And this:


Counter-intuitive ways to save:
-Avoid most deals at drug stores/pharmacies. Their promotions for “buy one get one,” etc, are not as frugal as meets the eye. Similar quantities of generic brand goods at grocery stores are always cheaper. Example: 2 bags of Lays potato chips at Rite-Aid are on sale for 3.50. If you buy the same amount of generic brand potato chips at a grocery store, you will pay around 2 dollars, even when the chips are not on sale at the grocery store.
-Buying in bulk is not always the cheapest. Some bulk bags of chips, cookies, crackers, cereal, etc are actually more expensive per ounce than smaller bags of the same goods.
-Spices are a must. It might seem like a poor choice at first to waste your 5 bucks on a jar of spices, but that cumin can make the difference between a shit meal and a god tier meal.
-Buy and use small quantities of higher quality/more expensive cheeses. A slice of kraft singles cheese has little flavor, but a tablespoon of actual cheddar cheese provides much more flavor for your dollar.

>>Avoid the deli counter
But... delicious sandwiches! What will i do without my sandwiches ;_;

>>997848
Small quantities of grilled chicken for a sandwich are more healthy/economical than deli meats. Homemade egg salad, tuna salad, grilled cheese (remember use less cheese of a higher quality) are great choices.

>>997848

hunt in the woods for your food like real men. then cook that meat and make a real sandwich

>>997866

this also saves lots of money, especially if you carve yourself a spear or make a bow+arrows

>>997866
>>997869

Lets keep this shit serious. I don't want /ck/ becoming a crappy board full of ramen and microwave brownie "recipes." Oh wait...

Seriously, MJM and the occasional food porn threads are all we have. SO I'm taking some fucking initiative.

>>997877
well, then let's make a grocery list for those ""how do I eat cheap _____" threads"

>>997905

Ok, great. We can kind of merge this whole thing in to a cooking basics plus frugal tips. To start off with we can do pantry staples. This will also help the newfags that have zomghelpmeicantcook syndrome.

>>997916

-big bag o' rice (short grain, brown, etc etc, your preference)

-big bag o' potato (mix waxy and baking in the same bag and sneak it by the checkout guy to get both for the price of 1)

-various tins of beans, (black, kidney, pinto, garbanzo, etc) tomato products (crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, etc), veggies (canned corn is really the only thing i find acceptable), and tuna

-condiments: what ever you prefer (im an asian fag: soy sauce, sriracha, mayo, oil, miso, tonkatsu sauce, ketchup)

someone wanna help with basic spice list?

>>997935

Also, would it be to far of a stretch to consider suggesting using mainly tofu/beans/seitan in a dish, and adding in just a bit of meat for the flavor and psychological value? For example, usually mapo tofu is a whole lot of tofu and just a bit of pork.

Mac and cheese is cheap too.

One box is only 40 cents, and will give you enough for 2 meals. Buying them in bulk is even cheaper.

>>997938
Mac and cheese is usually cheap, but it requires use of butter and milk to make. Both of those are usually pretty expensive and perishable. If you're a poor fag like me, the electricity is always a week away from being shut off. I do buy mac and cheese boxes occaisonally, but I mix the cheese packet with either ketchup or condensed tomato soup instead of butter and milk. This tastes more like spaghett'os. Ramen, to me, is a better insta noodle type dish.

NEWFAG HERE!

Here's what I'd like to know: What do you guys have in your kitchens right now?
The only things I have a constant supply of are pasta, milk, eggs, chicken, and butter.

bump

>>998012
The basics for me are: olive oil, coarse grain salt, pepper corns (in a mill), thyme, rosemary, oregano, cumin, parsley flakes, soy sauce, chilli flakes, some cheap white wine and white or red wine vinegar. Plus some cheap-ass sunflower oil for high heat cooking.

I always keep a stash of sugar, rice, lentils, beans and canned tomatoes.

50# Bag of bread flour - $13

With this you can make all sorts of stuff

bump for more input on starter spice list

>Do not waste your money on milk

Milk is a necessity. Many things in cooking require it, and it isn't even THAT expensive, unless you live in some shithole Eastern European country.

>-Coupons, always use coupons. Plan your meals for the week based on what you can buy on sale/discounted.
Terrible advice. You can't just eat random products and expect to maintain a good level of health.

Here is the best advice:
You need protein, calories and fiber. For protein, it's easy to find places that sell ground beef at a decent price. Within walking distance of my house, I can get 300g lean ground beef for less than 2 dollars. Frozen chicken breast may cost more, but a 2kg bag will last a long time if you spread it out so you spend like a dollar a day on chicken overall. Eating corn and beans will provide you with ALL essential amino acids and thus will allow you skip eating very much meat and still get your protein fix, provided you eat plenty of beans and corn. Beans and corn is very cheap.

Calories? Bread. Potatoes. Combine bread and potatoes for a high-calorie meal that is very cost-effective. Add meat to the sandwich and it becomes awesome.

Fiber? High fiber bread is easy to find, just eat a couple slices throughout the day here and there. Buy steel cut oats, or plain fast cooking oatmeal for an excellent source of soluble and insoluble fiber. You need about 25 grams each day, so use nutritional info labels as a guide to how much you need to consume.

It is easy to eat cheaply without sacrificing nutrition, it just requires going a bit farther than buying that 14 cent bag of instant noodles.

>>998193
What is your stance on peanut butter?

And I mean the peanut butter with an ingredients list of : "Peanuts, Salt"

>>998191
>>998193

Troll detected.

OP here. Im trying to show it's possible to not sacrifice taste, nutrition or variation when poor. Your advice with just buying meat and potatos and bread and such results in a boring, pour tasting and poor nutritional diet. This may come as a shock, but amino acids, protein and fiber aren't the only important nutrients to consider. Ground beef, corn and beans get old very quickly, even with the most ample spice rack.

When you save in other areas (i.e. avoiding spending all your money on milk, expensive cuts of meat, frozen pizzas, subway), you can save the money you would have blown and purchase other things to keep your diet more healthy and interesting without breaking the bank.

When the poor come here to /ck/, they come asking on new, frugal and good tasting recipes. These people are no doubt sick of eating bread and noodles and hamburgers, they ask for a change.

You can stick by milk all you like, but compared to other ingredients, milk is not the smartest choice when broke. Ingredients like tomatoes can go into almost ANY type of cuisine you want to prepare, where as milk is somewhat limited in the culinary sense. If I buy a tomato I can use it in a cheap pasta salad, dice it over tacos, add it to a crock pot bean dish, put it in chili, eat it on a sandwich, stuff it, chop it in a vegetable salad, etc etc etc. What can milk do? Go in sauces and soups, pour over cereal? Pssh, there's a million milk-less sauces and soups that are infinitely more frugal than the ones containing milk.

I've been a poor fag for 7 months now. I bought milk one month, will never buy it again until I'm not poor. As far as I'm concerned it's worthless other than the nutritional profile, which is mediocre at best considering what other options are out there.

>>998234
I only ever buy the kind that had only peanuts listed as an ingredient, but I do eat a lot of it.

My food needs are different from most people in that, because I have a very high metabolism, I am always trying to get as many calories in as possible. The peanut butter that I buy has about 100 calories per tablespoon, so it is very useful in that sense. Also, it is a source of protein.

I'd recommend it to anyone.

Powdered and evaporated milk lasts forever and is indistinguishable from milk in a jug when used in recipes. Unless milk is a major ingredient or you drink it you don't need to buy fresh.

>>998191
You know, I would be more worried about living in the shithole if the world called USA if I was you.

And you can do easily without milk. It is not such necessity in diet.

>>998193

OP continued. I will be more clear on the subject of coupons. What I meant when suggesting coupons, is to look at the food on sale at your store for the week. Look at stuff like: oh, green peppers are on sale! It looks like ground beef finally went on sale too! This week I can make stuffed green peppers one day, and then fajitas with the peppers and some frozen chicken I've been saving! I could make a big pot of chili with the peppers and beef, too, and freeze some for later! Oh joy!"

Looking at what's on sale and planning your week around the ingredients you will buy is a basic lesson in frugality101. I did NOT mean to just buy out the store with all the sale items and only eat those. Just because seltzer water is on sale, does not mean I will buy it and cook with it.

>>998245
>This may come as a shock, but amino acids, protein and fiber aren't the only important nutrients to consider.
Spoiler: protein is amino acids.
I'm not suggesting that you only eat potatoes, bread, corn, beans and oatmeal, though it's an option if you're really not able to spend money. Ground beef is a definite value in the short term until you can afford something better like poultry.

I mean, no one in their right mind would just continue to eat beef and potatoes day after day. They'd eventually learn to spice it up with a variety of things. This is how one learns to cook.

More cheap foods:
Jello gelatin
Jello pudding
Hot dogs
Koolaid
Peanut butter + jelly has good shelf life
Frozen french fries
Bag of white onions is cheap very cheap. They go good with many dishes, but not good eaten raw.
Frozen broccoli, carrots, and peas microwaved or preferably cooked in a pan with oil go great in ramen.

>>998260
>Jello
>Hot dogs
>koolaid

>>998257

Protein is made up of amino acids, however amino acids are not necessarily protein. Let me guess, you're one of those /fit/fags that's wholly obsessed with eating "complete proteins" at every meal to make sure you get every amino acid known to man into your body?

Protip: it's not necessary

If you can save up I suggest investing in a deep freezer. My local grocery store has meat sales a few times a year where you can get chicken breast for less than a $1 a pound and ground beef for approx. $1.50 (usually $4 each a pound normally) Not to mention the deals you can get when buying whole or half cows, whole sheep, etc.

>>Avoid the deli counter, salad bar, instant meals, frozen meals, etc.
Go to the deli counter. You can get several sandwiches at a cheap price.

>>998267
Its not like the body needs proteins to build its structure or anything, amirite?

>>998267
>however amino acids are not necessarily protein.
Which is why I said "protein is amino acids" and not the reverse.
sigh

>>998271

see
>-Always calculate the price per ounce or gram of the item you are purchasing.

Deli meats are often over 3 dollars a pound (even when on sale). You might be able to justify it if you're only getting a tiny bit, but you can get more meat for your money using other cuts in the frozen section.

If you're talking about the premade sandwiches, same thing goes. 3 bucks for a sandwich less than a pound may seem like a steal compared to SubMart, but when you're fucking shit ass poor you can prepare a lot more food 3 bucks at home. Deli counters are always a rip off, even when there are sales.

Please, /fit/fags and trolls stay out. Go make a thread about squatz and microwave brownies.

>>998286
baked chicken breasts drizzled with olive oil and spices (i got this savory blend shit from sams club, shit is so cash. no salt or msg) are awesome for just about anything. including sandwhiches. get some fresh tomatoes, onions and peppers on that bitch with some 12 grain and SPICEY BROWN MUSTARD and you got yourself a sandwhich

good thread, $anon.
a few thoughts:
store brand oats.
spices that you bag yourself that are priced by the pound; you only need 1/2 ounce.
sprouts: sprouting alfalafa , lentils, what else?
is both cheap and gives some nutricious green live stuff that we poorfags sometimes skimp on.
windowsill garden is related; grow some cilantro or basil or rosemary or mint or scallion, parsley, for a cheap touch of fresh spiciness. If you use dope, grow it, if it's safe.
$10 can dried potato flakes, $6, i knew a girl who lived a semester on that.
where to shop:
walmart is a key resource for poorfags,
but it's better to make it just part of the mix: some sttuff is bettter from aldi, the food coop, the mainstream grocery store, the feed store, the "it fell off a truck" salvage store, the asian market, the mom and pop mexican place, the big international warehouse acrosss town.
at least -look- in the dumpster so you see what you are missing.,
beans dry soaked boiled fridge/freezer is cheaper than canned.
the crrappy peanut butter with added sugar might be cheaper per peanut than the all peanut stuff.
canned goods from the indian market give more spicy bang for the buck.
some of the "weeds" in your garden or the campus park are edible vegetables. there's probably an apple tree, pear tree, plum tree cherry tree somewhere handy that isn't being harvested, they think it's just for shade - ask and harvest.
food pantries, if you're actually poor and desperate.
volunteering at the soup kitchen can get you extra bags of leftovers. did i mention have a garden?
be a dishwasher and eat the extra?
be a personal shopper for old ladies/yuppies, take away leftovers. be the guy who cleands the frige at work once a month.

Invest in kitchen equipment that can help offset costly items. Make it known to friends and family you need a blender or a food processor. Check out the Salvation Army, they always have shit like that for a steal. You can make your own pasta sauce, peanut butter, etc for a fraction.

Make friends at farmer's markets and stores. They are always more willing to help you out if they know your name and face. Don't be afraid to haggle even at a grocery store. If the lettuce looks a little wilted see if they can't discount it a little.

Sometimes you can get boxed pasta for as little as 50 cents a box. If you can, stock up. Otherwise make it at home. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.

>http://www.choosingvoluntarysimplicity.com/
Look for the articles in the "Frugality" section.

Anyhow, the main thing with reasonable frugality in terms of food is cheap and fresh ingredients plus big portions of food rationed for several days. If one has a freezer she can pretty much cook months worth of food at once extremely cheaply and the just refroze it when ever hunger strikes.

Not ALL frozen foods are to be avoided. If you work in an office type environment that has a microwave, and have a freezer at home, take a look at frozen buritos. I can get them for $.33 a piece where I live. Buy an oversize novelty bag of tortilla chips like the ones that sell for $2, and bring a handful with you to work. That way you can have a Mexican style lunch for less than $.50. It might not be the best tasting or most nutritious but it will get you through the day and sure beats plain bread with penut butter.

>>997905
They actually have websites for just that sort of thing - google "low cost recipes home-cooking from scratch" and you should hit on something that'll tell you what to buy and how to cook it to feed a family of 4 for about $50/week. Be prepared to trade a lot of time for monetary savings, however.

Also deli counters need not be wholly avoided - some sell the "End cuts" of their meats for dirt cheap (50-60% off regular price). These are ideal for making "sandwich spread" type meat salads.

If you want deli style meat for much cheaper, crock pot (or rotisserie, or oven roast, or ...) your own and buy a meat slicer - cheap rotary meat slicers can be had for $20 or so, nice ones for around $100-$150.

>>998405
Tina's burritos from the freezer section at Woodman's?
They fuck with your digestion.

>>998440
I get a different brand and they don't bother me, but yeah if it hurts find something else.

>>998260
>>998267
>>998275
>>998257

>>998405
Also, I meant to add that for about the same money, you can make your own which taste metric assloads better.

Pack of tortillas, can of beans, some ground meat (I use frozen turkey sausage), some cooked rice, a handful of shredded cheese can easily combine in about 45 minutes to a bunch of burritos which can be refrigerated/frozen to keep. My figuring puts this at a little over 50 cents per, not counting the wax paper I wrap 'em up in (which is around a penny, because I'm not so cheap that I reuse wax paper).

>>998405
Honestly, never substitute anything with frozen a product. The only type of frozen product I wish to consume is this certain type of soup that is basically the real thing with next to nothing added in it. Never rely on frozen food for daily nutrition.

OP suggests avoiding salad bar - I disagree strongly.

If you need a few ounces of different ingredients for a stir fry or to invigorate a pasta dish, the salad bar can be a pretty good deal - especially in the off season. A few pepper strips, some sliced onion, awesome.

Just buy a whole head of lettuce - paying $7/lb for lettuce is obscene.

OP also suggests buying canned beans - dried beans are far more cost effective, just takes 12-24 hours to rehydrate them first.

>>998012
Hi newfag.

Milk, coffee (I buy green and roast my own, average less than $5/lb), eggs, chicken, pasta, rice, granola (loose, not bars - i only buy what's on sale, $3/lb) cheese, canned beans, canned tomatoes, canned mushrooms, fruit (apples, pears, bananas), sauerkraut, frozen vegetables (variety), frozen fish (usually tilapia fillets, because they're cheap), frozen turkey sausage, canned tuna.

Flour, sugar, oil, corn starch, bouillion cubes (vegetable and chicken, i use knorr brand - imho, worth it).

Pickles of various types (cucumbers, mushrooms, giardiniera at the moment), condiments (ketchup, miracle whip, mustard), butter, bread (store-bought, because I lack time for baking bread).

>>998464
OP here:

I'll add in the bit that salad bar can be effective in small quantities. (I usually get all my produce in whole parts at the farmers market, so if i buy peppers I use alllll the peppers. See post regarding ground beef and peppers earlier. Buying like 5 pieces of peppers for a meal is something I wouldn't do--so never considered it before)

I suggested canned beans/legumes because they are more convenient to busy working poor fags, and they are very cheap. I will amend the section to include information on dried legumes and beans, and link to how to cook them. Almost anything is cheaper when prepared from scratch at home: bread, noodles, tortillas, beans etc. I usually draw the line somewhere, because there is a point where you can save much money cooking everything at home, but then you could lose out on time being at work.

(plus i have like 2 pieces of cookware lol, so that makes things so much harder :( )

Fuck all this, I have 2 tips.
Switch price tags on meat, find the biggest package you can and the smallest and just switch the price tags.
Grow weed and quit having to be a poorfag

>>998495
True, but dried beans are very hands-off for most of that time. I usually rehydrate by pouring hot water over dry beans, adding some salt & seasoning, and then coming back to it the next day. I totally agree with canned beans for those "oh crap, what am I going to eat?" moments, but if you know that tuesday is burrito day, monday should be rehydrate the beans day.

Also, if any markets near you stock "institutional size" foods, this can be a real bargain. Twice as much money for 4-5 times as much food - pickles is a definite win. Downside is storage constraints.

Also, don't jump to buy a sams or costco membership until you know you want it - that is an expense that has to be amortized over the annual savings you might realize. If you only save $60/yr by shopping there, you're not really saving by shopping there.

Costco is awesome if you are shopping for more than one person. Try getting a membership with, say, the other guys in your apartment and then buying your staple foods in bulk.

For example, there's a 10 lb. bag of frozen chicken breasts you can get there for $24. That shit will last you forever, and you can use chicken in so many different ways you should never get sick of it.

this should be stickied.

bump

>>999692
Why is your post number lower than the guy above you?

>>999696
stupid tripfag

Made some frugal examples:

-Example1: You are making a big ass batch of soup containing mostly potato products and bits of vegetable scraps. When Paula Dean makes such a “potato” soup, she would add in copius amounts of milk, butter, cheese and bacon. Ditch all of those. Afterall, you would rather eat the crispy bacon sparingly as a treat than watch it disappear into a soup! Add dehydrated potato flakes to the soup base of vegetable stock to add creaminess and substance. Be liberal with the spices, garlic and onions, sauté them all first to bring out the flavor. Add in a mild creamy bean like Great Northern to make the soup significantly more substantial and “eat like a meal.” Make biscuits if you want. Freeze vast quantities for later.

-Example2: You are having taco night with your underageb& friends. When Mama Ortega makes such a meal, she would use vast amounts of ground beef and serve it with chips, salsa, bean dip, sour cream, Krap shredded cheese, and Spanish Rice. Ditch all that shit. You will use cumin, chili flakes, chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, etc to heavily spice up some beans, rice and canned tomato products as your taco filler. You will use tortillas from the immigrunt store sparingly. Think massive burrito rather than danty taco. If you must use cheese, use less than a fourth of the amount Mama Ortega would smother a taco with. Eat a small amount of lettuce/salad with it.

-Example3: You are making a sandwich for lunch. When Jared makes a sandwich, he adds 10 slices of honey roasted deli ham, Krap cheese singles, olive oil based Mayonaise, bakery fresh artisan rye bread, lettuce, tomato and avocado. He eats his sandwich with some chips, a pickle and Waldorf Fruit Salad. You’re a poor bastard, so you get basically none of that. Remember those immigrunt tortillas from yesterday? That’s your bread. Use some frozen chicken or immigrunt tofu you bought on sale, or make bean fritters as a filler (smoosh up beans, mix with potato flakes and whatever else you like, pan fry in a spits worth of oil). Cabbage and carrots are in season and you picked up a bunch at the farmer’s market. Shred them, toss with vinegar, oil, sugar and you have some cole slaw. Bitches at Panera would pay 8.99 for a chicken wrap with coleslaw….

>>999974
why doesnt he just eat ramen?
I get mine for quite cheap and it takes no preperation

>>1000020

see the 9000 earlier posts, troll fag. when you're poor you get sick as shit of eating ramen and after a while your bowels do too.