Cheap Meals

A few days ago I met up with an old friend of mine, and we were talking about the good old days of university before the real world kicked in. It helped jogged my memory about just how little money we had back then. Some weeks we had to live off $5 for a whole week, and somehow we managed to keep eating cheap meals and surviving, with enough energy left over for our studies (and a little bit of fun, of course). 

I figured that some of the tricks we used back then would help people now that are finding it financially difficult to make ends meet. Hopefully you can budget a little more than $5 into your weekly shopping budget, but no matter how hard things are, these cheap meal tips will hopefully help you on your way.

Junk food may be a cheap and easy way to get your fix of calories for the day, but you don't necessarily need to skimp on quality to save a few bucks. With the right items in your pantry you can make your own meals that are both tasty and nutritious, even if you are on a shoestring budget.

For breakfast, start the day off right with some oatmeal. Oatmeal makes a great cheap meal, especially on those cold winter mornings. It is also a lot more nutritious than the boxed sugar filled cereals you usually get. Instead of buying full cream milk every other day, why not stock up on some powdered milk and make your own? Sure, it tastes a little different, but after you've been using it for a week or two you won't even know the difference.

Keep an eye out at the supermarket for those times when frozen vegetables are on sale. You may no know this, but frozen is one of the best ways to buy your vegetables. They have usually been snap frozen very soon after being harvested, which locks in all the nutrients. Compare that to you so called "fresh" vegetables which have travelled hundreds of miles and sat on the supermarket shelves for days. Another good alternative to vegetables is to buy them canned.

Cheap Meals Can Still Be Healthy

When it comes to fruit, you need to be a little versatile in your purchasing. Try and only buy those fruits that are in season, and you will be surprised at how much you save. Another benefit of following the seasons with you fruit purchasing is that you get a wider variety across the span of the year.

You don't always have to have 3 huge meals each day. You can have much smaller cheap meals and still be satisfied by having a few snacks during the day. Buy dried fruits and nuts in bulk and you will always have something healthy to nibble on. And when dinnertime comes around, you won't be starving.

Buying cheaper cuts of meat can be a great way of creating cheap meals. Cheap meats can be a little tougher, but if you marinate them overnight, or cook them slowly in stews or casseroles, you will never know the difference. Also, you don't have to have meat 7 nights a week. Try and limit the number of days that you have meat to 2 or 3. Substitute those other meat meals with other high protein foods like eggs, tuna and beans.

Don't ever let any food go to waste. Leftovers should never be scraped into the bin when they can be covered, put in the refrigerator and reheated for lunch the next day. If you notice that you have some fruit that is starting to turn, why not learn how to do a bit of baking and make yourself a delicious apple pie or pear tart. They are really surprisingly easy to make.

Finally, make use of pastas and rices. Spending just that little bit extra on brown rice and pasta rather than their white cousins can be of real benefit to your health, and still fill out a meal nicely.

So remember, there are ways that you can get the most out of your money, and out of your pantry, if you know how to utilise the right grocery items, and are aware of the different combinations that can be used with the items in your kitchen.