I'm currently looking for the best way to save money on food. The major issue I run into, is that a lot of the best hacks require having access to certain equipment. I'm specifically looking for the cheapest foods that do not require having access to electricity, like needing to use a fridge/freezer or an oven and microwave.
I've eaten approximately 3000 peanut butter sandwiches in the past few years and it's starting to get old and more expensive than I would like. The food doesn't necessarily have to taste good, but it must provide enough carbs and protein at the bare minimum. Other vitamins would be a bonus. I suffer from severe oral allergies, which make me allergic to basically all raw fruits and vegetables, so those are all pretty much off the table.
I wish I could just buy a tube of paste that has enough nutrition for an entire day for less than $1/day. I was looking into a brand called plumpy nut, but I'm not sure how much more peanut I can tolerate. Sorry if this has been asked 100 times before. But does anyone have any good recommendations?
Absolute Cheapest Way to Obtain Sustenance
byu/RobertPooWiener inFrugal
Posted by RobertPooWiener
22 Comments
Rice and beans. Always rice and beans.
Do you have a stove?
Plumpy Nut is for children who are starving to death in developing countries/war zones.. Don’t cheap out on your health it will come back to bite you later on.. If you are genuinly stuggling go to a food pantry or soup kitchen otherwise choose another area of your life to save money on.
Sardines and canned tuna, oatmeal/grits- only need hot water, dry cereals, other nuts-granola.
Beans and rice, rice and beans.
No electricity? Is a campstove or outdoor cooking fire in the mix?
You’re going to need some sort of “equipment”, even if its a pot over a fire. Like what others say, rice and beans but you’re still going to need to cook those rice and beans. Where are you that you don’t have access to a basic stove and need to be on an extreme budget? You can get pots and pans for a couple bucks at the Goodwill.
Look for a local food bank. They’ll have far more nutritious food than whatever you’re trying to buy for $1/day.
Imo, the absolute cheapest way is to take a multivitamin everyday as well as have dried rice, beans, and potatoes on deck.
Rice
I bought 100 pounds of California grown Calrose rice for $28. You can eat for 20 cents.
Potatoes. So many ways to cook them.
A baked potato for vitamins, fiber and protein. Add some Greek yogurt as a topping for extra protein.
Like Soylent Green?
Only thing I got is rolled oats. You can eat them as is, they’re steamed. Add hot water and some time, porridge.
Grind it for oat flour, mix with stuff for your human food.
Here’s my current diet, which costs me £38 per month including energy costs for cooking the food. My partner works at a supermarket though so I get 15% off through her and 5% further through buying discounted gift cards.
Breakfast: porridge with peanut butter mixed in, delicious tbh. I do this in the microwave but you could do this on a gas hob or camping stove.
Lunch: peanut butter sandwiches (I know you said you hate these but it is one of the cheapest fillings I can think of)
Dinner: rice & red lentils cooked on a gas hob. I add a teaspoon of vegetable oil for extra calories as I’m underweight but that’s optional.
I also have for snacks and for my health each week:
2 tins of sardines, Half a block of cheese, 3 bananas, 6 pints of milk and finally Vitamin C/D supplements as this diet is low in those
I do this because I simply don’t care for getting enjoyment from food and would rather spend the money on other things.
Milk you can buy UHT if you need it, and cheese is obviously optional. To my knowledge everything else fulfils your requirements.
I get about 2300 calories a day and that is enough for me to gain weight as I’m only 55kg
Depending on your situation it might be worth it to save for a single burner/hot plate that you can get for like $12-15 at Walmart or maybe find cheaper at goodwill. Being able to boil rice vs buying ready to eat rice will save you in the long run. I know you don’t have access to electricity but lots of parks and other public places have outlets that you might be able to use from time to time. Plus you might be able to get some cheap veggies and cook them this way too.
Also, use food pantries. Findhelp.org can be used to help find other food resources too.
Edit to add: Ramen noodles can also be eaten raw in a pinch. I used to just crush them up on the bag (be careful not to bust the bag) and shake the seasoning on them and eat it that way.
A bit of an unconventional tip: try to volunteer somewhere with regularity and attend any lunches / conferences they facilitate. They often give free food to volunteers
All the most cost effective ways to feed yourself will involve some way of cooking and/or refrigerating, particularly since raw fruits and veggies are off the table. Do you literally not have access to electricity or other power sources? Or do you just not want to invest in an appliance? Even just a microwave would open up a lot of options.
Can you explain more what you mean about not having access to electricity? Do you have a fridge? Hot plate? Microwave, boiling water?
This may sound weird, but if there are a lot of oak trees in your area maybe look into how to process acorns into palatable food. They’re nutritious and there are ways to remove the tannins that don’t necessarily require a lot of labor. You can just put them in a sack, like a pillowcase or something, and leave them in running water for a couple days.
Oatmeal with water. You can add ingredients like some raisins for vitamins and flavour.
potatoes rice and lentils
I am curious to know what has happened to get to this situation if you feel like sharing