c/budget-friendly-meals

Finally broke my $5 meal streak after 3 weeks

I've been trying to keep lunches under $5 each, and last Tuesday I actually nailed 21 days in a row. The trick was noticing people keep buying pre-shredded cheese and single serving rice packets. Those cost like 3x more than doing it yourself. Has anyone else seen how much those little convenience items add up at the end of a month?

Wasted $35 on fancy olive oil for one recipe

I bought a small bottle of expensive olive oil last week just for a salad dressing recipe I saw online. Turns out regular olive oil from the store brand works exactly the same. Anyone else fall for the hype on cooking ingredients?

Changed my mind about buying pre-cut veggies after trying it for a month

Last month I decided to try buying pre-cut veggies at the grocery store near my apartment in Austin. I always thought it was a waste of money compared to chopping your own. But after a really busy few weeks of work, I grabbed a bag of pre-chopped onions and bell peppers for like $3.50. I made stir fry in under 15 minutes that night and honestly it was worth every penny. The time I saved meant I didn't order takeout and spend $15 on one meal. I guess my whole mindset shifted from seeing it as lazy to seeing it as a tool to actually cook at home more. Has anyone else found a store brand pre-cut mix that works well for tacos or soups?

The trick with dried beans that saves me 4 dollars a bag

I kept seeing people at my local grocery in Phoenix grab those pre-seasoned bean packets for 3 bucks a pop. Last month I decided to buy plain dried pinto beans for 1.50 a bag and soak them overnight myself. The difference is I control the salt and spices, plus one bag makes enough for three meals instead of one. Has anyone else switched to plain dried beans and found a good way to season them without going overboard on cost?

That trick of freezing leftover tomato paste really works, wish I knew sooner

I kept throwing away half cans of tomato paste because I'd make one recipe and then forget about it for two weeks. Last month I tried scooping it out in tablespoon portions onto wax paper and freezing the little blobs. Now I just pop one into a ziplock bag and grab it when I need it for chili or pasta sauce. Saves me like $1.50 every time I buy tomato paste because I actually use it all. My roommate thought I was crazy doing it but now she does it too. Have you guys found other ways to make those cheap ingredients last longer without wasting?

I was dead wrong about dollar store spices after burning $8 at the register

Grabbed a jar of their garlic powder for $1.25 on a whim last week, figured it'd be all filler, but it actually has way more punch than the $4 stuff I usually buy. Anyone else find a cheap pantry item that surprised them?

Hit my $50 grocery budget this week for the first time in a decade

I finally did it. Scored a whole week of meals for $50.20 at Aldi in Atlanta. Beans, rice, eggs, frozen veggies, and a small pork shoulder for stew. My mom used to do this back in the 90s. Guess I'm finally learning from her. Anyone else surprised how far simple ingredients can stretch if you plan it out?

PSA: My aunt swore by frozen veggies for meal prep and I fought her for months until my grocery bill hit $110 in a week

So my aunt Linda has been telling me for years that frozen vegetables are just as good as fresh for budget cooking. I kept buying fresh because I thought frozen was gross or something. Last month I finally added up my receipts and I was spending like $15 a week just on fresh broccoli and spinach that would go bad in 3 days. Switched to frozen bags for 2 weeks now and my weekly food costs dropped to around $85. But here is the thing - some frozen veggies like green beans get super mushy when you cook them. Is she right overall or does it depend on what you are making? Has anyone else had a relative give them cheap food advice that actually worked or backfired?

Rant: The week I tried to meal prep on $30 and it backfired hard

Last Monday I decided to challenge myself to eat for a whole week on just $30. Thought I was smart buying bulk rice, beans, and frozen veggies for $22. But by Wednesday I was so sick of bland rice bowls I caved and got a $8 burrito from a food truck. That basically wrecked my whole budget plan. Now I'm wondering if I should've spent more upfront on spices and sauce ingredients instead of all the cheap filler stuff. But hey, anyone else ever try a super low budget week and just crash halfway through? What's your strategy when the savings start to taste terrible?

Hot take: everyone acts like rice is always the cheapest option but it's really not

I saw a breakdown on some budgeting site that compared cost per calorie of different staples. Turns out potatoes in bulk are actually cheaper per serving than most rice brands when you factor in cooking time and fuel cost. I mean, rice is still cheap but people act like it's the undisputed king. Has anyone else looked at the numbers on this or am I just being too picky?

Bought a bulk bag of red lentils for $12 and half of them had little rocks mixed in

I spent a whole hour picking through them after I bit down on something hard in my soup. Has anyone else gotten batches like that from the discount bin or was this just bad luck?

Pro tip: Stop buying pre-shredded cheese for budget meals

I noticed people throwing shredded cheese into their cart at the store not realizing it costs $2 more per pound than a block and has anti-caking stuff that messes up melting. Have you actually compared the price per ounce on those bags versus a block?

My rice cooker died mid-meal last night, had to get creative

Tbh I was making my go-to budget stir fry when the cooker just stopped working with the rice half done. I dumped it in a pot with some extra water and finished it on the stove, took maybe 10 more minutes. Anyone else have an appliance fail at the worst time and have to wing it?

Update: I was dead set against frozen vegetables until my broccoli went bad in 3 days

I was at Aldi last Tuesday staring at a bag of frozen mixed veggies for $1.29 and decided to grab it after throwing out fresh produce twice that week. It actually tastes fine in my stir fry and lasts months, so has anyone else switched from fresh to frozen for most meals?

My sister swore beans in spaghetti sauce was a money saver, I called her crazy

She said to swap half the ground beef for lentils and kidney beans in my bolognese, and after trying it last week the texture is fine and it stretched one pound of meat into three meals. Anyone else have a relative push a cheap swap that actually worked?

I miss when a pound of ground beef was under two bucks

Was digging through some old receipts from 2019 the other day and saw I paid $1.89 for a pound of 80/20 at the local Kroger here in Columbus. Now it's like $4.50 on sale if I'm lucky. Three years and that's more than double. What do you guys even use now to stretch meals? I've been doing half lentils half beef in tacos and it works okay but not the same.

Why does nobody talk about how much oil you waste deep frying?

After dropping $12 on canola oil last week and realizing half of it went into the jar for storage, I asked a buddy who runs a food truck and he said just reuse it 3 or 4 times straining through a coffee filter - has anyone else been tossing perfectly good oil this whole time?

Shoutout to the guy at Aldi who told me I was wasting money on pre-cut veggies

I used to buy those pre-cut veggie trays for like $5 a pop cause I thought they were a good deal. Last week some old dude in line behind me goes "you know you can get a whole head of broccoli for 88 cents and chop it in 2 minutes right?" I kinda laughed it off but then I actually did the math - I've been paying almost 4x more just to not use a knife. Been chopping my own for a week now and honestly it takes maybe 3 extra minutes. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize a "convenience" food is just a total ripoff?

Overheard a guy at the grocery store say canned beans are cheaper than dried if you factor in the gas to cook them

I did the math on my last batch of dried chickpeas and with my old stove taking 2 hours to simmer, he might actually be right, has anyone else checked their energy cost vs the store brand cans?

Thought I saved money buying bulk rice at the warehouse store

Spent $40 on a 50lb bag of rice that got weevils after three weeks because I don't cook rice fast enough. How do you actually store big bags of dry goods without them going bad?

Pro tip: Stop using canned beans for everything like I did for years

I spent 3 years making chili and soup with canned beans, draining and rinsing them every time, until my neighbor saw me doing it and asked why I was throwing away free bean broth. She showed me how to cook dried beans for like 50 cents a pound and now I freeze the broth for soups and stews. Anyone else have a cooking shortcut they learned way later than they should have?

Realized I was wasting $40 a week on pre-made rice packs

I used to buy those microwave rice pouches for like $3 each because I thought cooking rice from scratch was too hard... turns out I was just scared of it. Three months ago I bought a $20 rice cooker on clearance at Target and started making my own. Now I make a big batch every Sunday for about 50 cents worth of rice and it lasts me all week. The difference is wild, I'm saving around $160 a month just on that one swap. Has anyone else had a similar moment where one small change cut your grocery bill way down?

Tried a $3 bag of dried beans instead of canned for soup and saved like $12

Overheard a guy at the grocery store say he spends $8 a day on lunch

I was grabbing some rice and beans yesterday when I heard this dude on his phone bragging about his $8 sandwiches from a deli near his work. That's over $200 a month just for lunch. I make a big batch of chili on Sunday with canned tomatoes, kidney beans, and ground beef when it's on sale, and it costs me maybe $15 total for the whole week. Has anyone else noticed how much people just throw away on takeout without thinking about it?

My aunt swore by freezing leftover tomato paste in ice cube trays

I always thought she was being cheap for no reason until I threw away half a can for the third time last week. Each cube is about a tablespoon and it saves me from buying those little tubes that cost $2 each at the grocery store. Anyone else do something similar with their leftover ingredients?