andythanfiction:

At the moment, my parents pay for the food in return for me doing all the cooking.  This is a good arrangement.  HOWEVER, I have lived on very, very, very broke, and I’ll give you my ten best tips:

1. Racism and classism cost money.  Basmati rice is $3.99 for a 1-lb bag at Fresh Market, the upscale and very white “nice” grocery store.  Star anise is $5.99 for a teeny bottle with four stars in it.  BETTER Basmati rice is $11.99 for a TEN POUND bag at the Pan-Asian market in a shittier neighborhood fifteen minutes away, and star anise is 89 cents for a baggie of a dozen really fresh ones at the Tienda.  Oh, and blood, marrow, fish heads, and organ meat are amazingly flavorful, nutritious, go a long way, and are usually dirt cheap.   

2. Buy in bulk.  Get that 10lb bag of rice, the 50lb sack of flour, the 3 gallon jug of cooking oil.  FIND places to keep it, even if it’s under your bed.  It’ll save you so much money.  (If possible, find a co-op or natural food store that lets you buy in ACTUAL package-free bulk…it can be even cheaper sometimes)

3. Make your own bread.  It really doesn’t take hardly any time once you get used to it (you can do it during the commercials of your favorite show), it’s better for you, tastes better, fills you up quicker, and it’s like 20-30 cents a loaf.  

4.  Pay attention to Craig’s List for people giving away excess produce and keep an eye on people in your area who may have fruit or nut trees, even if you live in an urban or semi-urban area.  When it starts bearing heavily, many people are all too eager to get rid of the proceeds for free.  

5. Learn how to preserve and store food.  Not canning – that takes equipment that costs money.  Drying, salting, smoking, freezing, candying, etc.  People been doing this shit for centuries.  That way when someone offers you sixteen pumpkins left over after Halloween or three big grocery sacks of zucchini or cabbage is 19 cents a pound, you can say yes.    

6. Processed shit costs more money.  Even ramen…oatmeal and rice and bulk-bought pasta are cheaper.  Cook with whole foods and simple ingredients.  Get your flavor from spices, chilis, and vinegars -which are dirt-ass cheap if you buy them from “ethnic” sources – not from expensive fats and meats and sugars and mixes.  Stop and consider how much your “cheap” junk food really costs…those potato chips?  That’s a 1oz bag for a dollar.  They’re SIXTEEN DOLLARS A POUND.  Most places, that’s more than LOBSTER.  Or, y’know, a 5lb bag of potatoes for a buck.  How’d you think Dick Roman was raking in so much money?

7. Make big batches of things and freeze individual servings in baggies or bowls, then you have your own microwave dinners and only have to cook once or twice a week…or once or twice a month if you plan well.

8. Keep a zippy bag of nuts and dried fruit in your pocket or car. It’ll help keep you from buying stupidly expensive impulse food because you’re kinda munchy or having a blood sugar or protein crash.  

9. Get all the local coupons, fliers, and special announcements from your local grocery stores and spread them out once a week, then make a menu and a shopping list that takes advantage of good prices and treat it like the fucking Word of God…but then add two bucks to buy yourself whatever catches your eye.  If you feel like you can splurge on that single-serve Ben and Jerry’s, you’re less likely to impulse buy the $6.99 quart of Breyers.

10. Use less but better.  A tablespoon of 6.99/lb quite nice bleu cheese from Trader Joes adds more flavor to a pot of pasta than an entire 4oz bag of 1.99 mild cheddar shreds…and in the end you’re spending 21 cents instead of $2 on the cheese for that dish.  Chicken thighs are more flavorful than breasts.  You don’t need THAT much meat.  Molasses more flavorful than brown sugar, etc.  

Yes, I know that this stuff seems intimidating.  And it DOES take some learning.  But the knowledge is out there for free, and once you DO learn it, you’ll discover it actually is healthier, cheaper, tastier, and faster.  That whole idea that it’s oh so time consuming to cook for real or that you need a massive kitchen is bullshit.  I’ve baked bread in a rice cooker on my bedside table using one bowl and while watching a movie.  Brittany and I lived for three months in a semi-urban area on $80 worth of food plus what we could forage and barter, cooking with only a crock pot, a rice cooker, and a hot pot and six milk crates as our pantry shelves.  And our friends envied our meals all over our Facebook posts.  It can be done.  Illiterate six year olds in hellish conditions in developing countries do it.  So can you.

I can back up a large portion of this – particularly getting spices (usually) and traditional staples at ethnic markets; it’s almost always significantly cheaper than buying them at your local grocery.  If I can get a spice at the local Indian market, trust me, that’s where I’m getting it; same with lentils and Basmati rice.  I get the large bags of medium grain rice from the semi-local Japanese or Chinese supply markets and you get a much better price there on things like Soy Sauce, mirin,  tofu (having a fresh option, most of the time, too) or even Curry Roux (mmmm, golden curry) – the last of which has literally /doubled/ at the local grocery when you can find it, and the box size halved.

I’d contest the canning angle – if you can put some money aside for it, and not everyone can, but if you’re able – it is largely a one-time fee; buy your canner and keep up with it, the most you’ll have to replace are gaskets or the gauge (or get weighted gauges and never worry about them again, because you have to get your dial gauge tested every year to make sure it’s accurate; usually done for free through your county extension office) – buy your jars and take care of them, you’ll just have to purchase replacement lids (about a dollar a pack), or put in a bit extra and get tattler reusable lids.  I’ve not done the latter yet, but I’ve heard good things, and am seriously considering it.  I don’t usually bother for vegetables – I’ll dry most of those – but if you find a good meat sale?  This is the best way I’ve found to go.  Also great for making large batches of soup (canned pre noodle/rice addition) or sauces.  Similarly, you can dry things in your oven, or more traditionally for herbs and such, but if you’re getting a dehydrator, get a good one – most on the market are crap; you want a rear fan and heating element; Excalibur is the best I’ve found, and I bought a refurb for significantly less than they go new that has never given me trouble.  I’ve used the hell out of it since buying it, too.  (Those frozen veggie sales? Make use of them; they’re already prepared for you, so no blanching necessary – just throw a 1lb bag on each tray and turn on – you’re good to go. Great for soups and stews and take up less than a third their original volume for storage; keep sealed airtight (glass jars are best – no need to buy, clean and reuse that sauce jar or similar) in a dark, cool place, and they’ll last for ages.)  Berries freeze better than they dry, but apples dry beautifully and reconstitute beautifully if you’re baking or cooking with them.  Sale on bananas? Make banana chips.  Zucchinni dries well, sweet peppers less so (but still great for flavoring soups, etc), and tomatoes are great for soups or salad (dried), but dump the seeds first, or you’ll be at it forever (with the seed and membrane takes about three times longer than without, to dry just the ‘meat’, and often adds a bitter taste to the end product anyway.)

Co-ops are a useful resource, but remember always to price check and when buying in bulk – which is a good choice about 90% of the time – remember to keep in mind storage times and methods; if you buy something in bulk and can only use half of it before it goes bad, it might not be a great buy.  Dry goods in general are almost always safe, and so are most herbs/spices, and oils, but olive in particular will go rancid.   White flour will last easily 5 years if stored properly (although I try not to use it), and if you can get into grinding your own grain, wheat berries will last indefinitely if stored properly.  Also, you get around that ‘rancid wheat flour’ problem with grocery buying (it’s got oils in – if it sits on the shelf too long, it goes bad; it /should/ be refrigerated, and even then only lasts about a week at peak), as well as the wheat flour markup.  A teaspoon of molasses added to a half cup of white sugar (which also lasts nearly forever if packed properly) makes a serviceable stand in for brown sugar in recipes. 

If you’ve got space and a yard (that you can plant in), think about planting edibles; buying grape and raspberry vines at the end of the season usually gets them at half price (how we got ours), and if you buy fruit trees through the Arbor Day foundation website, you can usually get them between $10-18 each – traditionally less if you want a standard, and more if you want dwarfing rootstock.  Apples and cherries almost always require a pollinator, but most of your stone fruit (apricots, peaches, plums) tend to have self-fertile options (so one tree needed, v/s two).  (You likely need less space than you think you do.)  This is a long-term planning thing, but if you’ve got the ability, the space, and a bit of cash you can save, it’s worth it in the long run.  If you can’t plant in the ground, just keep in mind; tomatoes are cheap to grow, expensive to buy (and usually under-ripe when you do) and take beautifully to bucket/pot growing; a five gallon will usually do you for a good standard sized plant. If you use fresh herbs, best to grow those too – can be done indoors, seed packets are cheep, and they don’t take much care.

…and I’ve gone off on a tangent, here, that strays a bit from the ‘getting by on very little money’ aspect of the original post, and more to some additional aspects for long-term saving/living when you can invest a bit into it, so I’m just going to shut up, now.  Except to say – while I can’t handle organ meats (it’s a texture thing; same reason I have trouble with fish), if you want some good references on how to use them, as well as how to get by on very little, find a good war-time (WWII) cookbook; you can get them used (obviously) and usually for very little money; they’re a great reference for doing a lot with a little, due to the necessary rationing at the time.

Now I’m actually going to shut up.