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Due to a combination of inflation, supply-chain disruptions, and tariffs on certain foreign imports, food prices have steadily risen since 2020.
In the US, for example, food prices — which includes both food at home (groceries) and restaurant orders — increased 2.2% from February 2023 to February 2024, and the previous one-year period saw a spike of 9.5%.
So when Reddit user WhatIsThisWhereAmI made a post on the platform's forum 'Cooking,' asking people what's their preferred budget meal, they immediately got plenty of answers. Here are some of the most upvoted ones.
Image credits: WhatIsThisWhereAmI
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Keep your house stocked with potatoes, onions, rice, beans, and canned tomatoes. Add whatever vegetables and/or meat is on sale to your weekly trip. With those 5 items you can have a variety of meals and they are perfect staples for whatever you are able to add.
Keep your scraps in a plastic bag in the freezer and use it to make stock. Just don’t add scraps from broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, or cruciferous vegetables as it’ll make your stock bitter.
You can seriously save every part of your onion, carrots, celery, etc to use for stock.
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#2
People talk about rice and beans a lot , but no one talks about other legumes. Chickpeas and all kinds of lentils are incredibly cheap if bought dry. Buying in bulk from an ethnic store makes them even cheaper.
We got in touch with WhatIsThisWhereAmI and the Redditor agreed to tell us more about the viral discussion that they've started.
"As mentioned in my post, I had run across someone else's post asking about people's favorite childhood poverty meals, and I realized a ton of the things mentioned there are no longer cheap," WhatIsThisWhereAmI explained to Bored Panda.
"I myself have been surprised in the last several years by some of these changes, and I was curious how the shopping habits of people with strict budgets may have changed in response."
#3
I've been negative on the bank account for a week and been surviving on a 10 pound bag of potatoes, air fried with some spices, and some onions and garlic I have laying around.
Payday coming soon, though.
Salty_Sasquatch 8 months ago
Potatoes are pretty good in the nutrition department. Just missing some protein, which you can get with beans or eggs or milk.
#4
I don't intend to speak for others, but Red Lentil curry + home made naan is the most food you can make for the least amount of money. It's like $3 to make a weeks worth of food.
After going through the replies, the Redditor said "there were definitely a few themes [that were mentioned more than others], namely cheap, bulk-packaged, dried foundational items for your pantry."
"Beans & lentils were the most popular suggestion for getting your protein, and rice was by far the top suggestion for getting your carbs, followed by potatoes (which people correctly noted is an almost nutritionally complete item on its own). Buying whole chicken and spreading it across several meals seems to be a popular hack as well."
According to WhatIsThisWhereAmIMany, most people mentioned eating less meat as a matter of budget rather than preference or health. "There was also a lot of talk about how you might as well eat fresh food since packaged foods are so much more expensive these days. And of course, shopping deals and markdowns, but also at foreign grocery stores which are often cheaper."
#5
I love potatoes and eggs. Eggs got stupid expensive for a bit but they’re back down again. You can get a bag of potatoes and a dozen eggs for like 5-6$ or even less if you shop right. Toss some potatoes in a pan and fry them up or even just boil or bake them and then take a couple eggs on the side or on top. You can get fancy and make an omelet or add a little cheese but even just basic eggs n’ taters is yum and very filling.
#6
The new poverty food is cooking 90%+ of your food. People out there be eating rice and beans during the week and then blowing the budget eating fast casual/fast food on the weekends. Fast food ain't cheap anymore!
The good thing, according to the author of this post, is that "even someone with little-to-no skill can follow an easy recipe in a slow cooker or instant pot, or throw some red beans and rice together.
"The real problem for most people seems to be time poverty. When you're working long hours and are tired at the end of the day, convenience food, however expensive it might be, is hard for people to avoid," they added.
Also, coming up with the ultimate poverty meal cookbook is quite difficult because grocery prices do not move uniformly. As one rises, the other one can drop, and then vice versa.
#7
If you go to the budget cooking subs, it’s rice and beans. Everyone reply is the same, rice and beans and a food bank.
Deta Rossiter 8 months ago
i went over to a whole food plant-based diet. yes it is more work somedays, but the savings, and the weight loss, is a real eye openeer
#8
Cabbage!
I made a quickle with some last night, it lasts a few days in the fridge and get better and brinier with each day. I also make seared "steaks" of cabbage that get so tasty when you almost burn them, give them a flip and then I pour over a miso/honey/crushed red pepper sauce with a lid, low heat until the reduction basically glazes it.
Idk I guess I really felt for the cabbage man in ATLA.
"There are ways to cook cheap healthy meals with minimal prep time, but I think there's also a mental fatigue that prevents people from tackling the learning curve to figure out what those meals are and how to cook them," WhatIsThisWhereAmI said.
"Tired people just keep plugging away doing what they know, even if they can't always afford to, and folks on tight budgets are much more likely to be suffering from this kind of fatigue. I think researching healthy recipes made with cheap ingredients and planning your shopping ahead of time are the best remedies to this. It's just getting past that barrier."
#9
Chicken thighs are still pretty cheap and full of protein. Frozen veggies are almost always on sale somewhere. The beans and rice move is always a classic.
#10
There is a Korean grocer near me with tubs of tofu in the refrigerated section. $1 for a small, $1.50 for a large. The large is enough for me, my wife, and our 2 year-old with some leftovers. I'll bread it for noodles/stir fry, saute it as a tofu scramble, throw it into a chili or other stew...
It's a very versatile protein, and I always wonder what other families do with the blocks.
Altogether, I think "Americana" poverty foods like cereal, Kraft mac and cheese, and baloney have gone up in price because they don't sell as well... it was competitively priced because of profit in volume. Instead, ethnic foods from Latin American and East Asian immigrant populations have become more widely known.
wellsfamily 8 months ago
Fried tofu cut into cubes and made into mapo tofu, meat substituted with mung beans. perfect vegetarian food on top of rice. though im really not a vegetarian in no shape or form.
#11
I think the key is avoiding processed food in general. It used to be dirt cheap to just eat cereal and kraft mac and cheese, but I am appalled at how expensive that stuff has gotten.
Scratch cooking is the key to food savings.
And my poverty food will always be the good ol' rice and beans. I eat at least 1 meal of day of rice and beans in various permutations: channa masala, red beans and rice, mujadara, gallo pinto, Jamaican rice and peas, collard greens and black eyed peas, even tofu counts in my book. The possibilities are endless.
#12
Rice is cheap, onions are cheap, eggs are reasonable.
=Egg fried rice.
Add garlic or meat/poultry if you can find a deal.
Salty_Sasquatch 8 months ago
...I did see a post on Facebook last year, a picture of a carton of eggs with a caption 'will trade for a 2023 Ram truck.
#13
Costco/Sams rotisserie chicken! Add it to rice.
Daniel Atkins 8 months ago
Often a grocery store will reduce the price of them just before closing or will have them in the refrigerator the next morning if they don't sell in the evening.
#14
I think this is a great question.
I think my personal answer is a vegetarian burrito bowl or tacos. Rice, black beans (from a bag of dried beans), and salsa. Can put in tortillas. Sauteed onions and/or bell pepper, tomatoes, lettuce or cabbage, a little cheese and sour cream are all optional if you've got extra money to burn, lol.
#15
I wouldn’t say new, but buttered egg noodles look like they’re becoming a trendy again. the real ones never slept on them tho.
Charley128 8 months ago
Egg noodles and gravy with a few frozen peas thrown in is tasty. You can also use undiluted cream of chicken soup. Or substitute rice for the noodles.
#16
I've resurrected a long lost staple from my childhood - Pizza Bread. Take a few slices of cheap bread, slather some ragu, top with mozzarella, bake, and viola pizza bread.
Charley128 8 months ago
Store brand english muffins are great for this. Less soggy, more crunch.
#17
Porridge for breakfast, rice and beans for dinner, a third meal would be bourgeois excess.
Miliukov Oleksandr 8 months ago
kiwi and coconut, almonds and hazelnut ... who's bourgeois here?
#18
Same things that have always been: pasta, rice, potatoes, beans, eggs, vegetables, whole chickens, pork shoulder. Buying the right whole foods and doing some prep work to get the most out of them is still the cheapest way to eat.
Lyn Starsblood (she/her) 8 months ago
We do a lot of batch cooking at home— just grab and go when in a rush
#19
Mine was a whole uncooked chicken. I’d cook it in a slow cooker and then pull it apart. The liquid is then a broth to make soups. You can buy tortillas from
A Mexican grocer for dirt cheap (like 20 for $1). A few veggies or a whole purple cabbage. You can keep yourself fed real well for roughly $30 a week or less.
#20
In my city you can get 1kg of frozen pierogies for like 3 dollars. Dip them in sweet Thai sauce or Greek yogurt. Easy cheap filling meal.
#21
Chickpeas with any dressing.
#22
Pork Loin is still pretty cheap. I got one that I'm sure I can make at least 4-5 meals for three people for $14.
#23
Gardening is the new cheap food. Sorry if you don’t have space. You’d be surprised what you can get from a balcony or window though!
Also chicken feet for bone broth. Organ meats are pretty cheap too.
#24
Marcella Hazan’s red sauce is relatively inexpensive…. Can of tomatoes, butter, salt, onion cut in half simmered on low 45 minutes or so. Noodles are cheap.
Ace 8 months ago
Plus or minuses - you don't need expensive butter, just a little oil which is only needed to fry up the _chopped_ onions to get max sweetness and flavour out of them; a little garlic if you like, some dried oregano or whatever herbs you've got hidden in the back of your cupboard.
#25
It’s not new, but Cajun rice and gravy has been always a pretty cheap food in South Louisiana. Get a cheap fatty cut of beef and seasoning it with salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Sear the beef on all sides. Pull the beef out the pot and add your Trinity. Once the veggies are lightly browned, around 5 to 10 minutes, add beef back along with a Bayleaf, Cajun seasoning, and whatever other herbs you want to add, add enough water to cover everything. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer, simmer for 4 to 6 hours, adding water as needed to keep things covered. It’s done whenever the beef is falling apart. Put it over rice, add hot sauce.
Gringa Fabulosa 8 months ago
"Cheap, fatty cut of beef" doesn't exist any more. Even stew beef is $9 a pound.
#26
Pork is the best value meat out there right now after chicken. People overlook pork chops in particular. I got 5 lbs of amazing pork chops for $10 the other day at Costco. Made 3 dinner meals for my fam of 6 with them.
Lentils are great too.
#27
That has generally been the case of “poverty foods.” Meat in the west only became the main focus of a dish because of factory farming. Everywhere else it’s almost treated like a condiment to veggies. Your cow was almost priceless so you wouldn’t butcher it until it stopped producing milk. Which you valued so much you’d try to preserve it by fermenting.
So the poverty food is the poverty food. Trying to extend the shelf life/ or package of meats. Eating more veggies forward.
#28
Ramen?
Yogurt is usually on sale.
Tiffany Marie 8 months ago (edited)
0% milkfat 0% sugar Greek Yogurt. Usually $6. I buy this when I can. The protein is high and good calcium. Lower calories and filling. Eat it with a banana and a few walnuts. I buy 3lbs of walnuts for $8. They last me forever because I actually do the serving size or just under. It'll last a few months. All you need is a few in 1 day.
#29
I don’t understand why people can’t learn to share. I have one person (me) to feed on a six figure income. I love Costco but I tend to get bored of the food before it goes bad. If a friend wants to share, I would happily go to Costco split a bulk pack of whatever.
Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 8 months ago (edited)
Well, for starters, if you're by yourself you probably are wasting money on a bulk store membership. Secondly, if a lot of what you've buying is going bad before you can use it, you don't know how to put stuff up for later properly. Get a vacuum sealer and divide stuff up and freeze it. Finally, find hungry friends to share food with, and chances are you'll find folks to split the cost with.
#30
Popcorn. Like a bag of kernels, popped in your microwave in a paper bag, with nothing else. Popcorn kernels are cheap and 3 Tbsp of popcorn kernels makes you feel like you at a big meal, all for about 120 calories if you’re counting.
#31
For me it's just buying everything that's marked down b/c it's about to bad. I've gotten 2 lbs of chicken for $2 at Target & Mariano's. Jewel does a lot of BOGO free on fresh pre-sliced veggies, meat, prepared dinners, & random deli items like hummus or salsa.
I also keep an eye on food apps - you pretty much have to use the app to get decent prices. Frozen breakfast sandwiches are insanely expensive now, so I either make breakfast tacos for the week or I use the Dunkin app for discounts. Fast food places often have great deals but only if you use the app.
My fave cheap meal is just whole wheat pasta with a protein and frozen veggies on the side. I add butter and Parmesan cheese & whatever spices I'm feeling. Grilled cheese is still cheap, eggs aren't bad although I miss buying higher quality ones, and I love chickpea salad sandwiches for lunch.
Tiffany Marie 8 months ago (edited)
I look at Instacart stores before I go shopping. They have stores up that have in store prices so I look up sales. I make a list of on sale produce or whatever and even try new things. For $20 I get a lot of food. I also Google on freezing things. I like produce most. 89cent cabbage last week. 50 cent cucumbers. I got 6 giant apples for $2.
#32
15 minute potatoes- 8 minutes in the microwave, cover in oil, butter, or margarine and seasoning, and then cook in the air fryer for 7 minutes. Cut open and add anything, chili, sour cream, butter, bacon, up to you!
M O'Connell 8 months ago
You must have a very wimpy microwave if potatoes can spend 8 minutes in there without detonating.
#33
1 minute noodles.
2 minute noodles are for the bourgeoisie.
Nadia Montera 8 months ago
I buy 3 minutes noodles from Korean stores. I guess I am a member of the Royal family. lol
What do you think ?
Lorrie Rothstein 8 months ago
So many posts about getting food at Costco. It's a 60$ membership fee. If groceries are too expensive why waste 60$ on the fee?
Tiffany Marie 8 months ago (edited)
I actually had to sell what I could on Facebook Marketplace to get a Costco membership because of "cat litter." The savings paid for the membership itself asap. I have 3 cats. Had them 11 years. I fell on hard times. I'm still struggling but now I also use my membership for deals. You get good bang for your buck sometimes. Plus the $5 rotisserie chicken is huge and lasts me 4 days between 2 people and 3 cats. I'm someone who can only afford about $60 to $120 in groceries a month for 2 people. Sometimes less but sometimes there's extra so I buy the bulk 3lbs of walnuts for $8 and use them sparingly. We buy the $10 pizza from the food court as our luxury treat and I freeze the slices to prolong it. Gives us days of pizza for $10. They have good sales on food too sometimes. Which lasts me. I see poor people dropping $25 out to eat. Can get a membership and just buy the $5 chicken or $10 pizza. I go on a weekday before closing, less people. I think people save on gas also. I just got a jumbo 30 pack of tortillas for a few bucks. I froze half of it. Using it for bean burritos. They also have 5 dozen eggs for $11.99. Im sure Walmart has good prices but like I said I need to buy the cat litter from Costco. It's about $11 for 35lbs of cat litter. The smell isn't bad either. It's liveable if the boxes are well taken care of. Plus very little litter dust. Prior I was buying Chewy cat litter 40lbs for $20. Now I think it's $18 for 35lbs. I need 40lbs weekly of cat litter. Chewy cat litter monthly $108 vs Costco monthly at $70. Plus Chewys is terrible with litter dust. After 2 months of litter I start the savings for 10 months on the membership. Not sure if there's cheaper cat litter that doesn't smell bad within a day or two.
Load More Replies...
Marcos Valencia 8 months ago
Knowing as many ingredients as possible and learning how to cook them. That's the way. Healthier, cheaper when you need it to be cheap, and more inspiring.
Jo Davies 8 months ago
I have a pretty good veggie garden and try to use everything but i am still learning. While i use things like spinach roots and carrot tops, i found out i still have a lot to learn. 2 people taught me just last week that pumpkin and sweet potato leaves are absolutely delicious! And an old school Italian cooking book taunting me that tomato leaves add taste and nutrition to dishesn
Della 8 months ago
Also learned to can with hot water canner from good will store, new in package.
Load More Replies... Lorrie Rothstein 8 months ago
So many posts about getting food at Costco. It's a 60$ membership fee. If groceries are too expensive why waste 60$ on the fee?
Tiffany Marie 8 months ago (edited)
I actually had to sell what I could on Facebook Marketplace to get a Costco membership because of "cat litter." The savings paid for the membership itself asap. I have 3 cats. Had them 11 years. I fell on hard times. I'm still struggling but now I also use my membership for deals. You get good bang for your buck sometimes. Plus the $5 rotisserie chicken is huge and lasts me 4 days between 2 people and 3 cats. I'm someone who can only afford about $60 to $120 in groceries a month for 2 people. Sometimes less but sometimes there's extra so I buy the bulk 3lbs of walnuts for $8 and use them sparingly. We buy the $10 pizza from the food court as our luxury treat and I freeze the slices to prolong it. Gives us days of pizza for $10. They have good sales on food too sometimes. Which lasts me. I see poor people dropping $25 out to eat. Can get a membership and just buy the $5 chicken or $10 pizza. I go on a weekday before closing, less people. I think people save on gas also. I just got a jumbo 30 pack of tortillas for a few bucks. I froze half of it. Using it for bean burritos. They also have 5 dozen eggs for $11.99. Im sure Walmart has good prices but like I said I need to buy the cat litter from Costco. It's about $11 for 35lbs of cat litter. The smell isn't bad either. It's liveable if the boxes are well taken care of. Plus very little litter dust. Prior I was buying Chewy cat litter 40lbs for $20. Now I think it's $18 for 35lbs. I need 40lbs weekly of cat litter. Chewy cat litter monthly $108 vs Costco monthly at $70. Plus Chewys is terrible with litter dust. After 2 months of litter I start the savings for 10 months on the membership. Not sure if there's cheaper cat litter that doesn't smell bad within a day or two.
Load More Replies... Marcos Valencia 8 months ago
Knowing as many ingredients as possible and learning how to cook them. That's the way. Healthier, cheaper when you need it to be cheap, and more inspiring.
Jo Davies 8 months ago
I have a pretty good veggie garden and try to use everything but i am still learning. While i use things like spinach roots and carrot tops, i found out i still have a lot to learn. 2 people taught me just last week that pumpkin and sweet potato leaves are absolutely delicious! And an old school Italian cooking book taunting me that tomato leaves add taste and nutrition to dishesn
Della 8 months ago
Also learned to can with hot water canner from good will store, new in package.
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