Comments on: Budget Menus: Short Term Strategies

By: The Obligatory Best Of 2009 | Home Ec 101

The Obligatory Best Of 2009 | Home Ec 101 — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:21:11 +0000

[...] Budget Menus: Short Term Strategies The recipe: Broccoli Almond [...]

By: ThatBobbieGirl

ThatBobbieGirl — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:41:59 +0000

meat & macaroni salad:

can of tuna, or chicken, or ham (or leftovers)
cooked macaroni (whatever shape you have)
chopped onion & celery if you have them
frozen peas, thawed (or leftover — not canned, too mushy)
shredded carrots, if you have some

toss together with just enough mayo or miracle whip to moisten, or another salad dressing that sounds good to you.

When I was little and my parents were in weight watchers, mayo was a huge no-no, so they mixed their tuna with yellow mustard which was a “free” food. Sounds weird, but actually not bad. And it’s cheaper than mayo.

for longer term – try to find a “salvage” grocery store. I go to one called BB’s Grocery Outlet, for amazing deals on stuff that grocery stores have rejected because it’s slightly damaged, or a little past the sell-by date. I’ve gotten gourmet soups there at 3 cans for a dollar, rather than the $3 each that they sell for elsewhere. (That’s how I know that Wolfgang Puck’s tomato soup is amazing!) Cans of refried beans are almost always 3/$1. I’ve also gotten 5 pound blocks of cheese for way less per pound than grocery stores sell it for. I cut it up and freeze it – crumbles when you thaw it, but I use it for cooking so it doesn’t matter. easy, cheap protein!

By: twadlund

twadlund — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:23:25 +0000

These are some really great suggestions. My wife is a teacher and I just started a business so I can safely say we fall into the category of needing to cut our food budget…I can guarantee you that we cook at one or two of these ideas this week. Good stuff!

By: Stacy

Stacy — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:46:40 +0000

I should add that before I realized how unhealthy it was, my low-budget meal of choice was Top Ramen with lots of toppings–scrambled eggs, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil (my old college roommate from Singapore gave me that combo). If you like hot stuff, chili oil is good on it. You can do the same thing with other Asian noodles that are healthier than Top Ramen, like rice noodles, thin Japanese noodles, or chow mein noodles–found in the Asian/foreign food section of the grocery store. It’s pretty tasty and very cheap. If you have a little extra money, chopped up green onions are good in it too.

By: Stacy

Stacy — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:42:15 +0000

Our empty-cupboard meals are usually spaghetti, eggs and toast, pancakes or tuna sandwiches. It seems like we always have most of the ingredients for these things even when most of the rest is gone. Usually I don’t let the freezer get too empty, so a common meal for us when groceries are kind of low, but not completely absent, is some kind of meat, usually baked chicken, with rice and canned corn. It’s not exciting, but it works.

By: Lucy

Lucy — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:27:07 +0000

We suffered from the more month than money problem for years. We also live in the sticks and have to drive quite a ways to shop. I finally solved the problem by building up a pantry by buying loss leaders.Also, a little bacon can salvage many otherwise meatless meals for my “carnivores”.

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:39:10 +0000

This short solution is not a good way to solve a long term problem. Sooner or later the consequences of not eating healthfully will catch up or the family will run out of the “extra” food and be in a real bind.
Longterm solutions involve buying and preserving food in season, coming up with creative solutions for storing bulk food when possible, and learning how to shop loss leaders for a majority of supermarket purchases. Some people have success forming a buying co-op to take advantage of bulk pricing with a reduced storage problem, but that takes planning, too. I wish there was an easy, healthy answer. You may want to check into Angel Food Ministries.

By: emily

emily — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:39:01 +0000

I feel like this is my life lately- trying to figure this out- and healthfully at that! Lentils, rice, homemade refried beans and tortillas are favorites around here. We stick mostly with apples, bananas, carrots and peas as our cheap fruits and veggies.

By: Heather

Heather — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:37:21 +0000

I absolutely meant to include pasta, thanks for the reminder. I’ve edited the post. I mentioned spaghetti, but forgot to put it under gap fillers. Thank you!

By: Becca

Becca — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:32:19 +0000

You didn’t mention pasta. When our family is in a bind financially we end up eating lots more pasta. Pasta is loved anyway in our house, but you know if we have had spaghetti for dinner 3 times this week, we are eating out of our pantry.

I also try and keep a few meals in a can on hand like canned chili, soups, etc. These are easy meals and a lifesaver when you have run errands all day and still need to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes. Its easy to grab a can or two when they go on sale, and its much less expensive than grabbing fast food.
And, as a random note, baked potatoes with chili on top are a great meal.