Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Start thinking ethnic. Not only shopping at ethnic markets which are often overpriced at certain items but using meat and fish as small parts of the meal. I make a lot of Chinese stir fried dishes. Vegetables, some meat, rice and sauce. YUM. Also start rethinking what you eat as breakfast, lunch and dinner in the typical American way. Eggs can be dinner easily -- poached on vegetables, fritattas, etc. ( I think this was suggested earlier). Cereal with added vegetables and perhaps a slice or two of meat can be breakfast or dinner. (Chinese congee). Buy large, cut small and freeze.

I just discovered this great idea tonight...I wanted good chinese food so I went down the street to my local chinese take out place, asked for a container of the sauce they put on sesame chicken. One cup only cost me $1! I steamed up rice, chicken and broccoli and added the sauce on top. Super cheap and tasted better than any sauce I could make!

Good luck, and try to enjoy having a "wife" at home to do the chores while you're working. I've been out of work since February, and my husband is trying to enjoy having me do all the chores. I used to say I needed a wife, now I am the housewife.

I second @Anneesha about letting food go to waste. Now, after go to the store I spend half an hour or so unpacking and washing everything and portioning all the groceries for the freezer. I spin dry and wash and pack the veggies and lettuces in tupperware with towels to keep them from rotting.

I inspect the veggies for brackish leaves and squishy spots and kinda sort everything by how long I think it'll last in the fridge. I find that often, the sale fruits/veg has a shorter shelf life.

I always wasted most of a celery head when I made soup since you only need one or two ribs and a carrot. Now, when celery is on sale (in Brooklyn last week it was half price (?!)), I buy a couple bundles and the giant bulk bin carrots, whirl it in the food processor til it's chopped fine. (You're welcome to do a fine dice on 2 heads of celery and 4 lbs of carrots, but I don't care about pretty) Then I'll sauté big pots of carrots and celery til soft and portion them into 1-2 cup portions for the freezer. When I want to make soup, stew, a roast, or beans, I add a chopped onion and voila, mirepoix was zero waste at a fraction of the cost and way less time. (I don't like frozen onions, and don't think it's worth the time saving.) Good luck and keep your chin up.

Hi - I'm in Minneapolis too, and luckily have a job (again) but the majority of my friends are out of work. I live alone but love to cook - and find that the biggest waste comes from letting things GO to waste. My favorite money-savers are buying the "ends & pieces" bacon that comes in big blocks, then separating into small portions and freezing and just using crumbled cooked bacon to flavor and enhance most everything. And shopping for bargains at Trader Joe's. In particular, their goat cheese logs are great priced and obviously wine.

But general just being inventive and using everything instead of throwing out something that's gone bad because you never got around to using it.

I make my own yogurt and kombucha. I make Caspian Sea yogurt and kefir as they ferment at room temperature, no special heat gadgets required. Same with kombucha and flavored with fresh ginger. Drink it instead of soda or pop.

Also have a vegetarian night or day once a week.

Mark

I buy whole pieces of tenderloin, whole cases of chicken breast, etc, and cut them up myself. I spend a little more at the start, but in the long run, I end up saving tremendously, because it lasts a long time.
For instance, when on sale, I can get whole, boneless pork tenderloins for as low as $1.49 (I've already gotten them for as low as 99 cents a pound in January). I cut them into 3/4 inch boneless chops and small roasts. If I cut the whole piece into chops, I can get as many as 36 chops per tenderloin. The trick is to poke the fat - if it's hard, it's thick, and vice versa. Of course, I always buy the soft one - less to trim.
I've already landed a deal on boneless, skinless chicken breast - $1.49 for the entire case. The same day, I got boneless, skinless thighs for 99 cents a pound, by the case. I also buy round roasts (as low as $1.29/lb) and cut them into steaks.

I wrap in foil, then I exclusively use Ziploc freezer bags, but not the ones with the zipper tabs, the ones that you have to press shut. Wrapping in foil first keeps the bag clean, so I can re-use them. They're thick and strong, and can be used several times before the zipper wears out.

Theresa

I have not worked for 10 months now but, because I have such a well stocked pantry I only buy the odd fresh veggies, fruits and eggs. I have my own veggie and herb garden. I pride myself on having a pantry well stocked enough that I don’t have to leave my house for 6 months - yes, I did say 6 months and I live by myself.
In addition because of health concerns I have to make pretty much everything from scratch, I love my own pasta and again I almost never drink soda. I’ve always made my own bread, why pay 2 dollars for a loaf of bread when you can make a loaf for about 70 cents. One of my rules is to use everything, I keep the skins to yellow onions and peels of veggies, with the backs of chickens I end up with chicken stock to die for. Another rule is that I have to use everything at lease twice anything that is plastic and can sorta be used as a bag get’s used as one, paper towel if I can gets washed out dried and used again. I do these things more for the environment then to be cheap. I suggest anyone that can should start Now in creating a pantry and a chest freezer is really your friend. BTW I make the best graham crackers and to be honest crackers in general are not all that hard to make and they last forever.
With a very few exceptions I buy everything on sale and I scour every single store within a five mile radius of my home. At this point I know which markets have what on sale or at the best price and also since I’ve been doing this all of my adult life I pretty much know the sale cycles of canned goods. My rule is that I should strive to spend no more the 3 dollars a day for food. As another responder pointed out only Americans eat meat (and a lot of it) for every meal. Try looking at how other cultures eat and adapt the recipies. I almost never eat fast food and rarely go out to eat. Yea, I’ll treat myself every now and again, but it’s pretty rare.

@zaeatah milk is not $8 a gallon an Nantucket more like $4.50 and I just had one of those fabulous burgers at the beach shack on Surfside and it was YUM YUM as usual!!

i'd pay $20 for a burger that tastes the same as when i was a kid. great story, carey!

I won't quibble with $4.50 for the burger, but $0.50 for a couple of lettuce leaves and a slice of tomato? Why don't they just grab you by the ankles and shake you upside down for the change that might fall out of your pockets?

Looks like I've stepped into a hornet's nest but truly most of you are confirming my point. First off even when the Sonics were in town, and I was a rabid fan, I didn't buy beer at the arena. I also think it is incumbent on "Mom and Pop" to keep their product well priced and value for the dollar if they want to stay in business. If they don't deliver the goods, why should I be called upon to subsidize them?
I respect the mother for making an effort to provide the turkey sandwiches and strawberries for the family so they could afford to spend time at the upscale beaches without breaking the bank for lunch. Notice mom and dad didn't join Carey for lunch.
If you want to see the burger I've referred to go to Dick's and scroll down about half the page. Then go here to learn what they do with all the excess money after they've sold you a $2.50 burger.
Shall we talk about expensive venues? Seattle is the home of Microsoft and some of the richest burger eaters on earth and you can never visit visit Dick's without standing in line, never.

@czken , in order to keep mom and pop places like this open, to keep the quality high , you should be willing to pay 5 bucks for the taste of childhood and in this case an amazing tasty burger. Do you expect Carey to tromp on over to Mcdonalds (where he lost the taste for burgers in the first place?) or to Dicks? when he wanted a certain one? the point isnt the price, its the place. and it looked well worth it.