Today's subject is a tiny bit personal for me, as I have lived under barely able to survive poverty twice in my life: first was working at theme park and waiting for my first check and second was graduate school. In the first situation there was little I could do in terms of options to feed myself (all we had was a microwave in the community living quarters within the dorms to cook with so any hot meal I had was either bought or microwaved foods) but the second time I did have some cooking options. I was under a very low budget due to my only income being student loans and maybe the occasional work, so I had to make everything stretch super thin in order to pay the rest of my bills as well. This also included things like using food banks, looking for cheap foods that I could make in bulk and other tricks to make sure I was eating somewhat healthy. So today, I will share a few tips and food ideas for those trying to make due with as little as possible.
First thing's first, food banks are your friends. If you got one, take advantage. I used the school's food bank all the time. If I was judged, I didn't care, you don't have time to be proud when you're living off of next to nothing. Also, it was a personal vendetta for me, as I wanted to show to my school that their graduate students are not able to feed themselves properly with what they were given. They are the ones who should be ashamed that they even need a food bank in the first place to help feed their students. Next, come up with what you can make out of what they have. Ours ended up having a hell of a lot of green bean cans, tuna cans, and cream of mushroom soup. I was making a pasta salad with the tuna out of other ingredients I had and a variation on green bean casserole with the other two using rice as a starch included with it. Easy stuff that could be made in less than a half hour was my goal. I also got cereals there, a coupon for a free coffee at a local cafe and all sorts of weird things students donated for people to use. I would, if you could make time for it, consider your first trip to a food bank as a scouting mission. You're not just there to get food, but to see what is in stock and what is not. Plan meals around your food bank's offerings and you could save tons of money when you're living on near nothing.
Also as a personal note before we move on: don't be afraid to take what you need. Yes, other people may be worse off than you are, but you need food to live too. Often people play down their food issues like “it's not that bad, I could be worse” as an excuse to not use the resources right in front of them. If you qualify to use their food bank, you are at “worse”.
Second would be to learn what you can buy rather cheap but still tastes good to you. For me, this was chili cans. They didn't show up often in the food bank, but one of those plus rice and I had a good meal in front of me that could last two days if I wanted. Also where I went to graduate school was a food desert, as in there was not many fresh veggies and fruits because it was too cold to grow things most of the year so they had to be shipped up. Needless to say, it wasn't going to be that good when the greens made it here. However, the one thing they did have is fresh fish. The area had a huge supply of fresh local fish and I completely took advantage of it. Not all the time, mind you, but every once and a while having fresh fish was pretty nice and it was often decently priced.
The last major tip is to always, always, spice your food. Cheap options are often bland and unappetizing which will make your dinners seem miserable and remind you exactly how broke you are. Having just a few seasonings that you can mix into those dinners will help make things a little more bearable. I like to get seasoning mixes like Italian or large things of garlic powder just to add something to my food and put in some variety but even a little bit of salt and pepper can help a ton in the flavor department.
You guys have any further tips for eating on a budget? I'd also recommend getting a multi-vitamin of some sort (you can buy like 200 for roughly $10 if you know where to look) just to make sure I have something to supplement my food when I can't always eat super healthy. Sure they can be horse pills but it's better than malnutrition. Let me know your tips for cooking with next to nothing or recipes of things you make when the budget is tight!