How cheap can you really eat?

When I am low on funds I make a lot of eggs and a lot of pasta since my dollar goes much further. There are websites out there that list great recipes for Ramen noodles. It's a little high in sodium but when money is tight it's a great way to make your money go further.

Recently, one of my friends told me about a mounting debt that he had. I had a lot of advice for him. I told him that he cannot live in luxury anymore. I begged me for money then, but I told him that I wasn't being his friend if I lent him the money so that he could cover another debt. It will just roll from one debt to another and nothing gets solved. So I helped to look into his finances, calculated all the debt he had (he had no idea). It amounted to $83,000 in credit card debts. It was appalling. It was up to him to settle the situation. As he is working, there is a way out and he just needs to be very careful with his spending. One of the areas I looked into was his groceries. At that time, he told me that he only had $20 to last the entire week. I accompanied him shopping. Before going to grocery shopping, I researched on the prices. Ready with the lowest prices in mind, I told him to select items that can last him for a week. The more I thought about it and the more I researched, it was possible to survive with $20 a week. My situation was not desperate. But armed with that knowledge, I was not so concerned about how I could live my life now. Even though you may not be able to eat all the luxurious food, I know very well that I can survive with a small budget. Of course, this is extreme and it does not include any toiletries and bills. But it is a thought! So going back to your question - what can we do to cut your budget? I would say that you can start with a target budget and work around it.

I never really pay much attention to how much money I am spending on food for the entire month. I try to spend as little as possible though because I dropped down to one job and it makes it harder to make ends meet. When it comes to meat we usually eat ground turkey, chicken, or tuna.

The answer would be to produce as much of your food at home as you can. Grow your veggies, keep chickens for eggs, poultry or rabbits for the table, even a goat for milk and cheese if you have space.

Wow how do you keep your food budget at $240 for a family of Four? I have a family of Four and we have a hard time food wise making it on it.

happythoughts.I know you have great ideas..what time period does 240 cover?? Is that possibly a whole month? I would think a week...maybe 2 weeks?

I get $168 in food stamps monthly, but due to medical things I can only eat food that hasn't been in plastic packaging and should eat organic. I spend about $50 extra in food a month. My advice shop bargain brands (which for the most part are as good) and use savings cards. I get points every month.

I think making everything at home saves a lot of money. Instead of buying a sandwich for lunch or eating out for dinner, buying bread and ham to make sandwiches and buying groceries for dinner woul help. One thing could be to buy the store brands instead of the top brands since there are the same thing. I'm not responsible for the food in my family so that's the limit to what I know. Good luck with the budgeting.

Do you have any 99 Cent stores or Dollar stores that have fresh produce, canned and frozen items? I get a lot of things like fruit and veggies there, as well as bread and some canned items that are regularly twice as much at a regular grocery store. Coupons may also help, depending on what sales you have in your stores.

I like to eat well, but I also love to cook. I have discovered a long time ago that cooking from scratch and buying some food on season and freezing it is a good way to eat well and save. I don´t use cans: I soak my beans and make my own sauces and broths. I make my jams at home too. I use my pressure cooker to save energy and to make awesome dishes with very cheap meat. I use all sorts of leftovers and turn them into something else as I don´t like eating the same thing two days in a row. I can say I eat a gourmet cheap

My parents shop at Aldi and they don't spend too much, I don't remember the exact number, we buy generic and use coupons a lot.

Someone on MyLot earlier posted about baking their own bread. I thought that was an awesome idea! Try different generic brands instead of name brands. What about extreme couponing? Would you be able to set aside time for something of that nature? Those couponers save so much money! I bet even if you put in half the work they did, you'd save an insane amount of money! We all should probably take pointers from them...Just maybe not go as far as them.

We also must keep our food budget quite low and one good way to do so is fresh fruits and veggies that are in season, salads and pastas

There are some things you can still grow with little space, potatoes can be grown in pots, herbs in window boxes, fruits in pots near windows or porch. Also think about food that grows wild, particuarly in autumn plenty of berries that grow wild. If you have a rifle or shotgun and can get the landowners permission rabbits and hares are always around, as are pigeon, and if you have any good rivers fish can be caught.

hi if your store has a food c lub like v ons you can save a lot by being a member as we get a lot taken off the regular prices and thata all name brand stuff too. I really loved shopping at Vons.thats really pretty good for a family of four.you must be pretty gifted at finding the lower prices also use coupons if you like as some swear by them.fresh fruit and veggies on sale helps too.

when I am still college, I got 15$/month from my parent, of course I can't spend it just for eat. fortunately I stay on my aunt's house and got free breakfast,lunch and dinner. sometimes I must doing some extra money working while college.Thanks god I got free food and living.