How can I feed 4 people on $250 a month?

Question

Plus 3 cats, and one dog

Answer 1

eat earthworms, and save your money lol... or go to a place that sells really cheap food, like a warehouse / factory

Answer 2

I have been in a similar situation. We at a lot of hamburger meat.  You can buy a big pack and divide it out into pounds.  Freeze what you don't use where it won't go bad.  Buy pasta, rice, beans and canned items at stores like save a lot.  Buy generic brands, most of the time they taste the same.  I buy cheap dog food, feed the pets buy the instructions on the back of the pack, most people overfeed their animals.  Good luck!

Answer 3

Buy the food in bulk and try and buy from the wholesalers and butchers as most times supermarkets are much more expensive.

Budget and portion control the food. Minimise waste. For example you can buy pork chops at about $5 a kilo on sale and each person can have 1 chop only, the leftover bones can be fed to your dogs and cats.

You'll just have to do more work preparing the food than normal. For example rather than just buying chicken fillets already filleted. Buy the whole chicken fillet it yourself and used the bones for stock in soup.

Answer 4

Cut coupons, shop at the least expensive store in town (we have Aldi's and Save A Lot), buy generic, and plan ahead.  If you make a week or month's worth of menus you know when you can have hamburgers one night and crumble up the leftovers for a casserole or chili the next night.  Call your local foodbank, see if you qualify for assistance.  Some foodbanks also provide pet food.  Look online for cheap recipes and coupons for things you need to buy.  Go to the websites of companies you buy from and sign up for coupons.  Good Luck!

Answer 5

Hello,

You can feed 4 people on 250 a month if you really focus on prices. Shop at Save-A-Lot, Aldi and other places and buy only when items are on sale. Also clip coupons. You can do well at Giant Eagle with double coupons, especially if items are on sale.

Try to avoid premade items that you could make from scratch. Biscuits, cookies and things like that are cheaperfrom scratch and you get more too.

If you eat meat, buy only when it is on sale and stock your freezer. Do some meal planning, left over taco meat can be used for chili in a nother meal.

For your pet food, I always buy the lowest priced food I can  and monitor how much you feed them. Many of our pets are over fed. (My children like to feed them and often give them too much!)

For veggies and fruit shop your local farmers's market, prices are much cheaper and you get great fresh produce!

Believe it or not, I feed a family of nine each month. I have to watch for bargains and be a savvy shopper!

I hope this helps you out!

Genesee from www.the-chocolate-spot.com

Answer 6

hot dogs,peanut butter&jelly beans and rice,ramen soup,vegtables in the can,spam. ther's a few ideas. good luck!

Answer 7

I don't know if you can on a $250 budget, but here are some ways that you can make your dollar stretch.

- cut coupons

- buy only what is on sale

-  beans and eggs are a good source of protein and a lot less expensive than meat.  There is no reason you cant have scrambled eggs for dinner.

- pasta and rice are both very economical and filling

- buy Hunts tomato sauce in a can for (.97$) vs a jar of sauce for $2.50.  You just have to season it yourself.

- watch for day old bread.   They  are still good if used right away or frozen right away for later.

- Day old veggies in the produce area are a lot cheaper and may just need a tiny spot cut out.  I recently got 3 yellow peppers for .89$ when the ones from the truck that day were $2.99 a pound, and nothing was wrong with them.

- Soup and crackers is a very economical lunch.

- Use every bit of what you have.  Cook an over roaster chicken.  Have the roasted chicken the first night then with the rest of the chicken make a second or even a third meal. ( Fajitas, pot pie, chicken salad, chicken and rice casserole, chicken corn chowder, make soup from the bones)

- Do not buy ready made products.  Cut up a head of lettuce instead of buying a bag of lettuce..etc.

As far as the animals.  Buy the absolute cheapest food you can find.  The cat should be able to have only one meal a day and hunt for whatever else it needs.  I hate to say it but if  it comes down to it though your family has to come first and you may have to find htem a home that can afford them.

Hope this helps some.  Here are some other sites I found that help on a tight budget.

http://www.betterbudgeting.com/frugalrec...

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/70doll...

http://www.mealtime.org/content.aspx?id=...

Answer 8

you can't...get a full time job, another job, wellfare or get a sugardaddy

Answer 9

http://www.aldi.com

Answer 10

Lots of rice, potatoes, bread, peanut butter, pastas. Cats and dogs walmart food (the food banks will also have animal food).  Go to food banks or soup kitchens if it's economical for the gasoline costs. For the soup kitchen calculate the gasoline you will need to get there if you can't walk. It might be cheaper to eat at home if it is far away. You will have to weigh out eating at home and saving money on gas versus what you will get for the meal at the soup kitchen. If there is more than one food bank in city go to more than one of them for more food. Plan your trips go to the soup kitchen and then to the food banks, then go get groceries to make up for what you are missing.

Answer 11

The helpful people who have answered you have given excellent answers.  I buy marked down "Special Today" or "Last Day of Sale" meats, scour the weekly grocery flyers, keep a price list so I know when a sale is a good price or not, and clip coupons.  I found The Tightwad Gazette to be quite helpful - see if you can borrow a copy from your local library or borrow from somene who might have a copy. It's by Amy Dacyczyn.  

Answer 12

Clip coupons and organize them for easy use.  I save BIG bucks using them.

Watch the sales

Buy in bulk.  However, sometimes it is cheaper at the grocery store on sale, with a coupon, than at a warehouse store.  Pay attention to prices.

Is there an Aldi near you?  Bring your own bags.  Many of their foods are excellent and the same as full price stores.  (If the produce is fresh...a cucumber is a cucumber!)

Don't purchase ready made.  Cook it yourself.

Chips are yummy, but they really don't fill you up.  Eat carrott sticks or celery instead, or a pickle.  It adds the crunch and is more filling and much more healthy.

Purchase only when it is on sale, stock up on the sale things, and use what you have.  Avoid running to the store for just one thing.  Most likely it will not be on sale and you will be spending $ on gas for an un-needed trip.

Pasta, rice and beans are filling and inexpensive.  Be sure to include them.

If you cook a turkey breast or a whole chicken, use the carcus and make soup a few days later.  Same with a ham bone if you cook a ham.  Ham and beans are filling and not expensive.

For the pets, I would watch the sales and coupons and purchase quality food for them in bulk.  It has less filler in it.  They will not have as much waste in their stool and it will be more filling so they will not eat as much.

You CAN do this if you really work and concentrate on your task.  Best wishes!

Answer 13

Easy....

Beans (Black, chick peas)

Fish    

Eggs

Potatoes

Pea Soup

Hot Dogs

Spaghetti

Salads

Ditch the pets!!!!!!

Answer 14

Get rid of the animals and that will help. Place a free add in the paper.

My family eats leftovers a lot. :)

Answer 15

Skip the prepackaged stuff, buy in bulk, and plan ahead.

You will spend a lot of money the first month if you buy in bulk, but you will have to buy much less the following months.

If you are not diabetic, stock up on rice, beans, chicken thighs, and pasta. Buy some potted fresh herbs. They are about $3 a pot, they last forever, and they make meals taste less dull. You can make bean soup one day, rice and beans the next, baked pasta the following days... Buying oatmeal, cereal and pancake mix in bulk is about 75% cheaper than buying it in small packs.

Don't buy the cheap pet food- they are often subject to recalls, and can make your pets sick,which means that you'll have to spend a lot of money on vet bills. Buy decent quality food in bulk.

Never feed your pets cooked bones, unless you're willing to pay for surgery to remove the bone fragments from their intestines. Don't feed them human food. If you're totally out of food and you don't have any money, plain rice with some chicken is acceptable, but don't give them bones. If you cannot afford to buy them decent food, you should give them away.

Sometimes you can find food that is about to expire. It's much cheaper, and it's safe but only for a few days. Make sure you cook it ASAP.

Coupons aren't that helpful,since most of them are for packed and canned junk food that's too expensive to begin with.

Buy vegetables and fruits from a farmer's market at the end of the day- you can get great deals on seasonal produce.

Instead of lunch meat and spam, which is more expensive per ounce, and is loaded with nitrites, buy meat and bulk, cook it, and spread it over several meals. You can have roast for dinner, and you get several days of sandwiches.

Whatever you do,avoid single serving packs and convenience food. They are cheap per pack, but very expensive per ounce and they have no nutritional value.

Answer 16

The trick is planning your menus ahead of time.  If you make spaghetti sauce (large batch) on Sat. and eat that for supper, you can then add kidney beans and chili powder to it for chili, which is great served over plain boiled macaroni (chili mac).  Make a meatloaf and turn those leftovers into a soup.  Get my idea?  Make stews and soups, they are so economical.  Use coupons, take advantage of sales.  Hillbillyhousewife is a good website for recipes, as is allrecipes.  Write down what you are going to have and make it work.  Good luck to all of you.