Could you eat on $30 a week?

[IceBergSLiM]

Good stuff too.

lulz

 

[lxskllr]

Canned veggies have a fraction of the nutrition found in fresh produce not to mention they have very little "calories" to "fill you up" so I think your low balling your number.

But 50% is scary figure anyways....50% of your diet is nutritionally empty

I don't know where you're getting your "facts" from, but they're incorrect. Canned produce is heated, and lightly salted; that's it. No vegetable is high in calories outside the obvious exceptions which carry over to the canned varieties also.

What's so scary about a 50% processing count? Processed doesn't mean they dump radium in the food. Aside from that, I'd say 50% is average, if not on the low side for the typical American.

 

[coloumb]

Yep - it would suck as I'm use to going out for lunch - but it can be done.

 

[Specop 007]

Yes, I did in college as a vegetarian. It requires planning meals ahead of time though, and some bulk ingredients (rice, pasta).

You mean it requires a bit of thought and effort? No wonder people struggle with it.

But really $30 would be difficult. I could, lots of rice and beans I know that right now.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

I don't know where you're getting your "facts" from, but they're incorrect. Canned produce is heated, and lightly salted; that's it. No vegetable is high in calories outside the obvious exceptions which carry over to the canned varieties also.

What's so scary about a 50% processing count? Processed doesn't mean they dump radium in the food. Aside from that, I'd say 50% is average, if not on the low side for the typical American.

Whats so scary about eating 50% of my diet that is nutritionally empty and I have no idea how it made or where it came from. Exactly and americans are all sick....obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes up the ass. Triple and quadruple bypass is your birthright now I guess. You may "feel great" now, I assure you years of eating that crap will catch up as it has with millions of others.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

Curious, those of you eating "ultra cheap" <$50 a week......how much of that food isn't processed not including minimally processed(flash frozen veggies etc)? What percentage? 1%-5%?

we go to the grocery once every 2 weeks. We get plenty of fruit and veggies and plenty of processed food too. some days we have dinner leftovers for lunch, other days frozen meals. Cant avoid processed food all the time. damn near everything is processed and i sure as shit dont have the time to make everything from scratch every day. But its dead easy to throw some meat in a pan, season it, cook some veggies in a pot and make some rice.

I do enjoy making my own bread, but wonder and home pride are dirt cheap. boxes of noodles are cheap and jar sauce is too. fresh meat is bought every week. canned fruit. canned veggies (blech, but my wife and kids like them), frozen veggies, cereal, long grain rice, boxed flavored rice... all kinds of different stuff.

i would say its probably a 1:2 ratio of fresh to processed because of all the little things that are bought for meals. Its an interesting question. Im going to keep tabs next time.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

we go to the grocery once every 2 weeks. We get plenty of fruit and veggies and plenty of processed food too. some days we have dinner leftovers for lunch, other days frozen meals. Cant avoid processed food all the time. damn near everything is processed and i sure as shit dont have the time to make everything from scratch every day. But its dead easy to throw some meat in a pan, season it, cook some veggies in a pot and make some rice.

I do enjoy making my own bread, but wonder and home pride are dirt cheap. boxes of noodles are cheap and jar sauce is too. fresh meat is bought every week. canned fruit. canned veggies (blech, but my wife and kids like them), frozen veggies, cereal, long grain rice, boxed flavored rice... all kinds of different stuff.

i would say its probably a 1:2 ratio of fresh to processed because of all the little things that are bought for meals. Its an interesting question. Im going to keep tabs next time.

so 66% of your diet is processed nutritionally void crap. Well even if you don't change your habits I got you to think about it.

 

[McWatt]

42 El Monterey frozen chimichangas: $15.75, 2000 calories a day for 7 days. But is that really living?

 

[lxskllr]

Whats so scary about eating 50% of my diet that is nutritionally empty and I have no idea how it made or where it came from. Exactly and americans are all sick....obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes up the ass. Triple and quadruple bypass is your birthright now I guess. You may "feel great" now, I assure you years of eating that crap will catch up as it has with millions of others.

You're just spouting rhetoric. If you pay attention to what you eat, it doesn't matter. I'm 6'4". 185#, and I haven't really been sick since I quit smoking. It's called moving your ass. That's the part Americans have trouble with ;^)

 

[IceBergSLiM]

You're just spouting rhetoric. If you pay attention to what you eat, it doesn't matter. I'm 6'4". 185#, and I haven't really been sick since I quit smoking. It's called moving your ass. That's the part Americans have trouble with ;^)

I'm certain your still a young buck though...you know it all now.

 

[jimbob200521]

I run a kitchen so thankfully I can graze a bit at work and cover a meal or so a day there, which usually enables me to take my small budget and grab a $5 footlong or something for dinner each night.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm certain your still a young buck though...you know it all now.

I'm closer to death than birth ;^)

 

[zinfamous]

yes.

but would I?

no, not really.

I'm fortunate though to have awesome , cheap, high-quality diverse resources nearby, though.

~3lbs random veggies for $1 each = awesome. ...especially when potatoes.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

I'm closer to death than birth ;^)

not surprising with your diet! badaboom :biggrin:

honestly how is your blood pressure, cholesterol, lipid counts, blood sugar all your tests come back with shining gold stars?

 

[AreaCode707]

Curious, those of you eating "ultra cheap" <$50 a week......how much of that food isn't processed not including minimally processed(flash frozen veggies etc)? What percentage? 1%-5%?

For my roommate? About 95% of her diet is unprocessed. Unprocessed foods are cheaper than processed in general. She can eat for a day on the cost of a box of cheez-its.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

so 66% of your diet is processed nutritionally void crap. Well even if you don't change your habits I got you to think about it.

its funny you think all processed food is nutritionally void...

 

[SagaLore]

Yes easily.

 

[lxskllr]

not surprising with your diet! badaboom :biggrin:

honestly how is your blood pressure, cholesterol, lipid counts, blood sugar all your tests come back with shining cold stars?

:^)

I don't go to the doctor much. Drug store blood pressure machines always come back good, and I've tested my sugar a couple times with my daughter's glucose meter(Type 1 diabetes), and it's been fine.

The key is moderation in everything. When I say I buy Spam and sausage, that doesn't mean I'm eating that every day. I'll use a can of Spam in about a week, maybe a bit longer. A 5 pack of sausage lasts about a month. I seldom buy really sugary cereals, but do on occasion. That's more nutritious than cakes, and other crap people typically buy. A typical dessert for me and my daughter is a cup of cappuccino, and 2 or 3 European cookies(read not highly sugared). That's about 20g carbs, maybe a bit less. Sometimes we have dark chocolate instead of cookies, and that lowers the carb count even more.

People can eat anything they want to. Nothing is harmful in the right quantities. You just have to pay attention :^)

 

[Modelworks]

I do every week, not more than $40 for sure. The key is to ONLY buy things when on sale. If you don't have to have it that day wait for the sale. No point in paying more this week for something on sale next week. I also hit up the discount meats sections. packaged meats are always reduced before the sell date when even at the sell by date they have weeks left .

 

[Matthiasa]

Would probably mean ramen for calories and a multivitamin for all the nutrients I would be missing out on.

But seriously, yeah I could easily.

 

[Tim]

Replace the ground meat with beans to make it cheaper

This is correct.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Yeah...I could do it. I typically eat cereal, fruit, and eggs for breakfast. I eat sandwiches for lunch and dinner... I often cook dinner and make all kinds of things using fresh ingredients like potatoes and rice for cheap...I could get by.

The only catch with all that are the incidentals. I often see these "meals for $10" cooking shows. When you start adding garnishes, spices, flavorings, etc...you can blow your budget really fast. Most grocery stores around here price-gouge on spices...even buying mustard or butter/oil takes a bite out of the total. Assuming I already have stuff in my cabinet, I know I could collectively get by on $30/week for a very long time.

 

[Modelworks]

Most grocery stores around here price-gouge on spices.

A good way to get cheap spices is bulk buy the big containers from restaurant supply stores with friends and family splitting the cost, then divide them up into smaller containers.

 

[crownjules]

$30 would really be stretching it thin and I'm sure would leave me hungry at times, but I'm sure I could do it if absolutely necessary.

 

[shortylickens]

A good way to get cheap spices is bulk buy the big containers from restaurant supply stores with friends and family splitting the cost, then divide them up into smaller containers.

Yeah most spices are hideously overpriced compared to what they actually cost. Even black pepper is kinda ridiculous.