and you get a lot of sauce for little money!
 
Ground or minced meat can be bought in bulk cheap - repack it into meal size parcels in freezer bags when you buy it.
Good for spaghetti - add tinned toms, garlic, onion & basil.

burgers - http://www.thehotpepper.com/showthread.php?t=2012

chili con-carne

Have to remember when trimming your food bill to fit a budget to make sure you're getting a good range of vitamins etc. easy to fall into a high fat or pasta or rice regime that'll leave you feeling like rubbish after a few days.

A few hundred million people live well on Dahl every day too:

PETER SINGER'S DAL RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic (crushed/chopped)
1 medium onion (diced)
1- 2 tablespoons curry powder, to taste
Salt, to taste
1 cup small red lentils
3 cups water
2-3 bay leaves, to taste
1 cinnamon stick
1 tin tomatoes, (chopped)
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice

METHOD:
In a large saucepan, saute garlic til fragrant.
Add onions and cook until they begin to soften.
Add curry powder and salt, to taste, and cook over medium heat til mixture begins to brown.
Add lentils and stir for a minute or so before adding water, the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Bring to boil, then turn heat down very low and simmer for 20minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add chopped tomatoes, and simmer a further 10minutes, until thick. The lentils should be soft and the consistency just liquid enough to pour.
Add cocount milk and lemon juice. Stir through, and remove from heat.

Serve over rice with lime pickle and mango chutney.
 
You can mix & match a lot with the stuff in my post too.

a bag of cornchips, some peppers & some cheese you've got nachos or shells for tacos.

The burger mix can be made into meatballs or meatloaf.

Also the Dahl can be tupperweared & frozen, will last a while & makes a great side dish for anything else or soup/dip or just reheated on stove/microwave.

As you can probably tell, I've been down the road a few times lol. Obviously vegies are way cheaper than meat & keep longer so it becomes more of them & cheaper meat & being able to do many things with the same ingredients. Keep it interesting!! so packs of spices & herbs are actually relatively inexpensive because will give you a lot of flavour & recipe variations.
 
Schnitzels!
They're easy to make, taste real good after defrosting and don't cost much if ya know what ya're doing.
Chicken breasts (ya can basically use any chicken cut you want), bread crumbs (ya can make yar own), eggs and spices (mostly paprika, cumin and anything ya want... even chicken soup powder :shocked:).
Also they last FOREVER when frozen.
 
What else are you growing ? I tend to get things in bulk and repackage and/or make casseroles and meals to freeze their are a ton of ways to save and eat fairly well
 
Thanks a lot everyone. I'll check the links you gave me in a minute, Klyth.
I'll copy all your suggestions in my notebook, they should be useful.

I'll check the Jambalaya some other time though. I have 45 euro's, and they'll have to last till the end of the month. So 40 dollars for a week of food might still be too broad for the moment.

The more suggestions the better. Thanks everyone!

By the way, I had no idea that chili con carne was a cheap recipe. Is that the case with the standard recipe or only after modifying the ingredients?
 
45 euros = 65 US... If you mean it's gotta last you 4 more weeks then meat in any form is probably out of the question. You're planning on eating for $15 a week. That's $2 a day. So $1 a meal, if you eat twice a day. Rice, pasta, noodles and beans are about all you'll be looking at. Whatever veggies you can scrounge up and chuck in will add flavor, and whatever spices you have kicking around.

Lentils are actually one of my favorite soups. And it's ridiculous cheap.

My wife makes it great. I don't know what recipe she uses, but this one looks good:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lentil-Soup/Detail.aspx
 
When my budget's tight i usually load up on frozen veggies....at $1.49 a pound, i can eat pretty well for $30 a week....of course, i get sick of eating just veggies during that time but hey, ya know it's cheap. And don't forget the other staples of being poor....rice and pasta and beans.
 
In the UK you can buy those dried noodles really cheap in budget shops (around 10p for a pack of noodles with seasoning) and they have foreign writing on them so guess your own instructions for cooking, I think it's usually about 3 minutes in boiling water much like 'Super Noodles' we have over here. You can add what you like to these and choose whether you need the packet of seasoning or not.
 
rainbowberry said:
In the UK you can buy those dried noodles really cheap in budget shops (around 10p for a pack of noodles with seasoning) and they have foreign writing on them so guess your own instructions for cooking, I think it's usually about 3 minutes in boiling water much like 'Super Noodles' we have over here. You can add what you like to these and choose whether you need the packet of seasoning or not.
Click to expand...
I eat those, especially at work. don't think they're any good as a "meal"... more of a snack maybe. eat those daily and you'll die cause some weird deficiency. :shocked:
Eat veggies. much better for ya.
 
Omri said:
I eat those, especially at work. don't think they're any good as a "meal"... more of a snack maybe. eat those daily and you'll die cause some weird deficiency. :shocked:
Eat veggies. much better for ya.
Click to expand...

yeah, those things have serious amounts of sodium in them too.
 
Split pea soup made in a crock with a can of pork and a can of carrots will last you a long time. Also, add some bay leaves. Only add salt to it when it is in your bowl and you are about to eat it.

Total cost is around $4 US and will last you a good 10 meals. Bread is a nice addition because it'll give you the carbs you need and it's an extra filler and you can scoop up some of the soup at the bottom of the bowl.

Mmmm...I'm going to have to do this again soon.
 
here are some cheap suggestions:
Soups/Stews - you can make them once in large cheap quantity and freeze them for later
rice & pasta dishes - if the main component is rice or pasta its going to be a cheap dish (asian, italian & polish dishes)
potatoes - a 10lb bag of potatoes is pretty cheap and they last a looong time, they are pretty versatile "mash em, boil em, stick em in a stew"
ground meat in bulk, you can usually get bulk chicken thighs wicked cheap, local produce is usually cheap
i once lived off 30 dollars a month, for two months, to prove it could be done because some argument came up at work about food stamps, and although i support food stamps, the people trying to buy cigaretts and beer with them are abusing the system....
 
also i hate to be saying this, but the mcdonalds/wendeys/other fast food dollar menu's can actually be good; 1 dollar buys you 421 calories from mc donalds in the form of a double cheese burger, and if you bring a drink from home and go to the drive thru its a pretty quick meal, not that healthy but it can break the monotony of a small food budget.
shaws, price chopper etc. all have circulars on line, get on check out the deals, go there and only buy the stuff thats wicked cheap, i was lucky to have two supermarkets right across the street from eachother so i could look online and make a list for each store; i ate pretty damn healthy those 2 months, even though i didnt have much to spend (i couldnt afford to go to mcdonalds those two months, because i basically had 1 dollar a day) good luck man
 
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