apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I will be the first one to admit that I can't do it, which is why I try to make everything from scratch - baking bread, making my own pretzels for snack...etc. I hope to stretch my dollar as long as possible and not just drop 10 dollars on a turkey sandwich in any deli in New York City.

I did this! For 3 months while living in the Yukon (where food prices are much higher because it's so far north). In Canada we have a youth exchange program called Katimavik and at the time I was a participant the food budget was $3.50 per day per person. It helped having a house with 12 people in it... you could buy in bulk. It wasn't hard at all once you got the hang of it. As part of our program we also did not buy ANYTHING processed, we found that was where most of your money goes at the grocery store.

It never has been hard for me. I go grocery shopping about every 2 weeks and the most I ever spend is $30. But then again, I'm vegetarian and a very good thrifty shopper. You'd be amazed at the closeness of quality in generic brand to name brand. At my local grocer they have generic brand and then an even more basic than generic brand that pretty much is just a white box with a picture of the item inside on it. Some are better than others such as the "Ritz" cracker knock offs. Another great tip is to always buy in season fruits and veggies, which are usually cheaper.

Like stefanielutz says, it definitely can be done. Even with meats, but the key is you have to look at it over the long haul. The beans and grains, etc. can all be used over the course of several weeks. Meats can be bought on sale and frozen. Do you get to make the recipes from Saveur or Gourmet or Food & Wine? No.

It can be done, but it requires a lot of effort. I'd start by cutting out cereal- that gets expensive! Lots of day-old bread, eggs, beans, soup (oh, you can stretch soups waaaay longer than you think should be possible!), and canned veggies. Milk is also expensive, which is too bad- lots of dairy products would quickly become too expensive for this challenge.
A local farmer's market such as Findlay Market in Cincinnati would be a huge help to all in this challenge (incredibly cheap food, incl produce at ridiculously low prices, and thankfully located in an "at-risk" neighborhood), but it's too often the case that these markets are either inconveniently open (hours) or located (see: Chicago's wonderful Green City Market in Lincoln Park- extremely inconvenient, even w public transit).

This is how my husband and I are living right now, and I don't think it's too bad at all. I make everything from scratch, use coupons, and buy things on sale. I bake loaves of bread, English muffins, etc when I have time and stick them in the freezer. We eat a lot of beans and eggs, but we do have meat (mostly cheap cuts which still taste great if prepared well - our favorite is carnitas). Fruits and vegetables are a little more difficult, but I'm currently spending less than $25/week per person, so I think I could do that.

My husband and I basically do this already. We usually eat out one meal per week, so we would definitely have to cut that out. The key is to shop around and buy things on sale. I always look at the weekly ads and only buy what's on sale. This makes an especially big difference with items like meat.
Prices can vary widely from store to store, also. My regular grocery store usually has milk for somewhere between 2.50 and 2.80 a gallon (which is pretty cheap compared to other places I've lived). However, a smaller store near my house always has milk for $1.99/gallon, which is amazing! I save at least 50 cents a week just by getting my milk there. The one thing I have trouble with is buying produce within my budget. I love our farmer's market, but the prices are prohibitively expensive. I usually get only a few on-sale supermarket produce items a week.

I lived on about that much (possibly less) my entire last semester of college. ~_~

It's completely possible if you plan ahead. Hit the meat isle on Mondays (or whenever your store marks meat down) and go vegetarian for most meals. I don't see this as a sacrifice personally.

If you are more then one person, you can buy a share in your local CSA. I know here at least you can get enough veggies for 4 people for $26 per week. If you are single you could go in on it with friends. Farmer's markets have some good deals too.

Rice and beans are inexpensive and easily bought in small amounts in the bulk section of most stores.

I wouldn't say that it'd be easy, but it's definitely doable.

that peanut butter sandwich is making me hungry. it's really hard to bring food costs down in our area. if anyone knows good websites for resources, please post them. Aldi is the cheapest source for OK (bulk) food in the mid-Atlantic. I hear nuts are best from Trader Joe's (bulk). I gave up milk, meat, cheese and eggs decades ago, but now I am really trying to do everything at home (crackers, etc.). Getting spices and flavorings is expensive--any ideas? Key to life: breakfast. If anyone could share their $25/week formula, puhleeeeez, please share it. Need to get smart on this right away.

p.s. Farmer's markets in DC are reported by some to charge very different prices in different quadrants of the city. The one at Dupont Circle is apparently much more expensive than, say, the one at Eastern Market (Capitol Hill). True? Not true?

Sure I could do it, but there is no way I am going to do it. I did the poverty eating plan for most of my childhood, and I am so grateful not to have to do it any more. I we didn't do it in the voluntarily "it just takes time and planning" way either. My mom worked long hours, and had four kids. She did what she could, but it isn't like she had buckets of time to be riding buses halfway across the city to get a good deal on milk.

My husband and I are living this way as well, due to a couple months of unemployment this summer, and a horrible job market here in Minneapolis. Despite my college degree, I'm now taking in sewing work & working a part-time job that pays a low wage that I haven't had since high school. I grocery shop by was in the ad only and it's very rare that I buy something not on sale. My local store's meat department sometimes puts meat on sale that's close to it's shelf life, so that's when I can buy it an freeze it. Pasta, rice, ramen, potatoes, S-Bar hotdogs and store-brand soup are all staples. I'm soooo looking forward to the day I don't have to relay on the thrift store near by for multi-grain bread. Basically, I find alot of ways to stretch one meal into two or three.

The best thing is to buy a small whole chicken for about $5! Night one=roast chicken, night two=leftovers, night three= pick the carcass, boil it down for broth and make soup, night four=leftover soup stretches to be chicken and dumpling soup!

Luckily, my husband works at a brewery so we never want for delicious craft beer!

avianmission--a great tip for spices is to buy them at health food stores where you can scoop them out of bulk jars. just measure out what you think you'll need. it's amazing how much less you pay than at the grocery store.

It really does depend on where you live. I'm guessing urban dwellers would have more difficulty since prices are higher and "farmer's markets" not exactly close.

It's very important to keep in mind that not everyone lives with the same access to food, especially fresh food. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and fresh fruit and vegetables are hard to find in local markets during the winter and spring. In the places that do carry them, they are fairly expensive. My family raised us on canned stuff (which is pretty unpalatable and more expensive than fresh in season).

This is doable for some, but much harder (and less nutritious) for others.

mascarah, wonderful. many thanks.

Ugh. The lie of how much people get in Food Stamps. The reason the average is $25 a week is because most people on Food Stamps have income and are expected to spend some of their income on food. The US government knows that $25/week is too low. A single adult is allowed $162 a month, which will go up on Monday.

I couldn't do it without complaining. We're extremely stretched as it is, but with a chronically ill partner, nutrition becomes ultra-important.

My husband and I do this and have been doing this for the past few years now. I really don't find it that hard! And I do make recipes every week from Bon Appetite, Gourmet, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, etc. I just have my budget money, check out the grocery store circular, plan my menu for the week, make a very specific grocery list, gather any coupons I've gotten, and shop away! I usually do a mix of name brand and store brand products. Name brand when it counts, and as much store brand as I can get away with.
We find Cheapstingybargains.com, in the freebies section is a great place to get free products and I've gotten a whole lot of coupons on there!

Kassie; I'm confused about your point. $162/month is less than $25/week (in a 30 day month). And while the government expects people to spend some of their income on food, your income must be very little to qualify for assistance. People who receive this assistance do not have enough income to pay for their living expenses, cover emergencies...

I think the point of the exercise is one encouraged by many religions (Lent for Catholics, Ramadan for Muslims...) to experience a little of what it feels like to be less fortunate and to appreciate the blessing that financial security is.

@avianmission: I bought most of my spices at an Indian/Pakistani grocery store. Prices and quality were good.

I could have done $25/wk while living in Philly - the dollar a bag veggies from the veggie truck plus investment in a 20lb bag of rice, dry beans, meat from the Korean grocery store. Now, living in NY, I think it would be much more difficult.

Ok, that is irrefutable evidence that I should never do math while sleepy. But, I still hold to my point that people who receive assistance (and many who don't qualify) do not have enough money to live.

twosavoie-
$25 X4= $100. Or, $3.50/day X 30=$105/month. The government says $162/month which is more. Check your math. That's almost $60 more a month that the government actually allots on Food Stamps, or $2 more a day.

And it is a huge mistake to think income must be extremely low. It is much higher than people expect and I encourage many people who are servers or college students to apply. A work study job makes a person almost automatically approved. Many farmers also qualify and people with their own businesses. Also, things like housing and work expenses are included in the calculation, along with the number of people in your household.

But, everyone wants to pretend that the amount of Food Stamps alloted is terribly low and these poor people don't get anything. Having worked in the welfare office for many years, I know the FS benefit is the only benefit that actually reflects the cost of living and inflation. And, when I started working there, I know my clients were able to eat much better than myself.

oops, you noticed your math, sorry to be snarky.

I would agree that people on food stamps can eat quite well and eat fresh fruits and vegetables. It is much harder if it is just yourself, but if you have 2 adults and 2 children or even 1 adult and 2 or 3 children getting food stamps you get enough to make fairly nutritious meals. I think the real key is to plan out your menus and not buy too many premade foods. I know people on food stamps and people who barely don't qualify and the people with the food stamps can eat far more healthfully than those without. I think the food stamp program is a great thing and one of the few social programs that actually provides a benefit appropriate to the cost of living. By the way, food stamps go up on the 1st of October.

We have a family of 4 and spend $100 week on food plus $25 per week on our CSA so that is $500 per month for a family of 4. That is less than we would get if on food stamps and we eat quite well. We even buy organic mostly. I guess it just depends on where you live, but here in Tennessee, it isn't difficult.

We spend 40/week on groceries (for two people), and probably have enough food that we could not buy groceries (except milk and eggs) for a month and be just fine. They key is to shop wisely and use coupons! Seriously. I save around 18/week by spending a dollar on my local paper every week.
Also, look out for case lot sales. I got a case of flour for 8 dollars (a dollar per 5 pounds) and a case of sugar for 15. Buying in bulk from plain grocery stores (instead of costco or sams club) can save SO much.
Another thing to do is get long term food storage, and use it now. You can get a 25 lb bag of brown rice for 15 dollars, and that will last you WAY more than a month. The same goes for beans, white rice, corn and grains.
If you plan ahead and are semi-intelligent, living for 25/week per person isn't even a challenge.

My boyfriend and I are planning on living on less than that for the remaining three months of the year. You can check our progress here: http://www.wetakeiteasy.com

The $3.50 per day number sounds harsh until you remember the economies of scale. $7.00 per day to feed two people is fairly reasonable and $14.00 per day to feed four is something most people can achieve. Also, don't forget kids on foodstamps can get free breakfast AND lunch at school (including in the summer).

My husband and I do live quite well on $50 a week ($25 each) for groceries (plus $40 total per month for dining out). This includes wine (usually Trader Joes) and a trip to the Farmers Market, which is actually cheaper than the grocery store for many items. We do not allow impulse buys, and we plan each meal for the week before we go shopping, looking at sales at each store and clipping coupons. And we hit 2-3 stores, including the dreadful-but-economically-necessary Walmart, another local chain, and Aldi. Yet we do eat well... This week's menu, for example: biscuits and chipped beef gravy, sweet & sour fried rice with fresh pineapple, soft tacos, bucatini ai fagioli (spaghetti and beans sauteed in olive oil & herbs, heavenly!), risotto with goat cheese & cherry tomatoes, mustard pretzel baked chicken,Thai peanut noodles, chicken tortilla soup, and homemade alfredo & linguine. These meals all use kitchen staples, but we have room some weeks for special splurges when I find an exciting new recipes. Salad before most meals helps reduce portions, so we have plenty of leftovers for lunches. Snack bars for breakfast since we both have hour-long commutes.

It helps that I love to cook, but really none of these are meals that take more than 15 minutes prep, 30 minutes cook time. Checking sale fliers and planning meals requires extra time, as does the trip to several stores and the farmers market, but that's what weekends are for...

When I was a student about 5 years ago (putting myself through college), $25 per week was my actual food budget.

Yes, it's doable. No, you won't be having nice meals. And you can forget about organic food for sure.

Would I be willing to do this again? God, no.

I think eating with these restrictions is doable, but I would like to point out something. Other people have alluded to this, but what food stamps ar able to buy in one place is entirely different in another part of the country. I grew up in Texas (where produce is cheap), but currently live in the Bronx. The groceries in my neighborhood are more expensive and lesser quality than other parts of the city. While I (a single student) am able to shop around the city for better deals, I do feel for those who are single parents, working two jobs, and basically really do not have the time or energy to do it, and must make do with what's available.

In college I went 57 days without paying for a meal. I scavenged off what I had in the cupboards for 2 weeks. Then I started going to Sam's on sample day, free hot dogs at bars during happy hour, free popcorn at tool stores, fake an interest in Cozumel timeshares, Chemical Engineering Club, fraternity rushes, etc. There are always opportunities to score enough to hold you over. I have to admit sneaking into 6-7 weddings though.

I was in competition with my roommate who lasted 43 days.

After that I binged on expensive food since I save like $300 in the mean time.

i don't think its possible. not in brisbane anyway. when i live 'cheap' i still spend at least $4 a day on food. i eat some really cheap meals too, e.g. an apple for lunch.

we are in a tough spot. i would love to buy everything locally but i also want to spend as little as possible on food. the cheapest options in our supermarket are all produced overseas and usually around $0.50-$1 cheaper than the local alternative.

i have trouble understanding how a state that produces and exports so much in the way of fruits, vegetables and meats can be so expensive to live in. i was in paris recently and couldn't believe that even with the horrible australian $ - euro exchange rate it was much cheaper to eat than back home.

at the moment i eat a very basic diet. we make soups in bulk to freeze, when mince is cheap we make and freeze a few months worth of pasta sauce. we eat every little red meat, maybe once a month we eat a cut of red meat like a steak, chop, etc. there is still no way i could be nutritionally sound eating off less than $4 a day.

After reading most of the comments, I think living cheaply comes down to how much you CARE what you eat - nutritionally to be specific. Of course, you can live on 25 dollars a week if you buy cheap 99-cent white bread and eat smuckers and skippy peanut butter or cook canned veggie in every meal. However, how much do you benefit from eating processed food?

The way to cut spending? how about stop buying clothes ( I bet everyone can pick out 10 items in their closet current that they haven't no worn for more than a year, so do you still need a pair of new jeans? ) My point is, why not spend a little more on nutritional food and less on the unnecessary items or dine out less. I don't think spending less than 25 dollars a week on food is something to brag about, unless you find the pleasure of eating cheap and un-nutritional food. (I do believe that you can buy food cheaply, but just not under 25 a week if you want fresh fruits and veggies, or organic dairy products, etc.)

Food is expensive here in S. FL and I maybe if I learned to cook I could really do this but I as of now I do use coupons and buy whatever in on sale.

Are people supposed to rely on the food stamps for the entirety of their food budget, or does it supplement other income of some kind?

I've tried to imagine a way to do this. Here's how I would try.

Breakfast would be oatmeal. Instant is ~$3/box at Target, and I imagine it could be cheaper elsewhere. So, 40 cents per serving.

For lunch and dinner - basic chicken, broccoli, and pasta as a starch. Boring, but working in a budget.

There are Supermarkets that sell dark meat chicken for $2 to $2.50/lb. Say 2/3 lb between lunch & dinner. At $2.50/lb its about $1.65

Frozen veggies - $1.50 bag is about good for 4 servings. 75 cents for both lunch and dinner.

I'm going to go with pasta. Lets say 1lb is $1. 6 servings per lb or so. 35 cents for lunch and dinner.

Ok, so lunch and dinner cost: $1.65 $0.75 $0.35
With breakfast ($0.40) the total is $3.15

So while this is an incredibly bland menu its not impossible, at least in theory. There has to be ways in which this model can be made cheaper. Sale pricing, using regular oats instead of instant oatmeal, bulk purchasing, etc. How and where people shop will make a big difference.

i think $25/week a person was doable when we lived closer in to the city- better access to the farmer's market, trader joe's--but now with rising food prices, it's harder. (but ther our rent is $500/month lower! so overall we come up ahead).

it's not just food, but everything else; too.

on spices; penzeys.com is WONDERFUL. their spices are fresher, better, and cheaper than anywhere else. and much higher quality than the bulk bins at the local co-op.
(they have 3 types of cinnamin, 4 types of chili powder, their whole pepper is so much better and cheaper than at the grocery store).
I try to never buy spices at the grocery store; it's so much more expensive there.

also, when I do get fresh herbs, I try to make it a "theme" week and base all my recipes around them.

plus, I'll take extra basil and puree it with a little water and freeze it in ice cube trays; when I'm making sauce I'll pop a cube in.

I live on around $25 a week, and I tend to think I eat pretty well. Fresh and frozen veggies, eggs, root veggies, bulk brown rice, frozen and canned seafood, chicken, dry and canned legumes.
I don't eat wheat, corn, unfermented soy, dairy, or artificial sweeteners, and it is quite amazing how cheap my grocery bill is sometimes. I like to think that I'm getting the most nutritional bang for my buck with foods that are both satiating and nutrient rich (I've found bread, cereal and diet drinks just tend to make me eat more)

I would like to try this sometime.

I understand that food stamp recipients are eligible for $175.00 per week in groceries but many of these people may be working as well which would allow them to buy more than just their stamps' worth.

Stamp recipients may also be eating one or more meals at work and at school.

Nonetheless, I think it would be great for everyone to see what they can survive on. It will open minds to the idea of thinking outside of the box when it comes to purchasing according to practicality and value.

As a chef, I would love to have the opportunity to help people stretch their dollar when it comes to feeding themselves and their families. Of course, this would involve learning a few basic ingredient purchasing tips and cooking tips.

And people would have to be willing to eat healthy! I remember staying on a Sioux Indian reservation in college and got a first hand look at what our government considers to be acceptable subsidized food for it's native people. In my opinion, it is the last weapon of...

It would be challenging to do this. If you have the time to make a lot of things from scratch, you could do it. The problem is that a lot of people can't do that kind of cooking.

I run a program for people with intellectual disabilities. Scratch cooking is pretty much impossible for them. Remember how difficult it was to learn to tell when meat was cooked all the way through? How about following directions for measurements when you don't understand fractions and can't read beyond a second or third grade level? Or, you aren't certain how to set the temperature in your oven? What if you lack the judgment to be able to tell when food is spoiled? Or the manual dexterity to use a sharp knife safely?

The same situation applies to some of our elderly. It breaks my heart when I learn of another person who is living on canned soup and sandwiches.

A society should be judged by how it treats the least among us.

Yes, most likely...though probably just for that ONE week.

I wish some of you would get your facts straight about the Food Stamp Program.

I am 30 years old, I've been chronically, progressively ill since I was 20, it took me 3 years to get approved for Medicare/
Disability after getting the boot from private insurance, and I qualify for Medicaid due to my illnesses.

I am given $600 per month income. I was not old enough to put into the system what I need out of it, and if I didn't have the support of family I would be in very dire straights because no one cares. People like poster Kassie who says she worked in a Welfare office seem pretty insensitive, and I come across those people everytime I need help.

I don't take Food Stamps because I have the support of my family and I recognize the need of so many others for the program, but out of curiousity on my last review I asked how much I would get. $10 per month.

TEN DOLLARS PER MONTH TO EAT when my total income is $600.

So PLEASE, PLEASE show me these statistics that say I'm eligible for $162 or $175.

You are the ones who are sadly mistaken about what certain people qualify for, and I don't just challenge you guys to live on $25 a week for food, but $600 a month (not even accounting for what it feels like to be so ill, and the cost of medications etc. not covered by Medicare/Medicaid), then see if you still want to claim sick and poor people are way better off than it seems.

Wow. I live in NYC and because of my meager editing income and high rent, my grocery budget is $100 a month. I have yet to go over that limit, and I make practically EVERYTHING at home. And I don't eat Ramen or bologna sandwiches either... I make real meals. It honestly isn't as difficult as everyone makes it out to be.

I'm a little amazed at how much more everyone spends, when to me it seems completely unnecessary. I plan ahead, and due to my thrifty upbringing, I've learned to stock up on expensive items like meat when it's on sale and freeze it. I rarely buy anything at full price. I shop in season (because it's less expensive) and wouldn't touch Whole Food-style prices with a ten foot pole. It's just wasteful.

Granted, I usually eat one dinner a week with my boyfriend's family for free. So maybe you could up my total to $125, but I don't consider it a challenge or a "just try it for a month" attitude. I enjoy cooking immensely and never even considered my budget "limiting" before reading this. Maybe people to need to reexamine how they're spending their money.

My budget for my family of four is just $200. Sometimes I spend way less. I plan my meals when I get the sales ads and buy pantry staples when on sale, such as flour and sugar. If there is a sale on eggs (Last week 18-count $1.89) I'll buy two. Then I'll make a list of things I can make with them like strata, frittata, omelet, scrambled eggs, egg drop soup, devilled eggs. I do this with other items also such as ground turkey -meatballs, tacos, stroganoff, sloppy Joes, burgers, meatloaf, stuffed pepper filling, nachos, etc. and fruit like apples and bananas - baked apples, apple rings with PB, applesauce, apple tortillas with cheese, frozen bananas, banana smoothie, and so on. It makes it easier for me to have a plan and different enough so I don't hear, "Aww, mom, ground turkey AGAIN!!!"

It also helps that I only work three nights a week, so I am able to cook. It is difficult sometimes, but I am able to do it.

There definitely those people who are developmentally disabled, sick and in need of physical help. I think this brings up issues of assistance that go far beyond just buying and cooking groceries on a meager budget.

These people undergo unfair discrimination everywhere they go.

But food stamps aside, I know that there are people and programs out there who volunteer and organize programs to help these people not only with GOOD meals but to take care of them in their communities and in their homes. I used to work near a center where I was able to take on mentally disabled adults and put them to work 5 days a week and feed them well.

I know it's not a perfect world. But there are a lot of people out there who care and do make a difference. I think our government has a long way to catch up to them.

Where did the $25 a week amount come from? From what I can tell online, the USDA "thrifty" plan - which is based on the average cost of food in the United States and is the basis for food stamps - would allow $40 a week for an adult male and $35 a week for an adult female. This is a big difference!

http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm

My mother was a caregiver for my grandmother before she passed away in 1991. I am now caregiver for my mother and bobcatsteph3's comments that he (or she) is only eligible for $10 a month is true. My mom is 75 years old, receives 675 a month Social Security, and was given $10 a month in food stamps because she did not pay rent/mortgage. They did not include anything other than rent and utilities in calculating how much she was to receive. So she doesn't get them. In her situation, going to apply and recertify was not worth the effort, so we budget and are thrifty and make do with the $200 monthly grocery budget for our family of four.

reggiesoang, a reality check: people most often have to live on $25 food budget a week not because they are stocking up on Gucci bags, but because they don't have enough money. Hard to imagine, I know, but it happens.

Reality is that my mother has a reasonably comfortable retirement because she lives with me. If she didn't, she'd be living in public housing because of the amount of money she gets.

Makes me wonder what will happen to me when I get old? I don't have any kids to move in with.

My 401K won't support me if Social Security collapses.

I thought this would mean eating less from the farmer's market when I realized that it said $25 per week per person! My husband and I spend $40 per week, and that includes meals out. We buy all our produce from the farmer's market. I live in Missouri and $20 at the farmer's market will get you something like this:

1 bunch mustard greens- $1
1 bunch swiss chard- $1
1 bunch other greens- $1
2 lbs "canning" tomatoes (fine within 3 days of purchase)- $2-3
2 ichiban eggplants- $2
2 zucchini- $1
1 bunch basil- $1
1 bunch cilantro- $1
1 dozen eggs- $3
1 cantelope- $3
2 lbs apples- $3
1 sweet roll :) -$1

The remaining $20 goes to beans, rice, flour, etc, and a meal at the Thai place if our supplies are good for the week. Sometimes we buy a pound of local white cheddar curds for about $5. I make a menu plan based on what I buy each week so that I can be sure nothing is wasted.

I think we could go much lower than that if we had to. I would cut a lot of extras before I would let go of my farmer's market produce, though!

I generally do, and I can afford more. I don't skimp on quality ingredients either. Sticking to a shopping list and not being tempted to buy a lot of other junk helps keep costs down. I'm a vegetarian and a very picky eater; that helps. Doing a lot of my shopping in our excellent farmer's market helps too.

I would find it hard to feed myself and my partner on 25 per week or even 50 a week, and we do make a concerted effort weekly to try to keep groceries at around 50. This week my bill was about $110 for the week; it's amazing how those little things add up, e.g., laundry detergent, toilet paper, restock olive oil and canola oil, etc. etc. etc.

In NY, at least, here is the calculator:
http://pbrcmanual.cssny.org/foodstampcal.htm

a few things are taken into consideration, and savings isnt possible, but here is the $162 figure.

The problem I have seen time and time again is not the amount provided for food- I work with young adults leaving the foster care system- but the amount of cash allowance is the biggest problem. In NYC, the cash amount provided is around $175 for a parent with one child. Remember that a train ride costs $2 each way. Paying for laundry, detergent, clothing, toilet paper, etc on this amount is basically impossible. (Not to mention phone bill and any other utilities not covered by benefits... i think the allowance for energy is somewhere around $25... maybe its increased recently... even in the winter, my electricity in NYC is over $75.)
I cannot even come close to making it on this amount and never want to have to try. I count my blessings every day for everything I have and all of the advantages I was born into.

One of the things this doesn't even mention is that people in poverty in this country also tend to have crappy access to low-cost, high-quality groceries. The poorer the neighborhood, the less likely it is to have grocery stores and the more likely the food that is brought in will be expensive. So this challenge, for the average AT reader, should be more like "live on $2.50".

I did OK on $25 a week for groceries in college, eating eggs and beans and rice and tortillas constantly and lots of cheap fruit in season - but fruit/veggies are a LOT more expensive now than they were 15 years ago, thanks to gas prices, and they're unlikely to go down. So I don't know that I could do it now. I'm almost embarrassed to say that we spend easily two to three times per person in my household, and although we try to buy organic and/or local when we can afford it, we're still relatively frugal compared to what I see in other shoppers' carts.

I don't live on $25.00 a week, maybe double that. But one thing I have done to cut my cost is to grow my own vegetables and herbs. I don't grow everything I eat, but probably 75%. It probably cost me about $25.00 to get everything started, seeds, soil etc. I live in a condo with a small patio so everything is in containers. I know that might not be practical for everyone, but it really has helped me out.

i think my boyfriend and i could live on $25.00 per adult, per week in our household. right now, we average to about $35.00, hardly ever eat out and bring our own lunches to work every day.

our strategy now is to develop a menu for the week based on what coupons and specials local stores are offering.

once a month i go on a trip to costco with 3 other friends, we buy certain things in bulk, split the cost and the items 4 ways, and that really helps. i save the containers from EVERYTHING, so after those costco trips, it is not unusual to find a jelly jar full of ketchup.

i've also found that if you have 5 minutes a day to spare, spend it on emailing food/drink companies to compliment them on their products, and in turn they often send you coupons.

ps - to poster "Haunted_Studio": living in south florida, you should shop at penn dutch, the meats and produce are soooo much cheaper than anywhere else. there's 2 locations, one in hollywood and one in coral springs.

I spend about $35-40/month on myself, plus about $20/month for my cat (two bags a month of Pet Promise). I shop twice a week, Fridays at Whole Foods for my starches, nuts, and protein bars (I buy a box at a time) then go to a local store for locally grown fruits, veggies, and hummus and dairy products (yogurt, small wedges of cheese).

Since I buy protein bars in bulk (15/box) I save a couple bucks and I usually end up buying vegetables and freezing them myself. About a month ago there was a sale on locally grown corn, 6 ears for $2 and I have four left in my freezer. I eat out twice a week- I'm a grad student and I pick up a slice of pizza at the university and I only pay $2/slice.

My favorite right now: Kedem soup packages. Whole foods has them for less than $2 and one mix can produce up to 6 cups of soup, which is perfect for taking to work. Seven bean, minestrone, vegetable, split pea, they're all wonderful.

Like Cheryl K my boyfriend and I love to make big batches of soup and I love Bean Cuisine soup kits. Now that we have a Whole Foods AND a Trader Joe's I plan on checking out the Kedem kits too. Soup rocks!

All of the anecdotal information can only go so far. I encourage all of you to read a report that came out of Drexel University and Boston Medical Center recently about the cost of a healthy diet and food stamps. Here is the website:

http://publichealth.drexel.edu/GROW/Hidden/53/vobId__298/

It's not hard to do at all. My husband and I grocery shop once a month and spend about $100. We're vegetarians, eat plenty of fruits and veggies, and never go hungry at all.

My husband and I have a budget of $200 a month for groceries. This includes trips to the store, pantry stock up opporunities, and meals out. Breaking that down, it's about $50 a week for the two of us (depending on how many weeks are in a given month). I've found this figure to be more than adequate for us. Since we're good about keeping an eye out for sales, we use those opportunities to stock up on our pantry. We also shop sales for produce and buy what's in season. When we have extra money left over, we either use that to eat out or just let it carry over to the next month. Sure, sometimes we spend extra when we're pantry stocking, but it evens out in the end. Besides, isn't that the point of stocking your pantry? In case there's more month than money or to keep you from spending extra when something's no longer on sale?

We live on 300 a month for the two of us which comes down to 9.86 a day for 2 people. We bring in lunches, host small dinners for friends, and eat pretty well. It would be less except my husband has this thing about leftovers so we cook every night.

If I was single again, there would be large batches of soups, pastas, and grains that would cost less and stretch much further.

i've been doing this for the past few months and find that it isn't too hard (especially if it's a forced budget). if you start out with a lot of staples in your pantry, buying things week to week won't add up to much. i end up eating a lot of salads and fruit for lunch and egg-based meals or pasta for dinner. i also started an herb garden which gave me a lot to work with as far as switching up flavors.

Just have to second the $10 food stamps. My best friend also became permanently disabled before paying into the system. Before she was approved for disability, she received the $162 amount, but that was the only assistance available to her from the government in the 4 years she spent going through the disability application process. She would have died on the street if it weren't for me and her mom (it sounds extreme, but consider that the next time you see a homeless person in a wheelchair). Now that she receives $637 to cover rent, and all other living expenses, her food stamps decreased to $10. We also just let them go as it wasn't worth going through all the paperwork every 6 months, and I help out with the extra cash she needs (don't tell the government!).

A couple thoughts...first, for food stamps you don't get the same amount for each person, it is all dependent on income and family size. The amount goes down with every increase in income. I think I qualified at 600/mo but once I was making 1200/mo I didn't. Second, most of you do not sound like single parents working or in school full time. It is very difficult to do all non-processed foods within the time/energy constraints of being a single parent. Same thing for going to stores to buy certain items on sale or going to more than one store at a time. Especially if you are using public transportation or dragging kids along this is often not an option. In addition, without a car you can't buy in bulk. The majority of these comments sound like they are from people without kids or partnered with kids (and one partner home to cook!)...a much different reality than being a working single parent and making it on that budget.

Thanks for the Penzey's reminder. I think everyone should take a ride with a volunteer food program truck. There are some that deliver to those who cannot even afford a busfare. People would be shocked to learn who is really in dire need of food support. And the food is exactly what someone above said--really, really bad for you. Some is ok, some is good, but you get an imbalanced diet. When Martha Stewart said she really missed the taste of lemons in prison, well, that's true.

For those who find it easy to do this $25 a week thing, remember that not everyone can figure it out. As hard as that is to believe, it is true. This post is triggering a lot of discussion. Sounds like a real need here.

I recently made a big pot of beef stew. I mixed 2 packages of beef stew seasoning with my pot of water. I browned some meat chunks and also added a few potatoes, frozen carrots and corn. It lasted my husband and I for 4 days before I threw out the rest to make room in the fridge (I would have frozen it but we are moving and it would have been pointless). Anyways, I added up what it costs me to make it and it was about 10-15 dollars, which could have easily fed a third person as well. For a couple extra dollars, my husband ate his on rice to fill his stomach better (he has a very physically intense job and it takes a lot to fill him up!), great for growing boys as well. As long as you can stand to have the same meal several times, you're good to go. But now I am intrigued as to how we would make it living off $25.00 a piece a week for food. We don't have to right now, but even if you dont have to, imagine if you did how much more money you would have for other things. And for those who do have to, we can all learn something from you. This is a challenge I am going to take!!!

Last weekend we stopped at my favorite sandwich shop and ordered breakfast egg sandwiches, which turned out to be an enormous amount of food and not what I was prepared to eat. My brilliant partner packed each still-hot sandwich half in tinfoil in a brown bag with a package of ketchup and a napkin and we continued driving until we saw people, clearly down on their luck, hanging out at the busstops. We gave them the food, and they were very happy and grateful. Reminded me of how much I have--food to eat--and how good it feels to share it.

For those of you who are interested in this topic, and it seems like there are many, you should definitely read Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. The author spends one year documenting her attempt to live and support herself while working low-wage positions. With just herself to take care of, she had a nearly impossible time eating healthily at all and with the amount of hours that she needed to work there was no way she was hitting up farmers markets or finding time to scout out supermarket sales. She's not a sociologist and was not necessarily trying to make a jab at our government's lacking assistance to the poor, but she did an excellent job of portraying just how hard everyday living can be for someone making such low wages. I highly suggest you all read it, it really provides a perspective to those of us who are lucky enough to be more fortunate.

My boyfriend and I are actually doing a $30 a week grocery for the both of us and are coming up on the 5th week with only a few bumps. You can check out our efforts at our blog here.

A friend of mine who has a Master's degree from a prestigious university, and has a wife with a degree from another prestigious university, who owns his own 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, and owns 60 acres of land (not a farm), and has 2 children who have their mom at home with them full-time...gets food stamps in NY. My wife and I were shocked when we learned he and his family qualify. They are not disabled or challenged in any way. He and his wife had a comfortable upbringing.

I spend about $30 per week on groceries, but there are several things I could easily cut out to bring it down to $20 per week. That being said, there is a point which a number of people seem to have missed when they spoke about "stocking up when things are on sale". Many people CANNOT afford to do that.

There is a huge difference between spending $25 a week AVERAGE on groceries and having only $25 PER WEEK to spend. For example: Pot roast was recently on sale buy one get one free (so 2 large pot roasts or 2 whole chickens for about $6). I bought a pair of each, which should provide me with meat for the next month or two. However, doing so added $12 to my week's purchase, almost HALF of a $25 a week budget.

I, thankfully, am in a solid enough financial position (I make about $1800 a month), that floating myself $12 from one week to another took no thought. However, there have certainly been times in the past where an extra $12 of groceries meant being $12 short on my rent. For many people on low income, there is no "buffer" that allows for bulk purchasing.

for a brief while a long time ago i was on food stamps. i got more than i ever even spent myself on groceries prior to qualifying. i lived off food stamps for a couple months after i stopped getting them. of course those were back in the days when buying a soda or a candy bar were rare treats. fast forward to now when i make decent money, and i'm still very frugal when food shopping. if i took my lunch to work, (instead of buying in the cafe), i still would probably spend around $25 a week, just with my normal shopping habits. i have friends who routinely buy the expensive olive oils, gourmet cheeses, fancy water, etc., but i can't bring myself to shop like that. it really depends on the choices you make and what you are used to. but..it can be done.

I have to agree with the posters who point out that the question is not just can you eat on 25$ a week but can you eat nutritiously for 25 a week and the answer....no matter where you live is a resounding no unless you grow your own or have a non-working partner who has time to hunt/gather/prepare. Many people ridicule overweight poor people but living on a diet of rice, beans, white bread, canned veggies, cheese and cheap margarine would make the most consciencious of us fat.
Once, in another life, my family was very, very poor. We were blessed to recieve some help from the community, which we were grateful for, but that experience opened my eyes to the subtle ridicule that less fortunate people go through daily. For heaven's sake, when donating to your local charity or food bank, please dont go out and buy the cheapest, crappiest food the store offers and dump in in the barrell. If you are going to give this holiday season, buy the good stuff to give away and keep the crappy stuff in the bent cans for yourself. You will give the gift of dignity along with the gift of food.

new idea said

"...when donating to your local charity or food bank, please dont go out and buy the cheapest, crappiest food the store offers and dump in in the barrell. If you are going to give this holiday season, buy the good stuff to give away and keep the crappy stuff in the bent cans for yourself. You will give the gift of dignity along with the gift of food."

Wow. Eloquently spoken and noted.

these comments are really helpful. (thank you also to sciencegeek, btw.) there seems to be a huge diversity of responses. may someone brighter than myself at AT could post a synopsis. would be great to have the top 10 best ways to use $25.

many canned foods and juices donated by food banks are filled with high fructose corn syrup. not good for the disabled, diabetic, lowered immunity.

That was wonderfully said..and a BIG head's up..new ideal..and aldryth..A basic reminder and reality check for all of us...to just pay attention to our 'brothers and sisters' around us every day..with dignity..

Challenge? This is my daily life.

I feel compelled to share this story about food stamps and college students...One summer, there was something of a recession in my college town. Everyone I worked with at my on-campus job was having severe financial difficulties. Three days before pay day, and all we had to eat for two of us was one hotdog and one bun. After four people passed out from low blood sugar at the office (one quite seriously when he struck his head on a table), our boss personally made stacks of sandwiches for us to eat at work and to take home and had the vice president of financial aid come in and explain our options to us. A week later, we were all enrolled in food stamps.

I strongly encourage you to look into food stamps. If you're not struggling, maybe you know someone who is. In some states, you have to be a work study student, and in others, you simply have to be the recipient of certain grants, like the Pell grant. It's a crime that anyone has to go hungry and even more so when there's a relatively simple solution to the problem, but no one takes the time to explain it all.

JLala's right, Nickle and Dimed is a good book to read for perspective on all of this. She couldn't afford to live in a place with a stove or oven while working for minimum wage, so she couldn't buy things like beans and rice. Buying bulk food like that requires cooking equipment, too, and time to be at home while the beans are cooking. It's not too hard to live on $25/wk when you have access to good deals, bulk food, a kitchen, and time to prep food.

and about the food stamps, it is dependent on the individual. My friend was on food stamps for a while and received enough money to buy food at places like Trader Joes and Whole Foods for friends as well as for herself. Guess the system is askew.

oh, and I often forget that living on $25/wk for food includes eating out, coffee, snacks, as well as groceries.

exactly emily.

i think that is where we really lose it. i was trying to prod my partner into taking leftovers or making lunch to take to work for lunch when i finally got him to sit down and add up the cost of his coffee breaks and the lunches he was buying at work everyday. it was coming to at least $60 a week. $60 is more than i spend on anything a week except for rent!

all of a sudden he is interested in my leftovers hehe.

reading some of these comments makes me feel very petty. i only try to cut back on the food budget because we are saving to purchase a home. atm we are living off one income but in the scheme of things we are doing much better than many people in the world today. when i say that i *can't* do it, i guess i'm saying that i'm not willing to voluntarily completely give up certain things like the odd steak, that block of chocolate, a bottle of soda, fresh vegies rather than frozen, etc.

I'm a big fan of homemade pizza. Pre-made dough cost less than $2 and I get the toppings from the salad bar at the grocery store. I only buy what I need for the pizza and the preparation is so simple since everything is already cut up. Some salad bars even have shredded cheese (or feta) and pepperoni. Healthy, delicious, and very inexpensive!

I know there is always a bad apple on the bunch to spoil it for the rest, but I was so irked to be behind a woman in the grocery line last week paying with food stamps. It wasn't that she was using them - it was that she had a full set of acrylic nails, was yapping on a cell phone about a big name concert she had just gone to, and went to the parking lot and got into a Honda Accord that was new within the last year.

I don't begrudge those who rely on food stamps to make sure their children don't go hungry, but to see my tax dollars go to someone who clearly has money to spend on fake nails, cell phones, concerts, and newish cars ticks me off to no end.

First of all, it has been so interesting to read through all of your comments- the different responses and suggestions are all inspiring and eye-opening.
Something like this can be very hard to discuss in a fair and non-judgmental manner, because who are we to determine how people spend their incomes, but, with that said, I previously worked full-time as a manager at an organic grocery store in Indianapolis, a city with one of the top 10 most affordable living costs in the US. It was very difficult to see people spend their EBT cards on triple creme brie, organic cheddar cheese puffs, grass-fed ribeye, $9.00 per lb olives, etc, and then walk out to their newly-leased mazdas/hondas in their Northface/Columbia swank. Like LilyC above, this made me a little sore because these were items I didn't allow myself to indulge in, and I was raised to believe that you work hard for luxuries, and that the pleasure of feeling that you earned something then becomes all the more great.. I (might) have met the income requirments for foodstamps at that point but never applied because I was 'making' it on organic rice and farmers market veggies.

NOW, my job has been lost to a sluggish economy, I work part time at a coffee shop for 7$ an hour and I am trying to go back to school because I am a high-school drop out.
My parents would morally frown upon me applying for food stamps, even though I need them, and I could get them, and right now I sure could use them.
I feel like our economy is very polarized with a growing gap between 'rich' and 'poor.' 'Rich' hate giving handouts because they don't think what they are giving is being used responsibly. Poor and especially, working poor NEED handouts. I think the foodstamp system might make more sense if there were guidelines in every state for what you could buy with them. There is a program for farmers markets (WIC) that is great because they are forced to use the money at the market on whole foods, grains, vegetables, meat and dairy, although someone here made an excellent point earlier about not having time to cook from scratch due to school or single parenting or having to work two jobs to make all ends meet. Someday, I would also like to see a better national program for teaching kids about nutrition because on the flipside of my moral foodstamp dilemma, the types of people my mother knows who receive food stamps in small town Indiana spend them largely on ice cream, hydrogenateds high fructosed foods, bologna, etc, the stuff I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, simply because better choices are not available (inexpensively) readily in non-urbanized and as it follows, more educated areas. I would also like to see a more 'victory garden' attitude instilled in people...
Taking all of this in to account, I cannot decide wether or not to apply for foodstamps, even though there have been some very hungry last weeks for me. I have been forced to eat dinners that consist of coffee and day-old (white flour, cheap oil) pastries from my job, when I would really rather be eating better, but is this fair for me to do to the 'system'? My parents voices are in my head, proud and always self-sufficient, tell me not to take 'hand-outs'

Another thing I also wanted to add, everyone with a little 'extra' money likes to splurge on themselves, treat themselves, luxuriate. Some of us choose organic food, a nice wine, a nice cheese, some choose fancy nails, a gucci bag, new clothes, mid-century modern furniture, an antique we fall in love with. Some people get bigger luxuries, new cars, big screens, etc. The important thing is, in my opinion, to balance want with need. I often struggle with that, misbalancing want and neglecting my saving account.

I just have to chime in again to point out that you can eat nutritiously on 25 dollars/week per person. For us that is $100 per week. We spend $125, but that includes a CSA share. We could easily replace the csa share with a non-organic one and cut out $12. Also, if we replaced our expensive coffee beans with something cheaper that would knock out about $6. Then if we didn't buy goat cheese at the farmers' market that would bring down the total to $100. I know all the figures since some weeks it is necessary to cut these things.

Now, we cook from scratch and I realize many people may not have the time or feel like they have the time to do so and then convenience foods will cost more. I am not trying to argue about if people should get food stamps or what they should spend them on or anything else for that matter. I only want to debunk the myth that you have to eat fish sticks and doritos with this amount of money.

We eat roasted chicken with vegetables, vegetable curry, black bean soup, etc... The meals for this week are as follows: for breakfasts we have yogurt with fruit, oat bran, pancakes, muffins, quinoa, fruit salad, and more yogurt. For lunches we have leftovers from dinner, eggs and salad, or egg sandwiches with some kind of vegetable. for dinners we have roasted turkey and vegetables, turkey barley soup, beef and vegetable soup, chicken bbq, vegetable curry, whitebeans and tuna, and pasta with butternut squash.

On another note, if you need food stamps please go get them. It is one of the few federal programs I fully support despite the people who abuse it. Food is such a basic human right.

I typically spend this amount, altho I will go out and eat sometimes, so factor that in.

I buy all my food at the local produce store which carries dairy and some dry goods. Because I don't want to shop twice a week, it forced me to stop buying tons of dry goods and to base my meals on the produce and the stuff available there, which is cheaper.

The formula is, as Im sure most people know, to have starch, protein, and veggie in your lunches and dinner. For low cost starch you choose from whole grain pasta and grains; the in-season veggies are usually inexpensive; and low-cost protein is eggs, cheese, beans, or canned fish. With herbs, spices, and good oil (which is expensive), you can usually come up with a really healthy and inexpensive meal that highlights seasonal vegetables. I supplement with canned soups when I dont feel like cooking. Once I started eating like this, instead of going to the grocery store and buying meat and prepackaged foods, not only did I save money but I lost weight.

kassie, $160 is not how much a single adult gets in food stamps. I am a single adult living on social security disability which gives me $658/month. I at first only got $60 in food stamps every month, they raised it up to $80 two months ago, and then $100 a few days ago, but it was $60 for a very long time.

I fed two people (myself and another) on $100 per month before I got food stamps though. Sam's Club can help a lot, esp with meat (almost everyone knows at least one person with a membership there).

This link might help some of you who are on a tight budget. I don't use it myself so I can't vouch for it, but I heard about it through friends. http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

You get a lot for $30 and most of it's meat!

Today I spent $20 just on fresh fruit and veggies (non-organic, some of that from the farmer's market) for the week for one person. And I obviously needed stuff other than produce, which more than doubled my bill.

That said, for living in a tiny dorm-sized room (I'm NOT a student) without my own kitchen, I think I do fairly well. I don't have a freezer or a full-sized fridge, or really, any place to store things. The farmer's market here costs MORE than the grocery store, we have a single Chinese market that I can't get to without a car, and I refuse to sacrifice taste and nutrition to save money. I use coupons when I can, but frankly, most coupons out there are useless unless you want to eat crap and you have time to play the "coupon games".

It's interesting how many people claim that they can do this easily so the poor should be able to manage as well. Part of the problem is that you already start off with a better situation than they do in terms of what is in your pantry to enhance you dishes. Most poor folks don't have olive oil and Pennzey's spices on the shelf already nor do they have all the time in the world to shop and prepare food. They also don't have dishwashers to toss the mess into when they're done.

I am not poor, but I do shop for the cheapest deals, plan meals, and wash dishes by hand. It takes an immense amount of time to do these things. I have to go to 3-4 different stores to find the best prices on different types of meat, fruit, vegetables and dairy, and I can sometimes spend up to 3 hours on a meal when prepping and cleaning is included. I used to work full-time (now working about 1/3 as much as before) and I could never have managed this level of fiscal prudence when it comes to food when I was doing that.

I implore people to be open to the idea that their perspective is not valid for others and to have compassion for the poor rather than to smugly assert that they can easily manage to eat healthily on small sums of money because they believe they can. Not everyone has the same time, access to resources, or existing support structure as you do.

It is not only the poor who receive food stamps.....

.....many military families and foster parents also receive food stamps, and their eligibility is not income-based.

So when being judgmental towards the person you see using food stamps, remind yourself of this.

I was raised on food stamps, and as an adult worked in a grocery store for ten years. It DISGUSTS me the comments people make about food stamp recipients, and TO food stamp recipients.

It's nice to buy olive oil in bulk from a nice store across town........but the reality is that even bacon grease is expensive when you have to take a bus with your kids to the only grocery store you can reach.

As I started to read many of these comments I kept thinking, wow this would be dificult to do! But I realized that my boyfriend and I do it without thinking about it. We don't even try to budget it so we aren't spend much on food; we end up buying everything on our list, including fruits and veggies, dairy, meat, breads, etc. We shop only at Sam's Club since it's super close to our apartment and typically spend $150-200 a month, for 2 people that's a spending of $18.75-$25/week each. Seems like a very small amount of money when you first think about it but really it's a healthy budget to get nutritious foods and more than enough to sustain you throughout a month.
It also occured to me that we go out probably once a month and don't go over the monthly budget of $100 each/mo. You just have to know what deals are out there. We go to a gourmet pizza place called Picazzos for dinner which can be expensive. However, we know that they have a happy hour from 4pm-7ish with 1/2 off appetizers so we get two huge plates with mushrooms, cheese, fruits, veggies, spinach, etc. and two drinks (he gets a BlueMoon and I get an italian soda) and the bill is $13.00... yes, only $13.00 to feed two hungry people and entertain them by getting out for a couple hours and talking. There are other places out there with great deals that we sometimes visit as well.
There is no reason to have to saccrifice eating healthy foods and having fun just because you don't make over minimum wage. You just have to be smart about your buying: don't buy foods you won't eat, don't buy more perrishable foods than you can eat, etc. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This would be an example of reducing what you buy, but only if you think of it that way. Shouldn't be concidered a saccrifice at all.

What a great post, and even better comments!

Aldyth, thank you for the eye-opening comments about adults with disabilities and their inability to do what most of us take for granted.

I was on a single parent on public assistance once. The monetary amount was paltry, not enough to live on unless you were in the system a long time and knew how to work it (subsidized housing and other programs). Food stamps were always more than adequate. When the price of other commodities (electricity, rent) went up, the money grant didn't increase but the food stamps did, which made no sense to me. Either way, between food stamps and WIC, children in America are growing up with enough food on their plates, and that is good.

Excellent point, to the posters who made it, about needing TIME to soak beans, bake bread, and cook everything from scratch. It seems if you have the money to cook well, you don't have the time. If you have the time, you don't have the money to buy the ingredients. Some fortunate few have both time and money. Others have neither.

My most successful suggestions about eating cheaply are as follows: eat meat as infrequently as possible, GROW and preserve your vegetables and herbs (internet search "container gardening" if you don't have land), and bake your own bread.