Anything made with dried beans. Additionally, we have rice that we purchased in 2012, which was 50 pounds for $17 at Sam's Club. Today, it is almost double that. One way to save lots of money on food is to buy it when it is on sale and then either freeze it, store it in vacuum containers with O2 absorbers, or freeze-dry it. Dry beans store well for years. We have been rotating out stored beans, which are 12-13 years old, and they are still fine. Soak them first in baking soda, and they cook up like they were just bought. Also rice. We have 13-year-old rice that we are replacing with new stock. Soak it in water with a tablespoon of lemon juice to freshen it up. People cannot tell it is 13 years old. We caught a sale at Walmart where they were selling 1-pound packages of spaghetti for 25 cents each. We purchased 60 packs and have them stored in vacuum bags with an O2 absorber. It has lasted for years, and we are also rotating it out. You cannot tell it is years old.
Big Lima beans and rice with butter is a favorite.
Pinto beans with fried potatoes from your garden.
Great Northern beans cooked to 90% doneness and then baked with sliced onions, brown sugar, and dry mustard.
Lentils overboiled and mashed into a mush is surprisingly good with a little butter, salt, and pepper. Do the same to small lima beans.
Adding macaroni to any soup will stretch that food dollar. I've come to prefer tomato soup with pasta added—also, noodles in soups.
You can purchase Ramen Noodles for less than 30 cents per one-cup package. Add a couple of these to soups, and that beefs up the content at a low cost.
Add rice to any soup to beef it up. Our local Walmart sells fresh French and Italian loaves for a dollar. That will fill out a table cheaply. Sometimes we take some tomato sauce and sop it up with the cheap bread.
Our garden has been an excellent source of low-cost vegetables. Tomatoes, potatoes, squash, beans, okra, Jerusalem Artichokes, and many other easy-to-grow veggies, such as greens, lettuce, onions, carrots, rutabaga (a favorite), cucumbers, and corn.
The second year we worked the garden was the most successful, during which we grew over 1,000 pounds of vegetables, including 700 pounds of tomatoes. The initial cost was high. We had to improve the soil by investing in a cheap electric tiller, as well as soil additives (Black Kow, Garden Soil Enhancers, and Vermiculite), which also incurred some costs. But again, these were all paid for by the second year. Once you get to where you can produce your own compost with leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen scraps, the cost of soil maintenance will be cut back. But the soil is important, and I consider it the most important. I don't grow plants, I grow soil. Get good, rich, bio-alive soil, and the plants will take care of themselves.
We purchased a wheat grinder some years ago and can grind our wheat, corn, and oats. Much cheaper than oatmeal, cornmeal, and flour.
The initial outlay for items like the freeze dryer ($ 2,800), the Wheat Grinder ($250), and the vacuum sealer ($100) may be a setback, but they will eventually pay for themselves.
People laugh and joke about that $20 tomato they grow the first year. And although that is an exaggeration, they have a point. Likely, you will not break even in the first year. But each year becomes cheaper and more productive. We have been doing the garden for 7 years now. We have raised beds to save our backs, as we are now in our 70s. People may scoff now when times are relatively prosperous. But in the years to come, a garden may become indispensable. It is essential to start now! When there is a financial crash, food prices may skyrocket, and many people will not be able to afford or even find food. A person with a year or two of prepped food will be able to eat very cheaply. While everyone else is in the food lines, you will be helping others instead of needing help.
