Warning: I just hit 30 days of cooking with only $40 a week for groceries

Everyone says you need fancy ingredients to eat well, but I've made solid meals like a huge lentil soup and a bean skillet. It forced me to get creative with spices I already had. Has anyone else tried a strict weekly budget and found it wasn't as hard as people say?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakotal192mo ago

Honestly that budget sounds tight but doable. My cousin did something similar after a layoff. He got weirdly good at making different kinds of potato dishes. Spices are key for sure, makes cheap stuff taste totally different.

finley_harris51mo ago

Kept a bag of frozen veggies on hand too, they stretch everything out. @oliver_ross8 is right about rice and beans being the base, that combo got me through some rough months pretty easily. I learned that a little soy sauce or vinegar can totally change up the same bowl of rice and beans so you don't get sick of it. Also started buying whatever meat was marked down and freezing it right away, usually ground beef or chicken thighs for cheap. Did you ever try adding a fried egg on top of those bowls for extra protein? It made a huge difference for me without costing much more.

oliver_ross82mo ago

My last job had a pay delay once and I had to do $35 a week for a month. Like dakotal19 said, potatoes are a lifesaver. I'd roast a whole bag with just oil, salt, and paprika. A big bag of rice and a sack of dried beans is the base for everything. I lived on bean and rice bowls with different hot sauces.