OK, Give me your CHEAPEST meals.

[Sheripoms]

I know alot of people on here grow there own veggies and stuff, but what if you didn't. What are some of the cheapest meals you can think of to make.
I know for me it would probably be bean burritos or rice and beans.
Let's make it even funner. Give me the meals you can make for under 1.00.
Anybody?

[brewswain]

a can of beans is 55 cents at walmart and all you gotta do is open the can and tear off the paper label before heating the can on the stove

[Sheripoms]

Awww come on , that's to easy. Plus ya gotta have more than just beans.

[cindy-e]

I was going to say beans and rice. Trouble is, if you buy a whole bag of beans and a whole bag of rice it will cost more than $1.00. But if you use them for multiple meals as was intended, it would cost LESS than a dollar. Same with Oatmeal and barley for breakfast, and any kind of bean or lentil. You can't buy it for less than a dollar, but PER MEAL, you can use it for less than that. Tofu can be purchased for about a dollar a pound on sale sometimes. Cheese may be pushing $5.00 per pound, but 2 oz of cheese is a serving size so that is about .63 per serving of cheese. Also around here, you can buy ground beef on sale for $3.00 per pound. (I wouldn't, but you could.) Again, if you ate a pound that would not be a very economical meal, but if everybody had their allowed 3 to 5 oz serving, that is $.56 to $.96 per serving. It all depends on being careful how you use what you buy. :-)

Cindyc.

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by Sheripoms

Awww come on , that's to easy. Plus ya gotta have more than just beans.

Truth I have seen a couple sharing a Can of Pinto Beans right out of the can not heated.That was their meal for the day.

When I was a kid in the City,all we had was a can of Applesauce,I went stole a platter of Chicken out of a neighbors apartment.But hey there is no poor in the U.S.A.

big rockpile

[Truckinguy]

I find it's easier to make meals under a dollar by making a big batch of something and dividing it up into small meals. I can buy a bag of pasta, a pound of ground beef, a can of spaghetti sauce and a can of mushrooms for around $9 and get 9 small portion meals out of that. If someone shopped around they could probably do it slightly cheaper.

[Sheripoms]

aw gosh, your making me feel bad now. I remember my dad telling me that back in the 40's when he was in elementary school in Michigan that a little boy in his class always only brought a jar of tomatoes to school for lunch. And I mean every day, and that was it. You should of saw my dad's face when he was telling me about it, he was still sad about it and he was 65 years old when he told me about it.

[Aint2nuts]

When I find loss leaders, I buy LOTS of them. This weeks good prices were spaghetti sauce for 1 dollar (enough for two meals for my family of four), and canned soup (1 meals each) for 1 dollar. I bought 60 cans of sauce, and 60 cans of soup.

Add pasta to the sauce (79 cents a lb bought on sale) and I have dinner for four people for under 1$ with leftovers.

Soup and a piece of bread with butter, just over a dollar.

I have canned of pork and beans I bought for 25 cents each. I have three cases. Same with chili -- 50 cents a can, three cases. Add in a can of beans (50 cents a can) and I have dinner for four for under 3 bucks.

Kraft Mac and Cheese. 25 cents a box on loss leader. I bought about 100 boxes. For 50 cents (2 boxes of mac and cheese), and 1 dollar for 8 hot dogs, and 33 cents for a can of green beans (bought last year for 3/1)...and for 1.88 for four people.

Love those loss leaders.

[brewswain]

Sheripoms I am in the northwest corner of the state. Where are you?

Cheap eating
When my wife left, the judge ordered me to give up all my paycheck except $45.
I had to live on that for two weeks and one of those weekends, I had to feed my two sons.
I found that I could get a vegetable plate for $1.87 at Picadilly Cafeteria
That was 22 years ago but it was incredibly cheap even then.

[ladycat]

Baked potato with a dollop of sour cream, a little grated cheddar cheese, and a few crumbles of bacon (real bacon, not those bit things).

That's one of my favorite meals, and it's cheap and easy.

[Sheripoms]

Aint2nuts, You're not going to believe this but I got 20 jars of speghetti sauce today for 1.00 to! I was wondering if 20 was enough, cuz it's just me and the hubby. But you got 60 ! wow! I'm jealous , 79 cents for speghetti, I paid 99.
I wish I would've ordered some 25 cents off coupons for the sauce before I got them. But it was still a good deal. Now I wonder if I shouldn't go back and get more.

[soulsurvivor]

Cheap eating for me and DH is a big pot of chili. By the time we get through it, we're sick of chili, but it's cheap. Tend to get real creative with that chili before it's finished. Chili hotdogs, chili and cheese tacos, chili and rice, chili and toast, chili and pasta, chili stuffed peppers, well, you get the idea.

And deer meat. We lived an entire year on the deer that DH hunted and processed himself. There were 3 in the household then and we ate pretty good. Had meat everyday along with a potato, veggie and a slice of bread. We also attended every community event that served free food. This was back in the 70s and the economy was tough, and we had debt.

[Buttermilk]

Cheapest meal is a baked Sweet Potato with a slice of butter.

[beaglebiz]

I like to make chicken and rice

Just put some rice, a bit of bullion and water in the boottom of a baking dish, topwith some skinned chicken leg quarters. Bake until done, adding water to the rice as needed. Pick up some day old produce for a vegetable. The whole meal should cost under $4 to heartily feed a family of 4.

Dont buy canned beans, buy a big dry bag of pintos, and cook down with some seasonings, and a ham bone or some salt pork. You can serve over rice, make burritos or just eat as a side dish. You can freeze the cooked beans for a quick meal.
Pintos are 1.49 at Aldi for a 2 lb bag, which makes alot...
I think if you are really needing to save money, try to buy one "stock up " item as you can, like a 25 or 50 lb bag of rice, next a 25 lb bag of flour, a 5 gallon pail of lard(lard is healthier than butter and makes better biscuits and pies).
Scout around your area for free stuff...We got 30 lbs wild elderberries for pie, jelly and wine, tons of blackberries, huckleberries and now walnuts and pears, all found in the woods or state forest, and in the case of the elderberries, on the side of the road.
If you can buy a ham or turkey, get the biggest one you can find. It might be $15, but you can feed a whole family for a week or more with it, finally ending with soup from the bones. Always make stock from bones, and freeze or can.
I can even make an oven stuffer chicken last for 3-4 meals for 4 people.
try not to buy processed food, they are unhealthy, and you can make delish pancakes from flour.
Try to barter skills or things you have for things you want...I traded some salsa, jelly and eggs for free hay for the winter for my chickens with the farmer up the road (his wife left him, I think he appreciates the home made food....once in a while I come home and he has left me some surplus, like peaches or corn, and I leave him eggs, or a zucchini bread)
I always bought cheese ends from the deli to make mac and cheese, but if they are over 1.99 a lb this is not a deal.

Maybe next year, even if you have no yard, you could do a container garden.

[fin29]

A cup of cooked quinoa, a carrot, and a tomato.

[huzzyjr]

A big pot of pinto beans for a couple of days and then I add chilli powder and all the seasonings for chilli.

[stranger]

deer meat shot up in the woods, mushrooms from the field, potatoes and beets from the garden, apple sauce from the trees.

[Seagrape]

Buying the meat that has been marked down at the super market is something I do. Nothing wrong with the meat. Just use it right away or freeze it. I shop all specials, too.

The cheapest meal would likely be a little meat, plenty of beans and some veggies. And while I don't know what they are (other than early spring dandelion leaves) there ARE edible plants than one could forage certain times of the year.

And this is totally out-of-place on this thread but I'm a new member and would like to contact a moderator but I have not found a link anywhere. Could someone PM please and tell me how to contact a moderator? TIA

[suitcase_sally]

Ramen noodles. On sale 8¢.

[ladycat]

Twice in the last few weeks, I've seen store brand mac and cheese on sale for 25 cents a box. That's pretty darned cheap.