Another week of pasta dinners...

[wishesuponastar]

Ouch on the $65 bill that has to come out of the $100. Now I see you are really low for a week. I think you can manage though by getting chicken drumsticks or thighs. You could cut some off the bone to use with cream of ____ soup, some broccoli and some rice. How about baked rigatoni, that could help you with several meals. Just today I ate just baked beans for lunch or sometimes I eat some green peppers with hummus or some chickpeas. How about some grilled cheese and tomato soup? What do you have in your pantry and freezer? If you able to eat those foods and others pp suggested I think it will be an adventure for you.

As far as Father's Day gift, do you mean for your father??
I would give dad a present like a homemade gift certificate for car washes or a trip to a baseball game for the two of you that you could "pay" for at a later date??

 

[mjc05]

Hi there. End of the week is next Friday. the $100 is for gas, Father's Day present, and $65 in a utility bill that has to be paid or cut off. Yes. Not fun.
Thanks so much for the encouragement and the ideas. I love to hear that it gets better!

If you have a Walgreen's nearby, they are running a special on an 8x10 collage photo. You can upload the pictures online and then have it printed off at your nearest Walgreen's. With the promo code, it is totally free. If you have a dollar, you can get a picture frame at a Dollar Tree store, or something like that. The collage comes out really nicely and the can have it ready in a couple hours.

 

[SandrA9810]

I'd say to bake your dad something fresh. People really do enjoy things more when there's a bit of love put into it.

With my angel food cake I made last night, I wound up serving it to three people today as a thank you. They all loved it and thought it was great. Last weekend, I baked a home-made honey wheat bread. I took it to the guy that sold me the honey from his local farm, and he gave me a free bottle of honey. I feel like I should give him 2-3 more loaves just for that one bottle.
Point is, people love something with a personal touch and it doesn't have to be expensive.

I also know that feeling well of wondering how far $5 at the grocery store can go. Bills were paid first, then gas for the car (no gas, no work-no work, no money, no food), and then way down at the bottom was a few bucks for food.

I don't know how close you are to the flooding or how much of that has caused food prices to go up in your area. But I love salad, and find it to be really cheap to make at home. I use green leaf or red leaf lettuce, use about 3-4 leaves for each salad, handful of spinach, one tomato, a sprinkle of cheese, sometimes croutons if they're on sale, and dressing.

Use really small portions of meat, and add in more veggies. Even if string beans are 1.99lb, it's way cheaper than the 3.99lb for chicken.

Whole chickens can stretch really far and they're really cheap. Bake one up (go light on seasonings), and have some for dinner. Then pick the bones clean. Toss all the scraps into a huge stock pot or slow cooker if you have one. Add water till it's a few inches above the bones, and simmer for like 8hrs or more on low low heat. Strain the bones out and you have fresh chicken stock. Which you can use for a lot of things. Plus a whole lot of chicken to make things with.

chicken and noodle soup - add a few veggies to make it healthier
jambalaya soup - rice, sausage, peppers and some seasonings
chicken casserole dish - can of cream of mushroom, diced potatoes (previously boiled), some shredded chicken, whatever veggies you want, cheese on top
toss some chicken onto your salad

If it's not on a really good sale, don't buy more than one or two portions. The average portion is supposed to be 4oz. So ask the meat cutter to only give you a 1/2 lb, and they'll divide up store brand packages of meat. Carbs are cheap and filling, but try to go light on them. I find they make me full faster, and hungry again faster. So I always eat my salad at the end of dinner.

 

[DawnM]

Do you already have some food in your pantry/kitchen? I have had week where I tried to just live on what we already had. I had to get creative, but I did it.

HillbillyHousewife.com has a $40 menu (for a family!) and $75 menu, both for a full week.

This is why I coupon. I try to have a stockpile for those lean weeks. I have things that could feed us for at least a month in there.

I buy chicken when chicken breast is .99/pound. I buy whole chicken when it is .49/pound and stock up. It can last about 12 months in the freezer.

I have rice, pasta, sauces, and other shelf stable foods on hand.

It might be good for future use to get a small stockpile going with coupons or sales.

Dawn

 

[scootch]

When I had an apartment and lived by myself, it was cheaper to eat out than cook at home. Many restaurants have lunch special, so I would order at 345pm and there was usually enough food for 2 days. I used to get this great italian meal for under $5.

Another thought... maybe you need to reconsider your mortgage and get a smaller/less expensive place?? Not sure how you can survive on that little as life always throws its curveballs such as flat tires, dental work, ect.....

 

[hsmamato2]

If you have a Walgreen's nearby, they are running a special on an 8x10 collage photo. You can upload the pictures online and then have it printed off at your nearest Walgreen's. With the promo code, it is totally free. If you have a dollar, you can get a picture frame at a Dollar Tree store, or something like that. The collage comes out really nicely and the can have it ready in a couple hours.

YES! you have 35.00 for food, make it last! buy a couple of bags of dry beans,and a 5 pound bag of rice soak the beans and make rice and beans- make bean and shred meat tacos-add rice and spices to tacos to fill them out,and make them yummy,buy one block of cheese on sale,shred it and sprinkle it on the meals- you can buy some decent frozen veg. bags,and add to whatever meals you're making(corn,broccoli,etc)
if you want meat, buy some CHEAP chicken parts ,toss them into a stockpot with an onion,etc- when you've boiled it long enough to make broth,strain and remove till broth is clear- 1) use the chicken bits for your tacos/stir fries,etc -2) use that pot of yummy broth,add some froz. veggies,rice,and eat your veggie soup!
all these items cost very little upfront,just some time to prepare healthy,cheap meals.
make a pasta salad,or a cold rice salad....etc etc

 

[MrsPete]

Because of paying the mortgage, I'm left with less than $100 for the rest of the week. The husband is out of town and gets money from his work while there, so I'm fending for myself. Anyone else find themselves in binds like these? How do you keep from getting discouraged while living paycheck to paycheck?

You sound like this is something that's happening on a regular basis. If so, I'd ask -- nicely, of course -- whether you can really afford the mortgage? This isn't a good time to sell, but perhaps downsizing is the long-term answer to the question. If you're constantly unable to get ahead, is it that your financial commitments are too much for your income?

Having said that, lots of people have given good suggestions for your immediate problem: Dried beans, soup, etc. Look for ways to cook from scratch. Watch your beverage costs; a typical shopper spends 30% of his shopping budget on beverages, most of which add little nutritional value to his diet. Look for non-grocery store sources for food; for example, farmers' markets or salvage stores.

 

[Marionnette]

Hi there. End of the week is next Friday. the $100 is for gas, Father's Day present, and $65 in a utility bill that has to be paid or cut off. Yes. Not fun.
Thanks so much for the encouragement and the ideas. I love to hear that it gets better!

This has me wondering if you are constantly playing catch up with the bills. Around here, utilities do not send shut off notices unless you're either seriously delinquent or a chronic late-payer who is once again late with payment. Regardless, the question arises as to why this bill has not been paid yet when you have sufficient funds to take care of it? It's not as if it is going to go away if you ignore it.

The best way to manage while living paycheck to paycheck is to MANAGE your money. Maybe this is a wake up call for you and your husband to sit down and hammer out a realistic, livable budget. You're not alone with your financial woes. But that doesn't make it any easier to live with. If you need help establishing a budget, try a few websites like youneedabudget (free trial software) or Dave Ramsey.

Until then, take the PP's advice on how to get past this latest money crisis. I wish you luck. Please keep us informed on your progress.

 

[kristenkoj]

A few years ago when our daughter was seriously ill we lived very much paycheck to paycheck for years after paying off her medical bills. One thing we did then and still do now is buy a whole chicken, which you can get for under $5.00. Bake the whole thing for dinner on night one. Take some of the leftovers to make chicken salad for lunch the next day and the rest I make into a few different casaroles for the next night or two worth of dinner. Also I use ground beef and make mac and cheese and this is enough to feed our family of four. We buy a lot of our food at a store called Aldi's which is a discount food store, also Dollar General has a lot of food products that are much cheaper then in a food store.

 

[ilovemk76]

OP, if your housing (mortgage, taxes, utilities, etc.) is more than 35% then you are in a situation that will be very difficult to improve. You either need to increase your income or reduce your housing cost (could mean selling the house).

 

[gracie1]

You can easily eat cheap. One night you can do pasta....[ick up a pack of lunchmeat and loaf of bread and you can have sandwiches, grilled cheese, take out a chicken breast and if you have potatoes you can have chicken with a potatoe and veggie, pick up lettuce and tomato for salad...you can also have a grilled chicken salad.

Try to get frozen veggies if you have none because the produce has really went up in the store. Atleast where I live. Just a green pepper is $2-$2.50

 

[arthur06]

With only $35 for gas and food for the week it would be tight. (but sometimes that's the fun and get creative).

Not sure how much you have in your pantry/cupboards/fridge to start with.

If you needed $20 for gas and only had $15 for food here is how I would do it. (assuming you had to start with no food)

The one thing I splurge on is Mtn Dew. ($3.50 for a 12 pack)
Dozen Eggs ($1.39)
Loaf of Bread ($1.49)
2 x's Totinos Pizza ($2.50) 1.25 each
3 yogurts ($1.50)
3 bananas ($1.00)
Egg Noodles ($.99)
1/2 lb cheapest deli meat store has ($1.49)
one can of Pringles ($1.25)

I think that puts me over budget by about 10 cents!

Then My meals would look like this.

Breakfast: Banana and yogurt 3 days and egg and toast the other days

Lunch: Sandwich and chips

Supper: totinos pizza twice, noodles twice, and breakfast twice!

 

[cglaura]

An idea for a free Father's Day gift could be a "gift certificate" for you to detail his car. I gave this to my step dad one year and he thought it was fantastic. I washed, waxed, vacuumed and cleaned the carpets.

You can find some nice gift certificate templates by google search and print them out at home.

One of our favorite pasta dishes is bow tie noodles, peas and bacon bits. I use alfredo sauce, but it tastes nice with butter and Parmesan cheese too.

Our Dollar Tree sells pasta 2/$1.

Also, thought I don't advocate it as a staple for health reasons, ramen / oodles of noodles. They are usually 4/$1. Can't really beat a 25 cent meal when you are in a pinch. Could throw some veggies in too for a few cents more. Frozen string beans would be good.

 

[SandrA9810]

If she bought at the right time, it's very possible the mortgage is cheaper than the rent. My aunt's mortgage is saving her about $400 a month over the smaller apartment she lived in. Utilities increased a bit, especially water, but there's still way more savings than increase.

In the city, I'd expect about $800-$1000 a month for a rental. It's just as easy to be in that situation with a rental or ownership. Plus moving is a HUGE expenses. I don't think I've spent less than a $2,000 on a move. That includes deposits and fees for the new apartment, an extra couple days off work for moving. Possible utility deposits, if changing areas. Rental truck or trailer, plus all the gas it eats up. Moving is NOT cheap, and wouldn't help them at all.

So the mortgage is the way it is. I think $65 in utilities is cheap, maybe there's a way to knock it down some more. Most utility companies will send some one over for a free evaluation of your home's usage and tell you were you can cut costs. Gas is there, and it's always going to bite you in the butt. Thankfully it's starting to come back down again. Do any of your grocery stores offer promotions on gas if you purchase so much groceries??? Although don't go out of your way to qualify.

At the grocery store, see if there's a "clearance section" on the meats. At the Tom Thumb/Safeway stores, I'll check on the clearance section before making any meat purchases. I've bought lamb, pork ribs, ham, and all sorts of meats for 50% off. One that I would never buy at regular price. Stay away from red meats, beef is just so expensive per pound.

Processed foods just have a way of making me hungry later. So I've learned to just stay away from purchasing them.

 

[Planogirl]

This happened to my mother when my Dad was in the service. He was stationed in some remote area and his paychecks got fouled up somehow. Instead of his paycheck, the service gave my mother some small allowance of sorts and it was tough for a while. She was working but no making much so we really had to scramble.

I haven't seen all of the suggestions but my favorite money-saving recipes are some of the Louisiana rice dishes. Beans & rice and jambalaya are both wonderful and you can use just a little chicken or sausage or no meat at all.

 

[sookie]

for the 65 dollar bill - if this is an unusual thing for you, could you work with that company to pay half or even 40? that way you can have some more to eat with. pay the other half when your paycheck comes.

make something homemade or food for fathers day. write a loving letter. its not about the money.

look into getting direct deposit for paychecks. problem solved.

 

[disfan07]

I've done $35/week for groceries for myself while away at school.

I used coupons and went to target and whole foods.

Target:
bag of tysons grilled frozen chicken breasts-$7.00 BUT it was 6 or 7 chicken breasts so about $1 per meal.
1 box of market pantry pasta- $1
bottle of market pantry tomato sauce- $1
frozen veggies- $3 ($1/bag)

Whole Foods:
fresh fruits and veggies (grapes, oranges, potatos, onion, eggplant, etc) whatever is the chepest, I buy. my budget for fruits and veggies is about $15 for the week and it works when I supplement with frozen and canned

That is about $30. I also buy meat at whole foods, especially if it is on sale. Since it's only me, I only need 1/4lb of meat at a time because it is not the main focus of the meal. So I would get 1/4lb of ground beef for about $2-$3 and it would make 6 sliders which would be 3 meals with either some pasta, veggies, potatos, etc.

However, I don't know what the prices are where you live but I am able to do this in SoCal (Irvine, CA) and I know our prices are high compared to most people). But we have 2 super tragets and they are greta for the staples.

That's about $30 and it has:
7 servings of chicken
2-3 meals of beef
pasta (mix with the chicken, veggies, etc)

You can also get eggs, penaut butter, etc. I just don't mention those because I am allergic to both. A dozen eggs will last a few days. So if you add a dozen eggs to that, you could a weeks worth of meals. might not be a big variety but still pretty healthy.

 

[disneybound31]

a can of tuna, a box of store-brand stove top, 1/3 of an onion cut up, 1/2 cup of mayo and a handful of cheddar or other cheese and you can make about 10 or 12 tuna cakes- i sautee mine in a tiny bit of olive oil (or veg oil)... add a bag of frozen microwave peas and cut up some apple for the kids and dinner (usually with leftovers for my next day lunch) for about $4 for a family of 4...

 

[disneybound31]

Omelet night with ANYthing leftover from fridge...any veggies, any lunchmeat or leftover ham or no meat...any type of cheese...make some toast and dinner for about $3 for a family of 4...

 

[disneybound31]

ask a close friend or two if they want to do a fun, summer potluck to celebrate "summer-time and tuesday!" invite them to your house they each bring a covered dish (one being a veggie or fruit for health) and you'll provide dessert...you bake a cheap, store-brand pan of brownies ($1), a small pint of store-brand ice cream ($1-2) and voila! A fun inexpensive dinner and some social time to break up the week!