c/budget-friendly-meals

Tried freezing leftover chili in ice cube trays for portion control and it backfired hard

I thawed a cube last night and ended up with chili flavored ice water since the bag wasn't sealed tight. How do you guys freeze single servings without turning everything into a frosty mess?

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jakem98•8d ago

Spent $40 on a bag of rice 3 months ago and still haven't finished it

I grabbed one of those 25 pound bags from the Asian market back in January. Thought it was way too much. But that single bag has stretched across dinners, meal prep, and random stir fries. Still got maybe 5 pounds left. Did I just discover the real budget hack or am I the only one eating rice every night?

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susan488•10d ago

Am I the only one who sees people ruin dried beans by skipping the soak?

I keep seeing posts about cooking cheap dried beans directly in the pot without soaking them first, but that trick only works if you're using a pressure cooker, otherwise you're stuck with hard beans after 4 hours of boiling, has anyone else dealt with that gummy texture?

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clairec78•10d ago

Rant: The week I tried to feed my family of 4 on $50

Last Tuesday I challenged myself to spend only $50 for the whole week at the grocery store in Portland... ended up making a giant pot of lentil soup that lasted 3 dinners. The trick was buying dry beans for $1.29 a pound at WinCo instead of canned... but my kids complained by day four. Has anyone else managed to stretch a tiny grocery budget without everyone rebelling?

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alice121•12d ago

That $30 rice cooker I bought 8 years ago finally died on me last night

I spent 2 hours trying to find a replacement that didn't cost more than my whole first apartment's kitchen setup, and then I realized I could just boil rice in a pot like my grandma did. Has anyone else been burned by trying to replace a cheap kitchen gadget that was actually perfect?

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rowanc29•12d ago

My neighbor swore by bulk dry beans over canned, I doubted her for months

Last spring, Mrs. Garcia told me I was wasting money on canned black beans at $1.50 a can when a pound of dry ones cost $1.80 and makes way more. I finally tried her method last week and got 6 cups of cooked beans from that one bag. Anyone else find that switching to dry beans actually saves them cash or is it too much hassle for you?

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derek_coleman•14d ago

That time I bought a $40 bag of 'gourmet' lentils from a farmers market

They tasted exactly like the $1.50 bag from the store, just with fancier packaging. Has anyone else fallen for a pretty label on a budget staple?

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lisa_bennett•14d ago

Overheard someone say they feed 4 people on $50 a week and I'm calling BS

I was standing in line at Aldi last Saturday and this woman in front of me was bragging on the phone about how she feeds her family of 4 on $50 a week. Like lady, I run a moving crew and we eat through snacks like crazy, but even for a normal family that math doesn't add up. I get that you can do rice, beans, and bulk chicken if you really stretch it, but $50 for 4 people for 7 days means you're eating about $1.78 per person per day. That barely covers a loaf of decent bread and some peanut butter around here in Cleveland. I wanted to ask her what her secret was but honestly I think she was just exaggerating for internet points. Has anyone actually tried to do a $50 weekly budget for a family and had it work out without feeling like you're starving?

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jamiew83•15d ago

Appreciation post: the slow cooker I was dead set against finally won me over

After swearing for years that a Dutch oven was just as good for braising, I grabbed a $20 thrift store slow cooker last fall to make pork shoulder for a potluck and it came out so tender and juicy that I've used it twice a week since.

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taylor.susan•21d ago

Rant: Tried to stretch ground beef with oatmeal and my family revolted

Last Tuesday I figured I'd save $3 by bulking up my meatloaf with a half cup of oats, but my kid took one bite and asked if I forgot to take out the hamster food. Has anyone else tried a budget hack that backfired so bad you still get roasted about it?

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sethtorres•21d ago

Just realized I've been wasting money on expensive pasta sauce for years

Had a chat with my neighbor Frank last weekend, a 70 year old Italian guy who cooks for his whole block, and he basically laughed at me for buying $6 jars when a $1 can of crushed tomatoes plus a clove of garlic and some dried basil tastes exactly the same if you let it simmer for 20 minutes, now I'm sitting here wondering how much cash I've thrown away on fancy labels, has anyone else tried making their own sauce and found it saved them a ton?

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miab16•21d ago

My rice cooker blew a fuse mid dinner a few years back

I was living in a tiny apartment off of 42nd street in Portland and had just thrown together a big pot of chili with canned beans and cheap ground beef. The rice cooker was my only working appliance besides the stove, and it just stopped mid cycle with a pop and a smell. I ended up dumping the half cooked rice into a pot and finishing it on the burner, which took forever and scorched the bottom. Has anyone else had a kitchen disaster like that where you had to totally switch plans fast?

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jenny_jackson•21d ago

Tried meal prepping Sunday vs Wednesday and one was way cheaper

I used to do all my meal prep on Sunday afternoons. Spend like 3 hours cooking everything for the week. But I noticed I was throwing out a lot of stuff by Thursday or Friday. Last month I switched to prepping just 3 days at a time on Wednesday nights. Turns out I waste way less food and spend about $15 less per week because I'm not overbuying ingredients that go bad. Has anyone else noticed a difference with how far out you prep?

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matthewf40•22d ago

Coupon stacking was a waste of my time for 5 years until Tuesday

Honestly I thought I was saving big by clipping coupons and matching store sales every week. Then I sat down with my receipts from the last 6 months and realized I was only saving like $4 per trip on average. The real kicker was when I saw a neighbor just buy store brand everything and walk out with a lower total than my coupon haul. Has anyone else found that simple swaps beat couponing for real savings?

2 comments

ninah10•22d ago

Tracked my grocery spending for a month and hit $212 total

I cooked everything from scratch using only sale items and bulk bins, and $212 is the lowest I've ever gotten for a whole month of feeding just myself. Has anyone else tried a strict "no extras" challenge and beat that number?

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sethb45•22d ago

Are we all overpaying for 'budget' spice blends at the grocery store?

I keep seeing people in this community recommend those pre-mixed taco seasoning packets at $1.50 each for one meal. But in my experience, you can buy a bulk container of cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder from the bulk bins at WinCo for about $3 total and it covers maybe 15 meals. Why does everyone think the packets are cheaper? I did the math last week and the markup is like 400%. Does anyone else just buy single spices and mix them yourself, or am I missing something?

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terry1•22d ago

Hot take: I don't get why everyone loves those '5 ingredient' meal plans for saving money

I tried one of those 5 ingredient meal plans from a big blogger for 2 months last spring. Everyone says it saves cash, but my grocery bill actually went up by about $15 a week. The problem was I had to buy stuff like pre-made sauce or specialty spices just to hit that 5 ingredient limit. Before I switched, I was cooking with pantry basics and buying just one or two cheap veggies each week. It kept my meals around $35 a week, not the $50 that plan cost. Anyone else feel like the shortcut recipes actually cost more in the long run?

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maryp18•23d ago

Just picked the $3 bag of lentils over the $8 pre-made soup

Turns out, with some onion and spices from the pantry, I made enough for four lunches. Anyone have other cheap pantry meals that feel fancy?

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quinnbailey•23d ago

Update: I stopped buying canned beans and started cooking them from dry after my friend in Phoenix said it was a waste of money.

I know everyone says it's too much work, but soaking a pound of black beans overnight and cooking them in my slow cooker while I'm at work costs me about $1.50 and gives me meals for a week, so has anyone found a faster way to cook dry beans without a pressure cooker?

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leo_mason•24d ago

My big mistake with those pre-cut veggie trays

I mean, I grabbed one from the Walmart produce section last week thinking it would save time, but it was like $8 for basically a cup of chopped peppers and broccoli. I could have bought two whole peppers and a head of broccoli for half that and chopped it myself in five minutes. Anyone else have a go-to cheap veggie prep trick that doesn't feel like a chore?

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the_margaret•24d ago

My neighbor in apartment 4B changed my whole view on dried beans

I always thought they were way too much work, you know, with the soaking and all that. But she showed me her instant pot method last Tuesday, where she just rinses a pound of black beans, covers them with water, and cooks them for 35 minutes with no soak. She said it costs about 75 cents for the whole batch, which is wild. Has anyone else got a favorite no-soak bean recipe that actually works?

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patricia_singh81•25d ago

My grocery bill went from $140 to under $80 a week after I started planning around one cheap meat.

I used to just grab whatever chicken or ground beef was on sale, but my spending was still high. About three months ago, I decided to build my whole week's meals around a single, big pack of pork shoulder I got for $12 at the Food Lion. That first week, I made a big pot of pulled pork in my slow cooker, used some for tacos, mixed some into pasta sauce, and froze the rest for a soup later. The change was crazy. I stopped needing to buy a different protein for every single dinner. My veggie and pantry spending stayed the same, but that one cheap cut did all the work. Now I pick a different 'anchor' meat each week, like a whole chicken or a big thing of lentils. Has anyone else tried this method of planning from one main ingredient?

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angelapalmer•26d ago

I used to think canned soup was a cheap dinner cheat, but my last pot changed my mind

I grabbed a can of cream of mushroom for like $1.50, planning to just heat it up and call it a meal. But it looked so sad and watery in the pan. I had half an onion going soft in the fridge and some dried thyme, so I chopped the onion and fried it, then added the soup and the thyme. Let it bubble for a bit. It cost maybe an extra 30 cents and 5 minutes, but it tasted like a real meal, not just sad soup. I even threw in a handful of old crackers on top. It made me realize the cheapest ingredients need a tiny bit of help to feel like food you actually want to eat. What's your go-to trick for making a basic canned thing way better?

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lilyb27•29d ago

Spent 45 minutes trying to open a jar of generic peanut butter

It was the store brand stuff, super thick, and the lid was sealed shut like it was guarding a national secret. I tried hot water, a rubber glove, even banging it on the counter, and my partner finally got it by stabbing the lid with a butter knife to break the vacuum. What's your weirdest kitchen struggle that wasted way too much time?

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mia592•1mo ago

Faced a choice between fresh herbs and dried ones for my soup this week

I was making a big pot of lentil soup to last a few days, and my recipe called for rosemary and thyme. At the store, a small pack of fresh rosemary was $3.50, but a jar of dried herbs was $2.00 and would last for months. I picked the dried jar, even though I love fresh herbs. I was worried the flavor would be weak, so I added it early while the onions were cooking to let it bloom in the oil. It actually worked great and gave the whole pot a nice, deep taste. The soup cost about $8 total to make, and it fed me for four meals. I saved that $1.50 to put toward a bag of rice next trip. Has anyone found other ways to make dried herbs taste stronger in slow-cooked dishes?

2 comments