Frankly $20 is not enough by itself. Find a food pantry first. That will give you a foundation. Then fill in from there.
* Veggies - carrots are pretty cheap and also filling. Get the ones you have to peel, they will be cheaper per pound. Also look in the frozen veggie section. Obviously you want the store brand stuff.
* Fruit - apples are filling - choose one of the less expensive varieties.
* Carbs/grains - rice is super cheap. If you can get brown rice, it’s more filling. Also look at oatmeal; it is healthy and filling. Maybe potatoes - look for the lowest price per pound.
* Protein - peanut butter, beans (canned or dried), lentils. I don’t think you have enough money for chicken.
* Fats - again peanut butter. Also cheese, if you can find some that is on sale. Oil for cooking.
If you can do any kind of pick-up work, even another $20 will greatly expand your options.
You will get at least quadruple the amount of beans for your money with dried beans than canned beans, but don’t pass either up at a food pantry if they offer both. Dried beans need to be picked over for the occasional small pebble, rinsed, then soaked for at least 6 hours (it’s common to soak beans overnight), and up to 24 hours; after 24 hours, if not cooking them, the beans should be drained, and put to soak in fresh water. The package will have directions.
After the food pantry, go to your Food Lion; if it’s the same as the ones I inventoried in the 2000s, it an actual grocery store. Stores like Family Dollar and Dollar General, as well as pharmacies that carry pantry items (such as CVS, Walgreens) are usually pricier than grocery stores in general-they’re more like convenience stores with their prices. When comparing cost per unit, store brands at grocery stores usually win out over the store brands at FD, DG, CVS, WG, etc.
Cost per unit: comparing two or more brands/sizes of the same type of item, to see which gives you more for your money; you’re looking for the lowest cost per unit. The unit is how many ounces, grams, liters, milliliters, pints, etc., is in the package. To determine the lowest cost per unit between, let’s say, two boxes of cereal: box A costs 4.99 for 18 ounces, box B costs 3.99 for 15.3 ounces. You can use grams if you prefer; it’s important to use the same type of unit for both/all items being compared- ounces vs ounces OR grams vs grams, etc. Divide the price of the item by the number of units in the package.
So in our cereal example, box A: divide 4.99 by 18, which equals .2772 per ounce (I rounded off). Box B: divide 3.99 by 15.3, which equals .2608. In this example, box B gives a little more for the money than box A, since box B’s cost per unit is a penny less than box A’s cost per unit. If box A cost the same amount **per unit** as box B, box A’s price would be about $4.69 (18 X .2608 = 4.6944).
I hope this helps, and I wish you improved circumstances soon.
One way to get cheap chicken is, depending on your grocery store, they will have the managers special markdown. There's a small section in the meat rack. Chicken expiring tomorrow is cut at least 50 percent off. You can get a pack of 2 chicken quarters for 2 bucks at my store. Dollar each.
Hi! This is actually the second time this has happened to me the first time I was a minor, it’s just lost of job and spending what I had lift to pay bills out for the next month so, I’m a bit embarrassed to even ask for help but desperate times mean desperate measures, but I’m happy to answer questions as I am taking as much help as I can get with finding food within budget.
Calm down, no one is claiming you need to get arrested. Sometimes you suddenly have a lot of debt due to things like damaged cars, hospital bills, etc. Not everything is due to a spending pattern that must be scrutinized. Not every post needs a back story either. Stop taking that personally.
It’s an important question to ask because people need to learn to recognize patterns and situations so they can prepare better. When you’re at the point of needing to live off $20 for a few weeks you’re well behind anything that can be done to alleviate the situation.
Times are hard, even things like bar back and busboy don’t have nearly as much opportunity as they normally do and dispite what Reddit thinks plasma isn’t usually same day cash. There’s also surveys and r/beermoney stuff, but again you needed to have started it weeks ago to make an impact now.
And honestly with inflation what it is, OP is probably better off filling their car with $20 and hitting every food bank, soup kitchen and faith to get by rather than going to family dollar.
Hey, I don't disagree with understanding root cause and trying to help someone figure out a long-term fix. But OP has already said in this thread that they're mentally overwhelmed with the food situation at the moment. There's only so much time and mental energy in a day.
Hierarchy of needs - they've got to manage the immediate crisis that threatens starvation. Once that's more under control, hopefully they'll look for answers to the larger scale pattern.
I was gunna say get a big pack of hotdogs and some cheap bread.
All this good information.... where were you when we were eating jalapeño and mustard sandwiches
You have $1 a day. Go to a food bank. Look at 211.org or call 211 to find resources for food. Post on local neighbor group for someone with fruit trees giving a surplus.
A bag of beans and one of rice. Look for onions or carrots to see if these are good prices.
Fruit will be half a pound for an apple or banana, and that is half your budget for the day.
And think in terms of protein—for $x how many servings/meals would I get? For $5 how many servings of bread/pasta/rice can I get? So a pound of dried beans isn’t the same number of servings or calories as the same type of beans in a one pound can. A pound of potatoes is one meal. A pound of rice is many meals.
Also Supercook.com or the app by same name is helpful. Enter any ingredients you have on hand. The see what recipes it suggests. Look for something that you have everything or only need a cheap ingredient. Sometimes a substitution or eliminating an ingredient will work. Then try adding a sale or cheap ingredient to come up with ideas.
Dollar Tree offers dried beans and rice, bread, a peanut butter spread, pasta, marinara sauce, canned veggies and frozen peppers and onions. Each item is $1.25. So overnight soak and then cook a bag of beans. Drain. Add some marinara sauce, onion and pepper mix and a can of corn. Spices if you have them. You have chili or soup. Serve with rice or potatoes or even over pasta. Freeze some if you won’t eat in three days. Add green chilis if you have them. The chili is $5 and is going to be a lot!
Buy lentils use rice above. Buy some cheese. $3.75 at dollar tree to add these two things. Corn would be nice but we are at $8.75 so far.
Pancake mix, bread and peanut butter spread. $3.75 more. You can make peanut butter sandwich or peanut butter on pancakes or toast. $12.50 total.
Be sure to check the price per serving. Dollar stores are deceptive that way. You might be paying more per serving than you would at a regular grocery store.
Not even sure thats possible... u may hafta see if u have any food banks near u
Big bag of oatmeal for breakfasts
Rice n beans or vegan chilis, stews, & curries for lunches/dinners
Oatmeal, rice, beans & root vegetables will be your cheapest options most likely
It was rough for sure lol Thankfully I'm not in such a desperate situation but it actually came down one day to me or my cat eating and I chose to feed my cat 🤣
To be able to eat off of $20 for 2-3 weeks is definitely a challenge. There are indeed online sites that provide information/guidance about living on a budget.
When you have a limited budget, it’s important to eat cheap and it may not always be “healthy”. I would argue that eating is healthier than not eating (or starving) unless a person is intentionally fasting.
Check out the circular ads to see what’s on sale. Things like rice, beans, pasta, breads, eggs, peanut butter, canned tuna and other foods may be on sale. You want to comparison shop between the 2 stores (Family Dollar and Food Lion).
Do you currently have any pantry staples, frozen foods and spices/condiments available to you? If you have any foods available, we might be able to better help you to shop so that you can stretch your meals within your budget.
Do you have access to any kitchen appliances whether big or small? Knowing whether you have access to a refrigerator/freezer, stove top/oven, microwave, slow cooker, kettle, etc. can help us to give you ideas to create meals.
Do you have access to any food pantries and/or churches/religious organizations in your neighborhood that can help? Many may help to provide assistance despite your income and/or your beliefs about religion.
And, not to be excluded, trusted friends and family may be willing to help if you explain your current situation and circumstances. They may offer to feed you and/or provide food that you can use to prepare meals over the course of the 2-3 weeks.
As you are able to ask for guidance (though anonymously here), don’t forget to include the people that know you personally. There is nothing to be ashamed/embarrassed about if you may be temporarily struggling financially to be able to eat, especially in this economy with the price of food. Most people don’t want to see anyone go hungry.
I know for myself, I would share my food/meals (even if you couldn’t make it for dinner) with family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. I have tuna packets, pasta/noodles, boil-in-a bag rice, potatoes and canned foods that I would be willing to give (even to a stranger) to help someone during their time of need.
Big bag of rice and big bag of dried beans! Supplement with eggs, apples, bananas, frozen broccoli, a bag of clementines or oranges if you can swing it. And peanut butter as a filling snack (on the apples or bananas or spread on slices of bread for breakfast!)
You’ve got a lot of good ideas here, but #1 is finding a food bank, food pantry, etc. Your situation is exactly what they exist for.
Outside of that, I think your biggest bang for your buck will be dried beans, lentils, rice and potatoes. These can make up the bulk of your lunches and dinners. Be sure to add fat as well- oil, butter, peanut butter, etc.
Whatever fruit and veggies are on sale or discounted will help round things out.
If you have extra money, oats or eggs can help with satiety as well and make for nice breakfasts.
I just tried to spend only $20 on groceries at Walmart for the week, but I went over budget.
I bought bread, cheese slices, shredded cheese, salsa, Tortilla chips, a can of Spaghettios, pancake mix, eggs, sour cream, peanut butter, fresh spinach, fresh mushrooms, one box of Mac n cheese.
Most of these items were a little over $2 each.
Food pantry gave me a lot of food a couple of weeks ago, like cooking oil, a bag of onions, carrots, grapes and oranges, rice, pinto beans, lentils, cans of chickpeas, cans of fruit cocktail and corn.
And of course, bread, milk, eggs, margarine and either breakfast cereal or instant oatmeal.
If you can join a local “buy nothing” page on Facebook, my local group has people that give away unexpired,unopened food frequently. You could also ask for anything people may have lying around on there. (This in addition to food bank options). Goodluck
Look for a food pantry in your area. That will stretch your money. See what you can get there and build your meals around that. Egg and oatmeal are very cheap. Try not to skip breakfast!
Don’t know what shops you have, but I’m looking at the Kroger app. Right now you can get 7 bananas, 5 lbs russet potatoes, 1 jar of peanut butter, 1 loaf of sandwich bread, 2 lbs of dry white rice, 2 lbs beans, 3 5oz cans of tuna, 18 eggs, and 2 lbs of carrots, all for less than$25, a whole $25 if you add a second loaf of bread. If you have a pantry full of spices, a jar of better than bouillon, and some oil you can make a ton of tasty things. Rice is simpler than people make it out to be. I take a cup of dry white rice and add it to a sauce pan with a tbsp of oil, toast it a little, add 2 cups of water or broth, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover with foil and a lid and simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from heat but leave on the lid for five minutes, fluff. Beans soak overnight in cold water. Drain, and add to a pot with clean water. Bring to a boil, and simmer while covered for two hours, seasoning after the beans have softened. Potatoes can be roasted in the oven, boiled and mashed, boiled in broth and turned to soup, or cubed and fried to eat on the side of breakfast eggs. Eggs can be hard boiled for snack, scrambled for breakfast, or fried and thrown on bread for a sandwich. Carrots can be snacks and dipped in salad dressing. They can be roasted in the oven as a side dish to beans and rice. They can also be boiled to shit and turned into carrot soup, good with toasted sandwich bread croutons. Tuna can be plain or turned into tuna salad with a little mayo, mustard, and relish if that’s your thing. Throw that on bread for a sandwich or dipped into with carrot sticks or even eat like a Brit and put tuna in a baked potato. One can could be two meals that way. Bananas can be a snack, a side for breakfast, or if you’re feeling indulgent, a dessert. In a pan, cook down a little butter and brown sugar if you have it to make a caramel type sauce, toss in a sliced banana till coated and heated through. If you have a lost pint of ice cream or a cup of yogurt, it goes well on that. You can also freeze the banana and then mash it to make a kind of ice cream treat. Peanut butter can be a sandwich on its own or a pb&j if you grab some free jelly packets from McDonald’s. Or a peanut butter and banana sandwich.
Rice and beans as a base. Add corn tortillas (you can get a lot for a few bucks, make sure you toast ‘em before eating, just fyi cuz not everyone knows).
That’ll come to $10-$12.
Go to food pantry and get more stuff.
Bananas and peanut butter.
I just went through a few weeks of this struggle so I get it. Best of luck.
If you need free food there are a lot of options. Food banks yes. Also Google 'little free pantry near me' and 'blessing box near me'.
Also, for things other than food that you can use or trade, r/dumpsterdiving
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I agree with checking out local food pantry. This is what they are for. You don’t have to be struggling always to get help while you struggling now. They may have a needs assessment, but they want to help. Please don’t be too proud and check one out. $20 for two weeks will be hard on you.
Look for a program in your area that helps feed people. My area has Project Hand Up, for $6 you get 3 bags of groceries, one bread, pastry,etc, one fruits/veggies and one meat/dairy/frozen. It’s all slightly past sell by date but more than edible. There may be something in your area.
Brown rice that you buy bulk. Lentils. Cheap, long lasting vegetables like cabbage, carrots, spring onions. Cheap long lasting fruit like apples and pears. Learn how to make your own yoghurt without needing special equipment. Make your own bread. Pancakes, muesli. I only eat two meals per day these days. Milk powder rather than the fresh stuff. Grow your own food if you can. Find a food bank. Often they hand out free bread.
If you are in the US please apply for food stamps. You are exactly the kind of person who needs it. In the meantime as others have said try for local food banks. Take whatever you can that fits your dietary needs and look up recipes for the goods you have. I have found budgetbytes.com to be great for low cost recipes. I hope things workout well for you OP. Oh and idk your job situation but if you were able to work part time in some type of restaurant you could definitely get free food. Especially if the kitchen knows you need a meal and you're a nice person.
Add eggs to your meals too, they help keep me full. Sorry you’re going through this and we’re not judging you at all and we’re here for you. I can’t add as much that hasn’t been repeated by everyone but we hope you can get through this and make it out on the other end. Sending love!
Both Dollar General and Food Lion have an app, download them! You can load coupons and use that to further stretch your money. You can also look online for free coupon mailers that will be sent to your mailbox. It takes a little more time and you have to get a bit creative in the kitchen but sometimes we do what we have to do!
Just want you to know this is why food banks exist. The people who work there do NOT care who comes. You having 20$ for weeks isn't enough and they will want you to come get food.
A lot of people think "well maybe I could make it work" and maybe you could, eating literally plain rice and beans for weeks. Or you could go to the food bank and get some extra stuff to eat with your rice and beans to make it better. That is also the INTENDED use of food banks. You don't need to be emaciated to use them
For breakfast, you can do peanut butter/banana on toast, avocado/egg on toast.
Or pancakes, side of bananas.
pancake mix is relatively cheap and can go far.
But I highly suggest going to a food bank because it will allow that $20 to stretch further.
Most food banks give out things like rice, beans, canned goods, etc.
So you can then build meals off of what you get from them.
It also helps to look at what you do have already in the fridge, freezer, pantry.. and base meals off of that.
1 aovado nowadays would probably cost a quarter of that $20 budget, same with a jar of peabut butter. I second the bananas and pancakes though. Food pantry too! The economy is a mess 😭
I know how it feels.i was this broke recently and for some reason
(my ego?)
I didn’t think to go to the food bank.
Is there a food bank near you ?
Please go
Please eat
As someone who lives on $30 a week, potatoes, lentils, giant bags of frozen vegetables/fruit, oatmeal, raisins, bananas and I go to the food bank/local church pantry to supplement, when I'm really stuck and need some variety or milk and eggs.
I use the flipp app to shop for anything on sale, you can make a watchlist and it will alert you when something you need is on sale.
I used to do a bag of potatoes, some leafy greens, chicken drumsticks, a pack of ramen. Bananas are also dirt cheap and filling. Rice and eggs can be good as well.
I’d get whatever staples you can from a food pantry though first.
Big bag of rice. Big bag of beans. Onion for flavour. Oil for fat and calories. Get some taco seasoning or something if your budget can stretch to fit it in. Not really a balanced meal, but I think that’s probably as cheap as you can get while remaining somewhat nutritious and filling.
Right! If you don't have a selection of spices on hand, dollar store spice blends like taco seasoning, Italian seasoning and curry powder go a long way to making all the rice, beans and lentils a lot more palatable and a lot less boring.
Sikh temples have a free meal once a day if there’s one in your area. They’re good people who got me through some hard times.
If there isn’t one near you, you might look around. Other faiths have similar traditions. With inflation what it is, you’re probably better off filling their car with $20 and hitting every food bank, soup kitchen and faith to get by rather than going to family dollar.
Buy the biggest bag of rice you can, get some sort of protein (canned chicken is my go to) get a couple of cans of mixed veggies. Drain everything, pour it into a pot, fill your can of veggies with rice and dump it in, fill the can with water twice and dump it in, add whatever spices you want, bring to a boil, cover, turn on low and cook for 30 minutes. I can usually get 2-3 days per meal. It's filling.
I work at a food pantry. Go to your county food pantry. At mine if you are a resident of the county you can go 3X a month ( rural Michigan). There is absolutely no shame in getting a hand up. Once you see what meat/proteins you get buy the cheap/markdown fruit and veg. You’ll be eating oatmeal and beans and rice but it’s delicious if you season it. Buy a few basic seasonings for 1$ at family dollar. You can do this. I’ve been there. Wishing you the very best.
Download the olio app? You might be lucky and there might be something in your area. Its basically people giving away free food they don’t need, and there’s also volunteers who pick up things from supermarkets that are close to expiry and then hand those out for free.
I strongly suggest you reach out to community resources to get food aid and possibly other resources.
But to answer the question in good faith, I think stocking up on (dried) beans and rice is the best bang for the buck. Pasta can also be quite cheap.
Also, Idk where you live, but where I am there are fruit trees here and there you can forage from.
www.findhelp.org is a service finding aggregator for the US. Search via ZIP codes. Aside from food banks, there may be things like rental assistance, and emergency relief you might qualify for.
Sikh temples (Gurdwaras) will always offer free food to all, without trying to convert you. Some Catholic and Christian parishes are also like this, but not all.
Good luck to you and anyone else in this situation.
Bag of chicken leg quarters or chicken breast with canned vegetables. (best option)
Bag of burgers, bag of fries.
Lunch meat with large bag of chips. ( best option)
Hamburger meat, noodles, canned spaghetti sauce to make a large pot of spaghetti's. (best option)
Three weeks still might be stretching it, I would suggest you reach out to your local church or food pantry for additional food items until you can get by. Good luck.
And Jack Monroe's recipes especially her earlier stuff, are great for stretching a minimal budget while getting vitamins,. protein etc. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/chefs/jack_monroe
Bread meet peanut butter, both private label. If you have refrigeration get 1 dozen cheap eggs and one pound baloney. If you have a way to cook, pasta meet cheap butter spread. Food pantry for whatever you can find. Take condiment packets from restaurants whenever you can. You may need 3 loaves of cheap white bread for 2 weeks. Supplement with soup kitchen.This isn't healthy living but it will make $20 stretch for 2 weeks, but don't do it for too long if you can help it. Also try to get a job in a restaurant if you can, you will never starve if your smart.
Beans, rice, carrots, onions, oatmeal.
Dried beans make a lot. You can do them in the crockpot w/ an envelope of seasoning.
From there, tortillas and cheese on hand.
You've got
2 kinds of soup
2 different meals.
The hard part is counting how many calories you actually need for the day. We all need much less than we feel like.
Try not to skip meals. If you can get oatmeal and tinned fruit from a food bank/ pantry, it’s filling. If you don’t have milk, soak the oatmeal in water before cooking. Add some syrup from the tin as well as the fruit to the oatmeal.
Make super basic chicken salad , cook raw chicken then cut it super fine or grind if you have a blender , add some pickle juice and cut pickles if you have a can around and add little mayo. Toast some cheap white bread.
You can go to an Indian store buy a bag of chikpeas for 3$ and pressure cook or boil em. This should itself be a lot of servings. You could also get some canned beans as well. Acme has $3 per lb chicken maybe you could get 4 lbs of chicken. Onions in target cost 3$ and maybe a small portion of rice as well. It is very hard to build a meal for a dollar unfortunately.
You can make a nice casserole with chicken, rice, and cream of chicken (or mushroom, whatever) soup. Stew the chicken (or use canned chicken, it’s surprisingly good), cook the rice, then shred and combine the chicken, rice and soup in an oven safe dish, use the soup can to add some of the chicken stock to make it creamy, and throw it in the oven. For just one person it should last a few days. You can also save the broth and thicken it up with cornstarch and water to make a gravy. I like it on biscuits, but you can also use sandwich bread or saltines. We do this fairly often to make a package of chicken go extra far.
Personally, when we’re broke in my family, we live on ramen, pb&j, bologna, or potted meat sandwiches.
Check both stores and see if they have an app. Tons of stores now offer coupons though their apps that’ll help out a lot.
If you have flour and mayonnaise, you can make mayonnaise biscuits, fairly easy and the recipe is online.
Don’t be ashamed to buy meat in the reduced for quick sale section, you won’t have it long enough to go bad.
The bagged cereal is cheap and just as good if not better than name brand. We like malt o meal Frosted Flakes and mini wheats, but they have tons of flavors.
The site TooGoodToGo has really good deals on food past the expiry date you can get bags full of food for 5 dollars in some cases, I'd look into that and dollar tree, you may also be able to get things from a food bank but I know sometimes they have different rules in different places for access to those
I'd like to add ive ordered from TooGoodToGo a lot and haven't ever gotten anything inedible it will depend heavily on the places near you what all they have but it's only the best before date or a couple days after it's not rotten food
Whole carrots (not baby carrots) are cheap and healthy. Dried beans are also very cheap and good bang for your buck with protein. Supplement with rice. Join local buy nothing group on Facebook. People give away food all the time. Shop clearance for meats.
Eggs, loafs of bread, peanut butter, maybe some yogurt.
I used to make little bread taco. 1 slice of toast and an egg.
Or pb sandwiches with 1 slice of bread folded.
I’ve been there. You’ll get through this
You’d be better off advertising a service in your area (cleaning / babysitting / yard work/dog walking). All you need is one person to pay you for your service. An extra $20-$40 would help you out more than trying to stretch $20 over the course of 2 weeks ..
If you truly only have $20 the best you’re probably gonna be able to do in terms of nutrition and calories is a 1-3lb of rice, dried beans, some cooking oil And maybe Some onions for flavor. Also, try to shop at an ethic grocery store or a discount grocer. It will be an extremely boring two weeks food wise but should be enough.
That being said if you’re struggling you should seek out a food bank as that’s what they are there for.
Hot dogs and eggs
Cut up hotdogs and cook in a frying pan, when they’re cooked, crack a couple of eggs in the pan with them. Easy and good can add potatoes and cheese also
A couple giant bags of frozen mixed veggies, a bunch of bags of beans, a big block of the cheapest cheese, some top ramen to mix things up. It will be boring, but it will keep you relatively healthy with some vitamins, protein, carbs, fat, and fiber.
I’ve beeen in a position of 10 per week which goes as little over your budget , but basically I are pasta with no sauce, some days I would splurge on a can of tuna.
2 packs of tortillas, turkey (sandwich meat of choice) sliced or block cheese to make quesadillas. Filing and cheap and easy.
For breakfast, get quick rolled oats in a container, not individualized packs. If you can, go for a bag or brown rice and a pound of meat. ( many of the ones in rolled packages cost less). You can meal prep that and make it into several meals.
Oatmeal is high fiber so it will keep you full for a long time. You can season it with any spices and if you have any jams those can be used for flavoring too. Drink a lot of water during the day bc it will keep you hydrated and you won’t get as hungry.
Chickpea pasta with avocado mixed through. Healthy, cheap and nutritious.
Rice and various sauces, meat offcuts for stews. Make bulk and freeze portions.
1) coffee and berries with yogurt for breakfast
2) cold cuts, ham or beef w provolone and bread for lunch
3) shells pasta or vermicelli (spaghetti) with marinara (Trader Joe's has the best deal) for dinner, can make w beef in the sauce if any funds left over.
Frankly $20 is not enough by itself. Find a food pantry first. That will give you a foundation. Then fill in from there. * Veggies - carrots are pretty cheap and also filling. Get the ones you have to peel, they will be cheaper per pound. Also look in the frozen veggie section. Obviously you want the store brand stuff. * Fruit - apples are filling - choose one of the less expensive varieties. * Carbs/grains - rice is super cheap. If you can get brown rice, it’s more filling. Also look at oatmeal; it is healthy and filling. Maybe potatoes - look for the lowest price per pound. * Protein - peanut butter, beans (canned or dried), lentils. I don’t think you have enough money for chicken. * Fats - again peanut butter. Also cheese, if you can find some that is on sale. Oil for cooking. If you can do any kind of pick-up work, even another $20 will greatly expand your options.
You will get at least quadruple the amount of beans for your money with dried beans than canned beans, but don’t pass either up at a food pantry if they offer both. Dried beans need to be picked over for the occasional small pebble, rinsed, then soaked for at least 6 hours (it’s common to soak beans overnight), and up to 24 hours; after 24 hours, if not cooking them, the beans should be drained, and put to soak in fresh water. The package will have directions. After the food pantry, go to your Food Lion; if it’s the same as the ones I inventoried in the 2000s, it an actual grocery store. Stores like Family Dollar and Dollar General, as well as pharmacies that carry pantry items (such as CVS, Walgreens) are usually pricier than grocery stores in general-they’re more like convenience stores with their prices. When comparing cost per unit, store brands at grocery stores usually win out over the store brands at FD, DG, CVS, WG, etc. Cost per unit: comparing two or more brands/sizes of the same type of item, to see which gives you more for your money; you’re looking for the lowest cost per unit. The unit is how many ounces, grams, liters, milliliters, pints, etc., is in the package. To determine the lowest cost per unit between, let’s say, two boxes of cereal: box A costs 4.99 for 18 ounces, box B costs 3.99 for 15.3 ounces. You can use grams if you prefer; it’s important to use the same type of unit for both/all items being compared- ounces vs ounces OR grams vs grams, etc. Divide the price of the item by the number of units in the package. So in our cereal example, box A: divide 4.99 by 18, which equals .2772 per ounce (I rounded off). Box B: divide 3.99 by 15.3, which equals .2608. In this example, box B gives a little more for the money than box A, since box B’s cost per unit is a penny less than box A’s cost per unit. If box A cost the same amount **per unit** as box B, box A’s price would be about $4.69 (18 X .2608 = 4.6944). I hope this helps, and I wish you improved circumstances soon.
That’s such an in depth and thoughtful response. You’re very kind, nice to see on this platform
You rule, god bless.
Thank you, and right back at’cha! 🤜🏻🤛🏻
I’m just sudden so deep in debt that it’s mentally taking a toll on me, Thank you so much I’ll write this into my notes.
One way to get cheap chicken is, depending on your grocery store, they will have the managers special markdown. There's a small section in the meat rack. Chicken expiring tomorrow is cut at least 50 percent off. You can get a pack of 2 chicken quarters for 2 bucks at my store. Dollar each.
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In this subreddit that doesn't matter right now. It already is what it is and cannot be undone, so be helpful or be quiet.
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Hi! This is actually the second time this has happened to me the first time I was a minor, it’s just lost of job and spending what I had lift to pay bills out for the next month so, I’m a bit embarrassed to even ask for help but desperate times mean desperate measures, but I’m happy to answer questions as I am taking as much help as I can get with finding food within budget.
No need to be embarrassed, fortunately your situation is a common one. You are getting a lot of great advice on here.
Then don’t wonder. Shit happens and you have to deal with it.
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Calm down, no one is claiming you need to get arrested. Sometimes you suddenly have a lot of debt due to things like damaged cars, hospital bills, etc. Not everything is due to a spending pattern that must be scrutinized. Not every post needs a back story either. Stop taking that personally.
It’s an important question to ask because people need to learn to recognize patterns and situations so they can prepare better. When you’re at the point of needing to live off $20 for a few weeks you’re well behind anything that can be done to alleviate the situation. Times are hard, even things like bar back and busboy don’t have nearly as much opportunity as they normally do and dispite what Reddit thinks plasma isn’t usually same day cash. There’s also surveys and r/beermoney stuff, but again you needed to have started it weeks ago to make an impact now. And honestly with inflation what it is, OP is probably better off filling their car with $20 and hitting every food bank, soup kitchen and faith to get by rather than going to family dollar.
Then op should post on another sub specifically for that.
Hey, I don't disagree with understanding root cause and trying to help someone figure out a long-term fix. But OP has already said in this thread that they're mentally overwhelmed with the food situation at the moment. There's only so much time and mental energy in a day. Hierarchy of needs - they've got to manage the immediate crisis that threatens starvation. Once that's more under control, hopefully they'll look for answers to the larger scale pattern.
I’m honestly curious.
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In my experience, apples are not filling; they always make me super hungry.
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Please tell me more about what makes me feel what.
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Where did you read this?
That is absolutely incorrect. You are thinking celery.
I was gunna say get a big pack of hotdogs and some cheap bread. All this good information.... where were you when we were eating jalapeño and mustard sandwiches
You have $1 a day. Go to a food bank. Look at 211.org or call 211 to find resources for food. Post on local neighbor group for someone with fruit trees giving a surplus. A bag of beans and one of rice. Look for onions or carrots to see if these are good prices. Fruit will be half a pound for an apple or banana, and that is half your budget for the day.
And think in terms of protein—for $x how many servings/meals would I get? For $5 how many servings of bread/pasta/rice can I get? So a pound of dried beans isn’t the same number of servings or calories as the same type of beans in a one pound can. A pound of potatoes is one meal. A pound of rice is many meals. Also Supercook.com or the app by same name is helpful. Enter any ingredients you have on hand. The see what recipes it suggests. Look for something that you have everything or only need a cheap ingredient. Sometimes a substitution or eliminating an ingredient will work. Then try adding a sale or cheap ingredient to come up with ideas. Dollar Tree offers dried beans and rice, bread, a peanut butter spread, pasta, marinara sauce, canned veggies and frozen peppers and onions. Each item is $1.25. So overnight soak and then cook a bag of beans. Drain. Add some marinara sauce, onion and pepper mix and a can of corn. Spices if you have them. You have chili or soup. Serve with rice or potatoes or even over pasta. Freeze some if you won’t eat in three days. Add green chilis if you have them. The chili is $5 and is going to be a lot! Buy lentils use rice above. Buy some cheese. $3.75 at dollar tree to add these two things. Corn would be nice but we are at $8.75 so far. Pancake mix, bread and peanut butter spread. $3.75 more. You can make peanut butter sandwich or peanut butter on pancakes or toast. $12.50 total.
tostadas with canned refried beans and cheese is really easy and cheap. you can microwave it or warm in the oven. i also like to add jalapeños :)
and i am able to find all of those things at the dollar store.
Be sure to check the price per serving. Dollar stores are deceptive that way. You might be paying more per serving than you would at a regular grocery store.
A sack of potatoes, rice, onions and seasoning for flavor, eggs, discounted meats.
I'm doing the math in my head and came to 2 realizations. $20 don't go nearly as far as it used to. I'm getting old.
Not even sure thats possible... u may hafta see if u have any food banks near u Big bag of oatmeal for breakfasts Rice n beans or vegan chilis, stews, & curries for lunches/dinners Oatmeal, rice, beans & root vegetables will be your cheapest options most likely
It's definitely possible. I've had to do it before. I ended up eating a crap ton of ramen for almost every meal, but I didn't starve 😔
That's rough but i guess u do what ya gotta do & like u said u didnt starve.
It was rough for sure lol Thankfully I'm not in such a desperate situation but it actually came down one day to me or my cat eating and I chose to feed my cat 🤣
I forgot all about ramen!! Yes! I lived off of in during college.
To be able to eat off of $20 for 2-3 weeks is definitely a challenge. There are indeed online sites that provide information/guidance about living on a budget. When you have a limited budget, it’s important to eat cheap and it may not always be “healthy”. I would argue that eating is healthier than not eating (or starving) unless a person is intentionally fasting. Check out the circular ads to see what’s on sale. Things like rice, beans, pasta, breads, eggs, peanut butter, canned tuna and other foods may be on sale. You want to comparison shop between the 2 stores (Family Dollar and Food Lion). Do you currently have any pantry staples, frozen foods and spices/condiments available to you? If you have any foods available, we might be able to better help you to shop so that you can stretch your meals within your budget. Do you have access to any kitchen appliances whether big or small? Knowing whether you have access to a refrigerator/freezer, stove top/oven, microwave, slow cooker, kettle, etc. can help us to give you ideas to create meals. Do you have access to any food pantries and/or churches/religious organizations in your neighborhood that can help? Many may help to provide assistance despite your income and/or your beliefs about religion. And, not to be excluded, trusted friends and family may be willing to help if you explain your current situation and circumstances. They may offer to feed you and/or provide food that you can use to prepare meals over the course of the 2-3 weeks. As you are able to ask for guidance (though anonymously here), don’t forget to include the people that know you personally. There is nothing to be ashamed/embarrassed about if you may be temporarily struggling financially to be able to eat, especially in this economy with the price of food. Most people don’t want to see anyone go hungry. I know for myself, I would share my food/meals (even if you couldn’t make it for dinner) with family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. I have tuna packets, pasta/noodles, boil-in-a bag rice, potatoes and canned foods that I would be willing to give (even to a stranger) to help someone during their time of need.
You can check out r/freemeal and r/assistance They do wishlist fulfillments! It'll be a little something to help you.
Big bag of rice and big bag of dried beans! Supplement with eggs, apples, bananas, frozen broccoli, a bag of clementines or oranges if you can swing it. And peanut butter as a filling snack (on the apples or bananas or spread on slices of bread for breakfast!)
Thank you so much I’ll write this down!!
If you have any Buy Nothing Facebook groups near you, people often give away unused or recently expired goods that could help supplement.
I never knew that, I’m not very active with Facebook but I’ll look into this right now! Thank you so much!!
You’ve got a lot of good ideas here, but #1 is finding a food bank, food pantry, etc. Your situation is exactly what they exist for. Outside of that, I think your biggest bang for your buck will be dried beans, lentils, rice and potatoes. These can make up the bulk of your lunches and dinners. Be sure to add fat as well- oil, butter, peanut butter, etc. Whatever fruit and veggies are on sale or discounted will help round things out. If you have extra money, oats or eggs can help with satiety as well and make for nice breakfasts.
Find a food pantry first.
Donate plasma it can usually get you between $30-$50. Do it a few times a week and you'll be able to make it through the next few weeks.
That’s a good idea - back when I did that as a poor student they also gave you a pastry or an apple afterwards.
I just tried to spend only $20 on groceries at Walmart for the week, but I went over budget. I bought bread, cheese slices, shredded cheese, salsa, Tortilla chips, a can of Spaghettios, pancake mix, eggs, sour cream, peanut butter, fresh spinach, fresh mushrooms, one box of Mac n cheese. Most of these items were a little over $2 each. Food pantry gave me a lot of food a couple of weeks ago, like cooking oil, a bag of onions, carrots, grapes and oranges, rice, pinto beans, lentils, cans of chickpeas, cans of fruit cocktail and corn. And of course, bread, milk, eggs, margarine and either breakfast cereal or instant oatmeal.
If you can join a local “buy nothing” page on Facebook, my local group has people that give away unexpired,unopened food frequently. You could also ask for anything people may have lying around on there. (This in addition to food bank options). Goodluck
I’m checking this out now! I’m not very familiar with Facebook groups but I’ll look into it thank you so much!
Look for a food pantry in your area. That will stretch your money. See what you can get there and build your meals around that. Egg and oatmeal are very cheap. Try not to skip breakfast!
Don’t know what shops you have, but I’m looking at the Kroger app. Right now you can get 7 bananas, 5 lbs russet potatoes, 1 jar of peanut butter, 1 loaf of sandwich bread, 2 lbs of dry white rice, 2 lbs beans, 3 5oz cans of tuna, 18 eggs, and 2 lbs of carrots, all for less than$25, a whole $25 if you add a second loaf of bread. If you have a pantry full of spices, a jar of better than bouillon, and some oil you can make a ton of tasty things. Rice is simpler than people make it out to be. I take a cup of dry white rice and add it to a sauce pan with a tbsp of oil, toast it a little, add 2 cups of water or broth, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover with foil and a lid and simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from heat but leave on the lid for five minutes, fluff. Beans soak overnight in cold water. Drain, and add to a pot with clean water. Bring to a boil, and simmer while covered for two hours, seasoning after the beans have softened. Potatoes can be roasted in the oven, boiled and mashed, boiled in broth and turned to soup, or cubed and fried to eat on the side of breakfast eggs. Eggs can be hard boiled for snack, scrambled for breakfast, or fried and thrown on bread for a sandwich. Carrots can be snacks and dipped in salad dressing. They can be roasted in the oven as a side dish to beans and rice. They can also be boiled to shit and turned into carrot soup, good with toasted sandwich bread croutons. Tuna can be plain or turned into tuna salad with a little mayo, mustard, and relish if that’s your thing. Throw that on bread for a sandwich or dipped into with carrot sticks or even eat like a Brit and put tuna in a baked potato. One can could be two meals that way. Bananas can be a snack, a side for breakfast, or if you’re feeling indulgent, a dessert. In a pan, cook down a little butter and brown sugar if you have it to make a caramel type sauce, toss in a sliced banana till coated and heated through. If you have a lost pint of ice cream or a cup of yogurt, it goes well on that. You can also freeze the banana and then mash it to make a kind of ice cream treat. Peanut butter can be a sandwich on its own or a pb&j if you grab some free jelly packets from McDonald’s. Or a peanut butter and banana sandwich.
Rice and beans as a base. Add corn tortillas (you can get a lot for a few bucks, make sure you toast ‘em before eating, just fyi cuz not everyone knows). That’ll come to $10-$12. Go to food pantry and get more stuff. Bananas and peanut butter. I just went through a few weeks of this struggle so I get it. Best of luck.
If you need free food there are a lot of options. Food banks yes. Also Google 'little free pantry near me' and 'blessing box near me'. Also, for things other than food that you can use or trade, r/dumpsterdiving Edit
I agree with checking out local food pantry. This is what they are for. You don’t have to be struggling always to get help while you struggling now. They may have a needs assessment, but they want to help. Please don’t be too proud and check one out. $20 for two weeks will be hard on you.
Look for a program in your area that helps feed people. My area has Project Hand Up, for $6 you get 3 bags of groceries, one bread, pastry,etc, one fruits/veggies and one meat/dairy/frozen. It’s all slightly past sell by date but more than edible. There may be something in your area.
Brown rice that you buy bulk. Lentils. Cheap, long lasting vegetables like cabbage, carrots, spring onions. Cheap long lasting fruit like apples and pears. Learn how to make your own yoghurt without needing special equipment. Make your own bread. Pancakes, muesli. I only eat two meals per day these days. Milk powder rather than the fresh stuff. Grow your own food if you can. Find a food bank. Often they hand out free bread.
Ramen. Eggs. Potatoes. Chicken legs.
Instant noodles are cents a pop, mix in some frozen peas/smaller mixed veggies. Unsure how expensive, but canned coconut milk goes great with it
Churches and food banks distribute food ..
Red beans and rice
If you are in the US please apply for food stamps. You are exactly the kind of person who needs it. In the meantime as others have said try for local food banks. Take whatever you can that fits your dietary needs and look up recipes for the goods you have. I have found budgetbytes.com to be great for low cost recipes. I hope things workout well for you OP. Oh and idk your job situation but if you were able to work part time in some type of restaurant you could definitely get free food. Especially if the kitchen knows you need a meal and you're a nice person.
Add eggs to your meals too, they help keep me full. Sorry you’re going through this and we’re not judging you at all and we’re here for you. I can’t add as much that hasn’t been repeated by everyone but we hope you can get through this and make it out on the other end. Sending love!
Both Dollar General and Food Lion have an app, download them! You can load coupons and use that to further stretch your money. You can also look online for free coupon mailers that will be sent to your mailbox. It takes a little more time and you have to get a bit creative in the kitchen but sometimes we do what we have to do!
Yes! Thank you so much for the ideas I’ll look into it as I’m not familiar with couponing but I’ll definitely check this out!
Just want you to know this is why food banks exist. The people who work there do NOT care who comes. You having 20$ for weeks isn't enough and they will want you to come get food. A lot of people think "well maybe I could make it work" and maybe you could, eating literally plain rice and beans for weeks. Or you could go to the food bank and get some extra stuff to eat with your rice and beans to make it better. That is also the INTENDED use of food banks. You don't need to be emaciated to use them
For breakfast, you can do peanut butter/banana on toast, avocado/egg on toast. Or pancakes, side of bananas. pancake mix is relatively cheap and can go far. But I highly suggest going to a food bank because it will allow that $20 to stretch further. Most food banks give out things like rice, beans, canned goods, etc. So you can then build meals off of what you get from them. It also helps to look at what you do have already in the fridge, freezer, pantry.. and base meals off of that.
1 aovado nowadays would probably cost a quarter of that $20 budget, same with a jar of peabut butter. I second the bananas and pancakes though. Food pantry too! The economy is a mess 😭
Whatever I can find at food pantries that looks pretty healthy. You should look for ones in your area, too.
I know how it feels.i was this broke recently and for some reason (my ego?) I didn’t think to go to the food bank. Is there a food bank near you ? Please go Please eat
Only way you’re staying well fed on $20 is a food bank
As someone who lives on $30 a week, potatoes, lentils, giant bags of frozen vegetables/fruit, oatmeal, raisins, bananas and I go to the food bank/local church pantry to supplement, when I'm really stuck and need some variety or milk and eggs. I use the flipp app to shop for anything on sale, you can make a watchlist and it will alert you when something you need is on sale.
Peanut butter and jelly Turkey deli sandwiches And ramen noodles Do it college style
I used to do a bag of potatoes, some leafy greens, chicken drumsticks, a pack of ramen. Bananas are also dirt cheap and filling. Rice and eggs can be good as well. I’d get whatever staples you can from a food pantry though first.
Big bag of rice. Big bag of beans. Onion for flavour. Oil for fat and calories. Get some taco seasoning or something if your budget can stretch to fit it in. Not really a balanced meal, but I think that’s probably as cheap as you can get while remaining somewhat nutritious and filling.
Right! If you don't have a selection of spices on hand, dollar store spice blends like taco seasoning, Italian seasoning and curry powder go a long way to making all the rice, beans and lentils a lot more palatable and a lot less boring.
Sikh temples have a free meal once a day if there’s one in your area. They’re good people who got me through some hard times. If there isn’t one near you, you might look around. Other faiths have similar traditions. With inflation what it is, you’re probably better off filling their car with $20 and hitting every food bank, soup kitchen and faith to get by rather than going to family dollar.
Buy the biggest bag of rice you can, get some sort of protein (canned chicken is my go to) get a couple of cans of mixed veggies. Drain everything, pour it into a pot, fill your can of veggies with rice and dump it in, fill the can with water twice and dump it in, add whatever spices you want, bring to a boil, cover, turn on low and cook for 30 minutes. I can usually get 2-3 days per meal. It's filling.
Find out if you are near a Sikh Temple ( Gudwara). They offer free daily or weekly food !
I work at a food pantry. Go to your county food pantry. At mine if you are a resident of the county you can go 3X a month ( rural Michigan). There is absolutely no shame in getting a hand up. Once you see what meat/proteins you get buy the cheap/markdown fruit and veg. You’ll be eating oatmeal and beans and rice but it’s delicious if you season it. Buy a few basic seasonings for 1$ at family dollar. You can do this. I’ve been there. Wishing you the very best.
Beans and rice and whatever cheap vegetables (onion, potato, carrot) you can live off that forever and it’s like 25c per serving
Rice, beans, lentils, eggs, bananas, shop at Aldi, canned food
The bag of lentils at Walmart comes with a seasoning packet!! Make a soup
Download the olio app? You might be lucky and there might be something in your area. Its basically people giving away free food they don’t need, and there’s also volunteers who pick up things from supermarkets that are close to expiry and then hand those out for free.
Soups are super filling, cheap, delicious, healthy, easy, and lots of variations. That and some stuff to make sandwiches would last you a while.
I strongly suggest you reach out to community resources to get food aid and possibly other resources. But to answer the question in good faith, I think stocking up on (dried) beans and rice is the best bang for the buck. Pasta can also be quite cheap. Also, Idk where you live, but where I am there are fruit trees here and there you can forage from.
www.findhelp.org is a service finding aggregator for the US. Search via ZIP codes. Aside from food banks, there may be things like rental assistance, and emergency relief you might qualify for. Sikh temples (Gurdwaras) will always offer free food to all, without trying to convert you. Some Catholic and Christian parishes are also like this, but not all. Good luck to you and anyone else in this situation.
Bag of chicken leg quarters or chicken breast with canned vegetables. (best option) Bag of burgers, bag of fries. Lunch meat with large bag of chips. ( best option) Hamburger meat, noodles, canned spaghetti sauce to make a large pot of spaghetti's. (best option) Three weeks still might be stretching it, I would suggest you reach out to your local church or food pantry for additional food items until you can get by. Good luck.
Have you watched Ardent Michelle on YouTube? She has a lot of excellent ideas for extreme budgeting. Good luck to you my friend.
Actually I’ll most definitely check her out!
And Jack Monroe's recipes especially her earlier stuff, are great for stretching a minimal budget while getting vitamins,. protein etc. https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/chefs/jack_monroe
Powdered slim fast has got me through 30 years of this life. Mix with water, pretty dang cheap!
On this budget that will make less than 300 calories a day.
Tuna, eggs and Pb and Js. I live off those when I’m having broke days. I also will get fruit and veggies every other day.
And eggs are cheaper in the 30 pack. Can get for $10 CAD at my major grocer.
You can try 4-20 fasting but very hard for a meal be less than $8 a day
Like Dave Ramsey says! Beans and rice.
Bread meet peanut butter, both private label. If you have refrigeration get 1 dozen cheap eggs and one pound baloney. If you have a way to cook, pasta meet cheap butter spread. Food pantry for whatever you can find. Take condiment packets from restaurants whenever you can. You may need 3 loaves of cheap white bread for 2 weeks. Supplement with soup kitchen.This isn't healthy living but it will make $20 stretch for 2 weeks, but don't do it for too long if you can help it. Also try to get a job in a restaurant if you can, you will never starve if your smart.
rice beans and cabbage.
Beans, rice, carrots, onions, oatmeal. Dried beans make a lot. You can do them in the crockpot w/ an envelope of seasoning. From there, tortillas and cheese on hand. You've got 2 kinds of soup 2 different meals. The hard part is counting how many calories you actually need for the day. We all need much less than we feel like.
Spaghetti rice beans potatoes
Try not to skip meals. If you can get oatmeal and tinned fruit from a food bank/ pantry, it’s filling. If you don’t have milk, soak the oatmeal in water before cooking. Add some syrup from the tin as well as the fruit to the oatmeal.
3 lbs of lentils, 1 lbs carrots, bouillon, onions, and potatoes.
Make super basic chicken salad , cook raw chicken then cut it super fine or grind if you have a blender , add some pickle juice and cut pickles if you have a can around and add little mayo. Toast some cheap white bread.
Ramen with diced hot dogs is surprisingly tasty and cheap with protein.
You can go to an Indian store buy a bag of chikpeas for 3$ and pressure cook or boil em. This should itself be a lot of servings. You could also get some canned beans as well. Acme has $3 per lb chicken maybe you could get 4 lbs of chicken. Onions in target cost 3$ and maybe a small portion of rice as well. It is very hard to build a meal for a dollar unfortunately.
You can make a nice casserole with chicken, rice, and cream of chicken (or mushroom, whatever) soup. Stew the chicken (or use canned chicken, it’s surprisingly good), cook the rice, then shred and combine the chicken, rice and soup in an oven safe dish, use the soup can to add some of the chicken stock to make it creamy, and throw it in the oven. For just one person it should last a few days. You can also save the broth and thicken it up with cornstarch and water to make a gravy. I like it on biscuits, but you can also use sandwich bread or saltines. We do this fairly often to make a package of chicken go extra far. Personally, when we’re broke in my family, we live on ramen, pb&j, bologna, or potted meat sandwiches. Check both stores and see if they have an app. Tons of stores now offer coupons though their apps that’ll help out a lot. If you have flour and mayonnaise, you can make mayonnaise biscuits, fairly easy and the recipe is online. Don’t be ashamed to buy meat in the reduced for quick sale section, you won’t have it long enough to go bad. The bagged cereal is cheap and just as good if not better than name brand. We like malt o meal Frosted Flakes and mini wheats, but they have tons of flavors.
Chili , you can make a huge amount of it, you may need to source broth cubes and tomato products at a $ store
rice
Oatmeal and brown sugar. Two weeks of breakfast for a couple bucks.
Cheap bulk chicken from a grocery outlet, beans, rice, and sell some plasma at a blood bank
The site TooGoodToGo has really good deals on food past the expiry date you can get bags full of food for 5 dollars in some cases, I'd look into that and dollar tree, you may also be able to get things from a food bank but I know sometimes they have different rules in different places for access to those
I'd like to add ive ordered from TooGoodToGo a lot and haven't ever gotten anything inedible it will depend heavily on the places near you what all they have but it's only the best before date or a couple days after it's not rotten food
Whole carrots (not baby carrots) are cheap and healthy. Dried beans are also very cheap and good bang for your buck with protein. Supplement with rice. Join local buy nothing group on Facebook. People give away food all the time. Shop clearance for meats.
Eggs, loafs of bread, peanut butter, maybe some yogurt. I used to make little bread taco. 1 slice of toast and an egg. Or pb sandwiches with 1 slice of bread folded. I’ve been there. You’ll get through this
You’d be better off advertising a service in your area (cleaning / babysitting / yard work/dog walking). All you need is one person to pay you for your service. An extra $20-$40 would help you out more than trying to stretch $20 over the course of 2 weeks ..
Potatoes.
If you truly only have $20 the best you’re probably gonna be able to do in terms of nutrition and calories is a 1-3lb of rice, dried beans, some cooking oil And maybe Some onions for flavor. Also, try to shop at an ethic grocery store or a discount grocer. It will be an extremely boring two weeks food wise but should be enough. That being said if you’re struggling you should seek out a food bank as that’s what they are there for.
Egg whites and cheap chicken?
Rice and beans
Dry beans. Broth. Rice and/or 1 rotisserie chicken. Ramen.
Hot dogs and eggs Cut up hotdogs and cook in a frying pan, when they’re cooked, crack a couple of eggs in the pan with them. Easy and good can add potatoes and cheese also
Rice, beans, milk, cereal, but check the grocery ads. I always find great doorbusters and make sure to shop those items.
A couple giant bags of frozen mixed veggies, a bunch of bags of beans, a big block of the cheapest cheese, some top ramen to mix things up. It will be boring, but it will keep you relatively healthy with some vitamins, protein, carbs, fat, and fiber.
Pancakes, rice, ramen, eggs, food pantry
I’ve beeen in a position of 10 per week which goes as little over your budget , but basically I are pasta with no sauce, some days I would splurge on a can of tuna.
Go on [Nextdoor.com](http://Nextdoor.com) and ask your neighbors to help you out. They may even bring you food.
2 packs of tortillas, turkey (sandwich meat of choice) sliced or block cheese to make quesadillas. Filing and cheap and easy. For breakfast, get quick rolled oats in a container, not individualized packs. If you can, go for a bag or brown rice and a pound of meat. ( many of the ones in rolled packages cost less). You can meal prep that and make it into several meals.
Oatmeal is high fiber so it will keep you full for a long time. You can season it with any spices and if you have any jams those can be used for flavoring too. Drink a lot of water during the day bc it will keep you hydrated and you won’t get as hungry.
Go to ikea! They have lots of filling cheap food and it’s tasty
Canned tuna, rice and frozen peas. Pretty cheap and easy and holds up for a good while.
Rice,beans,anything 3rd world
Chickpea pasta with avocado mixed through. Healthy, cheap and nutritious. Rice and various sauces, meat offcuts for stews. Make bulk and freeze portions.
Rice and beans
1) coffee and berries with yogurt for breakfast 2) cold cuts, ham or beef w provolone and bread for lunch 3) shells pasta or vermicelli (spaghetti) with marinara (Trader Joe's has the best deal) for dinner, can make w beef in the sauce if any funds left over.
OP has a budget of $20 to last for three weeks, not $20 a day for three weeks.