What's a "cheap meal" to you?

[Marionnette]

I'm with the OP, I think $40 is too much for breakfast and light snacks for a few days. But I'm totally cheap

I would buy a box or two of (store brand) cereal or some instant oatmeal. Some travel-friendly fruits like apples and grapes. Some granola bars or something similiar for snacks. Maybe a bag of mini carrots. And I'd call it good. I could definitely get out for under $20. Probably even less. I usually feed myself and my 10 year old daughter for a week on about $40, all three meals everyday plus 2 snacks for her. I do it mostly by meal planning, buying store brands, buying fruits and vegs in season and NOT impulse buying a bunch of junk. Most of the items the OP purchased would never have made it into my basket - those things are all waaaay more expensive than other reasonably equivalent options.

I would have told my friend "that's too expensive, how about xyz instead?" But I'm to the point in life that I just don't care so much about what other people think of me!

I guess if my weekly food budget was only $40 then I would also think that $40 for breakfast foods and snacks for 4 days was too much to pay. However, I cannot imagine feeding a family of 2 on so little when the maximum monthly allotment for food stamps is $367 for the same size family.

 

[ilovemk76]

Less than four dollars per person is a cheap meal. Honestly if I had a heart attack over forty dollars I would just stay home.

Two items off the dollars menu per person is not my idea of a meal I would compare to.

i took a recent 4 day trip with a friend and my 2 kids and we stopped at a grocery store on the way out because she said we could save on eating out. I had told her I had lunch and dinner all planned for already and all we had to worry about was bringing our own breakfast. I did mention that I was being careful with my budget for the trip and was doing stuff like bringing instant oatmeal for my kids to eat in the room.

We ended up walking out with $40 of snacks, fruits, veggies, etc. I just about died. (especially since I footed the bill)

Granted it was for 4 of us (my friend, myself, and my 2 kids). But I just about had a bit of a heart attack watching her merrily going through the grocery store grabbing stuff. I should also add my friend is in a very tight financial situation - to the point where she didn't have access to cash for a few days. At this point though, I think we both thought she would be footing her share of whatever she bought so I figured she would be careful with her money.

Her idea of a cheap meal to eat in the room was:
Kielbasa and cheese pitas.
Kielbasa - $7
Baby bell cheese - $5
Mini pitas - $3
TOTAL= $15
er....I could take us all to McDonald's for their cheap burgers and spent $8 for the 4 of us.

Am I the only weirdo to think of food costs in those terms?

To me it felt like she THOUGHT we were saving money buying that but I kept a running total in my head and I KNEW we weren't.

Then there was a case of clementines, a bag of grapes, a carton of strawberries, and a carton of cut up veggies. I had no problems with the fruits and veggies. It was good to have fresh fruits and veggies. although we bought way more than I would normally have bought.

*EDITED TO ADD* What I am trying to ask is: what is a "cheap meal" in your head and how do you calculate it? I tend to add the whole meal up in my head and compare it to other meals. example above or I will say to myself, I can fry up a half dozen eggs for $2, add a carton of strawberries on sale for $2 and there's breakfast for 4 for $4. Or else I will tell myself to find a place to eat that's about $10 pp. Does anyone else add up food costs this way?

 

[Marionnette]

*EDITED TO ADD* What I am trying to ask is: what is a "cheap meal" in your head and how do you calculate it? I tend to add the whole meal up in my head and compare it to other meals. example above or I will say to myself, I can fry up a half dozen eggs for $2, add a carton of strawberries on sale for $2 and there's breakfast for 4 for $4. Or else I will tell myself to find a place to eat that's about $10 pp. Does anyone else add up food costs this way?

Seriously? 1 1/2 eggs and a handful of strawberries and that's it? No milk for growing children? No whole grain toast? That's not what I consider to be a balanced meal. Cheap, yes. But not what I would serve up and call breakfast. My son would be scrounging through the cupboards 5 minutes after the dishes were cleared.

 

[bdcp]

DH and I (we have 2 grown kids who only eat here every couple of weeks) spend $135-$150/week at the grocery store. I really don't have a budget for food, but as I basically said above, the friend was out of line. There are much healthier options. Baby Bell cheese is more expensive than store brand sliced or string cheese which would have been perfectly fine. Or for the pita sandwiches, how about a slab of cheese and a cheap knife? As someone else said, oatmeal, cereal, milk, oj would have been perfectly adequate for breakfast and definitely cheaper. You don't even need instant oatmeal if you have a microwave.

 

[kidshop]

At that time we both thought we would split but she asked me to spot her as she didn't have the cash that day. By the next day, I told her not to worry and that I would cover that just like I covered everything else. I knew money was very tight for her (to the point where she didn't even always have $20 to spare).

This was a "budget" trip and I guess it just drove home to me that when I talk budget, it's not the same in other people's minds.

and no, I don't consider kielbasa particularly nutritious LOL - I would consider that similar to eating at McD's! And like I said, the fruits and veggies were fine by me...although I would gravitate towards whatever is on sale and she just grabbed whatever she saw - VERY different shopping methods! $40 for 4 days of breakfast and snacks to eat IN THE ROOM just seemed a little much to me.

Overall, it didn't matter really. Spent quite a bit more on the trip than I had planned for - but I was happy I was able to take my friend out for a good time. She rarely gets to do trips like that these days.

E

Maybe that is why she is often short on cash?

I think it is a lot for what you bought, and for a budget trip I would have stuck to what was on sale and gone for lower price cheese etc. I think I spent $90 at Supertarget in Dec for a family of five for 9 days and we ate dinner in the house too!

It's nice you shared with your friend.

 

[MomToOne]

I guess if my weekly food budget was only $40 then I would also think that $40 for breakfast foods and snacks for 4 days was too much to pay. However, I cannot imagine feeding a family of 2 on so little when the maximum monthly allotment for food stamps is $367 for the same size family.

I regularly keep my monthly budget in the $160 neighborhood, so $40 a week. I admit it's just me and DD10, though, and I am not having to feed an ever-hungry teenage boy And the $40 is straight food, it does not include paper products, toiletries, etc. because I buy those separately at different places.

It's not an accident I get our grocery bill down this low, but it doesn't take a huge effort either. I pull it off by grocery shopping only once every two weeks, ALWAYS having a meal plan and shopping from a list, buying store brands, not buying a lot of prepared foods (some, but very little compared to other families) or lots of other junk. If we want a treat like cookies, I generally make it from scratch, but only on weekend because I am a working single mother. I watch for sales on meat and stock up for a month or two when the prices are good and am "aware" of prices in general so I know when something is a good deal and when it's not. I don't go heavy on meat servings - I keep it to about 4 oz each at a meal, but that's actually a proper serving size. We fill up on veggies - those I buy in season or frozen but my grocery bill is still usually half fruits/veggies. We don't eat a lot of expensive meat cuts - we eat a lot of chicken, some ground beef, ham, pork chops, etc. - but we don't eat the crud cuts either, and I do have a soft spot for NY strip steaks once a month or so. We have meatless dinners about once or twice a week not really to cut costs but because I am a bean and cheese freak and love meals based on those. I buy all my bread products at a bakery store. I don't coupon maddly, although I usually have one or two for each grocery trip (stores in our area do not double).

One thing I've found that makes a HUGE difference in addition to everything above is where I shop. I found a warehouse-style market (regular size products but the shelves are basic and things are stocked in their cardboard boxes) that runs 20-30% less on average than the typical supermarkets in our area. I have to drive 7 miles each way to get there, and it caters heavily to the Hispanic market so many of the products I buy are labeled half in English and half in Spanish, but they are the same products as the companies sell otherwise so they suit me just fine. The store is not a Kroger, but is owned by the same parent company so all of store brands are all Kroger (it's called FoodsCo). The brand selection isn't as huge as the supermarkets in my area, and every now and then there's something I want that they just don't carry, but they have 98% of what I need.

So, yes, it can be done. But if I shopped at more expensive places, didn't buy in season, didn't pay attention to meat sales, etc. I can imagine easily spending much more and coming closer to the food stamps number - I just think I have better things to do with my money so I don't!

 

[Colleen27]

We don't do meat for breakfast on any sort of regular basis, so cheap to me isn't going to be the same as cheap to someone who wants kielbasa or bacon or sausage in the morning. To me, cheap is a box of instant oatmeal or cold cereal, a gallon of milk to last several days, and a few bucks' worth of fresh, in-season fruit, plus some string cheese/yogurt/granola bars or such for snacks. When we do "eat in the room" type of travels I spend about $5-7 per breakfast, not including coffee/tea which I bring from home if we're staying somewhere that doesn't provide it in-room.

 

[enchantingodin]

A cheap homemade meal (we're talking dinner) to me is under $5. No not per person. But for our family of 4. I generally try (key word - try) to only go out/get take-out once a week. Have one cheap meal a week, under $5. Have one 'expensive' meal a week $15ish. And moderately priced meals, $5-10ish, for the rest.

When we do eat fast food, generally I have a $20 cap in mind. Counter Service (like say Panera) $30 max. Normal table service it's around $40. Fine dining - $60ish. But that is VERY rare for us.

Disney? We usually spend about $25 on drinks, snacks and breakfast items for our room for the week.

 

[Becky2005]

a gallon of milk to last several days

I think it is all perspective too... we go through nearly a gallon of milk a DAY...no way would 1 gallon of milk last us several days on vacation. We would be turning around and heading back to the store the next day for another gallon -- especially if you throw in cereal!

 

[hambirg]

I don't think you are out of line. . .$40 is a lot to me too and I tend to splurge more on vacation. But one, we would never even eat kielbasa. . .turkey or not. . it's full of saturated fat and sodium. .. never mind the sodium nitrite. . .which we never eat. I don't think cheese is a good option either. A good example is Egglands Best makes a package of 6 hard boiled eggs for $2.50. I would not buy them normally, I can boil my own eggs, but on vacation, I would still consider that a good deal. We generally go with cereal, milk to go with it, instant oatmeal packets, maybe some yogurt or bagels with cream cheese or natty peanut butter and some fruit. . .that would come in way under $40 and to me, it would be much better nutritional bang for the buck.

 

[Jedana]

For our upcoming trip, we are planning on eating breakfast in the hotel room, and I'm bringing water bobbles and snacks for in the parks. (I am budgeting one snack per person per day...I have to have my funnel cake!)

I went to BJs (like Costco) and picked up a ton of stuff. Ok, granted, I spent over $300, but I bought paper towels and tp!

Granola bars, mini cereal boxes, dried and dehydrated fruits, nuts, oatmeal packets, juice boxes and some Pepsi Throwback for in the hotel room. I'm also bringing my Keurig, for coffee. I will pick up some whole grain bread, and fresh fruits/veggies the day before we leave. I already have some natural peanut butter and all fruit jellies. Just need to get milk and creamer (quick stop at Publix on the way to the hotel) and we're all set!


Back on track: I would have said something to her. There are many other things you can eat that are better for you, and are more in line with that budget. But then again, I'm the mom in the front of the other parents at meetings telling them to get off their butts and chaperone the field trips or to pony up the bucks for scout camping.

 

[DawnM]

We do too! Your kids are about the same ages as mine and they are boys. We go through at least 3/4 gallon per day.

We typically pack a HUGE cooler before heading down to Disney and then have to hit the grocery store by Wed. for more milk.

Dawn

I think it is all perspective too... we go through nearly a gallon of milk a DAY...no way would 1 gallon of milk last us several days on vacation. We would be turning around and heading back to the store the next day for another gallon -- especially if you throw in cereal!

 

[DisneyScraps]

15.00 for 4 people seems pretty cheap to me. NO WAY would take my family to Mc Donalds to eat, no matter how cheap it is. We refuse to eat that stuff.

Lisa

 

[princessmom29]

I think $40 is reasonable. That is $10 a meal for the 4 days you are there, or a little over $2 per person per day. Not bad. Could it be done more cheaply? Yes, but you would have had to cut out the fruit and it would have been a lot less "good for you". Iti s sad but true that to some extent eating healthly means spending mroe on groceries. I oculd spend about half of what I do now if I was willing to buy more junk. Theree have been times in my life where I haven't had the choice. At this point in my life, I personally would rather by fruits my I know my family will eat than just what is on sale that week, and the better for you fruits tend to be the more expensive ones. Keeping costs down is important to me, but so is nutrition.

 

[okeydokey]

At that time we both thought we would split but she asked me to spot her as she didn't have the cash that day. By the next day, I told her not to worry and that I would cover that just like I covered everything else. I knew money was very tight for her (to the point where she didn't even always have $20 to spare).

This was a "budget" trip and I guess it just drove home to me that when I talk budget, it's not the same in other people's minds.

and no, I don't consider kielbasa particularly nutritious LOL - I would consider that similar to eating at McD's! And like I said, the fruits and veggies were fine by me...although I would gravitate towards whatever is on sale and she just grabbed whatever she saw - VERY different shopping methods! $40 for 4 days of breakfast and snacks to eat IN THE ROOM just seemed a little much to me.

Overall, it didn't matter really. Spent quite a bit more on the trip than I had planned for - but I was happy I was able to take my friend out for a good time. She rarely gets to do trips like that these days.

E

This seems extremely reasonable to me.

 

[hsmamato2]

ew.kielbasa....I don't care what it's made of, I'd rather eat the equivalent McD's sausage biscuit for cheaper....
Still $40 for 4 days divided by 4 people is $10 a day.... not so bad for the fruit, tho I tend to calculate in my head the cost too- If I were the paying friend, I'd have picked the sale fruit items,a box of cereal and a 1/2 gal. of milk that would last 4 days.cost maybe would have been 3.00 cereal-2.00 milk-3.00 sale fruit- for 4 days.....I think whoever pays gets to choose,that's why I wouldn't have liked being in OP's shoes....

 

[ceecee]

I could have found something healthier and cheaper! Why did the OP pay for all of it, is the question?

 

[NotUrsula]

So, yes, it can be done. But if I shopped at more expensive places, didn't buy in season, didn't pay attention to meat sales, etc. I can imagine easily spending much more and coming closer to the food stamps number - I just think I have better things to do with my money so I don't!

And I'd agree with you if this thread were about shopping for groceries at home, but it isn't; this is about shopping on a vacation trip for things that can be prepared and eaten in a hotel room, presumably one without a kitchen. That is always going to cost a bit more (which is often why the food stamp numbers can seem high to really frugal people; many of the familes on the program do not have access to fully-supplied kitchens or to transportation that would allow them to price-compare and shop the best deals at multiple stores.)

Also, when I'm on vacation I have better things to do with my TIME than spend it running from place to place in an unfamiliar town in order to save less than $10 on breakfast foods. Time spent on vacation is time that I am not at work earning, and therefore even more valuable than usual.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

Well, a cheap meal at Disney is different from a cheap meal any other time

At home, my cheap meal consists of spending $1.50 on a small fries to go with the $0.25 soda from work and the free Chick-fil-a coupon I had Or the $10 gift card I got for free for filling out a survey and I spent $8 on the meal. Or cooking up eggs with toast and a banana for less than a buck at home.

At Disney, a cheap meal consists of eating a kids counter service meal. I don't want to cook on vacation but I will eat breakfast in the room - cereal with milk and fruit.

 

[MomToOne]

And I'd agree with you if this thread were about shopping for groceries at home, but it isn't; this is about shopping on a vacation trip for things that can be prepared and eaten in a hotel room, presumably one without a kitchen. That is always going to cost a bit more (which is often why the food stamp numbers can seem high to really frugal people; many of the familes on the program do not have access to fully-supplied kitchens or to transportation that would allow them to price-compare and shop the best deals at multiple stores.)

I was responding to a PP who mentioned they couldn't imagine feeding a family of 2 on $40 a week regularly when the foodstamps allowance is closer to $90. I was simply pointing out how it could be done. I was not commenting on why the food stamp numbers were high - I have no problem with the food stamp number. I just choose to spend less.

And there's no way I'd spend $40 for 4 breakfasts in room and a few snacks, even on vacation - ESPECIALLY when you are so tight on money to begin with that you can't even pay for your half of the groceries!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can get plenty of stuff that can be prepared in a hotel room for a lot less than that. Even lots of things that could be seen as special vacation "treats". I do it regularly.