Making Do

Two eggs, two vege sausages, 1 bell pepper, 4 green onions, 10 mushrooms, 1/4 of instant grits, and 1/4 cup of shredded cheese...   when cooked the way I cook it...  everthing in an omelette then cheese into the grits and the grits poured on top, creating a pie in the round frying pan...  cut into fourths, gives me 4 meals.  The cost to me is well under $10...

If I mix mayo with shredded cheese, then I have non pimento pimento cheese at a much less cost than buying pimento cheese in a grocery store.  Pita bread has 5 pieces of bread inside each package.  Now, I have 5 meals for under $10.

If I cook a cup of dried beans in a pressure pot for 15 minutes, then add a cup of rice, a bell pepper, an onion, a tablespoon of garlic and cut up fresh veges...  all mixed together with chicken broth...   I have 4 meals for under $10 dollars.

So, that is $30 for 4 days of meals and there are an endless amount of variations to all three of these meals for about the same amount of money. A variety of meats can be subsituted for the beans and sandwiches.  And breakfast can just be eggs, pancakes, cereal, oatmeal, etc. for essentially the same price as well.

If we double our $30 to cover a week, it is now $60/week times 52 weeks which is $3,120 annually which is $260 monthly.

What does this mean?

This means that a couple can live relatively inexpensively when it comes to food, with just a little bit of thinking...   

Dried beans are cheaper than canned beans and are healthier for you as well...  however, without a pressure cooker, it takes a long time to cook.

Making pimento cheese is cheaper than buying and not that difficult.

Fresh veges are cheaper than frozen or canned veges, but they require preparation and cooking.