Food on the cheap

1. Top Ramen. What a deal. The college student’s primary staple. And if you throw in some cheese, leftover meat, frozen mixed veggies, and an egg then you’ve got a cheap, tasty, and healthy meal. The Geezer lived on this after college (until he got a real job).
2. Watch for mac & cheese on sale. Not only is it a good side dish, but you can also turn it into a meal by throwing in leftovers or diced hot dogs. Someone suggested throwing in a can of chili – gotta try that one.
3. For some other cheap semi-healthy easy recipes click here.
4. Avoid snack machines at all costs.  Their purpose in life is to rob you of your hard earned cash.  Keep cheap snacks in your room.  Breakfast bars, on sale especially, will last nearly forever, are good between meal snacks, and can satisfy that late night craving for sweets.  So are our no-bake chocolate peanut butter cookies.
5. Lose your fancy coffee habit. Brew your own. Really. Designer coffee is outrageous. If you have a good recipe for fancy coffee then please let us know in the comment box below. We’re trying to gather cheaper homemade versions of fancy coffees for those of you who insist on drinking foo-foo coffee.
6. Coupons are good things. But make sure they’re a good deal. Sometimes a brand name with a coupon is still more expensive than its generic counterpart. For online coupon sites the Geezer (I haven’t tried them yet) really likes CoolSavings.com. Just enter your zip code and it gives you the pertinent coupons in your area. Click the “Printable Coupons Tab” and then select “Sort by: Food Coupons”. Just click “Select this product” for those coupons you want and when done click the “Print now” button. It will need to install a plugin into your browser to print the coupons. Don’t know why they need to do this but I haven’t noticed any ill effects. I do wish they’d give you an option to show more than 8 coupons at a time.
7. Truth is, most of us don’t shop on a schedule.  We shop when we need to.  So we kind of end up with whatever happens to be on sale at the time we go shopping.  To take full advantage of this grab a flyer as you walk in and look for the items you need that are on sale. You might be surprised at how much you can save by knowing the current sales in advance instead of hoping to notice them as you walk the isles.
8. Watch for stores that double coupon values, but make sure you don’t pay for those savings by paying more for your other non-coupon purchases.
9. Milk is good for you and relatively cheap.  Consider mixing half real milk with half powdered. It is drinkable, especially when cold.  Coffee creamer mixed with water doesn’t cut it, trust me.  BTW, look around for cheap milk. Stores will often use it as a no-profit leader to get you in the door - even drugstores and quick stops. You can easily save a buck a gallon by shopping around.
10. Don’t shop hungry. You’re more likely to stick with the basics and avoid the fancy frills if you shop on a full stomach.
11. When shopping, look low. Prime real estate in a grocery store isle is at eye level.  Stores are going to put those products that make them the most money in that area.  You’ll find the generic, lower-priced, lower-margin products down low.
12. Costco is your friend.  If you’re lucky enough to be able to get to a Costco at lunch time you can get a polish dog and unlimited beverage refill for a buck fifty. That’s more than enough for lunch, especially if you’ve pigged out on the free samples that seem to be everywhere in the store during lunch time.
13. Costco can also save you a bunch if you shop wisely. First, get your parents to add you to their membership so you don’t need a new one. But still price check. Sometimes, even tho Costco’s prices are generally lower, they usually carry brand names, and the generics at your local supermarket might be cheaper than the discounted bulk items at Costco. Also check out Costco’s Kirkland brand - but as always at Costco, don’t assume it’s the best deal - still price check.
14. I don’t have much luck buying produce at Costco.  Because Costco makes you buy in quantity I usually don’t eat all of it before it goes bad. No point in saving 20% if I throw 50% of it out.  Only buy what you can eat before it goes bad.
15. Oatmeal is your friend. The big box is a much better deal than the individually sized packages. Make extra and form it into sun-dried bricks which you can use to create an inexpensive, and tasty, dwelling.
16. Ladies, go out a lot with guys who insist on paying for everything.
17. Get a job at a restaurant - they’ll often discount food for their employees or even feed them for free. And don’t forget those messed up orders that end up in the trash. (only kidding folks - kindof…)
18. Wash dishes at a sorority. My uncle did this when he went to college. Best job ever. Got his meals for free and also got plenty of perks on the side as well.
19. Make it yourself - The Geezer bought an Egg & Muffin Toaster that is the greatest device ever.  Not only is it a toaster and egg poacher, but it makes an egg sandwich with sausage in just a few minutes. Hot fresh healthy breakfast ready in minutes without having to go out, and at a fraction of the price you’d pay at Mickey D’s.
20. Peanut butter and honey sandwiches are dirt cheap, filling, and relatively healthy.
21. In my humble opinion, Quaker cereals are just as good their brand name cousins and at quite a discount.
22. Bottled water - are you kidding me?  What a racket.  US tap water is some of the cleanest in the world.  If it tastes funny then run it through a filter.  The Geezer personally likes the in-fridge water filters like this Pur one. If you need to take water with you then buy a water bottle, or just one bottled water for its bottle, and reuse it over and over again.  Don’t forget to wash it periodically.
23. Buy pot pies on sale. Three of them make a tasty and semi-healthy meal and if bought on sale can be a real bargain. TV dinners on sale can also be a good deal, but usually not enough to fill up a guy (the bigger ones usually aren’t as good a deal) so have some bread and milk around to fill up on.
24. Eggs are cheap and healthy. Omelets are easy to make, clean-up is a cinch and they’re suitable for any meal. Also a good way to get rid of leftovers.
25. Join a cooking club. Have no idea if this makes sense or not as I haven’t tried it myself, but it seems like it might.
26. Beg.  Stand on the corner of a busy intersection with “Finishing my Mechanical Engineering degree – need money for food” and see how well you do.  Although not required, It helps if you’re emaciated and clutching a slide-rule.

One final warning. Believe it or not, it’s easy to get fat while living on a budget. “My Money Blog” has an interesting article that compares how much of a number of different foods that you’d need in order to get 200 calories and the cost of each. From the article:

You can really see the differences in prices as you go down the tables. The cheapest calories are from very basic items like flour, sugar, and oil. The next items are primarily processed snack foods - potato chips, candy, cheetos, and crackers. The most expensive calories include all the fresh fruits and vegetables.

This doesn’t tell the whole story tho because obviously 200 calories of carrots will fill you up a whole lot more than 200 calories of a snickers bar. But be careful, it’s easy to lose sight of a healthy diet while on a budget. One interesting thing to note is that milk is the lowest priced “healthy” food on the list.

Any other suggestions? Let us know in the comment form below.  Would love to hear from you.

Bank on it.