You got 8 dollars

[kaytieeldr]

Two pounds chicken thighs & drumsticks $1.78
Three cans tomatoes $1.50
Seven Yoplait $3.50
Six ramen $1.20
Total $7.98

except I can't see this happening, at least for a long time, because I have at least two months of soup, shelf-stable microwave meals, and about nine bottles of V8 Bloody Mary juice

 

[tasha99]

1 dozen eggs 1.00
2 pounds yellow onions 1.00
Jalapenos .30
Lard 1.00
Canned tomatoes .70

From the bulk bin: 4.00
Long grain rice
Lentils
Pinto beans
Flour
Cumin
Red pepper flakes
Garam Masala
Salt

I could make fried rice, tortillas and beans (no salsa, but . . . ), rice/dal (off flavor, but . . .). I'd have enough to eat, wish I had more veggies, and wish I had more things like garlic, ginger, etc. Now if it were $32 for 4 weeks, I think I could do a lot better--I'd get the giant cans of tomatoes from Costco/Restaurant supply stores, add in more aromatics, buy some yeast to make bread, add ginger/garlic/cilantro, and throw in some cheap seasoning bacon and veggies.

Okay . . . I went and bought my list. Here's how much it actually cost:

1 dozen eggs: 1.18
yellow onions: .68 (these were .38 a pound, I underestimated the 2 pounds)
Jalepenos: .12 (2 of them)
Lard: 1.34
Canned tomatoes .58

Long grain rice: 1.17
Lentils (too expensive--I substituted yellow split peas): .92
Pinto Beans: 1.02
Flour: .34
Cumin: .17
Red pepper flakes .14
Garam Masala .10
Salt .10

Total was 7.86 cents

Here are pictures of how much food that is, and the receipt:

I actually think with water added, this is probably enough food for one person quantity-wise (really hard to tell, considering it's for 21 meals, but dried food expands a lot). It's not enough variety and not healthy--almost no veggies, and no fruit. With my last .14 cents I'd go buy baking power, which I forgot and is needed for tortillas. Now if my husband also got $8, we'd be much better off. I'd buy a little chicken(gets down to .89 cents a pound for a whole chicken here) and some vegetables with his money.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

and are at the grocery store, with no food at home, you got to eat for the week what do you get ?

Peanut butter and 2 loafs of bread

Wow, $8 to eat for the whole week!?! That’s rough!!!

I guess my first question would be, what season are we talkin’ here? Winter by any chance? Would I look out of place if I was wearing a bulky coat with big pockets?

 

[low-key]

Wow, $8 to eat for the whole week!?! That’s rough!!!

I guess my first question would be, what season are we talkin’ here? Winter by any chance? Would I look out of place if I was wearing a bulky coat with big pockets?

lol, I guess it could be anytime, the reason i picked 8 dollars as I wanted to get 2 loafs of bread with my big jar of peanut butter. But yes f you were hungry enough you could steal the food, even if you get caught you get 3 hots and a cot

 

[bcla]

Okay . . . I went and bought my list. Here's how much it actually cost:

1 dozen eggs: 1.18
yellow onions: .68 (these were .38 a pound, I underestimated the 2 pounds)
Jalepenos: .12 (2 of them)
Lard: 1.34
Canned tomatoes .58

Long grain rice: 1.17
Lentils (too expensive--I substituted yellow split peas): .92
Pinto Beans: 1.02
Flour: .34
Cumin: .17
Red pepper flakes .14
Garam Masala .10
Salt .10

Total was 7.86 cents

Here are pictures of how much food that is, and the receipt:

I actually think with water added, this is probably enough food for one person quantity-wise (really hard to tell, considering it's for 21 meals, but dried food expands a lot). It's not enough variety and not healthy--almost no veggies, and no fruit. With my last .14 cents I'd go buy baking power, which I forgot and is needed for tortillas. Now if my husband also got $8, we'd be much better off. I'd buy a little chicken(gets down to .89 cents a pound for a whole chicken here) and some vegetables with his money.

Winco Foods does a lot to help reduce prices. I've been to some locations where oatmeal is 59 cents a pound.

If I had access to cooking/refrigeration, had access to water, and could pick a place like Winco - probably 5 pounds (about $3) of steel cut oats, a gallon of whole milk ($3). and two packages of Bar S hot dogs (about $1 each).

This kind of reminds me of the packing exercises I did when I went backpacking with a bear canister. It wasn't so much price or weight, but what could be properly place in a can. A lot of it tended to be cheap calories like tortillas.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

Ha! I just bought several of those items yesterday - the eggs were $2.79, the bananas $1.49/lb., a pack of 10 flour wraps were $3.49 and the watermelon alone was $7.99.

With $8 bucks I'd have to go with a big scoop of rice out of the bulk bin, a bag of whatever kind of frozen vegetables are on sale, several cans of vegetable soup, a box of crackers and a few bananas or apples. If I had any money left over I'd buy as many five-for-a-dollar packs of ramen I could afford.

Holy cow! For $2.79 those eggs better be chocolate filled with Cadbury cream!

I bought eggs last week. A dozen was 45 cents. I bought four dozen.

 

[mousefan73]

and are at the grocery store, with no food at home, you got to eat for the week what do you get ?

Peanut butter and 2 loafs of bread

sad thing in most stores for 8 bucks you’d only afford one loaf!

 

[Nora03]

I’m finding this thread fascinating. Tasha99 I think you’ve won. I’m amazed at some of the prices as we live in Canada and our prices are much higher.

 

[ronandannette]

Holy cow! For $2.79 those eggs better be chocolate filled with Cadbury cream!

I bought eggs last week. A dozen was 45 cents. I bought four dozen.

Sadly no - not even organic or free-range - just plain old large sized, Canada Grade A factory farmed eggs. And you won't find them cheaper anywhere.

I’m finding this thread fascinating. Tasha99 I think you’ve won. I’m amazed at some of the prices as we live in Canada and our prices are much higher.

We'd be simply screwed on $8 bucks a week.

 

[jo-jo]

In Pa , ever since the egg issue about a month ago, eggs have doubled in price. They have come down a bit, but still over $2 a dozen.

Those getting eggs getting for under a buck, where are you?

We also have high milk prices...$4 a gallon.

 

[dclpluto]

This will be a good thread for the budget board.

 

[ronandannette]

This will be a good thread for the budget board.

Except on the Budget Board it would be called “How to Feed a Family of 5 While Saving for a Disney Trip” (right after the threads about selling plasma) and people would actually be doing it...

 

[Happyinwonerland]

Except on the Budget Board it would be called “How to Feed a Family of 5 While Saving for a Disney Trip” (right after the threads about selling plasma) and people would actually be doing it...

Honestly, it made me re-examine my own grocery spending, and while I don't plan to feed my family such a meager menu, I am inspired to be a little more strategic with my grocery shopping and menu planning.

 

[MIGrandma]

Ramen noodles, a loaf of bread, small jar of peanut butter and some bananas.

 

[bcla]

In Pa , ever since the egg issue about a month ago, eggs have doubled in price. They have come down a bit, but still over $2 a dozen.

Those getting eggs getting for under a buck, where are you?

We have high egg pricing here in California. However, it's because there's a specific requirement for "California Shell Egg Food Safety Compliant" eggs, where they're typically labelled "CA SEFS compliant". There are specific requirements for the conditions for the hens - ostensibly to reduce the chances of salmonella contamination. Eggs may come from out of state, but there's will be paperwork/audit requirements.

It's not that these eggs are necessarily much more expensive to produce, but when there are shortages supply is constrained because of the requirement. For large AA eggs I've seen prices for a dozen anywhere from $1 to $3 at Trader Joe's since this went into effect.

I've actually bought eggs at Dollar Tree. Right now it's a carton of 8 medium AA eggs for $1, while eggs are around $2 a dozen at other discount retailers.

 

[Meriweather]

eggs are about 2.29 a dozen here now in a regular grocery store

 

[lorijohnhill]

When I first moved out on my own, a million years ago, I had a budget of $35 a month for food. I’d buy pasta, crackers, butter, canned peaches, eggs, bread, mayo, mustard, and frozen broccoli.

For $8 for a week, I would get:
pasta - 2 boxes $2
Butter/margarine - $1.25
Bread -$1
Peanut butter - $2.50
Salt - $.25
Can of green beans - $.89

 

[Luv Bunnies]

If you're at work during the week, you only really have to worry about dinners. Just get to work early and forage through the fridge in the break room for breakfast. Or, scout the conference rooms to see if anyone is setting up for a catered meeting. If you take anything from a platter, such as a bagel, be sure to rearrange the remaining ones so you don't leave a big hole. Stroll by the break room often to see if they put out the leftovers after the meeting. Carry a ziplock bag so you can load it up. You might be able to sleep in the next day if you don't have to come in early to hunt and gather.

After everyone shows up and puts their lunches away, go to the fridge and get your lunch. An apple here, a cheese stick there, a yogurt, bag of chips. Drink water from the water cooler and you're all set. You just have to eat your contraband in private so no one recognizes it as being theirs. Then things can get ugly.

 

[barkley]

1# bag of dry beans-.79
2-1# bags of frozen veg (on sale this week)-$1.58
4-knock off brand ramens-.60

costco rotisserie chicken-$4.99-during this purchase i would be gorging on samples and then hitting the 'food court' to grab some mayo, pickle relish, catsup, salt and pepper packets.

meals of chicken and or veggies 'stir fry' (chix, ramen, veg), bean soup (with carcass of chix, veg), 'chicken salad'-shredded chicken w/costco freebie mayo and relish crazy2: not my standard way of making it-but in a desperate pinch....).

i know the chicken is a big single purchase but none of the stores i just looked into (4 locals) had any meat that was less than $2 a pound unless it was in a value pack or prepacked w/no option to buy by the pound so i can get more bang for my buck w/the rotisserie which ends up PREPARED for about $1 or less per pound.

 

[bcla]

I started thinking about a cheaper source of carbs than oats, and then I noticed that potatoes were mentioned. I remember as a kid seeing specials of 10 lb bags of Russet potatoes for $1. I was recently at a local market that had 10 lb bags for about $2.50.