I have been playing hooky on the computer avoiding the weeds and I came accross some videos on people taking the $2.50 a day challenge to see what they could eat on $2.50 per person per day for 7 days (3 meals a day).
It was interesting to see what people ended up buying. Everyone became more food centered and some even expressed some anxiety about getting enough to last till the end of the week.
Fruit and vegetables were luxuries (Usually cabbages and a couple of bananas)
The meals were heavy on pasta and beans and very little meat or fresh produce. Most people could not afford bread in the weekly budget.
The people tended not to count the things they already had in the house like spices, oil, and mayonaise.
Some people supplemented with free food from costco samples, and picking up condiments from starbucks. I thought the Starbuck's trip was humerous. Imagine if you were really poor, you wouldn't really be going near a Starbucks. Costco does not accept coupons or food stamps and you have to pay for an annual card, and you could not afford to buy anything in bulk, the really poor would not shop there. Imagine what it would be like, the anxiety you would constantly have not knowing if there would be enough food to last a week and usually there would not be a cash stash anywhere for emergencies either. If you live where I live $2.50 would probably have to be doubled just to get even with the cost of living elsewhere. Most people living from day to day, paycheck to paycheck probably don't have access or the cash to get buy and get the bulk savings and they may not even have a car so they would be shopping more at convenience or small stores which cost more.... and the challenge doesn't end at the end of the week. More than likely they don't have other resources to fall back on or much of anything in reserve. I doubt they have time or space to grow anything themselves.
The videos I saw were of people who still had cars, had access to free food that was not from a soup kitchen or food pantry, and even they struggled to get fruit and vegetables in their diet.
In another thread, the question was asked about how much we saved by growing our own produce. What if you did not have that?
What would you be eating on $2.50 per person per day and how much would you have to grow to supplement your diet from your garden. Could you still eat a nutritionally balanced diet without that?
Up until about 18 months ago, a local supermarket would sell 3 jalapeno/cheese rolls that were loose in help yourself bins out of their bakery department at 3 for $1. These things were each as big as your hand and I remember telling my wife if I was ever homeless or really down on my luck, that would be worth a dollar to get to have something to eat.
Of course that only leaves a little less than $1.50 when considering tax on the buns to get something to go with it to not just eat bread. Now you know why folks go dumpster diving at supermarkets to retrieve produce and other goods they can't sell to the public but is still good enough to consume.
Of course that only leaves a little less than $1.50 when considering tax on the buns to get something to go with it to not just eat bread. Now you know why folks go dumpster diving at supermarkets to retrieve produce and other goods they can't sell to the public but is still good enough to consume.
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Allyn
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I imagine this was approached as a fun challenge, but honestly, this has been my reality and in the not-too-distant past. If I managed to scrape up $5, I still couldn't buy food because the car was out of gas and if I put $5 in the gas tank to go to the store, there was nothing left to spend at the store. I have lived with the hand-wringing anxiety that comes with having to micro-manage, not only each meal, but each serving because you don't know when you'll have money next to buy food again.
Bread, actually, wasn't a problem since I make my own. A bag of flour costs the same as two loaves of bread, but will make many more than that if you make it yourself. If I have flour, milk, sugar, oil, eggs, butter, and salt in the pantry, we can literally eat for days --eggs-in-a-basket, biscuits and gravy, custard pie, egg sandwiches, eggs and toast, et al. That's about $13 in groceries that will feed two people for at least 3 days -- maybe 4 if we skip having dessert.
Fruit and fresh produce is out of the question. Meat, maybe if you get cheap cuts and catch it on sale. I can turn a single hotdog into four servings with some milk and eggs. I was always on the lookout for the red "reduced for quick sale" stickers in the meat case and hope there's something I can afford. Condiments like mayonnaise are really expensive to buy, but very easy to make -- a cup of oil and an egg. I still make my own mayonnaise just because I like it better than store-bought. Beans and rice get a lot of play when on a tight budget.
Honestly, though, this is why there is an obesity problem in the south, usually accompanied by diabetes. People think southern folks are lazy but these health problems are because there is a high percentage of folks here living below the poverty line and processed carbs are cheap. A 12 oz bag of frozen vegetables costs the same as a 10-pound bag of potatoes. If you only have enough money for one or the other and you have to stretch it over as many meals as possible, which one do you think people buy?
Bread, actually, wasn't a problem since I make my own. A bag of flour costs the same as two loaves of bread, but will make many more than that if you make it yourself. If I have flour, milk, sugar, oil, eggs, butter, and salt in the pantry, we can literally eat for days --eggs-in-a-basket, biscuits and gravy, custard pie, egg sandwiches, eggs and toast, et al. That's about $13 in groceries that will feed two people for at least 3 days -- maybe 4 if we skip having dessert.
Fruit and fresh produce is out of the question. Meat, maybe if you get cheap cuts and catch it on sale. I can turn a single hotdog into four servings with some milk and eggs. I was always on the lookout for the red "reduced for quick sale" stickers in the meat case and hope there's something I can afford. Condiments like mayonnaise are really expensive to buy, but very easy to make -- a cup of oil and an egg. I still make my own mayonnaise just because I like it better than store-bought. Beans and rice get a lot of play when on a tight budget.
Honestly, though, this is why there is an obesity problem in the south, usually accompanied by diabetes. People think southern folks are lazy but these health problems are because there is a high percentage of folks here living below the poverty line and processed carbs are cheap. A 12 oz bag of frozen vegetables costs the same as a 10-pound bag of potatoes. If you only have enough money for one or the other and you have to stretch it over as many meals as possible, which one do you think people buy?
The potatoes. It isn't so encouraging to relate economic difficulties in our lives when what is casually admired is casual independence. Thank you Allyn.
I can go way back to the "golden age" of the 1950's and remember the parental conversation about the cost of having to regularly buy bread because 2 children had to eat a sack lunch in school. Potatoes was the customary starch at home. In a way, it was a good thing to have parents from large, poor, rural families. Both sets of grandparents had 9 babies.
We still have the potatoes but pasta and rice play important roles in our diet. A large part of our food preservation has to do with making pasta sauce. All that goes into the chest-type freezer. I wonder how many poor families have one of those or a place they feel that they could keep it.
Using eggs as an important protein part of the diet sure makes sense to me but, as an adult, I have had backyard flocks of laying hens several times. One probably saves very little money this way but the periodic abundance of eggs focuses attention on their use. Eggs are inexpensive in our stores.
I'm not sure how far my $2.50/day would take me but I imagine that I would focus supermarket shopping on canned goods. I'm often playing around in the kitchen. Recently, I have been trying to use the dry beans I grew not in 2016 but the year previous. Equal amounts of two types, making them more interesting, other parts carrots, sweet corn, and tomato sauce with sauteed onions and a grind of black pepper - hey! That's pretty good "peasant food." That's often how I'm thinking, making stir-fries, soups and casseroles. I'm a peasant cook, trying to make use of garden produce. I'm not a gourmet, restaurant patron in my home kitchen.
Steve
I can go way back to the "golden age" of the 1950's and remember the parental conversation about the cost of having to regularly buy bread because 2 children had to eat a sack lunch in school. Potatoes was the customary starch at home. In a way, it was a good thing to have parents from large, poor, rural families. Both sets of grandparents had 9 babies.
We still have the potatoes but pasta and rice play important roles in our diet. A large part of our food preservation has to do with making pasta sauce. All that goes into the chest-type freezer. I wonder how many poor families have one of those or a place they feel that they could keep it.
Using eggs as an important protein part of the diet sure makes sense to me but, as an adult, I have had backyard flocks of laying hens several times. One probably saves very little money this way but the periodic abundance of eggs focuses attention on their use. Eggs are inexpensive in our stores.
I'm not sure how far my $2.50/day would take me but I imagine that I would focus supermarket shopping on canned goods. I'm often playing around in the kitchen. Recently, I have been trying to use the dry beans I grew not in 2016 but the year previous. Equal amounts of two types, making them more interesting, other parts carrots, sweet corn, and tomato sauce with sauteed onions and a grind of black pepper - hey! That's pretty good "peasant food." That's often how I'm thinking, making stir-fries, soups and casseroles. I'm a peasant cook, trying to make use of garden produce. I'm not a gourmet, restaurant patron in my home kitchen.
Steve
I participated in a challenge like this back in 2007, with a twist - I eat low-carb, so there was the additional challenge of forgoing cheap starches like potatoes or rice. My grocery choices for the challenge included a whole chicken from which I later made soup; eggs, flax seed, a pound of bacon, and a small container of natural peanut butter. I used the bacon grease for savoury flax buns and other cooking. My veggies were onions, celery, carrots, a head of lettuce, a head of cauliflower, a bell pepper, a bulb of garlic, and a few cans of tomato paste.
It was interesting to compare how others did it in different regions, and how food prices vary. Flax is very cheap here, for example. I can get a giant bag at the local bulk store for about $2.00, and grind it myself in the coffee grinder. It's expensive if you're buying a little bag of Bob's Red Mill.
The main lesson I took away was how hard it was to stick to a healthy eating plan, because what I had to sacrifice were the exact products that make my eating plan pleasant: treats like diet soda, expensive cheeses, nicer meats, etc. I don't think cheap carbs are a problem unique to the South, unfortunately.
Like Allyn, I went through a lengthy stint in poverty, but I was lucky - I work in food service and I was fed at work, and I could find healthy options. I only had to worry about a few home groceries. I also had other assets: tons and tons of loyalty points from a couple of different sources, and I never did get to the bottom of them. I still take advantage of them and use them when I'm laid off a few times a year, and now I have enough seniority at work that I don't have to worry about trying to get by on minimum wage and only 30 hours a week.
It's been 3 years since I moved in with my fiance (which saves a lot of money) and got my sizable raise, and I feel like it's only now that I'm letting go of being ridiculously frugal. Like, forgiving myself for "being lazy" and not walking to the farther-away grocery store to save fifty cents. I still have the impulse to pick up beer and liquor bottles when I see them (they're returnable for a deposit here in Ontario.)
During that poverty time, I lived in a basement apartment and had no access to growing space.
It was interesting to compare how others did it in different regions, and how food prices vary. Flax is very cheap here, for example. I can get a giant bag at the local bulk store for about $2.00, and grind it myself in the coffee grinder. It's expensive if you're buying a little bag of Bob's Red Mill.
The main lesson I took away was how hard it was to stick to a healthy eating plan, because what I had to sacrifice were the exact products that make my eating plan pleasant: treats like diet soda, expensive cheeses, nicer meats, etc. I don't think cheap carbs are a problem unique to the South, unfortunately.
Like Allyn, I went through a lengthy stint in poverty, but I was lucky - I work in food service and I was fed at work, and I could find healthy options. I only had to worry about a few home groceries. I also had other assets: tons and tons of loyalty points from a couple of different sources, and I never did get to the bottom of them. I still take advantage of them and use them when I'm laid off a few times a year, and now I have enough seniority at work that I don't have to worry about trying to get by on minimum wage and only 30 hours a week.
It's been 3 years since I moved in with my fiance (which saves a lot of money) and got my sizable raise, and I feel like it's only now that I'm letting go of being ridiculously frugal. Like, forgiving myself for "being lazy" and not walking to the farther-away grocery store to save fifty cents. I still have the impulse to pick up beer and liquor bottles when I see them (they're returnable for a deposit here in Ontario.)
During that poverty time, I lived in a basement apartment and had no access to growing space.
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Allyn
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No, I didn't mean to suggest that it was unique, but if you compare the states that have the lowest median income and the highest percentage of people living at or below the poverty level with the states that have the highest percentage of obesity in the population, the two lists are nearly --if not exactly -- the same and the majority of those states are in the Deep South. I don't know how it shakes out in Canada.kayjay wrote:...I don't think cheap carbs are a problem unique to the South, unfortunately. ...
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applestar
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Hmm... I'm reading a pattern here and difficult to reconcile -- buying in bulk or wholesale prices is less expensive, buying whole bird, family size packages, etc. meats.... more chunk of money upfront -- what if the challenge was $2.50 or more reasonable allowance per diem? (Tradeoffs already described -- that must be so hard) ...and then there is the storage issue -- room and/or suitable conditions to store including refrigerated or freezer.
Remembering -- digitS's log cabin sharing with chickens (eggs ...and meat?... at least) ...jal_ut's winter pit of veggies... didn't someone mention bear-safe food storage outdoors in the snow? Not possible in warmer weather or warmer country, but then you could grow and harvest fresh seasonal veggies, perhaps fruit trees (and maybe laying poultry and harvestable honey like imafan in Hawaii) ...maybe better to pickle and/or pressure can/bottle in warmer climates? Smoked? (Still storage issue I think... smoked and canned....?) By the time you process them, are canned meats (and fish/seafood) still less expensive if you do it yourself? I imagine it would be if group/community effort to share the cost of equipment, time, and energy but then result needs to feed everyone not just self....
Can't imagine not growing at least some kind of edibles all year round even indoors in winter now, though not necessarily enough to depend on. My dad always said I grow for the fun of it but he grows for food....
Urban and suburban community gardens -- do they provide relief for those who have nowhere else to grow?
...I'm finding that at my scale of growing, grains are hardest to grow in sufficient quantity and process with primitive methods -- maybe except corn to grind into cornmeal (though still hardy enough except for fun and a treat due to lack of sufficient garden space). I'm guessing there is a minimum growing area size for sufficient production to support growing enough food to depend on.
Remembering -- digitS's log cabin sharing with chickens (eggs ...and meat?... at least) ...jal_ut's winter pit of veggies... didn't someone mention bear-safe food storage outdoors in the snow? Not possible in warmer weather or warmer country, but then you could grow and harvest fresh seasonal veggies, perhaps fruit trees (and maybe laying poultry and harvestable honey like imafan in Hawaii) ...maybe better to pickle and/or pressure can/bottle in warmer climates? Smoked? (Still storage issue I think... smoked and canned....?) By the time you process them, are canned meats (and fish/seafood) still less expensive if you do it yourself? I imagine it would be if group/community effort to share the cost of equipment, time, and energy but then result needs to feed everyone not just self....
Can't imagine not growing at least some kind of edibles all year round even indoors in winter now, though not necessarily enough to depend on. My dad always said I grow for the fun of it but he grows for food....
Urban and suburban community gardens -- do they provide relief for those who have nowhere else to grow?
...I'm finding that at my scale of growing, grains are hardest to grow in sufficient quantity and process with primitive methods -- maybe except corn to grind into cornmeal (though still hardy enough except for fun and a treat due to lack of sufficient garden space). I'm guessing there is a minimum growing area size for sufficient production to support growing enough food to depend on.
That was my woodshed shared with the chickens, AppleStar 
. It was important motivation for me to get on with my log building!
I'm not employing JAL's pit for carrots this year. After 3 months, there are still quite a few carrots but they are in a cooler in the utility room. On days above freezing, they go out on the deck. When I could no longer trust the carport fridge to not freeze its veggies, I had 2 coolers to move in and out!
There are a lot of reasons for ill health. Income plays a role: link . Hey, 10 or 15 years of life.
Exercise is also important. It seems remarkable to me that rural populations report less exercise than urban people: link. What does that say about gardening? We know that it is good exercise; rural people surely have a better opportunity to garden. What's the matter with them?!
Community gardens? I wonder. I once had a community garden plot. It was fun! But, unlike what I see in most community gardens, I had a fair amount of room. Urban gardens are so small that one can sometimes step across what is allotted to each gardener!
Yes, there needs to be quite a bit of room to grow the starchy foods in our diets. They also tend to be cheap because storage is fairly easy (notice me moving the carrots and such in and out of the house for a couple of months.). Fresh is expensive!
I think that an important part of good health is "cultivating" healthy habits like a healthy diet and activities.
Steve
. It was important motivation for me to get on with my log building!I'm not employing JAL's pit for carrots this year. After 3 months, there are still quite a few carrots but they are in a cooler in the utility room. On days above freezing, they go out on the deck. When I could no longer trust the carport fridge to not freeze its veggies, I had 2 coolers to move in and out!
There are a lot of reasons for ill health. Income plays a role: link . Hey, 10 or 15 years of life.
Exercise is also important. It seems remarkable to me that rural populations report less exercise than urban people: link. What does that say about gardening? We know that it is good exercise; rural people surely have a better opportunity to garden. What's the matter with them?!
Community gardens? I wonder. I once had a community garden plot. It was fun! But, unlike what I see in most community gardens, I had a fair amount of room. Urban gardens are so small that one can sometimes step across what is allotted to each gardener!
Yes, there needs to be quite a bit of room to grow the starchy foods in our diets. They also tend to be cheap because storage is fairly easy (notice me moving the carrots and such in and out of the house for a couple of months.
). Fresh is expensive!I think that an important part of good health is "cultivating" healthy habits like a healthy diet and activities.
Steve
Community gardens have a long waiting list and there is still a fee $10 for 10x10 space. That does not include the cost of the seeds, plants or amendments, but it does include water. Curiously it is mostly retired people or people looking for a second income who get those gardens. For someone living from paycheck to paycheck finding any extra cash is a problem. We have people who catch the bus to get to the community garden and some people spend the whole day there. Unless you are a senior citizen and can qualify for a $30 annual bus pass, bus passes cost $60 a month now and is still cheaper than $2.50 one way fare if you ride the bus daily. If you are living on $2.50 a day, you have to have a community garden within walking distance. Our community garden has parking but many of the ones in town do not so the garden members usually live within a short distance from the garden. All of the gardens are plagued by theft and a few have homeless campers to deal with. The height limits can limit what you can grow. There is demand for more gardens but the city has no plans to expand the program anymore. There are some private community gardens and some churches offer some garden space to their members. I have even seen people growing vegetables on the slopes along the freeway and down the hillside in the gullies behind the houses.
I used to make good money, but while I am not to the point where I don't have food, my income has dropped to 1/5th of what it was. I cannot afford medical care but I don't qualify for medicare so I had to go back to work at minimum wage and part time just to pay for medical insurance. I have had to give up luxuries like cable tv and I can't afford to run the air conditioner even when it is very hot.
Cooking for one is hard so I usually cook spaghetti, stew, salad, or casserole and eat it 4-8 times. I don't mind leftovers and if I cook one day, and cook multiple breakfasts at the same time. I don't have to turn the range on for days. I can just reheat in the microwave. I cook 4 cups of rice at one time and put eggs in the cooker so I can have hard boiled eggs and rice for the week.
I have changed the way I think about meals. I used to plan meals around the protein, but now I plan it around the vegetables that I have, since they are the most perishable and I have gotten to the point where I have a hard time finishing a big piece of meat. I usually buy potatoes, onions and carrots for staples. Occasionally I will get a couple of bananas, more than that I cannot finish before it is too ripe. Apples and oranges I occasionally buy, but only if they are on sale. Sometimes I don't finish them in time. I used to keep a bell pepper as a staple, but it is too expensive now so I don't. I usually get a Costco salad from the deli and that will last me a couple of days for veggies, but I admit that I really don't get my 5 a day. I buy mostly frozen veggies and I have had to cut down on that because I don't have freezer space and I would not use them all before they got freezer burn. I can only buy one fresh green vegetable at a time or something will end up spoiling before I can get to it and I usually only go grocery shopping once or twice a month.
I am surrounded by ocean, but there are very few fish that I like to eat. I have some canned tuna, salmon and sardines and it lasts a long time.
I used to make good money, but while I am not to the point where I don't have food, my income has dropped to 1/5th of what it was. I cannot afford medical care but I don't qualify for medicare so I had to go back to work at minimum wage and part time just to pay for medical insurance. I have had to give up luxuries like cable tv and I can't afford to run the air conditioner even when it is very hot.
Cooking for one is hard so I usually cook spaghetti, stew, salad, or casserole and eat it 4-8 times. I don't mind leftovers and if I cook one day, and cook multiple breakfasts at the same time. I don't have to turn the range on for days. I can just reheat in the microwave. I cook 4 cups of rice at one time and put eggs in the cooker so I can have hard boiled eggs and rice for the week.
I have changed the way I think about meals. I used to plan meals around the protein, but now I plan it around the vegetables that I have, since they are the most perishable and I have gotten to the point where I have a hard time finishing a big piece of meat. I usually buy potatoes, onions and carrots for staples. Occasionally I will get a couple of bananas, more than that I cannot finish before it is too ripe. Apples and oranges I occasionally buy, but only if they are on sale. Sometimes I don't finish them in time. I used to keep a bell pepper as a staple, but it is too expensive now so I don't. I usually get a Costco salad from the deli and that will last me a couple of days for veggies, but I admit that I really don't get my 5 a day. I buy mostly frozen veggies and I have had to cut down on that because I don't have freezer space and I would not use them all before they got freezer burn. I can only buy one fresh green vegetable at a time or something will end up spoiling before I can get to it and I usually only go grocery shopping once or twice a month.
I am surrounded by ocean, but there are very few fish that I like to eat. I have some canned tuna, salmon and sardines and it lasts a long time.
What sets the challenge at $2.50 a day, Imafan?
I was looking back at some information I gathered in 2011. The USDA information is actually from 2005. Based on their "Thrifty Food Plan, weekly cost for a child under 2 years was $17.70/week. An adult female 20 to 50 years old would be expected to pay $30.20/week. These are June of 2005 food costs, over 11 years ago
.
Okay, $2.50 x 7 = $17.50/week.
Here is a more recent analysis based again on the USDA "Thrifty Food Plan:" link . A small child of that age would require $21.50/week, $3.07/day. Her mother would need $37.60/week, $5.37/day. And, this is the "thrifty plan." There is a low-cost, moderate and liberal plan and cost per week.
Steve
I was looking back at some information I gathered in 2011. The USDA information is actually from 2005. Based on their "Thrifty Food Plan, weekly cost for a child under 2 years was $17.70/week. An adult female 20 to 50 years old would be expected to pay $30.20/week. These are June of 2005 food costs, over 11 years ago
.Okay, $2.50 x 7 = $17.50/week.
Here is a more recent analysis based again on the USDA "Thrifty Food Plan:" link . A small child of that age would require $21.50/week, $3.07/day. Her mother would need $37.60/week, $5.37/day. And, this is the "thrifty plan." There is a low-cost, moderate and liberal plan and cost per week.
Steve
I think the $2.50 a day challenge was based not on what was recommended because lets face people working for minimum wage have to work multiple jobs just to make it week to week. It was based on the minimum wage of $7.35 and I tried to work this out last night and I ended up with bacon, eggs, ramen, and very little else for the week for $2.50 a day. I think it was based on about 1/3 of income for food. However, for people making minimum wage housing costs eat up more than half the monthly income. Then there are still utilities, toiletries, transportation, and emergencies. There isn't anything for savings and most people don't have health insurance. Under obamacare, more people got insurance who were rejected or priced out of the market but for the working poor, it took another chunk out of their meager budget. I know people who work two or three jobs for 60-80 hours a week but no job had benefits or guaranteed hours. It also depends on where you live. In some places it is even harder with the higher cost of living to live on $2.50 a day. When I tried to work out a meal plan it was more in line with about $30 a week per person. Even that diet was mostly starches with eggs and bacon for protein. It was still not a balanced diet and I still could not afford to buy many fruits or vegetables with it.
I was thinking about this the other day when I was pouring myself a glass of milk, and it hit me. I wouldn't be able to do this and sufficiently provide for myself. Aside from that, I don't think I could handle the mental strain I would put on myself for going without dairy. I can't express with words how excited I was at the store last week when I saw 2 lb bags of sargento shredded cheese for 3.99. ($5 off because it was close to the "expiration")
I drink about a gallon of milk a week just for myself, probably a pound of cheese each week as well. Shredded for salads, slices on sandwiches, and feta and blue cheese as a snack with crackers, or sometimes just eat it straight with a spoon. And then cream cheese and sour cream! I can't think of any point in the last 2-3 years I haven't been well stocked on either of those.
Growing up, we always had at least two gallons of milk in the fridge. (There were 5 of us in the house) And one of those barely lasted about a day and a half. (I wonder why my family is usually overweight?.. ahha)
I usually make my own bread, and buy packaged lunch meat at about $1.00 a lb when it's about to "expire". Then I throw it in the freezer until I'm almost finished with the current package I have.
After I thought about what I just wrote, I realized I may be legitimately addicted to dairy. That's a bit scary.
Aside from that, I would certainly eat a lot of pork. A 15 pound pork shoulder for $10 can go a long way. I'd have to eat the same thing repeatedly, but I'm proud of my smoked pork shoulder, so it wouldn't be a problem for a while.
I drink about a gallon of milk a week just for myself, probably a pound of cheese each week as well. Shredded for salads, slices on sandwiches, and feta and blue cheese as a snack with crackers, or sometimes just eat it straight with a spoon. And then cream cheese and sour cream! I can't think of any point in the last 2-3 years I haven't been well stocked on either of those.
Growing up, we always had at least two gallons of milk in the fridge. (There were 5 of us in the house) And one of those barely lasted about a day and a half. (I wonder why my family is usually overweight?.. ahha)
I usually make my own bread, and buy packaged lunch meat at about $1.00 a lb when it's about to "expire". Then I throw it in the freezer until I'm almost finished with the current package I have.
After I thought about what I just wrote, I realized I may be legitimately addicted to dairy. That's a bit scary.
Aside from that, I would certainly eat a lot of pork. A 15 pound pork shoulder for $10 can go a long way. I'd have to eat the same thing repeatedly, but I'm proud of my smoked pork shoulder, so it wouldn't be a problem for a while.
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rainbowgardener
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- Location: TN/GA 7b
Wow... I don't drink milk at all. I use it to cook with some times. One quart of milk lasts the two of us a week or so. Every once in awhile it goes sour before we finish the quart (it's OK, I still use it). I make protein shakes out of soy milk. I do eat cheese, yoghurt, sour cream, etc. All but the cheese I use fat free versions (fat free cheese isn't worth eating, better to skip it entirely). I have cut way back on the cheese, tend to use it more as garnish now than as the main part of the meal. And I have been vegetarian for over forty years. All of that makes living off my garden and living cheaply a lot easier.
On my personal "thrifty" plan, I cut out most of the carbs rice, bread, potatoes. I cut the meat down till it is almost flavoring. I have about 4-6 ounces of meat in a pot of beef stew and it is mostly potatoes and carrots. Rice is the staple here but I don't eat it at every meal. When I make meatloaf, it is usually meat flavored bread since I make it with the old bread that I have. I usually cook one large meal like stew or spaghetti and eat it for 4-5 days. I buy a gallon of crushed tomatoes from Sam's or Costco for around $3 which is the base of the sauce. If I did not have the squash, eggplant, fresh herbs, tomatoes, and citrus trees, I would rarely buy them so on even $5 a day which is my average for three meals, I probably would not buy too many of them. Cooking this way gives me less of an excuse to eat out since I have leftovers in the frig, but it saves me some money by preparing the food all at one time and microwaving later. The microwave uses less energy than the range so it uses less electricity. I also save by not buying as much laundry booster or softener. I use baking soda and vinegar for the wash instead and I try to run full loads to save water. I Drying clothes outside saves electricity over using a dryer. I am lucky that my house is paid for and I don't have to worry about monthly rent, but I still struggle to come up with the taxes and insurance for the house every year. Then there is still the maintenance costs which still crop up like I just replaced my 25 year old range and the new one costs $1500 and is probably not going to last more than 10 years.
I have had to make a lot of tradeoffs, change the way I eat from what do I do with chicken, to what do I do with what is already in the freezer or in the pantry. I eat a lot less fresh anything. Less meat and cheaper cuts of meat, fresh vegetables mainly from the garden or what people give me, and planning meals that can stretch to multiple meals over 3-5 days. Substituting store brand soda for name brand and consuming less of it, more one pot meals, and really spending a lot of time thinking about it. When I had disposable income, I never thought much about planning further ahead and I used to buy a lot more stuff that I would have to throw away because it got too old and I bought more than I could use in a short time. That still happens, so there is some give yet and I can probably squeeze the budget a bit more. Now, I have to ask myself these questions when I go shopping. What am I going to do with that? Do I need it now? Do I really need it? Can it wait until next time? I am much more preoccupied with what the total cost will be, where I never worried about it before, but then groceries didn't cost as much as they do now either.
Beans are a good vegetable protein and they are cheap and filling. I always buy them canned but after reading some of what you have said, I might try doing something with dried beans instead. I have only made Portuguese soup with dried beans because my dad hates the canned stuff but the soup is not cheap, it makes a lot but it costs about $90 to make 16 quarts.
It is impractical for me to buy or eat a whole ham, and hocks used to be cheap but now they are $2 a lb. I did make 15 bean soup with a recipe on the package of beans and it was o.k. but I did not use hocks or smoked turkey wings so it did not get the depth of flavor. I did discover ham soup bouillon in the Asian market and it helped it a lot over using just water.
At the market, I do check out the reduced meats, but I can still get some stuff cheaper by shopping at other places like Chinatown where the meats are reasonable and fresh. I do shop the ads but on $2.50 a day (or even $5 a day), a lot of things are buy one get one or you have to buy 3 or more pounds of meat so, on a tight budget, it would be hard to pay those kinds of prices per package. Spice prices have really escalated to $5 or more for each bottle, so for some spices that I don't use a lot, I either forego them or if they sell them in the smaller packages, I get those. Mexican spices in celophane packages used to be 79 cents but now they are over a dollar. On a challenge budget, spices was out of the question. I got away with not having to need salt by using things like bacon which is already salty (I buy low salt bacon anyway) and cheap cheese. Buying vegetable oil would not be on the budget so bacon fat would have to be saved or bacon would be rendered for flavor and for the oil. It is either that or steam cook.
I do end up buying a lot of canned meals like the Chef boy ardee ravioli, spaghetti with meatballs, and beef and macaroni when they go on sale for a dollar. It becomes my back up meals for taking to work or when I don't have the time or energy to cook. It is a cheaper option than stopping at a fast food place that would cost be $10 for dinner.
Costco hotdogs are still a bargain at $1.50 for a hot dog and drink. The caesar salad for $3.99 will last for a couple of meals.
As for milk, I am very lactose intolerant, so I buy powdered milk. It is not very cheap, $20 for 8-10 quarts of prepared milk. I use it mainly for cooking and occasionally for cereal with a lot of lactaid. I only buy cereal when they go on sale for less than $3 a box. Fresh milk would spoil before I finished it.
Yesterday my mom asked me to pick up lunch. It cost $6 for a tuna roll at Sushi Man and $26 at a local restaurant for a bento plate and a shrimp with vegetable plate. ($11-$13 each plate). To be honest it was a lot of food. Three of us split the bento box and sushi and there was still the shrimp with vegetable plate which is good for another two or three meals depending on how hungry I am. Still the cost of fast food takes a big chunk out of a small food budget and the people who really are strapped for money often have no choice but to eat cheap fast food because they don't have access to cooking facilities or refrigeration. I know a few people who rent rooms and are not allowed to cook so they have to eat out daily and that costs more than $2.50 a day.
I have a car and can still drive to shop for bargains and I have Costco and Sam's club membership so I can buy some things in bulk. The per unit cost does save me more money than having to shop only at the nearest stores and having to buy smaller quantities at a higher unit cost. My mom and I shop on my card and my mom pays me afterwards for her groceries. It makes it possible for me to earn enough points to pay for the card. I gave up my Sam's club membership and my card is actually a family card under my mother's card. I also have a family plan phone under my sister's account since it is cheaper than a single phone plan over the span of the year. I cut my garden budget which was $200 a month, way down. I still am stockpiling so I can probably cut some more. The soil test was a worthwhile thing to get since it told me that I really did not have to buy or use a lot of fertilizer. All I need is sulfate of ammonia and very little else. What does cost me are seeds, plants, tools, compost, and potting media.
I have had to make a lot of tradeoffs, change the way I eat from what do I do with chicken, to what do I do with what is already in the freezer or in the pantry. I eat a lot less fresh anything. Less meat and cheaper cuts of meat, fresh vegetables mainly from the garden or what people give me, and planning meals that can stretch to multiple meals over 3-5 days. Substituting store brand soda for name brand and consuming less of it, more one pot meals, and really spending a lot of time thinking about it. When I had disposable income, I never thought much about planning further ahead and I used to buy a lot more stuff that I would have to throw away because it got too old and I bought more than I could use in a short time. That still happens, so there is some give yet and I can probably squeeze the budget a bit more. Now, I have to ask myself these questions when I go shopping. What am I going to do with that? Do I need it now? Do I really need it? Can it wait until next time? I am much more preoccupied with what the total cost will be, where I never worried about it before, but then groceries didn't cost as much as they do now either.
Beans are a good vegetable protein and they are cheap and filling. I always buy them canned but after reading some of what you have said, I might try doing something with dried beans instead. I have only made Portuguese soup with dried beans because my dad hates the canned stuff but the soup is not cheap, it makes a lot but it costs about $90 to make 16 quarts.
It is impractical for me to buy or eat a whole ham, and hocks used to be cheap but now they are $2 a lb. I did make 15 bean soup with a recipe on the package of beans and it was o.k. but I did not use hocks or smoked turkey wings so it did not get the depth of flavor. I did discover ham soup bouillon in the Asian market and it helped it a lot over using just water.
At the market, I do check out the reduced meats, but I can still get some stuff cheaper by shopping at other places like Chinatown where the meats are reasonable and fresh. I do shop the ads but on $2.50 a day (or even $5 a day), a lot of things are buy one get one or you have to buy 3 or more pounds of meat so, on a tight budget, it would be hard to pay those kinds of prices per package. Spice prices have really escalated to $5 or more for each bottle, so for some spices that I don't use a lot, I either forego them or if they sell them in the smaller packages, I get those. Mexican spices in celophane packages used to be 79 cents but now they are over a dollar. On a challenge budget, spices was out of the question. I got away with not having to need salt by using things like bacon which is already salty (I buy low salt bacon anyway) and cheap cheese. Buying vegetable oil would not be on the budget so bacon fat would have to be saved or bacon would be rendered for flavor and for the oil. It is either that or steam cook.
I do end up buying a lot of canned meals like the Chef boy ardee ravioli, spaghetti with meatballs, and beef and macaroni when they go on sale for a dollar. It becomes my back up meals for taking to work or when I don't have the time or energy to cook. It is a cheaper option than stopping at a fast food place that would cost be $10 for dinner.
Costco hotdogs are still a bargain at $1.50 for a hot dog and drink. The caesar salad for $3.99 will last for a couple of meals.
As for milk, I am very lactose intolerant, so I buy powdered milk. It is not very cheap, $20 for 8-10 quarts of prepared milk. I use it mainly for cooking and occasionally for cereal with a lot of lactaid. I only buy cereal when they go on sale for less than $3 a box. Fresh milk would spoil before I finished it.
Yesterday my mom asked me to pick up lunch. It cost $6 for a tuna roll at Sushi Man and $26 at a local restaurant for a bento plate and a shrimp with vegetable plate. ($11-$13 each plate). To be honest it was a lot of food. Three of us split the bento box and sushi and there was still the shrimp with vegetable plate which is good for another two or three meals depending on how hungry I am. Still the cost of fast food takes a big chunk out of a small food budget and the people who really are strapped for money often have no choice but to eat cheap fast food because they don't have access to cooking facilities or refrigeration. I know a few people who rent rooms and are not allowed to cook so they have to eat out daily and that costs more than $2.50 a day.
I have a car and can still drive to shop for bargains and I have Costco and Sam's club membership so I can buy some things in bulk. The per unit cost does save me more money than having to shop only at the nearest stores and having to buy smaller quantities at a higher unit cost. My mom and I shop on my card and my mom pays me afterwards for her groceries. It makes it possible for me to earn enough points to pay for the card. I gave up my Sam's club membership and my card is actually a family card under my mother's card. I also have a family plan phone under my sister's account since it is cheaper than a single phone plan over the span of the year. I cut my garden budget which was $200 a month, way down. I still am stockpiling so I can probably cut some more. The soil test was a worthwhile thing to get since it told me that I really did not have to buy or use a lot of fertilizer. All I need is sulfate of ammonia and very little else. What does cost me are seeds, plants, tools, compost, and potting media.
imafan, Have you ever rendered fat from chicken skin? I'm not sure what it costs there, but here it's definitely not cheap. 100g is about 145 yen (about 1.35). But I know it's extremely popular here in Okinawa. Next time I go back stateside I plan to stop into a butcher out of curiosity and see what they charge for it. I would think they might offer it for free depending on the local market.
My grandma told me a long time ago, her family used to go down to the butcher and get buckets of chicken wings for almost free because there was no market for them. That's obviously out of the question now. Hot wings are almost a delicacy!
Here they actually sell the chicken necks and back for almost the same price as any other part of the chicken. Not a single bit of it gets wasted.
My grandma told me a long time ago, her family used to go down to the butcher and get buckets of chicken wings for almost free because there was no market for them. That's obviously out of the question now. Hot wings are almost a delicacy!
Here they actually sell the chicken necks and back for almost the same price as any other part of the chicken. Not a single bit of it gets wasted.
How much money have I tossed away when making chicken stocks over the years? I take the finished product once it cools enough to put it in the fridge in a big stainless steel bowl and let it refrigerate over night. The next day all the fat has risen to the top and congealed into a wax like consistency that I simply cross section and remove it to expose an almost aspic like jellied chicken stock. That is the base of many of my soups and stews.
Chicken wings are expensive here too. At one time they were the cheapest part since they are mostly bone and skin. I have used chicken skins with the fat like bacon a few times, but I never rendered a large amount.
I have also made stock, but I think I did not put enough vegetables and salt since it wasn't very good. It may also be because I used a young chicken not an old one. The older chickens make better stock. I have made some good pork stock though.
I have also made stock, but I think I did not put enough vegetables and salt since it wasn't very good. It may also be because I used a young chicken not an old one. The older chickens make better stock. I have made some good pork stock though.
One of my favorite snacks is fried chicken skin. I actually found it for about $0.70 for 100 grams at a farmer's market today. But I passed because everything else was so cheap already and I had a full basket.
If you throw the skin into a non-stick pan by itself, and set the heat real low, once the fat starts to render the skin will fry to a crisp. It takes some time so you can do it without burning the fat, but well worth it in my opinion. Once they're nice and crisp, I like to add a bit of salt.
If you throw the skin into a non-stick pan by itself, and set the heat real low, once the fat starts to render the skin will fry to a crisp. It takes some time so you can do it without burning the fat, but well worth it in my opinion. Once they're nice and crisp, I like to add a bit of salt.
Earlier this week a local market put chicken leg quarters on sale for $.29 a lb. and sold in 10 lb. bags for $2.90. I bought 2 bags of them and cut them to separate the legs and thighs. On the thigh, they leave a small part of the back that I cut off and use that for making stock. I wound up with 3 quart bags of nice rich stock that was cooked down so much it actually jelled when refrigerated overnight.pomerinke wrote:One of my favorite snacks is fried chicken skin. I actually found it for about $0.70 for 100 grams at a farmer's market today. But I passed because everything else was so cheap already and I had a full basket.
If you throw the skin into a non-stick pan by itself, and set the heat real low, once the fat starts to render the skin will fry to a crisp. It takes some time so you can do it without burning the fat, but well worth it in my opinion. Once they're nice and crisp, I like to add a bit of salt.
I will salt and pepper the pieces to be used in the stock, brown them off a bit in a large heavy pot, add a large onion, 3-4 stalks of celery, 5-6 cloves of garlic, 3-4 carrots all roughly chopped. Then I'll add a couple bay leaves, some Worcestershire sauce, a few dashes of soy sauce and also some tabasco sauce. I'll then cover this with at least 1.5 gallons of water and let it simmer for up to 8 hours on the stove. Then drain it through a fine strainer and let it cool enough to be put in the fridge. The next morning I'll cut away and discard the fat that sets on the surface and bag it in quart bags and freeze for later use. The stock comes out looking like jello when cooked for this long and properly cooled.
The biggest thing to making a good meat stock is to leave it simmer for many hours. Seafood stocks, not so much as they tend to become a bit bitter if cooked too long. A typical shrimp stock only takes me a an hour or so to make.
That's an amazing deal. I haven't made stock in a while, but I certainly would have done so with that opportunity.
I learned the hard way not to simmer a seafood stock quite so long. I didn't figure out why it went bad until I just happened to be reading one of my cookbooks while looking for some inspiration.
I might find an excuse to make some stock later this week. Just because I haven't in quite some time.
I learned the hard way not to simmer a seafood stock quite so long. I didn't figure out why it went bad until I just happened to be reading one of my cookbooks while looking for some inspiration.
I might find an excuse to make some stock later this week. Just because I haven't in quite some time.
I love making all my own stocks to use when cooking. This past Thanksgiving I fried a total of seven 13 lb. turkeys and got the carcasses of 5 of them. I broke up the carcasses and put them in a huge stock pot I have and simmered it overnight with the above mentioned vegetables.
For beef stock, it is a bit harder now that many markets no longer have real butchers and get their beef and pork already sectioned from wholesalers, so there are very few opportunities to get large quantities of beef bones. I do have an old friend that is a butcher and has his own shop that I will go see from time to time when I need to make beef stock. My wife loves my French Onion soup and it takes me a couple hours to make it. I use beef stock for this dish and it is so rich even though the broth is quite watery.
For beef stock, it is a bit harder now that many markets no longer have real butchers and get their beef and pork already sectioned from wholesalers, so there are very few opportunities to get large quantities of beef bones. I do have an old friend that is a butcher and has his own shop that I will go see from time to time when I need to make beef stock. My wife loves my French Onion soup and it takes me a couple hours to make it. I use beef stock for this dish and it is so rich even though the broth is quite watery.
imafan26 wrote:$0.29 for chicken legs. It is $1.99 a pound here. It would never be used for stock. Even chicken feet sells for more than that.
When you make stock what do you put in it and do you roast or cook the parts first?
In a prior post on this thread I mentioned that the leg quarters come whole and I cut the legs and thighs apart. On the tail end of the thigh there is a piece of the back the processors leave attached that I cut off, and this is what I use for the stock. It is akin to our pelvis in the skeletal structure and about half the size of a persons palm. I'll season them and brown them off in a heavy pot before adding everything else I use to cook it down.
Scroll up a couple posts and you will see my list of ingredients and time it is cooked.
I read through this weekend's posts at lunch. Today I made 2 grilled tuna sandwiches out of a can of tuna, mayo and, to make it a little interesting, a spoonful of pickle relish. First course was carrot soup. Grated onion, garlic and ginger were sauteed in oil. The carrots and all were pureed with the hand blender before sour cream was added. I've been using a few "carrot centric" recipes trying to use up a surplus of the roots. This was pretty good and it was a low-cost lunch.
Those carrots and an onion is about all that go in some stocks. We often have celery and that's real appropriate. Maybe a clove or 2 of garlic ... then, it's the seasonings. Mom often put cloves in her stock but DW doesn't care about them quite so much. Bay leaves in the beef stock or maybe a sprig of rosemary and in chicken, thyme ... I can't remember the last time that I just sat down with a cup of broth to drink or to dip bread in. I'm more interested in pulling it out of the freezer and using it to make a more complex soup, or as a casserole ingredient, or as a liquid with stir-fry vegetables.
I grew up on a farm with milk cows and I remember Mom saying that we used about a gallon of milk each day. That was quite a lot for just 3 people. Dad was lactose intolerant and I guess I am as an adult. I no longer drink milk and have soy milk for my cereal. My wife is also lactose intolerant so a quart of milk for cooking is often a little hard for us to finish but cheese and yogurt are always in the fridge. I have been trying to learn something about using Greek yogurt.
Steve
I often roast the bones from chicken, turkey or beef before making stock. I haven't been buying bones specifically for stock but we prefer cuts of meat with bones in them partly because we want to make stock. They are on their "3rd cooking" if I've had them back in the oven and I've never boiled them for very long for stock. Recipes often say 90 minutes or 2 hours is sufficient for chicken stock. With steak or roast bones browned in the oven, I use the same time plan.imafan26 wrote:$0.29 for chicken legs. It is $1.99 a pound here. It would never be used for stock. Even chicken feet sells for more than that.
When you make stock what do you put in it and do you roast or cook the parts first?
Those carrots and an onion is about all that go in some stocks. We often have celery and that's real appropriate. Maybe a clove or 2 of garlic ... then, it's the seasonings. Mom often put cloves in her stock but DW doesn't care about them quite so much. Bay leaves in the beef stock or maybe a sprig of rosemary and in chicken, thyme ... I can't remember the last time that I just sat down with a cup of broth to drink or to dip bread in. I'm more interested in pulling it out of the freezer and using it to make a more complex soup, or as a casserole ingredient, or as a liquid with stir-fry vegetables.
I grew up on a farm with milk cows and I remember Mom saying that we used about a gallon of milk each day. That was quite a lot for just 3 people. Dad was lactose intolerant and I guess I am as an adult. I no longer drink milk and have soy milk for my cereal. My wife is also lactose intolerant so a quart of milk for cooking is often a little hard for us to finish but cheese and yogurt are always in the fridge. I have been trying to learn something about using Greek yogurt.
Steve
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ElizabethB
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 2105
- Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:53 am
- Location: Lafayette, LA
The closest I have come to being really poor and hungry was the first 12/18 months of starting my landscaping business.
I owned my home with the mortgage company - house payment, insurance, utilities. No cable or internet - those were luxuries that I could not afford.
I owned an old truck - no payments - fuel, insurance and upkeep.
A borrowed trailer
The most basic tools -
rear tine tiller - borrowed
weed eater, blower, cultivator tiller, shovels, rakes, hand tools etc.. - owned - maintenance, fuel, string.
I hired day labor. There were times when I paid my labor more per hour than I paid myself just to get the job.
In addition to paying my labor I provided transportation, drinks -water and gator aid and sandwich fixings for lunch.
I ate a lot of Ramon Noodles, eggs and peanut butter. Fortunately I had friends and family who had fruit trees and vegetable gardens. I was not proud and gratefully accepted any offerings. I occasionally purchased a loaf of bread at the "Day Old Bread Store". It was stale bread picked up from grocery stores then sold cheap.
Meat, poultry and fish were a rare treat.
Friends and family would offer me fish if they caught more than they needed. I scoured the grocery stores for "quick sale" meat.
I could turn 1 lb. of ground meat into a stew that would feed me for several days. I lived near a family owned grocery store/meat market. I knew the family. I was able to get cast off vegetables and vegetable trimmings as well as bones. They cut a lot of their own meat. That was the basis of a wonderful soup or stew.
When the pickings were really slim I went to St. Joe's Diner for a free meal. Today I donate food every time G comes home with a deer or lots of fish. Some of it always goes to St. Joe's.
I did miss coffee - could not afford it. I also missed real milk. I bought powdered milk. Cheese was out of the question.
I look back now and wonder at my own resourcefulness.
Necessity is not the mother of invention she is the mother of resourcefulness.
On one hand I hope I never have to live like that again. On the other hand I am grateful for the experience.
I learned things about myself that I did not know.
I also learned how to scrounge without actually dumpster diving.
In a non necessary way I still do that. My local vegetable market will give me bags of trimmings for my compost pile. I bring the bags. My neighborhood grocer/meat market will give me knuckle bones from their round steak trimmings for Demi Glaze. They even slice the bones for me.
I have learned that there are many very inexpensive/free resources available if you look hard enough.
Can I eat on $2.50 per day? Probably. Considering the family and friends resources and my scavenging skills and wonderful local markets. Can I LIVE on $2.50 per day? NO!
Thanks for the discussion. Very Eye opening. This discussion gets me on my knees to thank God for my blessings. I sometimes forget to do that.
I owned my home with the mortgage company - house payment, insurance, utilities. No cable or internet - those were luxuries that I could not afford.
I owned an old truck - no payments - fuel, insurance and upkeep.
A borrowed trailer
The most basic tools -
rear tine tiller - borrowed
weed eater, blower, cultivator tiller, shovels, rakes, hand tools etc.. - owned - maintenance, fuel, string.
I hired day labor. There were times when I paid my labor more per hour than I paid myself just to get the job.
In addition to paying my labor I provided transportation, drinks -water and gator aid and sandwich fixings for lunch.
I ate a lot of Ramon Noodles, eggs and peanut butter. Fortunately I had friends and family who had fruit trees and vegetable gardens. I was not proud and gratefully accepted any offerings. I occasionally purchased a loaf of bread at the "Day Old Bread Store". It was stale bread picked up from grocery stores then sold cheap.
Meat, poultry and fish were a rare treat.
Friends and family would offer me fish if they caught more than they needed. I scoured the grocery stores for "quick sale" meat.
I could turn 1 lb. of ground meat into a stew that would feed me for several days. I lived near a family owned grocery store/meat market. I knew the family. I was able to get cast off vegetables and vegetable trimmings as well as bones. They cut a lot of their own meat. That was the basis of a wonderful soup or stew.
When the pickings were really slim I went to St. Joe's Diner for a free meal. Today I donate food every time G comes home with a deer or lots of fish. Some of it always goes to St. Joe's.
I did miss coffee - could not afford it. I also missed real milk. I bought powdered milk. Cheese was out of the question.
I look back now and wonder at my own resourcefulness.
Necessity is not the mother of invention she is the mother of resourcefulness.
On one hand I hope I never have to live like that again. On the other hand I am grateful for the experience.
I learned things about myself that I did not know.
I also learned how to scrounge without actually dumpster diving.
In a non necessary way I still do that. My local vegetable market will give me bags of trimmings for my compost pile. I bring the bags. My neighborhood grocer/meat market will give me knuckle bones from their round steak trimmings for Demi Glaze. They even slice the bones for me.
I have learned that there are many very inexpensive/free resources available if you look hard enough.
Can I eat on $2.50 per day? Probably. Considering the family and friends resources and my scavenging skills and wonderful local markets. Can I LIVE on $2.50 per day? NO!
Thanks for the discussion. Very Eye opening. This discussion gets me on my knees to thank God for my blessings. I sometimes forget to do that.
Very enlightening indeed. I had always garden since I was a kid and actually I did it more for fun and a lot of times the vegetables in the garden would end up as compost because I would never get to all of it in time. Since I retired, I have had to live on 1/5 of my former income. The house and car are paid for but there is still insurance,taxes and maintenance to do.
I hoarded before and although I cut my spending a lot, I still manage to hoard so, I can still cut more out. What I did do is change what I ate. I did not go out once a week for dinner and a movie like I used to. I don't take vacations, but I really don't miss them. I did have to do more conserving in the house. Saving water for the garden by limiting water use in the house. Saving wash water to flush the toilet and soaking the dishes in the sink but doing the dishes all at one time and not one dish at a time. I always did full wash loads and I still use the dryer. If I can make more room and clean out my lanai I could hang more of the laundry instead. I sleep early and get up early and I turn off lights when I leave the room, so most of my electric bill comes from the appliances, water heaters, refrigerators, freezer. I haven't turned on the air conditioner for a few years now. I gave up tv (that was hard), and only kept the internet service. I have simplified house cleaning. I have all these special and expensive cleaners for everything and I use mostly baking soda, vinegar, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, Purple Power, dawn dish soap, and windex in place of of a lot of the cleaners I used to use. Baking soda and vinegar are cheaper than laundry boosters, hydrogen peroxide removes blood as long as it is not set, and cleans grout, dawn and vinegar cleans the tub, so does toothpaste and baking soda, Purple power is a degreaser for the kitchen, fan, and cleans sap off the tools really well. Windex doubles as insect killer along with boric acid. Vinegar needs to soak but does help remove lime scale, cleans the washer, kills mold, helps soften clothes (mainly by removing excess soap residues in the laundry) while baking soda is a deodorizer as well as laundry booster. Baking soda in combination with toothpaste and vinegar can clean a lot of surfaces as well or better than some of the more expensive products. Lemon juice also works on lime scale, but it needs to soak or take things off in layers.
I changed the food I eat. I switched to cheaper cuts and more pork and less chicken and beef. Lots of Costco roast chicken. Really, can't beat the price. I plan my meals around the vegetables and herbs I have growing in the garden and a lot less around meat. Instead of thinking about chicken for dinner. I think about what to do with eggplant and tomatoes instead. I used to like to bake but I hardly do that now. I try to cook a pot of stew or spaghetti or a casserole (one dish meal) that I can cook once and eat for three or four days before I have to cook again. Sometimes I even cook multiple breakfasts so I only have to microwave leftovers and I don't have to turn on the stove for days.
I still eat out too much. Going to McDonald's nearly every day adds up to a lot of $ even though it is not a lot of money for each outing. I could save a couple of hundred dollars more a month if I can break that habit.
Now, that I have hardly anything growing in the yard except some lemons, calamondin and herbs. I really realize how dependent I was on the fresh vegetables from the garden to fill out my meals. I have had to buy vegetables that I used to grow and there is definitely sticker shock there. On $2.50 a day fresh fruits and veggies would be severely limited. I can't buy more than one non-staple vegetable because it doesn't keep very well.
I usually buy onions, carrots, potatoes but I used to grow cutting celery so I would have celery for flavoring dishes especially since I only could use a couple of stalks of celery not the whole celery. Eggplant, squash, cucumbers, beets, kale, chard, tomates, beans, peas, and Asian greens would round out the rest the veggies for my meals. I used to get tired of the eggplant since one or two plants produced 8-10 fruit every 10 days or so and it was like what else can I do with eggplant? When the squash comes in, there are sometime 3-5 ready at the same time and I would try to give them away because it was too much to eat and I did not want them to go to waste. I still have problems with timing and quantity. I have to remember not to plant too much of any one thing or I may not be able to get to all of it. I have to make sure that everything does not come due to be harvested in the same week because then it would be more than I could eat and I would have been better off planting something else in the garden instead.
I hoarded before and although I cut my spending a lot, I still manage to hoard so, I can still cut more out. What I did do is change what I ate. I did not go out once a week for dinner and a movie like I used to. I don't take vacations, but I really don't miss them. I did have to do more conserving in the house. Saving water for the garden by limiting water use in the house. Saving wash water to flush the toilet and soaking the dishes in the sink but doing the dishes all at one time and not one dish at a time. I always did full wash loads and I still use the dryer. If I can make more room and clean out my lanai I could hang more of the laundry instead. I sleep early and get up early and I turn off lights when I leave the room, so most of my electric bill comes from the appliances, water heaters, refrigerators, freezer. I haven't turned on the air conditioner for a few years now. I gave up tv (that was hard), and only kept the internet service. I have simplified house cleaning. I have all these special and expensive cleaners for everything and I use mostly baking soda, vinegar, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, Purple Power, dawn dish soap, and windex in place of of a lot of the cleaners I used to use. Baking soda and vinegar are cheaper than laundry boosters, hydrogen peroxide removes blood as long as it is not set, and cleans grout, dawn and vinegar cleans the tub, so does toothpaste and baking soda, Purple power is a degreaser for the kitchen, fan, and cleans sap off the tools really well. Windex doubles as insect killer along with boric acid. Vinegar needs to soak but does help remove lime scale, cleans the washer, kills mold, helps soften clothes (mainly by removing excess soap residues in the laundry) while baking soda is a deodorizer as well as laundry booster. Baking soda in combination with toothpaste and vinegar can clean a lot of surfaces as well or better than some of the more expensive products. Lemon juice also works on lime scale, but it needs to soak or take things off in layers.
I changed the food I eat. I switched to cheaper cuts and more pork and less chicken and beef. Lots of Costco roast chicken. Really, can't beat the price. I plan my meals around the vegetables and herbs I have growing in the garden and a lot less around meat. Instead of thinking about chicken for dinner. I think about what to do with eggplant and tomatoes instead. I used to like to bake but I hardly do that now. I try to cook a pot of stew or spaghetti or a casserole (one dish meal) that I can cook once and eat for three or four days before I have to cook again. Sometimes I even cook multiple breakfasts so I only have to microwave leftovers and I don't have to turn on the stove for days.
I still eat out too much. Going to McDonald's nearly every day adds up to a lot of $ even though it is not a lot of money for each outing. I could save a couple of hundred dollars more a month if I can break that habit.
Now, that I have hardly anything growing in the yard except some lemons, calamondin and herbs. I really realize how dependent I was on the fresh vegetables from the garden to fill out my meals. I have had to buy vegetables that I used to grow and there is definitely sticker shock there. On $2.50 a day fresh fruits and veggies would be severely limited. I can't buy more than one non-staple vegetable because it doesn't keep very well.
I usually buy onions, carrots, potatoes but I used to grow cutting celery so I would have celery for flavoring dishes especially since I only could use a couple of stalks of celery not the whole celery. Eggplant, squash, cucumbers, beets, kale, chard, tomates, beans, peas, and Asian greens would round out the rest the veggies for my meals. I used to get tired of the eggplant since one or two plants produced 8-10 fruit every 10 days or so and it was like what else can I do with eggplant? When the squash comes in, there are sometime 3-5 ready at the same time and I would try to give them away because it was too much to eat and I did not want them to go to waste. I still have problems with timing and quantity. I have to remember not to plant too much of any one thing or I may not be able to get to all of it. I have to make sure that everything does not come due to be harvested in the same week because then it would be more than I could eat and I would have been better off planting something else in the garden instead.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Timing is tricky not to be inundated with one thing.
But freezing really helps with that. I have a big container of minestrone thawing in my fridge right now, that I made last summer when there were lots of veggies in the garden. I made a very big batch of it at the time. I froze half and we ate the other half for a couple meals. Now we will have a couple more meals from it. I sometimes do freeze veggies directly, especially things like peas, corn, and spinach, but I like to make up meals (soups, lasagna, etc) and freeze them. If you grow winter squash, you can just put it in a cupboard. I still have winter squash left, even though I have made curried squash soup for a crowd, to bring to potlucks, three times already.
The homemade cleaning products are much more eco-friendly as well as way cheaper and at least in some cases do a better job. My Sierra Club group just had a workshop where we made a bunch of them. I'll post some recipes in the recipe section.
The hoarding is really a serious problem. If you could get some help with this (there are therapists who specialize in it), your life would be cheaper (how many times have you bought something you already own, maybe own several of, because you can't find it in the hoard?), simpler, and more comfortable.
I don't know anything about your situation. I retired a year and a half ago. Since then I have had half as much income as I did and half of that is retirement savings which are being spent down and will eventually be gone. It's this nasty game we have to play, how long am I going to live? Am I going to outlive my savings or will they outlive me? Anyway, my financial situation was starting to feel pretty tight, so I just applied for (and I think will probably get) a half-time job. It is woefully underpaid and has no benefits. But since for me it will just be spending money and I have Medicare (assuming the current administration doesn't screw SS and Medicare up too much, but that's a conversation we can't have here), I can afford to take the job and it will take some of the financial pressure off.
But freezing really helps with that. I have a big container of minestrone thawing in my fridge right now, that I made last summer when there were lots of veggies in the garden. I made a very big batch of it at the time. I froze half and we ate the other half for a couple meals. Now we will have a couple more meals from it. I sometimes do freeze veggies directly, especially things like peas, corn, and spinach, but I like to make up meals (soups, lasagna, etc) and freeze them. If you grow winter squash, you can just put it in a cupboard. I still have winter squash left, even though I have made curried squash soup for a crowd, to bring to potlucks, three times already.
The homemade cleaning products are much more eco-friendly as well as way cheaper and at least in some cases do a better job. My Sierra Club group just had a workshop where we made a bunch of them. I'll post some recipes in the recipe section.
The hoarding is really a serious problem. If you could get some help with this (there are therapists who specialize in it), your life would be cheaper (how many times have you bought something you already own, maybe own several of, because you can't find it in the hoard?), simpler, and more comfortable.
I don't know anything about your situation. I retired a year and a half ago. Since then I have had half as much income as I did and half of that is retirement savings which are being spent down and will eventually be gone. It's this nasty game we have to play, how long am I going to live? Am I going to outlive my savings or will they outlive me? Anyway, my financial situation was starting to feel pretty tight, so I just applied for (and I think will probably get) a half-time job. It is woefully underpaid and has no benefits. But since for me it will just be spending money and I have Medicare (assuming the current administration doesn't screw SS and Medicare up too much, but that's a conversation we can't have here), I can afford to take the job and it will take some of the financial pressure off.
In life, timing is everything. And, gardening is all about timing.
I won't get into "lifetiming" on this post.
Gardening with marketing in mind got me into serious timing efforts with plantings and harvesting. I can't control the weather but I could pay attention to my climate. Storage vegetables are cheap at the supermarket. More perishable veggies are not.
At one ... uh ... time, I grew lots of storage vegetables and would go right through spring and nearly the entirety of summer with little to eat from the garden. Then, I began to change my diet and gardening. I still have the storage veggies and trying to get through too many onions and carrots right now, for example. But, I have more time to be creative with recipes this time of year (and will again today, try that cream of carrot soup with the grated gingerroot that I grew this summer. Pretty good)!
Leafy vegetables are more perishable and expensive. Still, although they are quick to spoil - they are quick to grow. After 2 years of success and 2 years of semi-success, I think I may set up both the hoop house and the greenhouse to grow Asian greens this next winter. The timing issue is when to sow plants to transplant into the greenhouse. The missed harvests in December had to do with October growing conditions in the open garden. Unusual heat in 2015 meant that the greens intended for transplant were too mature and harvested, for the most part, in October. Record rainfall in 2016 meant that the greens didn't grow through the fall. So, they were tiny in the December greenhouse and still are. Seed sown in the greenhouse comes up fine. Nothing is harvestable in January but it's a good thing that I had 2 Decembers with good harvests to know that its possible, maybe even likely. January, there's going to be nothing that I've yet discovered. February, there will be too much ~ or, nearly so . Yes, to have a really plentiful harvests during any of the months of winter, I need more room.
Having plants that can take some freezing, while NOT turning the heat on, means I have to cover the beds with an extra layer of plastic film on the coldest days and nights. Plastic film isn't free but I can use it outdoors in the spring and for more than one season. I'll need quite a bit of it to cover the temporary hoop house but I've set that thing up every March for years. Maybe I can make it a little stronger so that it can stand up to snow ... it has failed that test in a few March storms
.
Yes, freezer storage helps but, you have to be in agreement in your household as to what vegetables are worth eating from the freezer. DW doesn't want any leafy greens in there, not even broccoli! I understand why but I'm also struggling to use up the sweetcorn. She likes next to no canned vegetables or fruit ...
Steve
I won't get into "lifetiming" on this post.
Gardening with marketing in mind got me into serious timing efforts with plantings and harvesting. I can't control the weather but I could pay attention to my climate. Storage vegetables are cheap at the supermarket. More perishable veggies are not.
At one ... uh ... time, I grew lots of storage vegetables and would go right through spring and nearly the entirety of summer with little to eat from the garden. Then, I began to change my diet and gardening. I still have the storage veggies and trying to get through too many onions and carrots right now, for example. But, I have more time to be creative with recipes this time of year (and will again today, try that cream of carrot soup with the grated gingerroot that I grew this summer. Pretty good)!
Leafy vegetables are more perishable and expensive. Still, although they are quick to spoil - they are quick to grow. After 2 years of success and 2 years of semi-success
, I think I may set up both the hoop house and the greenhouse to grow Asian greens this next winter. The timing issue is when to sow plants to transplant into the greenhouse. The missed harvests in December had to do with October growing conditions in the open garden. Unusual heat in 2015 meant that the greens intended for transplant were too mature and harvested, for the most part, in October. Record rainfall in 2016 meant that the greens didn't grow through the fall. So, they were tiny in the December greenhouse and still are. Seed sown in the greenhouse comes up fine. Nothing is harvestable in January but it's a good thing that I had 2 Decembers with good harvests to know that its possible, maybe even likely. January, there's going to be nothing that I've yet discovered. February, there will be too much ~ or, nearly so . Yes, to have a really plentiful harvests during any of the months of winter, I need more room.Having plants that can take some freezing, while NOT turning the heat on, means I have to cover the beds with an extra layer of plastic film on the coldest days and nights. Plastic film isn't free but I can use it outdoors in the spring and for more than one season. I'll need quite a bit of it to cover the temporary hoop house but I've set that thing up every March for years. Maybe I can make it a little stronger so that it can stand up to snow ... it has failed that test in a few March storms
.Yes, freezer storage helps but, you have to be in agreement in your household as to what vegetables are worth eating from the freezer. DW doesn't want any leafy greens in there, not even broccoli! I understand why but I'm also struggling to use up the sweetcorn. She likes next to no canned vegetables or fruit ...
Steve
I do freeze some things but not a lot of veggies. I should look into how to do that better. I actually don't have a very large garden space and I really have to figure out how to plant it so that I can have a variety of things and at the same time stagger it all so it doesn't come in the same week. I have figured out the best way to store my ginger harvest, but now I have more ginger and I still have some left from last year, so I guess I have to make smaller bottles for me to use and give more of them away.
I actually spend less now, since I really do try to check things to make sure I really need them and make a list before I buy and things I don't need right now, I try to put off until I really do need them. I am finding though that the pile still dwindles very slowly because while I am buying less, I seem to have gotten to the point where I also use less of things. I don't bake as much so I don't use as much flour, sugar, or butter as I did before. I changed the things I eat a lot so some things I ate more of, now rarely get used and I have increased the use of $ stretching meals that use less meat, less rice, and when my garden is producing more veggies. When I don't have a lot in the garden, I really don't like to pay the high prices for inferior produce so I usually resort to canned or frozen veggies or no veggies and more cheap carbs like pasta and noodles. I don't eat a lot of bread and I probably would use the equivalent of one loaf a month. I usually buy one or two loaves but only use about half before it gets too old and I use the remainder as filler for meatloaf, french toast, or bread pudding.
Where most of my meal costs are adding up is the fast food spending since I often am out for most of the day and I just stop and get something to eat going from one place to another or after a long day, I stop on the way home since I don't want to cook or even take the time to reheat anything once I get home. I got a part time job because that was all I could get. It was a minimum wage job with no benefits. I have since changed to another job with a few more hours a couple of dollars more an hour and at least there is medical benefits so I have some job income to pay for expenses. My expenses also increased as the job is farther and uses more gas, I had to get more work clothes and I have less time to take care of my house and garden. It costs me the same whether I work for 4 hours or 8 for gas.
I actually spend less now, since I really do try to check things to make sure I really need them and make a list before I buy and things I don't need right now, I try to put off until I really do need them. I am finding though that the pile still dwindles very slowly because while I am buying less, I seem to have gotten to the point where I also use less of things. I don't bake as much so I don't use as much flour, sugar, or butter as I did before. I changed the things I eat a lot so some things I ate more of, now rarely get used and I have increased the use of $ stretching meals that use less meat, less rice, and when my garden is producing more veggies. When I don't have a lot in the garden, I really don't like to pay the high prices for inferior produce so I usually resort to canned or frozen veggies or no veggies and more cheap carbs like pasta and noodles. I don't eat a lot of bread and I probably would use the equivalent of one loaf a month. I usually buy one or two loaves but only use about half before it gets too old and I use the remainder as filler for meatloaf, french toast, or bread pudding.
Where most of my meal costs are adding up is the fast food spending since I often am out for most of the day and I just stop and get something to eat going from one place to another or after a long day, I stop on the way home since I don't want to cook or even take the time to reheat anything once I get home. I got a part time job because that was all I could get. It was a minimum wage job with no benefits. I have since changed to another job with a few more hours a couple of dollars more an hour and at least there is medical benefits so I have some job income to pay for expenses. My expenses also increased as the job is farther and uses more gas, I had to get more work clothes and I have less time to take care of my house and garden. It costs me the same whether I work for 4 hours or 8 for gas.
Now that you mention the "Day Old Bread Store" I recall when my parents were going through a tough financial time, my mother would shop at a store which would buy the "expired" goods from manufacturers. Sometimes they weren't even expired, just not ideal for the supermarket. Things like dented cans of soup, a half smashed loaf of bread (or slightly squished, usually though it was less than a quarter for something like that.) I can't recall the name or the location. I'd love to find something like that where I live now, but I'm not sure there is anything like that out here.ElizabethB wrote: I ate a lot of Ramon Noodles, eggs and peanut butter. Fortunately I had friends and family who had fruit trees and vegetable gardens. I was not proud and gratefully accepted any offerings. I occasionally purchased a loaf of bread at the "Day Old Bread Store". It was stale bread picked up from grocery stores then sold cheap.
We also lived near a Wonder store. I guess there was a Wonder factory near by so they always had treats extremely cheap and fresh.
I remember when I was working, but not making a lot of money, I would go to the bakery thrift store to get bread ( I like raisin bread) and pastries. (They were more like 5 days old). My friend liked to go to different places and we would get things like cheese and there is a commercial seconds store where we could get produce and canned goods that were damaged for a discount.It was actually the warehouse of a food distributer. In those days gas was cheap, but now, with the price of gas added in, it isn't always worthwhile going a long distance or going to multiple places just to get a $1 of savings.
I still shop the store discount shelves and reduced meat bins. I learned that if I went to Sam's after a certain time, all the cooked food would be sold half off. I can get a chinese plate lunch with an extra entree if I go 30 minutes before closing.
None of these would fit on the challenge today anyway since bread would not be anything I would buy since even the cheapest loaf of bread that I do buy is $2.50. A plate lunch now is $10-$12 even if made 2-3 meals out of it. Gas for the car was cheap then, but now I would have to weigh any savings against the cost of driving all over the place to get these things.
Chinatown markets are still a good deal. The prices are competitive and if I go early the quality is good. Shopping anywhere else even at the farmers market you would need to be a savvy shopper and know what things cost and even bring along a fish scale since things are sold as bundles or by the piece and you have to know the weight to make a true comparison. Even some things at the local supermarkets can be cheaper than Costco or Sam's. Other things are cheaper at Costco or Sam's but since I can't eat it all, and the bulk price is still over $10 on average. I am better getting a smaller quantity at a slightly higher unit price but a smaller package price that won't have any waste.
I still get my best deals from my friends when we trade our fruits and vegetables. My neighbor gives me lettuce and I can get squash, some lettuce, fruit, and herbs from the garden. My friend brings me pizelles, and chicken enchilladas. When I have my garden up and running, I usually have hot peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, lemons, mandarins, calamondin, and squash. Right now I have ginger that I need to start preserving, a few meyer lemons, and herbs. I can get limes and bananas from my mom when her bananas give fruit.
I still shop the store discount shelves and reduced meat bins. I learned that if I went to Sam's after a certain time, all the cooked food would be sold half off. I can get a chinese plate lunch with an extra entree if I go 30 minutes before closing.
None of these would fit on the challenge today anyway since bread would not be anything I would buy since even the cheapest loaf of bread that I do buy is $2.50. A plate lunch now is $10-$12 even if made 2-3 meals out of it. Gas for the car was cheap then, but now I would have to weigh any savings against the cost of driving all over the place to get these things.
Chinatown markets are still a good deal. The prices are competitive and if I go early the quality is good. Shopping anywhere else even at the farmers market you would need to be a savvy shopper and know what things cost and even bring along a fish scale since things are sold as bundles or by the piece and you have to know the weight to make a true comparison. Even some things at the local supermarkets can be cheaper than Costco or Sam's. Other things are cheaper at Costco or Sam's but since I can't eat it all, and the bulk price is still over $10 on average. I am better getting a smaller quantity at a slightly higher unit price but a smaller package price that won't have any waste.
I still get my best deals from my friends when we trade our fruits and vegetables. My neighbor gives me lettuce and I can get squash, some lettuce, fruit, and herbs from the garden. My friend brings me pizelles, and chicken enchilladas. When I have my garden up and running, I usually have hot peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, lemons, mandarins, calamondin, and squash. Right now I have ginger that I need to start preserving, a few meyer lemons, and herbs. I can get limes and bananas from my mom when her bananas give fruit.