How can I budget $121 for food for 10 days?

A pot of spaghetti costs very little and can last 3 or 4 days.
Same with a pot of beans or a pot of chili. It is much cheaper to make your meals than to buy carry out.

Your money will evaporate quicker if you rely on restaurant food. Even today $121 bucks will buy a single individual ample groceries for nutritious and ample dining For a 10 day duration.

Twelve dollars a day is not luxurious but adequate.

Don’t get any take out food. But you can get eggs and milk and breakfast ham slices. You can get sandwich makings for lunch, and you can get fresh vegetables for salads. Also, frozen lasagna, frozen pot pies. There is a lot you can do with ground beef.

And you can get some canned soup.

Of course you can live off of hotdogs for 10 days. But if you have an extra $121, then buy the kinds of food @chyna suggested. $121 would easily last me 10 days, by myself.

Also, they have buy one get one free sales on different meats at my local store. I always buy two roasts when they offer it. A roast, with potatoes, onions, carrots and tomatoes can last a looooong time. I always end up freezing some. Just dunking bread in the juice can be a whole meal for me at times.

While you could live off of 100 hotdogs, it’s not recommended.

Canned vegetables are very cheap at the right stores. Rice, beans, and pasta can be bought cheaply in bulk. Keep an eye out for coupons and deals.

Definitely do not rely on take-out. It’s much more expensive to eat out regularly.

Do you have a crock pot? If not, invest in one. They are not that expensive.
You could buy a bag of frozen chicken breasts and put 2 or 3 in a crockpot with a can of chicken broth, a can of creamy chicken soup, a can of mushroom soup, or just salt and pepper to taste. This could make 2 meals with a salad or a cooked vegetable.

@zenvelo You can’t look at it like ”$12 a day.” For 12 bucks you can get enough inexpensive, but decently healthy food to last for 3 days. I could, anyway.
One of my favorites is macaroni noodles simmered in stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce, layered with cheddar cheese upon serving. That’s less than $12 and can last me 3 or 4 days.

@all thanks keep the tips coming. I have spaghetti. I have a crock pot.

I boil a pot of beans (kidney beans, black beans, northern white beans, or black-eyed peas) on Sunday. They’re good hot or cold, in soups and salads, as a standalone side dish, and lots of other ways.

$12 a day!
I could eat like a king, for $12 a day. I’d eat out every day, and still have cash on hand.
I think you underestimate yourself, @Dutchess_III

Starch is very filling and very cheap. Pasta, potatoes, bread, beans, etc. It’s very popular in England to out baked beans on a baked potato and eat it as a meal.
Find a freaking Everything-is-a-Dollar store and buy 120 food items. You’ll be eating the stuff for weeks.
Beans work well in the Crock Pot. Potatoes, too.

Learn white sauce/gravy. 1+1+1
1 Tbs fat, melted in a pan (like butter, margarine or sausage grease)
1 Tbs flour, added to the fat and browned, slightly
1 Cup liquid. Milk for white sauce or white gravy, broth for clear gravy.
I’ve known people that made delicious gravy using the water off of boiled potatoes. I have not tried to duplicate it.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure I could feed a small group on $12 a day. Under 10. And appealing food, if the seasonings and condiments at my home are a given.

You could eat healthy for 30 days on $121 if you followed the Eat healthy on $4 a day menu recipes.

Buy 2 gallons of milk, 1 – 2 lb. 10 oz. container of oatmeal, and 2 loaves of the inexpensive bread, one quart mayo, 1 head of lettuce, 4 small cans of tuna, 1 lb. butter and 2 lbs. instant mashed potatoes, 1 doz. eggs. You do have sugar, don’t you?? Stay away from the fast food places as they will eat up your money fast. I have a 14 day food budget of $50 and I do very well.

No! Real potatoes! You can do so many things with potatoes. They fed an entire nation for hundreds of years.

Get both kinds of potatoes. Just make sure they are Idaho potatoes.

My food budget is about $50–100 a month. I don’t even have a stove or refrigerator, and I’m a vegetarian in a country where produce and nut prices have gone up an average of more than 20% in the last two years.

First, buy a slow cooker. With a slow cooker you will have no waste, since all your scraps – peelings, bones, trimmings, cores, and so on – will all go into it. Add water and a handful of dried beans and 12 hours later you’ll have delicious and nutritious soup.

Potatoes are a good bargain in terms of nutrition vs cost, but beans and legumes are even cheaper than potatoes, and are more versatile. And beans are much healthier for you than potatoes, which are high in starch and will tend to spike your insulin levels. I eat bean salad and vegetarian chili for at least half of my meals. Beans + vegetable oil + vinegar = bean salad. Beans + tomato sauce = chili. The secret to enjoying this diet and not just surviving on it is keeping a stock of spices on hand. With just garlic (fresh or powdered), onions (fresh or powdered), ground chilis, cumin, rosemary, and oregano you can make almost anything tasty.

Buy anything within reason at a grocery store and you are good. 12 dollars a day is a LOT.

I’m single and I spent $50.00 today. Fresh fruit, strawberries, plums, tangerines, already have apples & tomatoes and cucumbers and squash form the garden here a half dozen yogurts, a big box of Cheerios, milk, 3 cans of albacore tuna, a big can of white chicken for sandwiches, crusty french bread sandwich rolls, celery, dill pickles, 6 Lean Cuisines, 2 Marie Calendar Chicken Pot Pies, 2 cans of good soups, a jar of reduced fat peanut butter and a can of Pringles haha I’m good for 7 days easy on $50.00 Of course, it is still warm here so eating a lot of cold foods still but come winter I will be making a lot of home made soups, chili, spaghetti sauce, roast chicken and then soup from the leftovers.

I wish people would atop talking abou crusty bread!

@Dutchess_III Go have a square of chocolate. lol

I ate it ALL. Its what was for dinner today. Wondering now if we get free food for volunteering at Bluegrass. I’m a might peckish right now.

Peckish, well little birdy, it’s becasue you haven’t had any sunflower seeds. lol

Yeah. Several years ago I was quite poor. I ate a can of beans for one of my two meals a day. A can of most types of beans is less than a dollar. Pop the can ,warm it up in the microwave, search want ads, hope for better luck.

Go out and get a hundred Tostino’s pizzas that are like a dollar.

^Did that for awhile too. If you fold them up you got a pizza samich.

Yup, done that too. Pizza sandwich FTW!

Your freezer and your microwave should become your favorite friend. Or if you don’t care for microwave radiation, freeze your cook-aheads in portion-sized bags or containers. Then you can thaw them and heat them up by putting the frozen bags in boiling water until they’re as hot as you want them.

@RedDeerGuy1: You are talking like $12 per day is starvation rations. I could easily live on that amount of money for food and have some left over. No need for beans and water – you could eat meat, eggs, salad, veggies (fresh or frozen), juice, whatever for 12 dollars per day. I easily could feed myself and my daughter for that amount. Buy a whole chicken – chicken parts, whatever. Pork, bacon, cheese. The list goes on and on about what you’ll have for 12 dollars per day.

Oh gawsh $121 for just 10 days? For a veteran college student like me who’s used to meagre part time salaries through tutoring, I’d live like a king on that and still give you back the extra $21 on the 11th day! Duh!

A roommate and I lived off of a huge bag of potatoes for a couple of months back when I was a poor 19 year old student. When I was single that was probably about what I spent. Oh and just an fyi, thawed hot dogs are really nasty.

I remember buying discount milk and freezing it in ice cube trays so I could make the store-brand mac and cheese that was, like, 10 for $1 at the time.

Eating 10 days on $12 would be a bit of a challenge today, but I could do it. I’m not a big eater.
$3 a day, or $30, and I could continue to eat my meals at fast food joints and grocery stores, as is my current habit.

$121 is a lot of money for food – as long as you’re not eating out.

Given what I recently learned about the OP’s larder, I’d suggest getting a few staples in – a trip to the Bulk Barn for $5 or so of basic spices plus a small bag of rice. Right now is a great time to buy beautiful veggies – you can get 10 pounds of potatoes and/or onions for $5. No Frills has 10 pounds of carrots for $5 as well. Thirty pounds of potatoes/onions/carrots – you can base a lot of stews/soups/salads/meals around that (and the $5 of rice and spices). Only $20 spent so far and you’ve already got a lot of food. My favourite version of latkes has grated potatoes/onions and carrots. I’d pick up a couple of jars of apple sauce, some fruit, other vegetables (raw or canned) – up to another $20. I’d consider putting aside about $15 for meat to get a change from those hot dogs. A buck or two for a small bottle of vinegar since it is handy in so many sauces. There are already buns in the freezer so I’d think about eggs and peanut butter / jam to make sandwiches. That’s another $10 -15.

$40 – 50 left-over. Maybe one meal out? I hate eating out so it’s hard for me to factor that in.

Maybe some canned goods that the OP likes and are handy for cooking – baked beans / beans/ spaghetti sauces / a few soups to dress up. A jar of olive oil mayo if there isn’t mayo in the cupboard.

Depending on were you live learning to forage can greatly supplement a food budget. Has the added benefit of getting you outside and exercising a little too

If you spent $121 at Aldi buying stuff you’ll eat eventually, you’d have food for a month or more.

@ARE_you_kidding_me , almost every time I see my next door neighbour, he is bringing home leaves he found on his walks/bike rides. He’s often very pleased to find his traditional Chinese cooking ingredients in gardens/parks.

There is a lot of really tasty and nutritious food free all over the place. We have so many acorns this year that I’m going to attempt acorn butter and flour for the first time.

@ARE_you_kidding_me and many parts of a pine cone are edible. lol

Thanks to Euell Gibbons!

Someone up there mentioned applesauce. If you like, you can add a little cinnamon on top and heat for a few seconds in microwave and it tastes like hot apple pie.

I once saw a huge entire box of what looked like perfectly good, gourmet donuts in a dumpster behind a Dunkin’ Donuts. The box was closed there was absolutely nothig on top of them. I could see through the plastic on top…..I resisted, but only because they were toward the bottom and I’d have to literally climb in the dumpster to get them. But it I’d taken them into the office they would have been tickled pink. Unless I told them where I’d gotten them. Then they’d freak. SMH.

@Coloma My 15 month grandson eats many parts of a pine cone. But I don’t know if he eats the edible parts and neither does he. He is also a fan of eating grass.

Yeah, I can just imagine RDG taking walks to forage.

@Darth_Algar That’s mean, wake up on the wrong side of the bed or were you just born on it. lol

@all I asked the clerk and she recommended the little potato company blushing Belle. $5 for a one and half lbs. I can’t carry the big 20lbs. heavy bag without help. I also bought generic pop and $11 of uncooked chicken wings (that I am cooking in the electric frying pan now).

@Coloma

Neither, I simply find it amusing to see folks give answers that we all know are probably way outside his comfort zone.

I went back to the store and bought 10lbs of Russet potatoes for $6. Stressed out from the walk at night. Had a shower I’m out of clean clothes that fit. Stressed out and sweaty. At least I brought a backpack to make it an easy two block walk.

That’s a good price for russets. Good shopping.

A rotisserie chicken from the grocery store is $5. You can eat it hot, then make chicken salad, then boil the bones to make soup on the last day.

Quesadillas are also incredibly cheap and friendly. Buy some tortilla shells and shredded cheese, and throw whatever random ingredients you want in there. A can of beans is like 80 cents. If you bake it instead of microwaving it’s actually pretty good.

The best and cheapest food of all is homemade soup or chili. Basic chicken soup (starting with your bones above) is basically just that plus carrots, celery, onion, and some kind of starch. A bag of baby carrots is like $1.50.

Chili is also incredibly friendly. Basically just saute an onion and add meat, spices, and vegetables of your choice. A lot of the ingredients in chili come from a can, like beans, corn, tomato sauce, etc. You can make a huge batch that will last for days.

Another secret to having lots of cheap food- make a big batch and freeze the extras in individual tupperwares. (I always buy the same kind/ size of tupperware so they all match.) Freeze some of the leftovers on the same night when you make it, and then heat up the rest on nights when you don’t feel like cooking. Soup, casserole, spaghetti, curry, and many other foods freeze really well.

Also, try to keep on hand cheap foods that have a long shelf life. I always have canned veggies, sauces, spices, carrots, potatoes, and onions around. Shredded cheese freezes really well also; you can buy it on sale and use it to make lasagna, mac and cheese, quesadillas, etc. For breakfast, look for cheap healthy things like oatmeal, apples, peanut butter, etc.

Eggs are also incredibly cheap and filling. You can make a quiche out of eggs, cheese, and any random veggies you have around. Or make your own Chinese fried rice with eggs, peas, carrots, rice, and soy sauce. Just take the cooked rice and sizzle it on the pan with oil and soy sauce, then stir everything else in. (One of my friends lived in Hawaii for a while and makes a tasty version with spam; $2.50).

Making your own baked goods from a mix is also really cheap. A box of muffin mix is like $3. That’s about the same price as one single pastry at Starbucks. Basically cooking for yourself is so much cheaper than buying convenience food, and not that much harder. With a few basic recipes and proper food storage, you can make that money last ten days and then some.

$91 left… I get paid around the 25th. I ate potatoes, hot dogs with buns, ichyban noodles and Ensure.

Don’t you have big cans of Hunt’s Spaghetti sauce there for around $1?

@ibstubro Probably. I don’t like spaghetti sauce. I have ragu and spaghetti from Christmas.

@RedDeerGuy1 , how did you prepare the potatoes?

Just realized that the Ragu sauce you have could have been useful when you were working on making bbq sauce for your short ribs. Think of Ragu as an ingredient – not an end product.

First world problem. How to make $121 for food last for 10 days. “I don’t like spaghetti so I have some left over from Christmas.”

Come on @Dutchess_III. His question is just as first world problem to him as one of yours asking about people bringing food to a picnic.

I know.

It’s easy though. Divided $121 using 10. And after that spending what comes after dividing.

Goulash, @RedDeerGuy1? Do you like goulash? Loose meat, macaroni and spaghetti sauce?
The spaghetti noodles you can cook and warm with butter, garlic, salt and parm cheese. Cold, with salad dressing, as a salad.
If you want to get filled up on a budget, I have one word – starch. Pasta, potatoes and bread. The more expensive stuff like meat and dairy become an accessory.

Combine with @Haleth‘s eggs and you can eat for $1 a day.

Thanks lovely mate. Great advice!

@all Thanks I bought the big bag of potatoes for $5 and I managed to save $31 for the month. Got paid today.

Good work! I hope you enjoyed some of the food you prepared.

@BellaB Russet potatoes and bbq hot dogs boiled in margarine in the microwave was great.

Sounds like a good meal that you enjoyed.

Now that you have a knapsack, you can buy potatoes again. They really are nice this time of year – freshly harvested potatoes don’t need much to make them tasty.

Those hot dogs are also versatile and good to have on hand.

Your next project (when you’re ready) will be to make some potato soup in your crockpot – that will be really tasty with hot dogs (or other proteins that you like).

All sounds good. But don’t forget about your vegetables.

Bought 7 pieces of chicken legs and thighs with back attached. Cooked 3 and put other 4 in freezer containers. For $9.23. I have a big bag of frozen vegetables.

Crack the chicken bones and toss them into your slow cooker with whatever vegetable scraps you have. The marrow will make for a delicious chicken broth.

Time to stock up on those autumn vegetables. The flyers today (in central Canada) are offering 2 ten pound bags of potatoes for $5. 3 pound bags of carrots and onions are $2.50. For $10 Cdn. you get 26 pounds of good vegetables that can be the basis for a lot of meals.

The potato choices we get at that price are russet, red skin or yellow flesh. For baked, get russets. For mash/salad, get red skin. For home fries/wedges, get yellow flesh.

Great guidance so far. I really like your say. lol

I followed my own advice on those fall harvest vegetables. $10 for 20 pounds of potatoes. Carrots and onions went down to $2 for a 3 pound bag. 24 pounds of vegetables for $14 Cdn.

On the weekend I made a really good vegetable soup based on carrots, lentils and onions in a chicken broth – threw in a handful of chard at the end. Last night I made tuna/potato/carrot/onion patties that worked out surprisingly well.