Lads I am out of work again so it's time for a poverty meal thread. And I don't mean KD and instant noodles, I don't want to spend much money but I want to eat real food. I already know about lentils and dried beans. Two of the meals I have been cooking are a lentil and kidney bean curry (dal makhani) and vegetarian chili (basically normal chili but with a lot of beans instead of meat). I also experimented with lentil bolognese but it's not that good, I would rather wait to get some ground meat on discount. I've also started going to the grocery store every day. They are always marking down meat if it's about to hit the bb date, so if I see some meat that is 50% or more off I snatch it up and that is dinner for the night. Just looking for some new ideas. Anyone have a good, cheap soup recipe? I've actually never made soup before and this might be a good time to try. I've also considered going down to the park by the river under cover of night and killing a goose, there are plenty of them down there, but it's very illegal and I don't really know how to clean and butcher them.
>>22078648ramen from butchers bones, they usually go cheap and if you have spare time then boiling them for ages isn't a big deal, plus noodles are easy from just flour and water
>>22078674>shopping at butcher shops>saving moneyRich people problem, amirite?
>>22078674I'm interested, can you elaborate on this?
>>22078695I know what you mean but I want to hear him out. I wouldn't go to a fancy butcher shop, I have an Asian grocery store near me and I would check there first. There's also a farmer's market outside town that I go to, it's more of a working class place, not like the fancy shops in the city, the butcher out there knows me and would probably hook me up.
You like vegetables, OP? If not, you better learn to like them or you're going to go broke pretty quick. Potatoes and carrots are cheap as fuck fuck right now and so is squash. The logistics problems with tomatoes from earlier in the year are over, so they're cheap.Eggs are cheap right now too.>dried beansDecent for plant-based protein if you pair with a grain (e.g. corn or rice), but they need a lot of heat to boil and cook on a conventional stove. That'll run up that electric bill with your AC. If you're healthy enough to not need an AC still rethink the beans if you're not using a pressure cooker.>pasta and instant noodlesScam. Wheat is a shit grain. Go with potatoes.
>>22078711If he's out of work, he could cook at night, which should allay AC issues a bit unless he's in the tropics. Not like he's got anything else to do if not working. Sleep during the day to save on A/C costs.
>>22078715Don't do this OP, if you are out of work, then your new job is looking for work, OP isn't going to make it if he wallows in his bed all day and neither are you. Speaking from experience btw
Losing weight, dropping your blood pressure, and setting your thermostat higher helps save money too. Showing up to an interview with a physique that's at most skinny fat sets a better first impression than being a fat shit like most recruits will most likely be.
Meet your new best friend: chicken leg quarters. Lots of protein and healthy fat. Can be used in many different dishes. The bones can be annoying but eat them enough, you'll become a pro at removing them.
>>22078648Do you have a crock pot, or just a regular pot for soup? Because larger chunks of tough meat are generally more economically efficient than cut up pieces. Whole chicken costs less per pound than a pound of thighs (generally). Sometimes you can multi-purpose bulk packs of meat; a family pack of thighs grilled with just S&P you could put on a sandwich, salad, soup, what the fuck ever else. Keep that in mind instead of shopping daily. You either have to get used to eating the exact same meal for several days in a row, or you get creative with the leftovers. You could get a pork shoulder/butt and make carnitas if you already have the spices/seasonings. A chuck roast in the crock pot to make french dip sandwiches is great, alternatively you can make a barbacoa with it. Eggs. Omeletes. carbonara (bacon would be the expensive part). Sunny side up. Breakfast burritos (add potatos, veggies, cheese). Egg fried rice. Egg flower soup. Boiled eggs on your salad. I get it though, eating the same thing for 3-5 days gets old. Ground sausage, chicken, and turkey is cheaper than beef. Tacos, burritos, dirty rice, meat loaf, salisbury steak, swiss steak, meat balls. Theres also poverty spaghetti, a little bit of ground meat and a jar of sauce with a $1 pack of pasta and you're good.Whats your daily budget, OP?
>>22078648how about instead of loitering around the grocery store all day and plotting to kill wildlife you go pound the pavement and drop off some resumes
>>22078695figure of speech, i get them in the frozen section of the big supermarket near me. it isn't the most poor food ever admittedly but op didnt want that anyway>>22078696ramen is originally poorfag food, its just boiling the marrow and protein out of otherwise discarded bones. scrub the bones a bit, put them in water, and boil for like 12-24h (or like 4h in a pressure cooker), then make noodles with 2:1 flour:water and some bicarb. you can go full weeb and make tare or just have them with soy sauce and onions
>>22078648Corned beef can be used instead of ground beef in recipes like Bolognese or Chilli. Imported brands from Brazil are often cheaper than local beef and the quality is great.
>>22078753Agreed, I am a fan of quarters, but the Asian grocery I go to often has discounted bone-in thighs and I stocked up. I'm good for chicken for a while. >>22078759I do have a crock pot but I am skeptical about using it for soup. The slow cooker just gives things a weird flavor, I assume because it's sealed and the water cant cook off. I mostly use it for whole chicken, or any other large piece of meat (it is the only way I will cook game meat, but unfortunately I don't have any right now). I have considered slow cooking a pork butt and eating burritos for a week, just waiting to see if I can get it at a discount. >Whats your daily budget, OP?I am not at the point of making strict daily budgets. I'm not broke yet but am just trying to be careful with my spending, ideally less than $10 (CAD) a day on food. Today I didn't eat breakfast, which I rarely do even when working, and had two eggs, rye bread with peanut butter, and a banana for lunch. For dinner I will have stir fry (half a pork tenderloin (about 3 dollars), small head of broccoli ($0.97), small bell pepper ($0.95), plus a carrot, ginger, garlic, and rice, all of which are dirt cheap, maybe another dollar altogether. >>22078775I am also doing a fair bit of day drinking. >>22078784Interesting. Looking into it.>>22078787This sounds disgusting. Also corned beef is pretty expensive here, there are better options.
>>22078648Depending on your city get a security job, very easy to get once your licensed, doesn't pay a lot (I get $20 and hour) but it's steady and yes I'm in Canada
>>22079009$20/hour is a lot less than I was making but it's better than EI. Not sure if I will get hired though, I have a criminal record and I'm not Indian.
If you are retarded enough you insist on staying in Canada where you aren't wanted, prison provides food, shelter, showers and clean clothes. It's a huge quality of life improvement for the average Canadian.
>>22079016>I have a criminal recordStory time?
>>22078648Hey poorfag. Watch those cheesy AI videos on YouTube that shows how people survived during the depression. They have whites from the south, Mexicans and Chinese. Truth is you can eat really well. Be well and good luck. Drugs help.
>>22079009>pay for course>pay for licence test>still won't be hired if you don't appear to be a drooling retard>ineligible for security clearance if you have the basic OPSEC of not using social mediaIron horse in particular runs a scam for their courses, or just hire people for singular events like Canada day.
>>22078648Get one of those free food apps that show you stores near you that give away surplus food. This is how a lot of drug addicts eat when they spent all their money on drugs and it's much less work than killing a goose.
>>22078648there are options.. LRN2FISH..NGA
>>22078648Lol! Get fucked poorfag!
>>22078648BOILED EGGS and RICEall day every day
>>22079293Even while unemployed I probably have more money than you will ever see, faggot.
>>22079016>>22079522who says crime doesn't pay?
>>22079277What kind of fish is that?
>>22079039I went to the primary school gates at playtimes and mooned them
>>22079039I don't really want to get into it, but I'm on a couple of registers and I can't work near certain places.
>>22078696Get pressure cooker.Go to butcher, ask for bones on animal you want to make stock from.Put bones, but of vinegar salt, spices, some herbs.Pressure cook for two hours.Decamt bullionUse when cooking.
>>22078999>The slow cooker just gives things a weird flavorNo. It doesn't impart any flavor. A dutch oven wouldn't give a weird flavor, same if you had a pot with a lid on the stove. >$10cad dailyis that like $5 real dollars? Its probably possible eating maybe 2 meals a day, bulk purchase, lots of cheap stuff like eggs, rice, and noodles. You may want to lookup third world street food or whatever poverty meals they do. Often its cheaper than it should be but still excellent flavors.
>>22079039OP here. I got a DUI like 10 years ago. Was driving home from a bar and decided to stop into a store to pick up more beer. Some do-gooder in the lineup smelled booze on me, the dickhead called in my plate, and actually decided to play junior detective or whatever by following me home and telling the cops where I lived. The law showed up a bit later, detained me, brought me into the station for a proper breathalyzer, etc. The cops never actually saw me behind the wheel, so I kept my mouth shut, called my lawyer, and tried to fight the charge, but the judge didn't believe me.
>>22079744>bullionTry again, retard.
>>22078648>chia seeds (Omega 3, Potassium, ect.)>Coconut Oil (non-refined; satiety stretching rice/plant starches)>whatever bulk meat is under 5 bucks a pound (inquire with butcher, Sub Primal Cuts can get you in this ballpark)Food Bank, opening hours Mondays and Weekends. Scammer resellers stocking their ethnic Bodega routinely defraud and strip them, get in first. Get a part-time line cook gig (diners are easiest, breakfast shit), scalp a shift meal or more. If you're good enough, offer On-Call/per diem service to more upscale places; notoriously flakey/unreliable staff with either, and charge higher rate than whatever their wagies get.And intermittent fasting/keto as much as possible. Trash carbs just get you hungrier. All you have is your health, there are things you can't compromise on unless it's actual subsistence survival. Good luck.
>>22078648Fellow poorfag Canuck here. Pay attention to flyers for your staple items. For me chicken quarters go the absolute cheapest, only occasionally matched by pork roasts. Certain pork chops will also frequently be around the price of chicken quarters. Also Canadian, so in CAD$, I've seen chicken quarters go down to $1/lb, though more frequently closer to $2/lb. Nothing---especially not tinned meats---comes close to this.When it comes to chicken quarters like >>22078753 said, I used to always save the fat and gelatin from roasting them, but you need to be a bit more conscientious to do that. Goes great on bread the next day, or else you can use it for soups. And I haven't done it myself, but you can always save the bones for stock/soup. The oil can also be nice on veggies.Eggs I see drop to about $3/dozen (large). Used to be $2.44/dozen was the absolute low, but haven't seen that in a while.Get comfortable cooking certain frozen vegetables. Stuff like peas and green beans are decent boiled if you do it right (really just don't overcook them and they'll remain firm and pleasant with butter, or, say, in chicken grease; I'm also partial to cooking peas longer until they're very very soft).Potatoes, carrots, onions are your friends. Carrots and onions will often go on steep sales in bags of 2 lbs, though onions are mostly going to be to add variety to whatever you're cooking. If you're buying big bags of potatoes, make sure you're happy eating them every day so you don't end up wasting the bag by letting any go bad. Smell that shit before you buy too.It helps to be consistent in what you eat, so you know what the good prices are and so you don't have to re-think your approach every time you go to the store. Figure out how to cook the cheap stuff in a way you like so you're not miserable and tempted to break from it, plus having a routine for cooking simplifies things. I roast my chicken and potatoes together at once, though I'm not paying hydro.
>>22080031>If you're buying big bags of potatoes, make sure you're happy eating them every day so you don't end up wasting the bag by letting any go bad. Smell that shit before you buy too.This is one of the things that sucks about living by myself. I only eat potatoes twice a week, so it doesn't really make sense to buy a big bag of them because they are going to go bad. When I was working I didn't mind buying 4 individual potatoes off the shelf for the week, it was great because I could inspect the potato and always buy the size I wanted, but it's ridiculously expensive to buy potatoes this way. The other night I was having baked chicken thighs and wanted two medium-sized yellow potatoes to go with it, $1.50 each, which is fucking outrageous. I paid more for the goddamn potatoes than I did for the chicken.
I find potatoes keep pretty well and for quite a while. And I live along the baja coast where it's warm and humid (no heatwave) so I imagine if it's less humid further up north they could keep longer. You don't have to worry about eating them every day when you buy a 5 kilo bag.I'm not getting the impression from OP that he's into produce though. Too bad.
>>22080035Yeah, this is where rice has an advantage over potatoes. But I'm down to eat potatoes almost every day, and prefer them to rice (at least on account of them being easier to prepare alongside the chicken via roasting in the same pan, and I feel better eating potatoes), so it works out for me to buy a 5 or 10 lb bag. Lots of potatoes, a chicken quarter, some green beans, and that's dinner.Buying big bags can also be a crapshoot if the potatoes are in shit condition and a bad one makes the rest go bad quicker. This is why I recommend smell-checking the bags, and I potatoes in paper sacks are generally better-off than plastic, or are at least easier to get a whiff of. Quality can vary a lot by where I'm buying them, even just among regular grocery stores, and I find often on sales they're just getting rid of bad lots so I just accept the regular price of potatoes since they're cheap enough already if you can make it through a whole bag. Always gotta check the whole bag anyway when you bring them home and chuck any bad ones.Another killer for costs is if you crave something sweet, so to OP: frozen fruit. They're not dirt cheap like potatoes or chicken quarters, but they're a way better snack and cheaper than what you might resort to otherwise. Will adjust your palate for sweets too. Mixed berries or blueberries are very good with yogurt or milk, and frozen mango I like to have on its own.
>>22080060(Bonus to frozen fruit is that they won't go bad easy, so any extra cost to them over whatever the cheapest fresh fruit is can be partially balanced by less waste.)
>>22078648Cabbage is cheap and filling. You can easily get 4+ meals out of 1 head. Stir fry with some garlic and add whatever meat and scraps you can
>>22080056>I'm not getting the impression from OP that he's into produce though. Too bad.You're wrong about that. Maybe I haven't discussed produce that much here because I don't really find it that expensive for the most part, although I think I will try buying a full bag of potatoes and see if it lasts, like I said buying individual potatoes is ridiculous. The Asian grocery store has been great, very good prices on broccoli, bell peppers, and cabbage. I have been eating vegetarian meals 4 nights a week. I guess I am focusing more on meat in this thread because meat prices here have gotten so insane. Saving money on meat is the focus, I try to stock up when there are good discounts.
>>22080074>Cabbage is cheap and filling. You can easily get 4+ meals out of 1 head.How long will that keep in the fridge once cut? I've been reluctant to get cabbage because I'm not sure if I will be able to get through a full head before it goes bad. I was thinking about making a pot of Russian-style cabbage soup. If anyone knows poverty food it's the Russians.
>>22080081>meat prices here have gotten so insaneThey're insane everywhere. Even if you're not in danger mode cash-wise, I would recommend sticking to eggs. Canned shit is a rip off when you do the math and figure out the price per kilo. Though if you can find cheap canned tuna that's not yellow finned, that's not so bad. All I find here is yellow finned.
>>22080097The dollar store near me sells cans of tuna for a buck each. I've been eating eggs for lunch but might switch to tuna sandwiches to change things up.
Canned tuna is cheap everywhere I guess. I mentioned the type because yellow finned has more mercury than albacore. Which is why it's not considered safe to eat more than one can per week. But albacore can be safely eaten three times per week. Sardines and canned salmon are completely safe to eat every day though.
>>22080273Tuna isn't necessarily cheap everywhere. I was in one of the higher-end grocery stores and they were selling it at 6 bucks a can, which is ridiculous and I refuse to pay it, I wouldn't pay that for a can of tuna even if I was working.Never really thought much about mercury or the species of tuna. It was always just lunch meat to me. The cheap tuna from the dollar store is apparently skipjack, but they say there might be some yellowfin in there. Maybe it's best to alternate, eggs for lunch one day, tuna sandwich the next.
>>22080299Also have you ever had tuna steaks? The Asian grocery store sells frozen steaks at a pretty reasonable price, a $10 package of them would probably get me three dinners, I've been thinking about trying it but have never cooked this before.
Do you guys have sardines in water up in Canada? That's one of the few products I miss from living in the US. I remember back in October I bought a bunch for 99ยข (USD) each before they skyrocketed to $2.19 (USD) each a month later. I can only get the dines in oil or tomato sauce here in Mexico. About $2.76 usd for 400g can undrained.
>>22078787>>22080273>>22080320Relative to raw chicken or pork (sale prices), tinned meat prices are terrible. As far as Canadian prices, you're getting at best maybe $1/100 g drained, which still works out to more than $4/lb, which is substantially more than you'd pay for chicken or pork on sale. Not bad to supplement your diet, but not good for something to eat daily nor as your primary source of protein.
Yes, I know. The price per kilo puts canned tuna way more expensive than raw chicken breast, many cuts of pork, eggs, and cheap ground beef of questionable cuts. Which is why I haven't bought any in a long long time. It's not a good economical decision buying canned tuna.
>>22078648got a local garden that the city rents garden plots ?if so almost no one cares it you go there in a he middle of the night and pick veggies from those gardens
>>22080991Good idea. I am certainly not against stealing a bit of produce from the boomer housewives who use those community gardens.
>>22080320Chicken of the sea has hands down the most disgusting garbage sardines I've ever had the displeasure of tasting. Texture and taste is somewhere between soggy catfood and powerbait.If you're gonna go budget deenz at least go with Polar or Season. Riga gold is also decent just stay away from the fried bristling in tomato sauce it's gritty.
>>22080013I would want something really really bad to happen to that person like really bad
im planning to make chili todayi was just looking through all my food bank bags i have in the basement, took forever to find a can of diced tomatoes. got 2 cans of beans , a thing of frozen ground turkey and a leftover red pepper and some onionsi got this all from the food bank, will feed me for 7+ days you can drive to a food bank and they will give you a box of food if you need it right away. free food is so easy to get , most stores just toss all that shit at the end of the day, if you're on the verge of hunting geese dumpster diving some random food place isnt a bad idea. even just like dunken donuts tosses all their donuts end of day
also apply for food stamps
>>22078648Maybe there's a ULINE near you that's hiring
>>22078648I just buy pounds of chicken meat from target and store it in the freezer when the food stamps kick in and spend the $100 I get on another card on ground beef I also squirrel away. I've got like $2000 worth of meat in two freezers in my basement to last me awhile
>>22081066The funny thing was that the do-gooder was no saint himself. My lawyer, a well-known criminal defense attorney in this city, had to recuse himself from the case because the witness was also his client and facing numerous criminal charges. I really wish I could have gotten that guy alone in a parking lot or something.
>>22081318I'm not even looking for work right now. I've got money in the bank and my unemployment bennies coming in so I am taking some time to focus on my mental health, which means drinking from dawn til dusk
>>22081437>which means drinking from dawn til duskthis ain't your first rodeobest be spamming that indeed resume
>>22081437I'm glad you're that comfy as far as savings and assistance go. I might finally be getting into beer myself. Hopefully I end up enjoying Bernardus, Weihenstephaner, really most of the list I've compiled.
>>22081449>>22081450I'm not that comfy, I am very stressed about what the future is going to bring, due to the shitty job market, drinking all day is a cope. EI wont last forever, and neither will my savings, especially when downing this much booze every day. I'm weighing my options about a new job right now, I don't really want to start handing out resumes yet, I would rather reach out to some of my old contacts to see if they have anything for me, but right now I really need to get off the bottle because if I go back to work like this it isn't going to end well. I went to a food bank today. It was a bit embarrassing because I probably have more money in my bank account than the people who work there, let alone those other poor people who regularly go to the food bank just to survive. I got some good shit though. I definitely can't live off this stuff alone but it's a nice supplement and I can work with it, it will save me money. They even gave me like a pound of asparagus and a few pounds of sweet potatoes, all of which I suspect was donated by home gardeners, so that is cool.
i doubt you have that much money savedand when you see fucking audis in the food pantry lines its a lot less embarrassing during covid they had reports on food bank lines and the lines were all fucking rich white people in bmws and audis and shit
