I'm about to be living an extremely money tight lifestyle and am looking to stock up on long shelf life products I can buy in comically sized bulks but searching for good large air tight containers is yielding extremely mixed results. Any advice? Please help so I don't die on the fricking street this year.
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What's your freezer/fridge situation? How do you prepare your meals? That's pertinent information. If you have ample freezer space, I have a few good suggestions.
I'm moving into an apartment with a normal sized fridge so the situation to start with is empty, I'm not sure I have the money or space to invest in a deep freezer of any kind.
I'm planning to just cook a batch of whatever at the start of every week and eat leftovers for as long as I can stretch it out.
For proteins:
Buy pork and chicken in bulk. If you're American and have ALDI near you, try getting their half pork loin for $1.69/lb, usually 3-5lbs is $6-9. I cut it up into 5oz chops, 1 lb and 1/2 lb portions and freeze them individually bagged in dollar fold-top sandwich bags put into a larger ziplock. That's like 10 meals depending on how you use it.
Go to stores like save-a-lot, or especially Mexican grocery stores, for other chicken and pork products and do something similar to what I said above, look for under $3/lb, family packs or big roast sized pieces, and individually bag and freeze it in portions you can manage. Just like white & dark meat chicken each have their place, try getting fatty pork shoulder (as pork steaks or "country-style-ribs") as well as lean stuff for chops & stir fries.
Limit beef and seafood purchases to only once or twice a week unless you find good deals. ALDI is great for eggs, cheese, butter and milk as well, it's always consistently the cheapest in town, and trust me I have shopped around a lot and in many states. Wal-Mart sucks for produce and meat, only go there for cans, frozen, toiletries and clothes.
Bulk grains/carbs:
Get a big bag of rice, obviously. I found myself really getting into a good groove cooking asian short-grain rice daily, it's a lil more pricey up front, but you can do all kinds of Japanese and Chinese dishes with it that are cheap and don't taste like poverty, actually feels like you're living it up a little. The cheap medium-grain stuff is still good to have around, I use it for Mexican rice, red beans & rice, rice pudding, chicken & rice soup, etc.
Pasta is a good way to break up monotony. I do spaghetti and penne, they cover most of the bases for me and I have a few good recipes in rotation with them.
Lentils and beans. Dried beans are of course the big money saver, and you can actually have them same day with a quick soak method, in case you were worried about planning a day ahead.
Produce:
Onions, carrots, garlic, celery, jalapeños. Get by the bag and from mexican markets if possible. Frozen peas for sure. Zucchini and sweet potatoes are awesome as well. Apples, bananas, limes are cheap and treat yourself to a mango or something once a week.
Other than that, you're gonna need stuff like spices, condiments, sugar, bread (freeze it btw), just get what you need for tonight's dinner and then see how else you can use it that week. Don't buy anything premade, that means no ramen, chef boyardee, pizza rolls, banquet meals. Frick all of that. Use the money you save from soda and energy drinks to get stuff like drink mix powders and caffeine pills/coffee. Keep inventory and make sure you don't waste anything, a good way to keep that to a minimum is to cook fresh every day, small batches. If you frick something up as a big batch, you're gonna get sick of it and toss it or be miserable having to choke it down doused with hot sauce.
I have survived on $20/week for months at a time before, sometimes far less. I've learned what works and what doesn't through painful trial and error. Turns out surviving being broke isn't just depressed austerity, you can eat well and enjoy it, do some fancy plating and garnish, it keeps your spirits up when everything else sucks. All of your socks have holes, you're bathing with laundry detergent, your internet was dced cause you couldn't pay it, but hey: at least that cheesy risotto and sage-crusted pork chop with cherry preserve sauce looks fantastic.
>Pasta is a good way to break up monotony
Bruh, pasta is the definition of monotony.
Eh i only cook pasta maybe once a week, it breaks the monotony of Asian stirfry or curry lentils with rice for me.
Lucky for me I've been hooked on rice and pasta my entire life so I'm totally okay with eating monotonous meals with slight variations. I can literally just eat a bowl of noodles with butter and salt and feel satisfied, your posts will help me to keep it varied.
Raw chicken. It doesn't need refrigeration. Just leave it out on the counter
Pasta is always a good purchase and it's cheap to get pounds for dollars. This along with rice and it covers your base for grains.
Do you have a PayPal or something? I'll throe you 50 bucks. Always happy to help out someone in need
I do
Email is
[email protected]
I was actually trying to help you man. You dont have to be rude
Lmao scammers are getting better, I almost believed you for a second, you sound almost like a native English speaker
OK bro
I actually don't think he's a scammer OP. I am actually a scammer, and besides targeted attacks like speerphishing or blackmail there's not much a person can accomplsih with just knowing you have paypal and an email. Most of the things require effort, and you just said you're broke, so there's no point.
But you shouldn't take money from strangers anyway anon. I applaud your resilience, or stupidity, or whatever it is
Explain to me how exactly a one way payment is supposed to "scam" you
There's a reason he got to this position in the first place anon, he's not very good at this stuff.
Frick if I know, I'm just not gullible enough to believe there's anyone out there willing to hand $50 out to an internet stranger. 98% chance it's ulterior motive and they have some convoluted plot in mind, you see it every day.
I've done it at least twice to people on Culinaly. But you do you. I'm just trying to help others where I see the need because I've been very blessed. Be well dude hope things get better.
I could use $50 if you want to give it to someone
I'd love to but I can't be sure you are just being opportunistic
The guy who responded to you wasn't me (OP) and I am fine without your money, but I appreciate the offer.
Would the gallon size ziploc freezer bags work? They’re pretty leak proof when double bagged.
The Rubbermaid takealong 1 gallon container 2 pack is only $5 to $6 if you want something large and washable.
If you’re talking about grain storage or stuff like that Costco has a 2 pack of a 22 quart Cambro bucket with lid for $25, you have to order $75 total of “2 day shipping” grocery items for free shipping but that seems like a decent price point for that kind of thing delivered.
I use pet food containers for grains and beans
I like to stock up on tons of cans of whole tomatoes when they go on sale. Tomatoes are the base of a number of different sauces, I use 1-2 cans every week. Buy ground/mince meat when it goes on sale, pork, beef, turkey, whatever, and chuck it in the freezer. Ground meat is super versatile, especially when you're prepping cheap sloppa. Beans and lentils as filler in everything you cook, and basic stuff like pasta, rice, whatever to dump your meat sloppa on top of.
Steel cut oats, or groats. Buy 50lb bag for cheap. Feed man for 1 year.
Make sure you get the ones that have had the most glyphosate sprayed on them