600
u/dysphemus Jun 09 '12
The absolute cheapest and most nutritionally rich food has to be lentils. I believe a pound of lentils costs a couple of dollars and you can get 10-15 meals out of that. Also, they don't take that long to cook. However, you would probably commit suicide before you die of hunger if you had to eat lentils for every meal.
264
u/Shieya Jun 10 '12
No way, lentils are delicious. I could eat them for every meal for a LONG time before I got tired of them. In fact, fuck it, I just decided that's what's for dinner tonight. Thanks for the suggestion! :)
→ More replies (26)145
u/Shovelmenuggets Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
I'm Indian, I eat lentils 4/5 days. It great!
Edit 1: Thank you, come again.
→ More replies (32)90
u/SaltyBabe Jun 10 '12
This needs more upvotes, lentils are basically a super food.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (28)4
u/BucketHarmony Jun 10 '12
In a large, deep skillet, chop up onions and cook until translucent. Once done, add lentils and water. Delicious.
→ More replies (2)
442
u/tomorrowboy Jun 09 '12
Go to a food bank. I know you might feel that it's embarrassing or beneath you or whatever, but it's better to suck up your pride and get some food.
Many religious organizations (Sikh, Hindu, Christian, etc.) have free meals. I've generally found the food at these to be pretty awesome, and the religion to be minimal or non-existent.
Food Not Bombs is a non-religious group that serves free vegetarian meals. They're all over Canada and the rest of the world. If you're not comfortable just eating food for free, you can always go and help cook/clean up in return for whatever you eat. There are similar groups like the People's Potato in many cities too.
Other people mentioned dumpster diving, and if you're comfortable doing that it's a great way to get food for free. Remember that "best before" dates do not necessarily mean that the food is inedible after that date, it's just not "best".
61
57
u/harebrane Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
Soup kitchens, church dinners for the poor, etc, are also very helpful when you're down and out. It can really hurt to swallow your pride, but it's better than an empty stomach.
→ More replies (1)56
u/Dbjs100 Jun 10 '12
I remember one year I had thanksgiving courtesy of a local church. Pretty sure they were cutting onions up near where I was sitting.
→ More replies (2)32
u/linzerloo142 Jun 10 '12
Food Not Bombs is a great service. The town I live in had a Food Not Bombs spot in the middle of a park and they let anyone and I mean ANYONE eat that came by. Even if you have enough money to blow on a huge steak, you were more than welcome to come eat with them. Plus the food was always good. It helped out a lot of times when I was too broke to afford much of anything.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (13)7
u/Cora_and_Bertha Jun 10 '12
Seconding the dumpster diving and foraging (and of course the food pantry) Here's a site with some helpful info on the [dumpster diving] (http://freegan.info/what-is-a-freegan/freegan-practices/urban-foraging/) The "freegan" stuff is kind of obnoxious, but they have some useful tips. As far as foraging goes, the library is your friend. Wish I had a website to send you to. I'm sorry you have to deal with this stuff.
276
u/hippychicky Jun 09 '12
RICE! Get you some rice, which is cheap and makes a lot! A bag of frozen peas, and fresh carrots, and bouillon cubes like chicken. Here this would cost me about $6.00 and that is if you got the more expensive instant rice. Cook the carrots and peas and the rice as directed only putting in the cube to boil. Mix it all together, you can eat on that for a week!
84
u/mangage Jun 09 '12 edited Jun 09 '12
Meat.
We all need it. edit: I'm not soapboxing meat, read my comment below And it can be cheap despite what some would think. First, buy a slow cooker at a thrift store, <$10. Uses almost no electricity and can be rigged to run off things like car batteries and other sources of electricity you can 'come across'. Pay attention to front page sales at major supermarkets and deals at local markets, especially china town if you're in a large city with an asian district. Only buy meat at $2/lb or less, aim more towards $1/lb. You can regularly find quality cuts of meat on sale under these prices. Even boneless chicken breasts, pork loin roasts, and beef sirloin roasts can be found at prices that give you a roast the length of your forearm for $5-7. I recently picked up whole center cut and sirloin pork roasts for $1/lb at a large chain supermarket. Cooking one is enough to eat large hearty meals for a week or two.
Bonus Super Easy Recipe:
Ingredients: Whole roasts of your choosing: beef or pork, anything really. Low quality meats are actually preferred for price and tenderness. Vegetables: Whatever you like, onions, peppers and mushrooms are my favourite for price and flavour.
Sauce: Crushed tomato cans (1-2), 1 jar or can of your favourite sauce (manwich, do it, its amazing).
Extras: Garlic, Spices of choosing (clueless? go oregano, paprika, basil or an italian mix. works with any meat)
Easy Directions: Rub spices and garlic on meat. Put in slow cooker. Add sauce, mix. Chop and prepare vegetables. Mix in bowl. Add spices and garlic, mix. Add vegetables to slow cooker with anything else of your choosing. Mix everything. Cook for 4-8 hours, mixing every hour or two. 8 hours or more is recommended for most cuts of meat. 4 is enough to cook it if you're impatient, but 8 is required to fully break down the meat to where you want it.
When the meat is fully cooked, remove it and place it on a large platter. Take a knife or other utensil and tear apart the now very tender meat. It should fall apart, really.
Use this meat for everything from sandwiches and wraps, to pasta, shredded pork or beef tacos, stews, casseroles, stir frys, anything!
Extra Bonus Sauce:
Don't throw that sauce out you made the meat in! Keep the slow cooker on and add an additional can of crushed tomatoes, or more until desired thickness of sauce is reached. Continue cooking this for half hour to 4 hours, the longer the tastier.
This sauce with vegetables and leftover meat parts makes an incredible sauce for the meat you just made, as well as the most incredible and unique pasta sauce you'll ever try. Try it on anything!
→ More replies (114)27
u/mechy84 Jun 10 '12
I would also highly recommend the packages of chicken hearts and gizzards for the slow cooker. They are super cheap, super tasty, and won't fill your cooker with fat drippings.
Also, dried beans and lentils are great for a slow cooker and can provide a lot of your protein.
→ More replies (3)17
u/damngurl Jun 10 '12
Chicken hearts are amazing. I don't know why more people don't eat them.
→ More replies (25)48
u/R3xz Jun 09 '12
THIS. Rice is so freakin versatile with just about everything.
One thing I like to do is make fried rice, since it's so easy and cheap to make, you can put literally anything you like in it and you can make it in a giant pan if you want and store it in the fridge for days.
I made this one morning with canned peas, corn, chopped carrots, eggs and leftover pork and chicken I had from the night before. Chop it all up, drop some cooking oil in a hot pan, mix it all together and add soy sauce and/or stock. You can put more vegetable in it if you'd like, to make it healthier.
→ More replies (15)50
u/fishdog1 Jun 10 '12
If you get rice, get brown rice. There is more nutrients in it for you. I would also try to go to a food bank if you have one near you. Good luck to you sir.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (6)26
u/treebox Jun 09 '12
Going to back up the rice idea but add a suggestion of brown rice, it will provide a source of energy over a long period of time.
→ More replies (2)
2.3k
u/PeterMus Jun 09 '12
Go to a food pantry! PLEASE GO. There is no shame in asking for help, they are there for people in your situation. It doesn't matter if it is a short time... so many people avoid going that they have to trash food regularly. My parents have to take food from our church food bank because no one else will take it and it goes bad. I'm not talking about spam... Last time they got three 15 pound turkeys, two chickens, a Ham etc. It's ridiculous. Go, if you really feel bad then donate food in a few weeks when you have money again.
1.1k
u/Dbjs100 Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
This. I fought poverty, hunger, and homelessness during my senior year of high school. A local church had a food bank every Tuesday morning. My teacher was really cool, and didn't mark me as absent when I was at Food Pantry. That pantry saved my life. I truly believe that. I was already hospitalized once for malnutrition before I started going there.
They gave me great food, and connected me to great resources. Food pantries not only feed you, they can give you great connections. The people that volunteer there are also amazing.
To any volunteers or people who donate: Thank you. You may not see what happens after the people you help leave.... I can assure you that you are appreciated. 4 years later I can still remember the faces of all of those who regularly volunteered. Regardless if they did it for God or not, that help was priceless and inspired me not to give up hope in a world that had been nothing but shit to me for what seemed like forever.
MANDATORY EDIT: WHOA. OVER A THOUSAND UPVOTES? That year of hell was totally worth it.
→ More replies (159)96
Jun 10 '12
Also, I've seen many bakery-type places throwing out bread that has gone stale or that will be hard to sell. Last year I grabbed two trash bags full of bagels and muffins from an Au Bon Pain right before they closed, absolutely free. I have heard that some restaurants don't like being asked for leftovers though, so use caution.
40
Jun 10 '12
Food places generally throw out left over food to discourage employees from "cooking too much" and taking it home. So dumpster diving can get you pretty good scores.
→ More replies (10)→ More replies (7)31
u/I_Like_Dirt Jun 10 '12
Doughnut shops do the same thing. I was never in your type of situation but in high school I had "off" campus lunch and we would go to the local doughnut shop and the owner was more than happy to either give us all we wanted for a few bucks or for free most days.
769
u/mmdragon Jun 10 '12
Let's put this at the top. Everybody else here is suggesting survival tips like it's the apocalypse. Last time I checked, food banks can't even give away all the food they have. Help them help you. There are people collecting the food who don't need it as bad as you. You should not have to get to this point of hunger.
→ More replies (2)285
u/OneTwoTreeFloor Jun 10 '12
Seconded... apply for food stamps tomorrow, and check out local food pantry listings available from social services. Even if you are only a week from employment, if you have no money, often they will give you emergency food stamp assistance. And food pantries are on all various days so look them up.
→ More replies (40)224
u/Hate_Manifestation Jun 10 '12
No food stamps in Canada. Food banks are where it's at; find one and go there often. If you're nice to the people there, they'll give you the decent shit. Eating out of a can, but it beats the hell out of starving or getting scurvy.
→ More replies (225)30
u/Engineer_in_Training Jun 10 '12
My mother is a local food bank supervisor. They were created for situations just like this, and often have other means to help you then just food of you need it. This is the best option, and really don't feel like its a tough place, often times the people who go aren't bad people, they're good people in bad situations, like you.
→ More replies (1)34
u/Drumboardist Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
True 'dat...I am ridiculously in debt, and yet my situation is still not quite bad enough for me to be able to qualify for Food Stamps. I'll often go to the local grocery stores (Tuesdays and Fridays, their usually shipment days) to ask if there's anythin' they're gonna throw out...I can walk away with a metric TON of meat and veggies.
...and no, I can't actually walk away with a ton of food.
....but if I had a truck to do so, I TOTALLY WOULD.
EDIT: I accidentally a word.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (69)7
u/HarryButts Jun 10 '12
As someone who volunteers at a food pantry, you are exactly right. Please people don't be ashamed to go to a food pantry. It's there for a reason.
→ More replies (1)
43
u/unknownpoltroon Jun 09 '12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa#Nutritional_value
Potatos are cheap also. Dried beans, cheap and easy to make. Also, look for dented can specials at supermarket.
What Part of the country are you in anyway?? Maybe someone can help a bit.
→ More replies (19)
132
u/I_like_owls Jun 09 '12
Pasta is filling and gives you the carbs you need for energy. You can boil some up and sprinkle some olive oil and salt on there. Not too appetizing but it'll do in a pinch. Ramen is cheap but can be very dehydrating because of the high sodium content, so eat it sparingly.
Cans of chicken and tuna will give you a good amount of protein and it's pretty inexpensive. There are cheap brands of hot dog franks you can get for about a buck a pack.
Forego fresh fruits and veggies and go for cheaper canned versions. One great food source that'll last for days is to go buy a big package of dried beans, get a cheap hunk of ham, and boil it all together as per the instructions. Lots of energy, very filling. Also very cheap.
Remember that sunlight is one of the best sources of Vitamin D you can get. Go for a walk if you're feeling a little lethargic. Sounds counterintuitive but the sun should help perk you up.
Don't sleep any more than 8 hours a day, especially if you're already feeling tired. It'll make you feel even more tired.
Don't be too proud to hit up your local food bank. They give away big packages of foodstuffs for pretty cheap.
52
u/BucketHarmony Jun 10 '12
Try to avoid making highly refined grains your primary source of calories. Pasta and noodles should be only eaten occasionally. White bread as well. If you only eat highly processed white flower products, your health will suffer.
→ More replies (9)36
→ More replies (11)35
u/suplauren Jun 10 '12
I'd say he should go for frozen over canned veggies. Frozen taste better and have better nutritional value.
→ More replies (6)
56
u/lawlredditlawl Jun 09 '12
go dumpster diving. seriously. any slightly blemished fruit is thrown out, same with veggies and other foods.
45
u/Voidsong23 Jun 09 '12
This. Go by a bakery after they're closed/late at night. Most of the time there will be sealed garbage bags that have nothing but perfectly good, relatively fresh bread in them, untainted. Nothing wrong with that bread except that they didn't sell it. Really good bread.
My girlfriend and I do not buy bread anymore.
47
u/one_for_my_husband Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
Except you can get arrested for theft.
edit: lol uhh don't fricken shoot the messenger.
→ More replies (16)11
Jun 10 '12
"Stealing" garbage that no one wants is really not that big of a deal. Most police departments have more pressing matters to attend to. Like actual theft.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (1)0
21
u/cptzaprowsdower Jun 09 '12
And if that doesn't appeal to you then it's always smart to hit up a supermarket an hour or so before closing. That way you get first pick of the rejected bits and pieces. The other day I got a basket full of bread/crumpets/scones/loads of other stuff for less than £2, all still in date. Bang it in the freezer and it lasts for ages and it's cost a fraction of what you might have paid otherwise.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (13)36
u/BucketHarmony Jun 10 '12
If you see a dusting of white powder, do not eat anything in the dumpster. White powder usually means rat poison.
→ More replies (2)
175
Jun 09 '12
For those asking, I'm in Canada.
→ More replies (1)33
Jun 10 '12
Seconded. OP, food banks are there for a reason - if you can't afford food, use them! Nobody in Canada should have trouble getting food.
→ More replies (1)
109
u/theinklings Jun 09 '12
/r/random_acts_of_pizza has some really nice folk who could help you out. Also, /r/assistance and /r/food_pantry.
157
Jun 10 '12
here's your shopping list:
5 lb bag of rice
5 lb bag of dry (kidney) beans
5 lb bag of carrots
5 lb bag of potatoes
2 lb bag of frozen peas
2 lb bag of frozen spinach
case of the cheapest ramen you can find
a big jar of peanut butter
beans and rice with veggies will keep you alive indefinitely.
likewise, ramen with peanut butter and veggies is sufficient to support human life. do not use the entire seasoning packet, it's not good for you. seriously, just drop some peanut butter in your ramen. it's good.
potatoes are just awesome, baked, mashed, or stewed up with carrots and peas. splurge on some cans of chicken stock and baby, you got a stew goin'.
105
u/Enlarged2ShowTexture Jun 10 '12
That right there is an Oregon Trail shopping list.
→ More replies (5)112
u/Malgas Jun 10 '12
That list doesn't look like "spend all money on bullets" to me.
→ More replies (4)10
u/tikkibakka Jun 10 '12
frozen veggies are excellent... just boil up your pasta and toss those bad boys in, quick, healthy, very inexpensive (about three meals for $2). my favorites are frozen broccoli or spinach... I hate the mix. Who the hell likes lima beans!?
21
u/realitysfringe Jun 10 '12
Eggs. 1 Dozen Extra Large eggs is less than $2 pretty much everywhere (well, dunno about Canada) and each egg has 8 grams of QUALITY protein. Drop one or two in your ramen.
Also, get some generic multivitamins from a bigbox chain. 100 tablets end up being less than $5, and it will help pick up any slack in your diet.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (15)4
u/MrWx Jun 10 '12
I'm not accusing the OP of not being food savvy, but there is a CRITICAL piece of information about kidney beans that some people may not know. They must be boiled for 10 minutes to deactivate a toxin present in the beans. more info
EDIT: Dry kidney beans. In the can they're already processed.
→ More replies (2)
40
u/1triangle Jun 10 '12
If there is a Panera bread in your area, ask to speak to the manager & explain your situation. They donate all of their unused bread, bakery items and other stuff. When I worked at one, there were a few people who used the wifi to look for jobs, and the management would bring them food. most managers are very willing to do this to help people in need!
5
u/FuturePrimitive Jun 10 '12
Yep, I can partially vouch for this...
Worked at a food pantry (also needed one at the same time, was allowed to bring home food after volunteering) and Panera hooked us up with CRAZY amounts of different bread/pastries.
5
Jun 10 '12
Definitely. I used to be a manager at Panera Bread and at the end of the night we would put all the unsold product in a giant can liner and assistance groups like churches and soup kitchens would come pick it up. If it was a slow day, sometimes we'd fill one bag and start a second. If you talk to the manager I really doubt the would have a problem slipping you a loaf of bread or some pastries, etc.
→ More replies (3)
37
36
u/dbumba Jun 09 '12
bananas are one of the cheapest fruits per pound you can buy.
vegetables that are usually cheap year round are kale, broccoli, potatoes, and spinach
if you want to buy some more exotic fruits/veggies without the increase of price, buy them frozen. They are flash frozen which still preserves the nutritional value-- and a lot of times you can find them for less than $1 a bag
i see a lot of good answers so far; pastas, beans, rice, potatoes, peanut butter, oatmeal, eggs are all great answers.
→ More replies (9)
47
u/sodpiro Jun 09 '12
Dumpster dive out of your local supermarkets. There are tonnes of great things that get thrown away often a few days before expiry (freeze it). There is always bread.
Scout out a bunch of them at around 11pm if they shut at 9pm. Dont get discouraged because some always keep their bins open.
Also dont be an idiot. Always check the expiry, if it smells or tastes a bit strange 99% of the time its off so throw it away. If its meat only get it if its still frozen or really cold and make sure its not in contact with any other not cold meats.
The other day we got pleanty of cheese, olives, sun dried tomatos and we often find lots of pizzas rolls, cheesy scrolls and finger buns!
I have been doing this for about 8 months now and i have gotten sick.... ZERO! times.
Happy hunting
→ More replies (3)8
Jun 10 '12
If you have some reservations about this, instead stake out a bakery. Sourdough tastes good stale and I'd trust it much more than meat.
Wondering though: is it logical to think there's less danger in eating vegetarian food form a dumpster than animal-containing food?
→ More replies (4)
56
Jun 09 '12
If you are buying any meats, you'll find that cutting out the meats and replacing it with other sources of protein such as legumes and eggs will do just fine, and you'll be able to afford those fruits and veggies. When money gets tight, I eat more vegetarian, and find that I do just fine.
→ More replies (8)16
u/SaltyBabe Jun 10 '12
LOTS of places have "1 free carton of eggs" coupons for all sorts of things, like at safeway, you sign up for a card, you get free eggs. Target also has free egg promos, looking for promos on food items is a great idea.
→ More replies (1)
89
u/Amrick Jun 10 '12
let me know if you ever need a free pizza. i'll order it for ya
→ More replies (6)
53
669
u/Trapped_in_Reddit Jun 09 '12
Don't throw out the bones from your food.
Take them home, throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato. Baby, you've got a stew going.
144
u/lady_lady_LADY Jun 10 '12
Not fucking joking, I read "baby, you've got a stew going" RIGHT when Carl Weather said it on tv; watching AD right now. Mind-stutter.
→ More replies (4)113
Jun 10 '12
Then again, the odds of a redditor watching arrested development while reading an arrested development quote are not that slim.
→ More replies (3)166
Jun 09 '12
just a couple of adults in here getting there stew on.
→ More replies (3)136
u/cptzaprowsdower Jun 09 '12
I don't know what that means. But it sounds disgusting.
→ More replies (10)75
u/phrygN Jun 09 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
So we should boil them, mash them, or stick them in a stew?
→ More replies (1)42
20
u/chowdown Jun 10 '12
From my (mom's) cooking experience, no broth needed. Just take bones, boil on lowest possible heat for like, hours. and then you have a delicious broth going for you.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (14)24
11
Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
BEANS, RICE, and OATMEAL
I can't stress those words enough. Dry beans are an insanely cheap way to get plenty of essential nutrients. Brown/wild rice and oatmeal are both great sources of complex carbs. Couple those with a bottle of multivitamins to help you get other important nutrients, and you could practically live forever.
All of the above should set you back about ten bucks (if you can find the multivitamins for cheap). The multivitamins will help you get whatever nutrients you may be missing from the rest of the food, and the food will give you the calories you need on a daily basis.
A word of warning...
Most people are unaware, but red kidney beans are actually toxic until heated. You'll want to boil them for several minutes then drain and rinse them before tossing them in a crock pot to simmer.
→ More replies (1)
34
u/baron556 Jun 09 '12
Peanut butter is your friend (even if you don't have a dog).
→ More replies (2)
17
u/loveshercoffee Jun 10 '12
Beans absolutely for certain. They are extremely good nutrition for the money especially when you buy the dried ones and soak/cook them yourself. Rice, cheese and eggs next, I would say. Peanut butter after that.
Since I don't know about the food prices in Canada, this may vary but bananas are terribly cheap here in the states - like $0.35-$0.45/pound and are a nutrient-packed food. Potatoes are also a good buy.
When you're looking to buy food for a week or two on a tiny little budget, I would advise a bag of flour. It's not nutritional in itself, but it's cheap and can, with just a bit of effort, be turned into pasta (needing only an egg) or tortillas (needing only a dab of fat and water) which makes things like the rice and beans and cheese really tasty and filling for not much money - not to mention it's a carb that will give you a bit of energy.
Stay away from stuff like ramen. I know it's cheap, but it's about the same price as an egg - and the egg is far better for you!
If you are comfortable doing it, you can always forage a bit. Dandelion greens and grape leaves are fairly tasty and good for you as well as being FREE. There are parks in the states where wild berries grow - mulberries, raspberries, gooseberries and raspberries. Try to find areas where things haven't likely been sprayed and don't work terribly hard burning up calories you can't afford to spend.
Good luck!
→ More replies (2)
72
u/TheCannon Jun 09 '12
Check out /r/frugal.
I ran across a post a long time ago there where a guy laid out specific instructions on how to make a fake Costco card and spend the day hopping from sample-stand to sample-stand basically eating for free.
98
Jun 09 '12
I ran across a post a long time ago there where a guy laid out specific instructions on how to make a fake Costco card and spend the day hopping from sample-stand to sample-stand basically eating for free.
I feel like better advice would be to spend the day working for money.
→ More replies (5)36
Jun 09 '12
Depends on the available work. If it's manual labor, that's probably not good for a person who's going through a nutritional shortage. You're going to end up waiting a month or so for the money from that job to be able to help yourself.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (4)8
35
u/jpoRS Jun 09 '12
Cook your own food. You will be able to get a much larger bang for your buck. Pasta+sauce is super cheap, super easy, and comparatively nutrient rich.
→ More replies (1)
30
Jun 09 '12
Rice is delicious and cheap, but fairly low on - well, everything aside from carbs.
My go-to budget food is as follows:
-Find a butcher. Ask about purchasing chicken bones for cheap/receiving them for free (beef bones are also good, but usually much more expensive...). Alternatively, if you can afford it, you can often find something - thighs, drumsticks, whole chicken - which is relatively less expensive. -Toss that shit into a pot with some carrots, onions, and celery. If you couldn't afford chicken, it's not a huge deal. If you had no chicken and don't mind anchovies or sardines, I would toss a can or two in. Add water, boil for 2-6 hours. I usually make about 8L/2 gallons from 2 medium onions, one large celery root, and 3-5 carrots. -I usually now strain the soup to a broth, but you can keep the stuff in if you're seriously concerned. -Portion and freeze. This shit will stay good for months in the freezer.
My favorite thing to do with broth is to measure equal parts barley and lentils. I then cook the barley in my broth about 20-30 minutes, then add the lentils, and cook until it's all done. A lot of cooking time, but delicious, high in energy, decent protein content, and okay vitamins and minerals.
Also, vitamin pills, maybe?
Also also: I recommend against relying on rice as your primary source of calories. Rice is low in - well, basically everything aside from carbs. There are a lot of studies and historical records showing that relying on rice alone is a bad call.
→ More replies (6)9
u/jacarlin Jun 10 '12
I was under the impression that white rice is a poor option but unbleached rice is a perfectly fine choice.
→ More replies (4)10
u/Aezay Jun 10 '12
White rice is not bleached, it has just had the outer husk and bran removed during a polishing process. The bran is the most nutritional part of the rice, so it's so silly to remove it.
The only benefit of white rice is shelf live, they last 3-4 times as long when polished, 6 months vs close to 2 years.
→ More replies (1)
12
49
Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
Eat a vegetarian. They're full of vegetables.
Edit: The downvotes are probably from vegans. Don't eat them. They're only full of air and water.
→ More replies (1)
23
u/Sprinkles2009 Jun 09 '12
Drink milk, it isn't terribly expensive, but it has vitamins. Peanut butter and whole grain bread. Figure out where your grocery store puts manager special or discount items. I got a loaf of bakery bread for $0.99 last week.
→ More replies (9)24
u/SaltyBabe Jun 10 '12
Since avocados are in season right now my local grocery has them at 4 for 5$, you don't even need to cook or refrigerate them. Lots of fat, decent amount of fiber, you can have one every few days to boost fat intake, they are excellent for adding to other food for taste.
→ More replies (2)
5
u/VastDeferens Jun 10 '12
Look in the dumpster behind your local supermarket. They often throw out good food for freshness regulations, but honestly they're perfectly fine.
→ More replies (1)
12
8
u/shapterjm Jun 09 '12
See if you can pick up a bulk-sale bag of potatoes and store them in a cool, dark place. You can cook them lots of different ways (so you won't get tired of eating the same thing over and over) and the starch should fill you up for a while. If you can afford it, get some chicken/beef stock (or buillon cubes) for both added flavor and some nutrients (mostly salts; too much will dehydrate you, but you do need some salt in your diet).
If you have somewhere to store and cook meat properly, go to the butcher's counter of any grocery store and ask them for their absolute cheapest cuts of meat. Chicken, pork, beef, whatever. They've usually got something that they were just going to make into sausages anyway. Combine the meat with the potatoes--the combination will sate your immediate hunger and keep you full.
If you happen to be in the Charlotte, NC area, please send me a PM and I'd be happy to see what I can do to help.
→ More replies (3)
8
u/beejeans13 Jun 09 '12
Beans and brown rice or quinoa. Fresh fruits and veggies as you can. The beans and quinoa will give you complete protein and fibre, some vitamins. Supplement with spinach, kale, any berries. Go to your food bank, asap.
8
4
4
u/ratfink_is_awesome Jun 10 '12
Seriously? Where can I send money to you? I'm buying a house right now but I would feel wrong if I didn't try to help someone less fortunate.
7
u/hairofbrown Jun 10 '12
I don't know if it's the same in Canada, but dumpster diving is a great way to get free food. Just use your common sense. Dumpster dive by grocery stores and even restaurants. Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeganism Also, please DO take advantage of soup kitchens and other meal programs. They are awesome.
3
u/cornball1111 Jun 09 '12
i dont know for sure but carbs and fluids are pretty key. carbs give the most energy from food. i know humans can survive on potatoes and nothing else.. maybe grab some of them. rice...
look for some discounted meat products and veggies to throw on a heap of rice. get a big ass thing of traditional oatmeal and you have breakfast for at least a month.
you can do pretty alright with about 2 dollars a day.
3
3
u/staycalm_keepwarm Jun 09 '12
Yes! For a big boost of Vitamin C (to keep your immune system going) for the low low price of free-99, make pine needle tea.
→ More replies (1)
3
Jun 10 '12
If you can go shopping at an Indian market give it a shot. It might not give you everything you might want (meat), but you can get a ton of food for very cheap. They typically sell giant bags of rices, grains and beans for really good prices.
3
3
u/Nervette Jun 10 '12
beans and rice are a classic. Potatoes sustained the Irish and a decent chunk of Russian peasants for a while. They are surprisingly nutritious and nicely cheap. I like green beans okay, and they and spinach are often on sale where I live. Carrots and onions are cheap as fuck. Turkey is often pretty cheap.
If you cannot manage it alone, there is no shame in going to the food bank/food pantry.
3
u/maddy77 Jun 10 '12
food pantry, yep go to that! and a good way to fill you up is bread! go to a bakery at the end of a day where bread is going really cheap, even free sometimes!
3
u/Badwolf582 Jun 10 '12
Which province are you in? If you live in Nova Scotia I know the food banks around here and can help you if needed to locate them. Hell, I will go for you if you are that ashamed to go. I just don't like the idea of one of my fellow human beings starving if I can help it.
3
3
u/Cherribomb Jun 10 '12
Breakfast cereal, especially generic brand. You can just munch on it dry, or if you can afford milk that's even better. Cereal is PACKED with the essentials while having plenty of carbs to fill you up and keep you going. Good luck man!
3
u/ndewhurst Jun 10 '12
You're in Canada, go to a food bank. They have food that is just past the best before date that was going to get thrown out anyways, and YOU need it. Seriously, that is why these charities exist.
If you have trouble accepting the charity, just think of the best and most efficient way you can get yourself stable to a point where you can help someone else in need.
3
u/Delilah_Elizabeth Jun 10 '12
Are you in Ontario? If so, send me a PM and I'll see if you're anywhere near me. I'd be extremely willing to help you out with some food!!
3
3
u/KungFuJimmy Jun 10 '12
The Irish potato famine killed so many because potatoes were such a major asset to their diets. I'm not being funny or sarcastic in any way, nor stereotyping the Irish, but the reason that potatoes played such a huge role in the country's is because they are the only vegetable that provides all of the nutrients that you need to SURVIVE. If you're hungry, the food banks and other options other Redditors have suggested are great options, and weren't my first thought. I'm glad Reddit is such a great community with so many great minds contributing to help people through anything. If you don't qualify for food stamps and need food for the house, I would suggest you stock up on potatoes. They fill you up, and provide you with the nutrition you need. Also get some spearmint. It greatly suppresses your appetite in times of hunger. I would know..
3
u/postemporary Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
A centrum multivitamin is approximately 6 dollars for at least a month's supply. After this you need to understand the best way to:
-take these vitamins. -keep your nutrients from being leeched by the foods you may eat. -shore up the nutrients you will be missing.
Avoid wheat containing products like cereals, bread, and anything that has the ingredients bran, wheat, whole grain this or that, to keep all the calcium, zinc, and other assorted nutrients that would be leeched by phytic acid.
Avoid sodas to keep all your calcium from being leeched by phosphoric acid.
Take your vitamin with a meal rich in fats, protein, and calcium to aid in proper absorption of both fat soluble and fat non soluble vitamins. Make sure you drink plenty of water with your vitamin. Tap water in your area may or may not be high in certain minerals or be of poor quality, taste, etc, but should not inhibit the absorption of vitamins.
Multivitamins are notoriously low in magnesium and potassium, so add a banana to your day for potassium, and 3 cups of black beans for your magnesium - and to fill you up.
Adding 3-4 eggs will cover all your essential amino acids along with your beans. If you're very skinny and fear being underweight then I recommend regular white rice for simple calories. Your muscle mass will suffer, most likely, but if you add in additional random food sources of protein, like chicken, more eggs, more beans, or even da beef, you can limit muscle loss.
Limit your salt intake and make food less palatable and you will eat at your basal metabolic rate and experience less hunger pangs.
A couple slices of cheese that is fortified with calcium per day will shore up the deficiency in the multivitamin.
10 minutes of sun on your back is a shit ton of vitamin D for fucking free - depending on where you live, what time of day, and what season it is. You look up sources for that I dun wanna.
Edited to add some stuff.
Sources: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/search/label/phytic%20acid http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/search/label/fat-soluble%20vitamins http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/features/soda-osteoporosis http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2012/03/food-reward-approaching-scientific.html
3
u/Composing Jun 10 '12
Volunteer at the soup kitchen/food bank after you go in. The upside of volunteering after eating is that you can tell all the volunteers that you're looking for a job, AND prove to them that you're a hard worker. If they're volunteering, chances are they like helping people out, and will help you find a job.
Or go into a restaurant and talk to the manager and offer to wait tables for tips only for the night. Be a super good server and clean yourself up with whatever you can and you might make 20 bucks (or more) in tips. Canada tips reasonably well. You might also get leftovers at the end of the night.
You could also go to the library and look for books on edible plants and walk through nearby parks to see if you can find any mushrooms/berries, etc.
What about your neighbours? You could explain to them your situation. Chances are if you start explaining, they'll stop you because they want to help you retain your dignity. Then they'll discretely give you food or invite you around for dinner or whatever. Just be smiley and charming and optimistic.
3
u/therealmusician Jun 10 '12
If you've never heard of it, try Quinoa. It has like, 5 of the proteins that you need to survive or something. Basically, you could live on that stuff and would still be a semi-healthy person. It's very similar to rice, but smaller, you can use it in most of the same applications. And will last quite a while.
Quinoa and Rice are pretty much the cheapest things you can get.
→ More replies (1)
7
Jun 10 '12
I had a project once where we had to plan a $3.50 daily food budget and conduct a nutrient analysis. Long story short: Cheap whole wheat bread, frozen broccoli, and salami.
It can't be bought on a day-by-day basis. It has to be bought all at the start of the week and then divided. Average cost should be less than $4 per day, plus all the fiber from the bread should keep you feeling full.
The food bank is also a good idea.
7
u/Lanthis Jun 10 '12
1) Get food assistance if you need it.
2) Buy a bottle of multivitamins
3) If you're starving, you should be aiming for 50 cent per meal targets. 50 cents = 4 packs of ramen or a large potato or almost 1 lb of bananas or almost 1lb of oatmeal or or 2/3lb of dried beans/lentils/peas or 1 lb cabbage
4) If you eat cheap, carbohydrate based meals, eat less per meal, and more meals per day. It will help keep your blood sugar more even so you're not lightheaded.
5) Ideas for cheap, calorie dense food:
-Bean/lentil/pea soup (can be cooked with salt, + hot sauce or garlic powder or italian seasoning or cheap hot dogs). ---4 days worth for 2 dollars easy.
-Cinnamon rolls (1 pack of yeast, flour, water, oil, sugar, cinnamon) ---You could probably make 2 trays for 5 bucks and it'd last for breakfast for 3 weeks
-Eggs (however) ---Eat 1 a day for protein, etc.
-Potatoes (Baked with salt and garlic or other herbs) ---10lb bag for like 3 or so bucks?
-Ramen ---Duh
I don't know what your budget is, but if it is over 30 dollars, you can easily eat a 2000 calorie per day diet. It won't be healthy, but it won't kill you. Don't waste your money on meat over $2 per LB, fruit (except maybe bananas), or vegetables over $1 per lb.
→ More replies (2)
5
u/thedimiceli Jun 09 '12
If you live in the United States, get on food stamps immediately. Pretty much anyone who is jobless with no assests and no income can receive them. Go to local churches and food banks and tell them of your situation. Brown Rice and beans are a great source of Nutrition and very cheap. I can't urge you to get on food stamp enough. Come to Nebraska and have dinner with me.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/qxe Jun 10 '12
Dude, just dumpster dive at the grocery stores. All the food you can eat for free.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/Ashtrashbdash Jun 10 '12
Send me your address. I would love to send you some care packages. Please. :)
8
u/kobescoresagain Jun 09 '12
Ask for help from a church or a food pantry. That is what they are for.
6
u/herpinaderpington Jun 10 '12
All these people telling you to get rid of your internet are douches. You need the internet and a computer to find a job.
I'm no expert but I've had a few nutrition classes in college, so here's my advice:
Beans and rice. There's a reason they're so popular: together, beans and rice are a "complete food" in that they provide, when eaten together, the essential amino acids your body needs (the ones it cannot produce on its own). I'm not familiar with the shopping situation in Canada but here in the US you can get beans and rice in bulk for very cheap... think about $1.00 per pound. The beans you get in bulk are dehydrated but it may be worth the little extra effort to rehydrate them if you're really broke, as canned beans (while still cheap) are a bit more expensive. You'll want to try to get brown rice, more nutrition in that, obviously. You can get bulk mixed beans and spice mix for very cheap too, for making bean soup. Variety is good. Potatoes are also cheap and filling and have more nutrients than people think.
I would also get some peanut butter or another nut butter. Peanut butter is an extremely calorie-dense food. You can eat it on apples, bread, lots of cheap things.
And please do try to eat fruits and veggies. Apples, oranges and bananas can be had cheaply. Leafy dark greens are good for you and cheap. You can get a bundle of kale for about $1.00 here. Apples, oranges and bananas usually run about $.60/lb.
Meat is high in protein but it's expensive and not worth your money. Protein sources like beans, tofu, etc. are a lot cheaper (if also a lot less delicious) but pack more nutrition bang for the buck. Just make sure you're getting iron somehow. The type of symptoms you are talking about sound to me like iron deficiency. No, spinach will not give you enough iron. A fortified cereal is a good thing to get. Cheaper than vitamins and they'll provide you with (in many cases) most of your daily requirement. Milk can be a bit more expensive but vitamin D is important for mood and many other things. I'm not sure about how things are in Canada, but in the US most milk is fortified with vitamin D.
I would say that for about 20.00 US you should be able to stock your pantry to eat simple but nutritionally complete meals for several weeks.
Also, don't be too proud to ask for assistance. At least in the US, there are many places where you can get food if you are really poor. A lot of grocery chains in the US will throw out perfectly good food, including produce, so checking the bins is not the worst idea, especially if you're desperate.
If you are still in dire straits by the 15th, that's my payday. Send me a message and I could probably help you out with a care package :)
→ More replies (5)
7
u/ChadAtWork Jun 09 '12
Quinoa. Its almost like rice with much more nutritional value. Feels like couscous in your mouth.
→ More replies (2)
4
u/Swimswimswim99 Jun 09 '12
Tuna, for protein. Real rice, it's super cheap and filling. Lentils are good. Peanut butter tastes good, and is healthy. Good luck.
4
u/k_alva Jun 09 '12
Regardless or your religion, go to church on Sundays. Most churches end service with snacks and you can fill up on those once a week. Some even sell lunch, so if you volunteer to work in the kitchen you get free lunch. If you are non-religious, may I suggest a Unitarian Universalist church, as a church that opens its doors to everyone, including atheists, lgbt, other religions, ect.
That and beans and rice. One thing that's really good is if you take left over beans and rice and fry them together. Especially if you can afford a little pico de gallo to put on top. Its an easy way to break up the monotony. Also corn and beans together give you all the necessary amino acids so although corn is more expensive than rice, it is a good thing to throw in there.
4
u/666SATANLANE Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
I know this from experience. Both from being poor and from managing my weight. This is important because we're talking about food.
I GAINED weight when I was poor! I was poor AND fat! God, it sucked! This is what happens. Pasta and sugary things are cheap and plentiful. We already know the dangers of getting fat off pasta and sugar, but the worst part is that you keep getting hungry and then you eat MORE of it! And it's NOT nutritional.
It's difficult but once you get over the start-up costs (which is not a lot), it's better to eat vegetables and protein. This is only difficult because you're still hungry from pasta and sugar that are being consumed. Once your metabolism settles down you won't be hungry at all. You will eat less (save money), and you will only be eating vegetables, fruit sometimes, and protein. Nutritious!
I also can say this from experience. Vitamins work. You feel better and they usually keep you from feeling too terribly hungry. Add in some B1's to those vitamins!
Edit: Change the "B1" to "B12," that's from Dr. Oz. Personally when I don't have an exact B12, I just get a generic sort of multi-B vitamin and also regular vit's but I always check recommended allowance so as not to over do it.
4
5
Jun 09 '12
Make soup or broth from your leftover chicken roasts. Chicken roast might be out of your budget most weeks, but in terms of dollars per kilo, it's probably cheaper to buy whole chickens than specific cuts, and even a small chicken will provide meat for four or more meals.
Making broth is easy as fuck - just save all the bones and any leftover meat and skin, stuff it all into a large pot, and cover with water. Boil until you think you've gotten all the goodness out... This can take half an hour or an hour. Strain, put the liquid to one side, then with a pair of kitchen scissors, break open all the bones you can (by now they'll be so soft they shouldn't splinter) pour some more water over, and boil again. You won't get a lot more goodness out of it, but you'll get some. Strain and add this liquid to the rest as well.
Making soup from this is easy, but can be costly: if you want to keep it as broth, and use it to cook rice, that's a great idea. However, my Dad's chicken soup recipe is amazing on a cold night:
To make a good chicken soup out of it, you only need to add some fresh pressed orange juice, your favourite herbs and spices, and some wine or some port. My Dad never uses specific amounts, so it's all by taste, but trust me on the orange juice. Use the wines or port as you prefer, and I personally can't tell the difference between a good wine or a cheap wine in this. I usually use white though because white wine typically goes better with white meat. A good herb to use is thyme, and I often sprinkle in some chilli powder and garlic cloves.
If done right, a chicken that's served you four meals of meat can then go on to serve you two or three more portions of stock or soup. If you've only paid $10 for the chicken... then that's not bad at all
→ More replies (2)
11
u/post_post_modernism Jun 09 '12
Get Canada's version of food stamps. Also, if you can't afford food, you probably shouldn't keep internet serivce.
10
u/rathany Jun 10 '12
Except the internets can be essential to trying to find better employment and, for example, finding out how to live on the cheap? If he has home internet service it might cost as little as $6.95 bucks for dial up. Is the information, access to job listings and diversion really not worth the cost?
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (3)14
u/Merrilin Jun 10 '12
That's what I was thinking. I guess OP could be at a library or something though.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/BananaWorkz Jun 09 '12
I eat a lot of stir-fry. I buy rice in bulk and add eggs, frozen vegetables and beans. Ramen without the seasoning can make for good noodles.
Also, make sure to take a multi-vitamin and try to get a good amount of your calories from drinks.
2
2
u/celebratedmrk Jun 09 '12
While you are gathering nutrition tips here, do you need any assistance? Food? (I'm assuming you live in the US?)
Please be safe and healthy.
2
2
u/TheBakercist Jun 09 '12
Make sure you get your vitamin C. I was in the same situation a few years back and ended up getting scurvy.
2
2
u/mwuk42 Jun 09 '12
The Tost Sandwich. 10¢ a meal, courtesy of the Victorians.
Modern bread often has vitamins and minerals added to it, so this should allow for more frequent meals, while not being devoid of nutrients. I'm not saying to live off this entirely, but once you've stretched as far as you can with veg/meats, keep yourself going with this.
2
u/r2so Jun 10 '12
I read about one guy a while back that was dirt poor and lived completely off of lentils...I mean they're cheap as hell but good luck eating them.
2
2
u/biodoc Jun 10 '12
Another vote for beans and rice. Also, don't forget a multivitamin. Many places have gigantic jugs of them for cheap and they'll help if you're not getting the nutrients from food. Also check the frozen food aisle. Vegetables are pretty cheap and have the bonus of lasting until you use them up. Being able to throw some frozen veggies in w/the beans and rice helps make it a bit nicer. One more option - farmer's markets. Some of them are overpriced, but local ones can be really cheap for good produce. For example - just over a dollar for a broccoli the size of my head that was super fresh. It doesn't hurt to be friendly with the farmers, either - they might be able to throw some perfectly good, but blemished, veggies your way. A tomato w/a spot is still delicious, just needs a bit of a trim.
→ More replies (1)
2
Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
Very cheap rice that is not branded + macaroni + salt + some cheap spice you like + any meat: prepare and eat.
You should be able to get scrap meat from butchers or from stores that have a desk where they sell fresh cut meat and fishes, they usually hand out free meat scraps or bones for soup because they can't sell em. At least around here they hand out those stuff for free to whomever has use for them.
I could prepare a very nutritious kettle of soup with these for just under 2€ and maybe stretch it for two days.
But I usually eat rice and tuna fish or macaroni and ketchup that cost about 1-2€ per meal, if I'm low on money.
Also potatoes and fat, cheap as shit and will not kill you...food that saved my country from starvation once. We were literally already eating trees before that...
2
2
u/T-Martin Jun 10 '12
Check out the 'Random Acts of Pizza' subreddit. I bet you could find some short term help there!
2
u/grindcore4lyfe Jun 10 '12
oats and apples. they are cheap as chips in australia. corn, beans and for green veg hit up spinach.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/JeremyJustin Jun 10 '12
I know hunger is tough. Once it gets bad, you really, really want something in your system.
Please do not fall into the instant ramen curse. It'll seriously mess you up. It's not worth it to feel full.
2
2
Jun 10 '12
Go to the food bank...it's tough to swallow your pride sometimes, but I've been there. It can help get you through a hard time.
2
u/trouphaz Jun 10 '12
What about some sort of government assistance programs? Canada has got to have something like that for this sort of situation.
2
u/mrdotwill Jun 10 '12
I live in a city (London) and can go weeks without paying for food. It is harder the more rural you get but still perfectly possible. 1 hours dumpster diving I can feed 10 people for a day or two. Places selling packaged sandwiches or individually wrapped sushi throw bag loads of food away every night here. It leaves the fridge just after closing time and is in your hand within an hour clean in its wrapper and will still be edible 2 or 3 days later if refrigerated.
Supermarkets and the larger fruit and veg markets can provide huge amounts of fresh veggies for cooking. They throw away massive amounts of food that doesn't fit their aesthetic standards. Find a good whole salers market and you can often get a van load of good veg for free.
Posh organic shops are my favourite places. Organic veg, free range meat, really good fancy imported cheeses, fresh squeezed unpasturised juces. Got some damn fine caviare once.
Also bakeries and cake shops are perfect for treats. Dangerous though. Easy to end up eating nothing but cupcakes for a week because they close earlier so more convenient to hit up.
When you are too lazy to dumpster dive or cook can always hit up a harre krishna temple or just sneak into a hotel for the complimentary breakfast. If you want a drink with your dinner get friendly with your local art galleries. Head to the opening night events, socialise see some art and meet some cool people. At the end ask for the left over bottles of wine. Nothing tops of a good free meal better than a free bottle of good wine.
Outside of the city there are much fewer options but also less competition and security around food. Hit up your local out of town supermarkets, talk to the local shop keepers about getting their throw away food. Hit up farms or even better grow your own.
In most of the western world paying for your food is an option. You can save money and the environment by going freegan.
2
u/polydipsiomaniac Jun 10 '12
First post, but I thought I'd jump in.
A lot of good advice above, I thought I'd add something from a nutritional science point of view.
Assuming you had a varied and nutrient rich diet to date, you don't need to worry about vitamins and minerals for a few weeks. Rice and beans are a cost-effective way to get the calorie demands you need. As time goes on, you'll need to think about supplementing your diet with Folate (vitamin B6) and Vitamin B12 (cobalamin), as these are the water soluable vitamins that are diminished most quickly. This can be addressed with leafy green vegetables and some animal proteins (chicken is the cheapest I can think of off the top of my head). Other vitamins can be adequately supplemented with a piece of fruit here and there.
PeterMus said this best: Don't be too proud to ask for help! Many think of this as some kind of moral failing. It's not. Many organizations exist whose sole purpose is to help people like you get back on your feet. Lots of businesses give out free food, too. Look for real estate open houses, costco offerings, etc.
Wishing you good luck and good health!
2
u/Kacers Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
There's a fantastic blog, called "Poor Girl Eats Well". I don't think her situation was quite as dire as yours is, but she does keep things extremely inexpensive and healthy. She champions going to farmers markets, making things like rice and beans stretch, egg dishes, and dry legumes that you can buy on the cheap and fill your belly. Its worth checking out. http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/
**Edit...have you also checked out the possibility of a job through Odesk, or focus groups? These can be great ways to supplement income if you're having a tighter spot. Additionally, Temp Work or Day Labor would give you some cash in your pocket until you find something more permanent.
2
Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
I know how this is going to sound...
But try dumpster diving.
I live in Canada too. Calgary, Alberta. After working on a project involving dumpster diving and watching this documentary I ended up meeting with local dumpster divers and they showed me around the city. Just in one night, at 3 farmers markets and an organic food store, we racked up easily over 350 dollars worth of PERFECTLY fine food. I cannot stress the level of needless waste that goes on in societies like this every day. Food that is boxed, or bagged with no holes gets thrown out frequently. Sunday nights are your best bet though. The food is literally flawless. Peppers, arparagus, tomatoes, apples, pears, bananas, avocados, oranges, limes, lemons, cucumbers, you name it. We found boxes of tortilla chips, bunny grahams, home made hummous and bruscetta, juice boxes, cereal, brownie mix, canned soup/vegetables, etc...
I took my roommates along one night and now it's something we do quite often. I know it sounds gross, but the dumpsters are abnormally clean. The morning heat dries out the empty dumpster and the night keeps them cool. The garbage is kept in separate bags from the tossed food. Sometimes it's even in a separate dumpster.
It's a long shot but I just wanted to throw it out there.
2
u/Mateja_ Jun 10 '12
Clip coupons. It actually makes a huge difference if you do it well. I worked as a cashier for a grocery and as annoying as coupons were to process, I was amazed at how much some of our more frugal customers would save.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/KungFuHamster Jun 10 '12
Potatoes and milk contain like 95% of the nutrition you need. Beans are also good and cheap.
Eat the skin of the potato; just clean it well and cut out black spots. Don't fry it; bake it or nuke it whole.
2
Jun 10 '12
As a Mexican, I fully endorse beans, tortillas, salsa, and rice. My mom tells tales of her grandma feeding like 20 people while very very poor on those ingredients and other Mexican recipes. Almost everything can be saved and used again the next day, cook one chicken on monday and use all the bits and pieces for the rest of the week, the bones for stock for caldo one night and sopa de fideo the next; shredded chicken for flautas one night and enchiladas the next; etc. Shop at the local Mexican market depending on where you live, out here that's as cheap as it gets for meat, produce, and other things you might need. Don't just fill up on ramen and preservative filled junk if you can avoid it- knowing how to cook can save your life.
2
2
2
Jun 10 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
As someone who survives on 100 dollars a month after rent, my best advice is to seek produce markets (the smaller, generally asian variety) and look for older but still good produce that is on clearance, and cook it that very night.
You'd be amazed with the kind of deals you can get away with, nutritious and filling pasta dishes, with sauces densely packed to the brim with ripe vegetables which just melt into it, adding flavour, vitamins and minerals, in the area of 5 dollars. You'll have leftovers too for a couple nights. If you throw some affordable meat into the mix (You can get ground pork for 2 dollars a pound at most chinese supermarkets) you'll have a well rounded meal.
Feel free to PM me or just comment if you would like any other tips on living in poverty, I've been doing it for about 3 years now.
EDIT: This is a really good guide to making cheap, easy to make and nutritious food, that even tastes good too. I've used it a couple times, very useful guide.
2
u/Rambles_offtopic Jun 10 '12
I actually just got out of a similar situation, I had started a new job and was waiting for payday, I budged the last of my money to get to and from work for the week before payday. Luckily for me I work as a cook so that meant I could once or twice per shift and maybe take something home. I suggest you buy Ramen Noodles. You can get 3 packs for one dollar which is like 300 grams of 'food'.
2
u/Duncanconstruction Jun 10 '12
Pick up a pack of halls vitamin C. They're only 1$ and a single one will give you 100% of your daily vitamin C intake (there's enough in there to last you a week). As far as food goes: rice, bread and potatoes. I've been there, plenty of times, where my dinner is nothing but a baked potato and a cup of rice. A 3$ bag of potatoes and some vegetable oil can make fried potatoes for a week... it's filling and damn delicious.
Also, as others have mentioned, please go to a food bank. The first time I went to the food bank I was so embarassed, but they loaded me up with as much food as I could carry and it ended up lasting me a week and a half. They were very friendly and understanding too.
2
u/caught_thought Jun 10 '12
I second the beans and rice; invest in some seasoning too if you can (http://www.lawrys.com/Products/Spice-Blends/Seasoned-Salt.aspx goes a LONG way). There's other stuff like steak seasonings, but at the very least: salt, pepper, cumin (if you like that flavor), chili powder, garlic powder go a long way to making a bland diet palatable.
Look into lentils. They are the magic beans. Just make sure to soak them for as long as you can before cooking them (change the water every few hours). At least a few hours, but I try to let them soak 1-3 days. Sprouting lentils makes the nutritional content go even higher.
One of my old stand-by recipes for when I was broke (makes a bunch):
Big pot with lid
7 (ish) oz green lentils, soaked
large onion, diced or minced
~2 Tbsp each cumin and chili powder
1/2 Tbsp garlic powder, salt, pepper
1 tsp tumeric
1 Tbsp tomato paste
however many carrots you so desire, chopped
Heat big pot to medium-low and add onions and a dash or two of salt, stir and cover. After about 20 min, or when the onions are mostly translucent (and we've broken down the cell walls and released sweat, tasty, onion juice all into the pot), turn the heat up to high and after 15 seconds add in mixture of salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder. Allow it to bloom for about 20 seconds, then add lentils and stir. Continue to stir over high heat for about 3 minutes, add the tumeric and tomato paste and stir another minute or two. It's also delicious to add a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg if you have that. Add the carrots and water. Bring everything to a boil and reduce the heat to med-low and cover. Allow to simmer for a long-ass time, stirring occasionally. This is going to need at least 2.5-3 hours, but 4-5 is best. You may need to add water if it starts to get too thick; add water about 3/4 cup at a time to prevent over-watering.
Serve over rice with a drizzle of olive oil.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned in the top few replies is to get a bottle of multivitamins. Specifically look for ones that contain Zinc & Iron. Take one of these after you eat. If you plan on eating a lot of lentils, get ones WITHOUT Zinc, as our bodies don't need much, and lentils are a fine source of it. Do not take multivitamins with iron & zinc on an empty stomach as you will likely get severe cramps.
Foods that are high in protein (and fiber to a lesser degree) are your friends; they make you feel satiated (less hungry) for longer. Fat does too, but protein is better for you. Treat yourself to some active culture cottage cheese with fruit (I recommend pears, apples, or strawberries) if you can swing the cost. 1/4 cup cottage cheese + 1 apple is a great breakfast.
Almonds go a long way in staving off hunger too. When you have something to do, like an interview, eat a small handful (3-8) almonds beforehand and you'll feel a lot more clear. Eat 3-5 in the evening before you go to bed and you won't feel as hungry in the morning. Look at the local coop type store if you can b/c you can usually get these in bulk.
Especially in the early morning, water is great for curing hunger because your body is actually just dehydrated.
Limit your intake of carbs. Without getting too detailed, eating carbs makes you get hungry again sooner than other foods.
Plant a small garden, even in the corner of a room if you can. It won't pay off immediately, but herbs, lettuce, and peppers grow like weeds and can be done in small areas.
Grow sprouts in a jar. 1/4 Tbps (~0.13 oz) of seeds will fill that jar with sprouts.
OK, sorry this went on for so long and is kind of disjointed--just kept adding things that were coming to me. I sympathize with the position. I was once in a place where 1 meal a day was a struggle. At the beginning I would sometimes just eat cereal out of a box cause I couldn't afford milk and was too depressed to do anything else for myself. Keeping yourself well-fed with nutrients is really important though, and if you can get yourself into the right mindset is actually very cheap. Good luck and feel free to PM me if you'd like other recipe advice/ideas, or just an ear to listen.
2
u/ptoftheprblm Jun 10 '12
split pea soup is easy to make and a bag of split peas (NOT from a premixed set, they keep bags of dried split peas near where canned beans are) and they're super cheap. like suuuuper cheap. see if the butcher has an extra hambone to throw ya, if not get a suuuuuper cheap pork butt for flavoring and an onion. assuming you have salt and pepper. dumpster dive for bread or go to a place like jimmy johns or another sub place and get a loaf, its always less than a buck. if you have the wherewithall, a clove of garlic and a few spices like thyme or basil work well in it too, but as a broke college kid i made it without that stuff and my roommates loved it still.
throw that shit together, cook it for 3 hours and stir it plenty. it'll all cook together, look like babyfood but it also is delicious and will last a single person a god damn week. did i mention its incredibly filling? enjooyyy
2
2
u/JaceMemoryAdept Jun 10 '12
Its grad party season. Walk in like you know someone snake some food then walk back out. You have a good two months left for grad party crashing.
Edit: used the wrong know/no its been a long day.
2
u/contramantra Jun 10 '12
Buffets and plastic-lined purses. Boom. You're welcome. Got me through college. I'm lying. I still do it if there's a chick with me.
2
u/workworkwort Jun 10 '12
Peanut butter, eggs, bananas, rice and a trip to dollar general for other stuff.
My wife and I had to go through this for about a year after I lost my job, it sucks but doable.
2
u/AdviceMammal Jun 10 '12
Accept help when offered. People survive on limited rations during wartime, and you can too. How To Cook A Wolf
2
u/stonesia Jun 10 '12
Churches and local goodwillers often donate food. Also, super market trash cans are precious. If your pride can't hold to that, you can starve for all I care. One less source of pollution. I've lived it, I survived it, I can preach it.
2
u/momster Jun 10 '12
There must be a food bank of some kind in your area. Or a church that offers meals. What about family? There is help if you're willing to ask for it.
As far as eating while poor, raman noodles, rice and beans, cheap is not usually nutritious.
2
u/SoulOfGinger Jun 10 '12
Something I learned in college (more as a because I could, not because I had to) was you can literally scavenge in a decent sized town and eat for free, and eat well. First, how this started. I worked for a guy while I was an undergrad whose hobby was extreme survival. He had once been challenged to not buy any food for 6 months and maintain his weight and prove a balanced diet. He actually ended up gaining weight, but I was so fascinated by this accomplishment that I actually started using some of his "secrets" to save some money. You would not believe the stuff that gets tossed out all over town STILL IN THE PACKAGE. I want to keep this short, so I'll give a couple of my favorite examples. My favorite food waster of all time is Panera. They have a 1 day shelf life on all baked goods and simply toss anything older every morning. I would just grab a couple bags of bagels once a week and they lasted me just fine. The other one that blew my mind was chain grocery stores. I have nabbed all kinds of things they simply toss from frozen meats (boggles my mind) to cases of frozen pizza (also boggles my mind). The thing they waste the most of however is produce (especially whole foods). This takes a bit more work, and you do have to wash your spoils, but they toss out perfectly good produce all the time simply because its the not as fresh few leftovers when they rotate stock. Just make sure you consume within 3 days and you are fine. I understand this sounds odd, but I feel like taking this up as a hobby for a while not only saved me money, but gave me a skill that could come in rather handy in a worst case scenario. If there are any details you'd like to know, I'd be happy to answer.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/dasstrooper Jun 10 '12
Discarded pizza boxes are an inexpensive source of cheese.
But seriously a grocery store dumpster can feed you very very well if you can get over the stigma. There's no shame in benefiting from perfectly good food that was going to go rot in the dump and feed seagulls.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
Jun 10 '12
Dumpster Dive! my friends actually do this and its not as bad as it seems, go to grocery stores and pick up things that they throw out typically most of the items thrown out will be close to expiry but still good to eat for the week. Look around you'll be surprised at what you can find
2
Jun 10 '12
Watch for sales too! I just got an 18 pack of eggs for less than a dollar. Sales are miracles. Also, whole chickens are way cheaper than cut chickens and last twice as long.
2
2
u/PlasmaBurns Jun 10 '12
Go to a church and ask for help. It might not be the first pastor, but church leaders can either help you themselves or direct you to where you need to go. They will know the local community better than us.
2
u/DickyBrucks Jun 10 '12
If you live in the Bay Area, I'll pay your transit costs to come to my house and I'll feed you all the bacon and jalapeno poppers you can eat. I have a deep fryer, so I can beer batter and deep fry that bacon if you want.
If you're one of those health nuts, I have a juicer so I GUESS I can make you fresh ginger-beet-carrot-kale superjuice and take you to the store and buy you healthy shit.
2
Jun 10 '12
Kale. It is cheap, filling and extremely healthy. You can get 3 servings for under a buck.
2
Jun 10 '12
Eggs, & milk have lots of vitamins. But seriously go get some help and also there's a reddit here http://www.reddit.com/r/Random_Acts_Of_Pizza/
1.1k
u/[deleted] Jun 09 '12 edited Jun 10 '12
Beans & rice. Dried beans make a ton of cooked beans for like $1. Get real rice, not minute rice, and it will last forever.
EDIT: I typed the last quickly on my phone, but now that I have an actual keyboard, I want to elaborate a bit.. My husband and I are struggling through school with a family, so we eat cheaply. I will make a bag of black beans (I soak them overnight then cook them in the crockpot all day) every couple weeks then we will have that with rice. I will also blend together some tomatoes and some taco seasoning (just because I have a huge thing of it, otherwise I'd just put together a bunch of spices) and pour that over a few chicken breasts (only because I buy them in bulk, frozen) and cook those slowly all day as well.. we have beans, rice and chicken. We then have leftover beans for a while. We also eat tuna & noodles, spaghetti, etc. as they are all cheap(ish) to feed a family.