looking for ideas on good food, but cheap at the same time

[thedealmaker]

Go eat yourself...

 

[RideFree]

Lighten up!
Any thread that I learn from is hot IMHO.

In this thread I learned a lot...
1. I learned about the Mennonite Cookbook
2. I learned about Aldi's
3. I learned about Polar Tuna
4. I learned about shopping at ethnic stores for bargains
5. I learned several new recipes (although I would barf at the thought of sitting down to a plate of pasta & ketchup).
6. I learned that there are apparently some dumb people eating dog & cat food.

 

[astrocase]

LOL

Ok, in Sweden it's pretty common to eat macaroni with ketchup, garlic, and pepper. Some people add butter. I've had it with bacon. I have a hard time convincing my American friends. Got one to try it in the last 29 years.

 

[RideFree]

Actually, the Norsk will eat or drink just about anything...blod klub Anyone? Or blod kake?

Macaroni with ketchup, garlic, pepper, butter &/or bacon sounds pretty good...nothing like pasta & ketchup.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Originally posted by: RideFree

5. I learned several new recipes (although I would barf at the thought of sitting down to a plate of pasta & ketchup).

hmmm... sounds like someone who has some italian in the blood Well, rigatoni and egg noodles do pretty well with just ketchup if you ask me (I think I ate those for years that way).

As for good ways to last thru college on a food budget, I agree with you in that the meal plans really are not the way to go. Depending on where you go to school (city campus, isolated campus, middle-of-nowhere-campus), it can be rough. I went to a school that was in the middle of Philadelphia, so places to eat and buy food were very easy to get to. That said, I actually made out well with some of the street carts for breakfast/lunch (could get more then I could eat for less then $3.50, which was $2 less then the meal plans rate and was better food, at least better tasting food). Dinners I typically cooked myself. Well, boiled/reheated/microwaved/toasted.... Depending on what you have availible to you to cook on makes a big difference as to what you will be eating. As others have said ramman is probably the easiest to make and is fairly cheap, just be careful as some are really "salt in a cup/pack".

Now, the real trick for college living on a budget is to brew your own bear. We saved hundreds if not thousands by doing this. It also got past the "bringing in alcoholic beverages rules" in the dorms, where you were limited to a six-pack a week or a single bottle of hard liquour that you could bring in.... but there was nothing in the rules about making it yourself We had 2 kegs that we used/reused as well as about 20-50 bottles we would use. Basically we steralized root bear bottles that we would get from time to time and had a hand operated bottler/capper. Again, you can't imaging how much you can save by doing it yourself. It only takes a few hours to bring the base mixture up to temperature in a BIG pot(s) in the kitchen, then it is all about letting it rest/cool/age properly and then filtering/draining botteling/kegging the beer. (It helped that we had a person who's grandfather owned a micro-brewery so we had good reciepies, but still, you can get a lot of that online now, which wasn't the case 8-9 years ago when we first did this).

 

[mikeford]

Heh, its good to be out of school, just had a turkey sandwiche from Panera bread. $6 or so, but its the best.

 

[Injury]

A little bit of spices will go a LOOOONNNNGGG way.

You can actually get 2 very very good meals a day for about $10-20/week, including fresh meat. That would simply require working one shift a week at just about anywhere to cover the expense.

 

[Zim]

Originally posted by: dani

Half cup of oil!!! holy crap that's greasy.....

Heh heh! Actually it's not. The oil gets mixied into the whole concoction and makes it more filling. One thing though, if you use cheap ground meat, you won't need so much oil.

I lived with a group of 4 other guys for several of my college years. We were all heavy drinkers and wanted to save our money for beer. Hence the daily budget for food was a buck a piece per day. Back then (20 years ago!) "Spaghetti Bolognese" (i.e. meat sauce) was the favorite meal since we could make a ton of it within budget. The recipe was given to me by older siblings with the same financial constraints. To this day I still make it every couple of weeks for my family and it goes down a treat.

 

[Hacp]

Also remember to buy lotsa gum. Eating inbetween meals is the number one way to say bye bye to $$$$. A bag of chips costs 1 dollar. Have a bag of chips every day for 7 days and you waste 7 bucks! Gum solves that. One stick of gum can last you a long time inbetwen meals, and costs like 3 cents .

Ow ya, buy those lemonade powders and stay away from soda. Soda costs alot for one liter, but lemonade powder/tea bags cost way less. Ya, and don't drink any beer/wine also. They cost too much .

 

[Zim]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Also remember to buy lotsa gum. Eating inbetween meals is the number one way to say bye bye to $$$$. A bag of chips costs 1 dollar. Have a bag of chips every day for 7 days and you waste 7 bucks! Gum solves that. One stick of gum can last you a long time inbetwen meals, and costs like 3 cents .

Yeah, but lots of gum makes you fart... gulping down all that air.

And BTW, if you have an Old Country Buffet or similar buffet nearby, you can pig out in the early afternoon and get a day's eating for around $8. Expensive, but could be worthwhile a couple of times per week.

I've been there, done that, ate the T-shirt. I was outta work a couple of years back and had the same issues to deal with. It's feasible to eat well on a limited budget, but it takes a little practice. Stay away from pizza and all that crap... it's bad news for your arteries and your weight.

 

[Lanyap]

Originally posted by: elfy
My wife and I have been eating on 50-70 bucks a week of groceries with this cookbook. The Mennonite's recipes are really simple and cheap! Check out the More-with-Less cookbook.

Thanks, that recipe book looks interesting. I think I'll order it. Hot deal meal for me.


elfy
Junior Member
Posts: 16
Joined: 10/13/1999

How do you remember your password?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally posted by: Fallen Kell
Now, the real trick for college living on a budget is to brew your own bear. We saved hundreds if not thousands by doing this. It also got past the "bringing in alcoholic beverages rules" in the dorms, where you were limited to a six-pack a week or a single bottle of hard liquour that you could bring in.... but there was nothing in the rules about making it yourself We had 2 kegs that we used/reused as well as about 20-50 bottles we would use. Basically we steralized root bear bottles that we would get from time to time and had a hand operated bottler/capper. Again, you can't imaging how much you can save by doing it yourself. It only takes a few hours to bring the base mixture up to temperature in a BIG pot(s) in the kitchen, then it is all about letting it rest/cool/age properly and then filtering/draining botteling/kegging the beer. (It helped that we had a person who's grandfather owned a micro-brewery so we had good reciepies, but still, you can get a lot of that online now, which wasn't the case 8-9 years ago when we first did this).

w00t! Last I looked, http://www.Geeks.com was selling a Mr. Beer (or whatever) home brew kit. Green Light Special anyone?

 

[The Linuxator]

Originally posted by: Moffat Cafe
Look through trash bins.

and look more precisely for

Originally posted by: middlehead
Ramen, ramen, ramen, ramen, ramen, cheez whiz, and ramen

But eventually like one member said you will find that :

"Meal plans kick ass." .

 

[Havoc13]

Originally posted by: Fallen Kell
Now, the real trick for college living on a budget is to brew your own bear.

Cause then you trained it to go out and steal food for you? Or taught it to balance on a ball with an umbrella and you collected tips?

LOL! j/k

I agree with Ramen, 10 for a $1 around here. I used to eat it with some meat so, $1 pack of hot dogs = $.12 a dog + $.10 for ramen = meal for $.22, if your really hungry double up for $.44

I can't believe no one has mentioned peanut butter (with or without jam/jelly) sandwiches, $1 (or less) loaf of bread $2 dollar jar of PB makes alot of sandwiches. I have seen PB and jelly at the $.99 stores too.

Now you can't eat this all the time so look out for places with free appetizers during happy hour, you can normally have your fill of appetizers and a happy hour priced drink for $2 and it breaks the ramen cycle.

I also remember seeing 24 pack box of popcorn at Wal-Mart for $1.49, hard to beat a $.06 snack

Good Luck, I remember pinching pennies to eat...

 

[freeguy007]

baked potatoes with progresso lentil soup as a topping - mmmm

then, when you've gotten that "A" and you want to celebrate, use a 60% coupon at restaurant.com or combine an entertainment coupon with an idine rebate - you can eat out with a friend for $11-$13 including tip

 

[ITPaladin]

Ramen noodles are full of fat unfortunately and I can never eat just one package for one meal

 

[ITPaladin]

Originally posted by: Zim
Stay away from pizza and all that crap... it's bad news for your arteries and your weight.

No or lite cheese is ok on a pizza.