This Is What $29 Can Actually Buy You

I know, I know. I wasn't going to do this. I'm not sure there's really any point in doing this, but last night when I saw the headline, "I lived on $29 and it almost killed me," a little something snapped (oh my gosh--SNAP--no pun intended there) in me and I just did it. This article, I should warn you, is long. I tried to be thorough, honest, and then more thorough.

I'm going to say with a healthy dose of humility that $29 didn't buy nearly as much as I thought it would. I desperately wanted to include a whole chicken ($4.15), a 3 lb bag of apples ($2.99),or a couple grapefruits ($1.18), but I couldn't. No matter how I jerked the numbers around, I just couldn't make it happen without sacrificing some essential item (though I maybe could have sacrificed that jelly if you can eat peanut butter sandwiches without the jelly).

However, I must say in all non-humility that this is a perfectly sustainable, fairly healthy, fairly tasty spread. Yeah, it'd get a little boring if you had to do it every week, but you wouldn't. Next week you'd still have some of this left and to that you'd add that chicken and some other things. Besides does eating the McDonald's dollar menu get boring, or buying the same dollar freezer meals over and over? I should think so.

So this is what we got. These are Aldi prices. In a bit, we'll talk about Walmart pricing and what that will get you.

The highlights are the $29/30 worth of stuff; the rest is what I bought additionally for my family of 6 since the $29 is a per person amount (and an estimate that varies from state to state as well). The small numbers to the right are estimations for what those food items would have cost at Walmart. 

eggs: .99
2 lb spaghett: 1.59
spaghetti sauce: .99
3 lb bananas: 1.33
mushrooms (sale): .79
tuna: .65
100% whole wheat bread: 1.39
colored peppers: 1.49
baby carrots (sale): .69
5 lb. yukon potatoes: 2.99
2 lb sweet onions: 1.89
quick oats: 2.29
gallon milk: 1.79
8 oz cheddar: 1.79
tortillas: 1.49
cream cheese: .99
refried beans: .79
can diced tomatoes: .59
can knock off Rotel: .59
grape jelly: 1.45
Natural creamy peanut butter: 1.69
tomato soup: .59
brown sugar: 1.19

In perfect honesty, this takes you to $30.03. To make budget I'd have to have bought the smaller oatmeal and/or the smaller spaghetti. This is the type of thing SNAP gets criticized for--forcing the poor to buy the smaller items that are more expensive ounce for ounce. But in reality, SNAP gives you a month's (not a week's) worth of food money at a time, so it would actually be quite easy to buy the larger sizes and spend about $1-3 extra this week. I'm not talking Sam's Club. I'm just talking picking the big thing of oatmeal that will last you through the month instead of the small one that will only get you through the week.

Also, this assumes you have salt and some kind of fat on hand. If you really really really don't and your cupboards are utterly bare, then you're going to have to sacrifice that tuna and/or carrots and buy yourself some salt and margarine/vegetable oil (not my favorite, but it'll get the job done).

Now what are you going to make with it? 
-For breakfast you'll be having oatmeal, brown sugar, and milk. Every day. I apologize for the monotony, but it IS pretty tasty. I used to crave this meal when I was in college. It was like dessert to me. Also, you can add a dollop of PB to it and that's just lovely. I make mine in the microwave (been doing it that way since college--use a big bowl to avoid spillage) and it takes less than one minute to prepare.
-For lunch. You'll be having PBJ's and a banana and/or carrots. Or peanut butter banana sandwiches. Or cheese sandwiches (with carrots on the side). Or a grilled cheese. Or a quesadilla once in a while (you can add a few mushrooms). And there's that tuna you can make into a sandwich. You get the idea.
-For dinner:
Day 1. Spaghetti with sauce (and maybe a bit of cheese) (15 minute meal)
Day 2: Peppers, onions, tomatoes (Italian diced--1/2 can), cream cheese (I call this Sunday supper) on tortillas (25 minute meal)
Day 3: Stuffed mushrooms (mushrooms, cream cheese, cheese) (30 minute meal)
Day 4: Tomato soup and grilled cheese (8 minute meal)
Day 5: Refried beans, tomatoes (Rotel knock off--1/2 can), cheese on tortillas (5 minute meal)
Day 6: Omelet with peppers, tomatoes (1/2 can), and cheese (8 minute meal)
Day 7: Fried potatoes with onion, egg, cheese, and any veggies you've got left (15 minute meal)

*Are you eating like a king? Well, no, but it's good food. I eat all these foods on a regular basis and they're pretty delicious. 
-Also, I could have gone cheaper on some items. I could have gotten the non-natural peanut butter, the russet potatoes, the beans I had to rehydrate instead of the canned, plain tomato sauce instead of a "spaghetti" sauce. There are ways to pinch even more, but I was able to add these things in for somewhat tastier (and often easier) options. 

*Are you eating your five fruits and veggies a day? Nope, not always. But you've got a solid three, sometimes four. And that's better than the average American. If you want to add another veggie each day, swap those potatoes out for a bag of sweet potatoes and add one in every day--that'll take you to four or five each day. Not good enough per the ideal, but silver star per the average.

*Are you too busy to make these meals? If you are, you're too busy to stand in line and then wait for your food at McDonald's because most of this food takes the same amount of time or less.

*Can you be on an unusual diet and make it with this budget? Maybe. But you'd have to work really hard at it. However, I think this would be just fine for many diabetics--yes, there's some bread and pasta, but very few sweets. You might have to skimp on that brown sugar or jam. To go gluten-free, you could go with more rice and more potatoes. Dairy-free--beans beans the magical fruit--load up on the garbanzo and bean salad it up. Again--it wouldn't be easy. But are special diets ever easy? Is the purpose of SNAP to make every single person's life a perfect food bliss or to provide a reasonable amount of food for those without?

*Would you be hungry? You shouldn't be unless you are used to eating a ton of food or working a very manual job (possible). But most of these foods are heavy lifters--filling and satisfying and caloric--think oatmeal, peanut butter, cheese, beans. Those things can really fill a person of normal weight and activity up just fine. Also, if you get hungry with this menu, you can add another potato to your meal or eat a sandwich or tortilla for an evening snack.

Let's talk about urban deserts. Everybody who ever writes an article about food always always talks about them. And they always always make some comment about how they in suburbia might have a car and access to grocery stores, but those poor among us who are in "urban deserts" will have to buy food from convenience stores and/or be forced to rely on fast food. It's one of those weird arguments that always makes me kind of scratch my head. Because they don't put major grocery stores out in the middle of nowhere. They put them near the fast food and the gas stations. (Or visa versa, but at any rate these things are always found in clusters.) I thought about several McDonald's in my town. Each and every one (that I could picture--five or six) is less than ONE mile away from a MAJOR grocery store--many within two or three blocks, one across the street, and many near a discount style grocery store. Also, even in a city with lousy bus access (like mine), the buses always go to the grocery stores and the downtown areas. It's like the one place in town you can actually take the bus. Is it easy or fun to take your two kids on the bus to Walmart? Heck no. (Is it easy or fun to take your kids to Walmart anytime ever. No.) But if you're headed to McDonald's anyway.... My point being that if you can leave your house to get food of any kind, then getting your butt to a grocery store is not the hardest thing to do. And if you cannot leave your house at all for food or otherwise, then you have bigger problems than food insecurity and those need to be dealt with.

Now, let's be honest. I admit that I got this food from a cheap grocery store--cheaper than Walmart. Not everywhere in the U.S. has an Aldi. But many cities have a Save a Lot or Ruler Foods or some discount grocery store. And these are often located nearer to poor parts of town. That said, they aren't always an option. I estimated some Walmart prices for what I got, and the honest truth is that several things had to go. I had to leave out the mushrooms, one can of the tomatoes (so you'd be stretching that can pretty thin, the bell peppers, tuna, the cream cheese, the gallon of milk (you'd have to go 1/2 gallon or quart), and maybe those tortillas (swap them out for an $.85 bag of rice). Your meals would definitely be more boring and repetitive. Again this isn't fun--whee--but it is possible.

picture of what I could get (estimate since I didn't actually go to Walmart today)

ALSO. And I consider this an important also--you're going to have some foods left over. This is what you could expect to have stretch into next week.
-onions
-potatoes
-spaghetti
-tortillas
-a bit of peanut butter
-jelly, oatmeal
-brown sugar
-maybe some milk
So next week, you can add in that whole chicken (which will feed you two, maybe three times and provide some stock if you'd like for a potato soup). You could buy rice and a bag of dry beans (which can go incredibly far and are extremely filling). You can have that bag of apples and maybe some spinach or, if you're lucky, a cheap bag of chocolate chips. Again--I realize it's not perfectly easy, but it's possible. And most of these foods don't take intense culinary skills or planning power--hmm, I'll just throw that sauce on that spaghetti. Can you be a diva and live on this budget? Eh...Can you be an idiot and live on this budget? Eh... But you can be a moderately intelligent person, a person with little time, little transportation, little creativity, and live on this budget. Yes, you can. (But you can't buy 7 limes. And no I couldn't resist. The end.)

5 Intensely Cheap Recipes

(Curried deviled eggs)

Every once in a while Yahoo (or whoever) will run an article boasting a recipe for cheap food--something like salmon that comes out to something like $3 or $4 per serving. I'm not bashing that, but it doesn't impress me. Every time I read those articles I think, "That's just homemade food; homemade food is always cheap." And it is. Or at least cheaper than it's restaurant or TV dinner counterparts. But that's not really really cheap. And really really cheap is what I want to talk about today.

Really really cheap is what you need if you already make most of your food at home, but still need to pinch a grocery penny. Really really cheap is how people have survived through famines and depressions, war rationing, and other shortages. And every once in a while, even in our so-privileged-we-don't-always-remember-we're-privileged society, we need to cut back severely and it's really really cheap that comes along to save the day. Here are some ideas for eating well, but crazy dirt cheap--like, less than $.50/serving.

I should note that it's helpful to find yourself a super cheap store in which to buy your food. In the Midwest we've got Aldi and Ruler Foods. These super cheap stores are the type of stores where every single item is (almost always) cheaper than Walmart. These stores are little gems of cheapskaterlyness. Most of my pricing is based on these stores. That said, you can generally find super cheap produce (and other cool things) at Asian stores. Or shop sales. Or with coupons. But even if you don't do any of those things, these foods are the cheapest there are.

1. Rice and beans and beans and rice. It doesn't have to be unpleasant. Check out these crock pot re-fried beans. Serve them with rice if you want a meal for less than $.25/person. But if you're, like, rich and stuff, you can serve them with tortillas and a little cheese, or maybe some salsa or garden tomatoes. Or sauteed peppers. Or whatever awesome summer veggies sound good. A whole pot of beans (4-8 servings) costs $.35-.40. That is $.05-.10/serving. This (with all due respect to those fabulously well-written Yahoo articles) is cheap. But it is still oh-so-good.

2. Lentils. They're a legume that's quick, cheap, and healthy. Not everyone loves them. Some people hate them. I believe that if there's a solution for that problem, it is this dal. I have tried dozens of dals and lentil soups, but this is the best I've found (by a good long shot in my humble opinion). Even my husband--a devout lentil hater--likes it. This comes up to about $.50/serving. Add a tortilla or somekindawonderful naan and you're up to a whopping $.60, you big spenders you. (And, yes, you will be full. And happy. And full. )

(Note: This is the Coconut Red Lentil Dal--it's my second favorite and it had prettier pictures.)

3. Eggs Eggs Eggs. You can eat them a billion ways. Recently I posted a Dutch Baby recipe, which is a fabulous way to dress them up, but these deviled eggs can't be beat either. Add a seasonal salad and you're set. Two deviled eggs (4 halves) are going to run you about $.20/serving. Add yourself a cucumber tomato salad and you're going to add another $.50 (with summer seasonal veggies). Note: I get that if you're a man or teenage boy, this might not tide you over, but it's pretty filling and satisfying for me. And there's always bread....(see number 5).

4. Potatoes. This is our favorite potato soup. And this one--a close second for me--has a potato base, but also boasts a whole lotta spinach. More spinach than the average American eats in a meal or likely a week. More spinach than the stereotypical poor person (should he or she actually exist) ever eats. And that for $.40/bowl.

5. Bread. Oh poor bread. It's gotten such a sad, bad name for itself in recent years. But bread is cheap. And it can be healthy. During the summer, after I've made some homemade jam (which I do once or twice a summer because I think it's fun and awesome), one of my favorite things in this world to do is to make a loaf of bread, eat it with some fresh jam, and a bowl of fruit thereby. It's like heaven on a table. It's like mid-summer Thanksgiving. We all love it. Bread is also a great receptacle for eggs, cheese, nut butters, and other healthy stuff. This 100% whole wheat bread is classic and delicious ($1.15/large loaf). Want one that's dumb easy (and doesn't require kneading of any sort)? Try this refrigerator bread ($.50/loaf). Or this one-hour bread ($.45/loaf).

Cheap Fast Healthy Favorites

Cheap Eat Challenge, Part 2: Watch as our family of 6 eats on less than $10/day.

(Hop on over here to participate in our first ever giveaway.)

Last night when I was triple dog tired and finishing up my post (with several things ahead of me still in need of doing), I couldn't help but notice the title for Apron Strings blog: Could You Live On Food Stamps? That caught my eye and I thought, "Yes, ma'am, I could." Because I am an extremely humble person and, frankly, because--at this point in life and family--I could.

Upon reading Donna and Anne's joint post, however, I couldn't help but be impressed by their more humble, kinder attitudes. Donna talked about the Food Stamp Challenge--a challenge to eat on $4/per person/per day ($24/day for our family). And Anne, in a particularly poignant and wise post, pointed out the dangers of a challenge like this: namely that it is essentially an artificial situation and can encourage classism--richer people playing a game at being poor, and then making a judgment either of pity ("Those poor people; this is just impossible") or disdain ("Ha, I just did that for a week and it wasn't so hard either"). I also appreciated her comments on many of the challenges of living on much less, especially much less than what one is used to.

Boy, it got me thinking. (Note: Thinking is great and all, but it did interfere with my other tasks for the evening, which were also begging for a part of my brain. Alas.)

In particular, I thought about the challenges of living on less--whether you use food stamps or just live out of necessity on a significantly small food budget (I put our family in this camp). That challenge is really what spurred the idea for this blog. I wanted/needed to cut something out of our budget and food was the thing I felt I could control the most.

However, Apron String's post also got me thinking about how much harder that would be to do if you were a single parent (or, for that matter, if both parents were working outside the home), which is a challenge I don't have. Consequently, I do have more time to plan and prepare food. Also, my children are small. I'm not so dumb that I think $10/day is going to fly when we have 3 or 4 teenagers under one roof as we (let me give a big budgetary shudder here) one day will.

So, while feeling a little humbled, I wondered what recipes/ideas I might be able to contribute because the point (besides a bit of empathy) to these things also seems to be to come up with good solutions.  Maybe that doesn't sound empathetic, but it doesn't really help to sit around and weep into our hankies, now does it. (Although we certainly all have those budget moments too.)

Below you'll find 7 of my favorite recipes. They are all intensely cheap (I tried to keep it under $2.00--at most $3.00--for 4 servings--those would be servings for normal people, not teenagers) as well as quick and easy to prepare for those who are time-strapped. They're also, with the exception of the cake which is there for comfort food purposes, all quite healthy as well. And did I mention they're some of my favorites--they taste GOOD.

Falafels with Cheater Sauce
Serves 4
Cost: $2.00 when you include tortillas to wrap the falafels in ($.50/serving)
Prep and cook time: 25-30 minutes

These have foods my husband wouldn't touch if he knew what they all were. I try to keep him in the dark because he totally loves these.

Jeanie's Mac and Cheese
Serves 4
Cost: $1.60 per 8x8 inch pan ($.40/serving)
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

And this has meat--I even used humanely raised meat (not a booty load, but enough) to come up with this cost.

Chicken Fried Rice
Serves 4
Cost: $1.30 per meal ($.32/serving)
Prep time: 20 minutes if boiling chicken
Cook time: 30 minutes if making rice
However, if you make this as a leftover meal (veggies, meat, and rice that you have in the fridge from other meals), this will be ready in 15 minutes flat.

Fried rice can have meat or not. The great thing about it is that a little meat can go a long way.

Spinach Quiche
Serves 4
Cost: $2.25 per meal ($.56/serving)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Cool/set time: 5-10 minutes

Kiss me, you perfect quiche, you. Loaded with spinach and protein.

Dal with Tomatoes and Cream
Serves 4
Cost: $1.95, plus you'll want bread or tortillas so you'll need to add $1.00 for that ($.75/serving)
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Looking at this picture always makes me drool, not because it looks so amazing, but because I remember how unbelievably good it tastes.

No Knead Oat Bread
Makes 1 loaf
Cost: .45 per loaf (or about .10/serving)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Rise time: 30 minutes
Bake time: 30 minutes

Yes, it still takes an hour to make this, but you barely have to do anything. Still not perfect if you're coming home from work at 7:00 and exhausted, but still economical on time as far as breads go.

Wacky Cake
Serves 24 (well, it should, but it doesn't around here--it makes a 9x13 inch pan)
Cost: $.88 per 9x13 inch pan (that's $.03/serving--beat that Betty Crocker)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

This cake is so easy and so so good. It's made in the pan. You have one dish to wash when all is said and done (and lots of little kid fingers and faces, but I'm not counting that). It requires no eggs, butter, or milk (so it's allergy friendly as well.) It's really one of the best cheapskate, time saving foods ever and recipes like this were said to have been used during The Great Depression and I believe it. We do usually eat it frosted, but it can be eaten without to good effect as well, especially if you've got a dusting of powdered sugar.

Note if you're interested: The Food Stamp Challenge begins November 8th and goes for a week, at least in Utah. I don't know if it's nationwide or just a Utah thing. I also don't know how much the daily allotments per person are in Indiana.