It’s really not expensive to eat well on even the most restrictive of budgets.
It’s one of america’s strong suits.
Every third week or so pasta is on sale for under $1/lb. I figure each pound, with fixings is 3 or 4 dinners. Just buy 4 or 6 packages every sale, it’s about $5.
Now pasta is a carb, dry beans I count as a protein, and they too are often $1/lb, garbanzo beans being the only one I pay more for at about $1.35/lb.
(And the garbanzo beans are worth that extra cost.)
A pound of dry beans once cooked is enough for a week’s worth of dinners.
Veggies? 2 bags of mixed vegetables is $2-3 weekly added to the total.
In all honesty though I’d probably skip the veggies and buy another pound of beans, and a pound chicken thigh instead.
With the veggies you’re at 7 dinners for about $7 here, nutritious enough, but lacking the animal.
Adding in the animal, this is where the cost is racked up.
2lbs ground beef – the fatty one – $6
2lbs kielbasa – $7
3lbs chicken thigh – <$5
The pasta, bean, veggie base, with a pound of meat each day – $25/weekly for all the dinners.
Intermittent fasting, and you’re good.
But you want more calories, okay,
½ gallon of milk daily.
Round up to 4 gallons a week, it’s under $12 anywhere in the country.
Shit, I’ve seen it for less than $6.
That one walmart was selling gallons for $1.47, groceries were ridiculously affordable there.
25+12 = $37 weekly for a good dinner every night, including a pound of meat and ½ gallon of milk.
$13 minimally left on a $50 a week budget, eggs come next.
Say 4 dozen eggs, probably $6.
Ice cream is anabolic – 1 tub, $3.
$4 remaining.
brick of cheese – $2
generic poptarts – $1
Put the extra $1, though probably closer to $5 as I rounded up every time, back into the future “I’m frickin hungry” fund.
Buy sticks of butter with it.
This did bring you to ~4000 nutritious calories a day, completely on $50/week, a food stamp budget.