Posted: 1/10/2010 8:55:30 AM EDT
| I've taken on a new appreciation for having money saved up. I want some suggestions to live on roughly $30 a week, not counting gas for a 14 mile commute every day. What's a reasonably healthy diet that $30 a week could provide? |
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Quoted:
I've taken on a new appreciation for having money saved up. I want some suggestions to live on roughly $30 a week, not counting gas for a 14 mile commute every day. What's a reasonably healthy diet that $30 a week could provide? Only thing I've got to say is good luck and I hope you can figure it out. |
Ramen, babnanas, yogurt, bobo cereal, and .99¢ tacos @ Taco Bell. One week every other month will be tight 'cuz that's the week you buy the 60day supplemental multi-vitamin. It ain't much on calories, but it won't kill you either, short term.  20 years ago when I was in school, I picked up a part-time gig on the weekends @ the local supermarket to get an employee discount to stretch my $$ even further. And, on Mondays the mgr. would let me take a left-over Sunday paper for the coupons. |
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I want to cut costs on as many levels as possible. Staying on campus all day instead of going home between classes, no going out to dinner with friends, etc. I could go a little higher than $30 a week for food, but I figured if I aim for $30, the end result shouldn't be too far from it. (LOW) I bring in 150 a week, but I want to save as much money for summer as humanly possible. This very cheap diet will only last til April 23rd, so there shouldn't be any long term health risks, right? I was thinking Ramen noodles, generic spagghetti-o, peanut putter sandwiches, oatmeal, and tap water.
When you were trying to save money or were short on funds, what was your absolute bottom of the barrel cheap diet and how long did it last? |
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50 lb bag of rice, some beans, and occasional clearance priced whole chicken (cut up and freeze portions), and lots of spices.
Breakfast can be bread and eggs or cheap oatmeal. lunch is leftovers from what you cook at supper? are you overweight? you can save more and lose some fat by undereating. |
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You should look to the third world for inspiration. Start buying dried goods in bulk. Cooking beans and rice yourself with flavoring (curry/spices/hot sauces) will take you a long way. Get the cheapest multivitamin you can find to make sure you're getting essential nutrients. Water is basically free but you might want something to add to it (a small amount of powdered flavoring or cordial syrup) to keep from getting bored. Ditch the cell phone, cable TV and internet connection, go to the library for entertainment or leach off someone's open Wifi in the area. Turn off all lights and the thermostat, get blankets and thermal underwear. Enjoy the savings! |
$30 a week is fine if you are not eating out at all and don't booze much. A loaf of bread and 1lb of deli meat and peanut and butter sandwiches, plus a few frozen burritos or party pizzas for $1 -$1.25 a pop and then get all the fixins for some sort of super meal that will give you leftovers for several days like pasta or some kind of asian stir fry rice concoction. Easily can live off that per week if you have to, now if you like drinking then plan on losing a lot of weight and eating a shit ton of ramen and babnannas 
I lived off $100 a week in Hong Kong for 6 months and lost 25 pounds due to 80% of my funds going to booze 
Edit: tuna sandwiches are also your friend |
| figure out what you like to eat that isn't steak, and buy it in bulk. I make a crockpot of chili each sunday to use for breakfast. 1 scoop of chili, 1 scoop of rice, 1 egg and some cheese. Takes less than 2 minutes to make and wrapped in a tortilla tastes fantastic for less than 15 a week plus 5 eggs left over. Black beans or Red beans in rice will fill you right up and is cheap as dirt. The cheapest fish you can find in a garlic and butter pasta dish for dinner is alright. Oatmeal for a snack, or a spoonful of peanut butter. Ramen makes me feel like crap after a week, so I try to stay away from it. Ask your grocery kid if they throw out veggies when they get bruised or show spots, and could you get them instead. I buy halfbad (bruised) veggies from the amish all the time, just cut around the bad bits. Meat is pricey, but if you look for the sales you could eat a porkchop three days a week and still stay in your budget. Use your head and take a vitamin |
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Well everybody else's suggestions sound better than mine, but when I was in college about 10 years ago I actually kept a spreadsheet for a week or so about my meals. I was staying in town for the summer and working at pretty much a minimum wage job, and wanted to see how cheap I could live.
I too did a lot of Ramen, etc. There were little crappy single serving frozen pizzas in the grocery store for about a dollar too, and microwave burritos. I ate a lot of those. Hamburger helper if you have venison in the freezer from deer season. I would eat something like a single-serving microwave pizza and an apple for lunch, and it would total about $1.50. Good luck. |