What do you consider to be a budget meal?
#272797 - 07/06/06 12:11 PM
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jen1013
Reged: 05/06/05
Posts: 1322
Loc: the wabe
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I'm trying to be better about menu-planning and doing a real budget (other than "as little as possible"). There are two of us and I usually spend $.75-$1.00 per serving on dinner. Depending on what I make and how many servings it is, I spend anywhere from $2-$6 on dinner. Which includes main dish, side dish, and veggies. (or all three if I make something like pizza.)
So, thinking maybe I could get this down even more, I started Googling around to see what other people have out there for budget recipes. It seems like the "budget" recipes cost even more than mine. Like, a main dish may end up costing $1.50 per serving -- but that's just the main dish and doesn't take into account side dish and vegetable.
I buy pretty much all generic, buy only sale meat (except for ground turkey, because it never goes on sale), and don't buy many pre-packaged products. I used to have a membership at Sam's Club, but I let it expire because it cost $40/yr and their prices weren't any better than my favorite grocery store. So now I'm wondering if I'm being unrealistic and if my meals are pretty much as cheap as you can get and still be relatively healthy. I mean, sure, I could eat toast and jam all week, but it's not exactly nutritious. Plus how can all these people afford to eat ground beef?? Here in Iowa it's three bucks a pound, or you can get it for $2.50 if you don't mind it being mostly gristle and strange white tubey things.
Sometimes I think that when people claim that they're feeding six people on $200/month they fail to mention that they're getting food stamps. 
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jen
"It's one of the most serious things that can possibly happen to one in a battle -- to get one's head cut off." -- LC
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Your doing better than me on budget meals! I guess if I had to come up with a weekly, average grocery bill, I'd say its about $60-75 a week and its just Will and I!!
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Taking it one day at a time.....
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Hi,
I'm right with Michele...about 100 cad a week and it's just 2 of us also, and two kitties.
Jenn
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Hmmmmm....let me think......
I can make a casserole for my husband and I for maybe 25¢ or less per serving (guessing). I usually make enough for leftovers or to put in the freezer. Tacos are a good budget meal for us.....it's quick and we use elk meat. My husband went hunting and got an elk. Or last year we raised chickens and butchered them (I went for a hike that day) and put them in the freezer. I can make a dish pretty cheap with one of those. And right now when the garden starts producing that will help, too. We have a water well...so we don't have to pay a water bill to water the garden.
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Hmm...
#272814 - 07/06/06 02:55 PM
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atomic rose
Reged: 06/01/04
Posts: 7013
Loc: Maine (IBS-A stable since July '05!)
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It's hard for me to break things down to the meal, because Adam and I haven't been eating the same things - he eats meat and I'll have rice and beans, or I'll grab a sandwich because his teeth are bothering him and he doesn't want to eat. But I think your figure of .75-1.00 per serving is pretty darn good. I'm sure we don't do better than that.
Lately I've been splurging on a lot of fresh produce, which is, of course, more expensive, so I've been spending maybe $40-$50 a week on food. When I don't buy so much of the good stuff, and just get canned veggies, I can probably squeak by on $20 a week.
Oh yeah, and we do all generics too. For the most part, we get meat on sale. I skip a lot of things that would be nice, but aren't completely necessary, like soy milk. I'm a sucker for fresh produce, though, so that's one thing I refuse to pass up unless I really have to.
Edited by atomic rose (07/06/06 02:57 PM)
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I am in culinary school and I was reading a few of your posts and saw that you buy meat on sale. I just wanted to forwarn you all that even though it may be cheaper when on sale it is very important that it is not past the exp. date. Also be extremely careful with seafood as it can harbor some terrible toxins and bacterias. I don't say this to scare you but only to warn you because as you all know we already have sensitive stomachs and we have to be even more careful than others. Hope this helps somebody!!!!
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Marci.
For everything there is a season...
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Oh yeah....
#273024 - 07/07/06 08:21 PM
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atomic rose
Reged: 06/01/04
Posts: 7013
Loc: Maine (IBS-A stable since July '05!)
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I never, ever buy "markdown meat" - I just buy whatever happens to be on sale that week, which usually equates to whatever they have a lot of. The only seafood I ever buy is frozen. I'm actually mostly vegetarian, and ultra-paranoid when it comes to meat... there's a lot of things the boyfriend will eat that I won't touch with a 10-foot pole!
Proper handling and cooking thoroughly is also really important. I read an article some time back about the levels of bacteria in grocery-store meat - even the stuff that's NOT past date - and it was appalling. But the article did conclude by saying that proper cooking takes care of most (if not all) of that, and what little is possibly left would only bother someone with a highly compromised immune system. Still, it's all good advice!
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jen
"It's one of the most serious things that can possibly happen to one in a battle -- to get one's head cut off." -- LC
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at least locally I often find things fresher if on sale because its a regional sale flyer so they sell more, its not a case of having old meat, but of having more demand- the dates are normally newer..and I buy a ton of sale chicken breasts all the time for me!
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Dietetics Student (anticipating RD exam in Aug 2010)
IBS - A
Dairy Allergic
Fructose and MSG intollerant
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I spent 78$ last night.. but then again.. about 15 of it was on veggies and fruits for the glider babies... and 16 was on pop cans and deposits (it was on sale, but the deposits add up fast), and we bought a lot of restock staples because I didn't go for 2 weeks before we left except to buy things for the babies... I need to make bread/buns tonight.. and we'll go back Sunday for some things that weren't on sale this week and probably will be then...
I tend to buy a lot of frozen chicken, etc and stock up on ground turkey breast when its on sale (only the lean turkey was on sale this week- not the breast).. but otherwise I do most of our shopping on sale items each time, winding up with a good balance.. but it does mean keeping a larger pantry and that there are trips where I spend 200+ on just the 2 of us... then again we have crowds every Friday night at the house, and I feed 5 small critters who eat fresh fruits and veggies daily... I get the scraps and leftovers and freeze sometimes too when I get a good deal on something that freezes well- like the red bell peppers te babies and I both love that were on sale this week, bought 4- will use one or maybe 2 depending on what I make me... and the other 2-3 will get broken down and cleaned and frozen tonight or tomorrow...
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Dietetics Student (anticipating RD exam in Aug 2010)
IBS - A
Dairy Allergic
Fructose and MSG intollerant
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