How much is your cheapest meal... not free one...

[Snikwahjm]

Yup I know about free meals. I go to the hospital and get free meals 4x a month. I can usually stretch those into two meals... I know someone on here dumpster dives... some go to food pantries... but this is about grocery store meals you cook.   How much did you spend? How did you cook it? What did you eat? Are you allowing for left overs? How much do you spend in a day? Is your diet full of good things?

[Queen]

I fast a lot and when I eat it’s very low carb/high fat/moderate protein, so my meals tend to be small and varied. Ex: avocado, hard boiled egg, cherry tomatoes, some sliced bell pepper, maybe some pecans or cashews with a tiny piece of cheese. This all fits easily on an 8” plate. I’d guesstimate the cost per meal at about a buck, maybe a buck and a quarter.

[Blacktank]

a couple dollars,veggie stir fry,usually a small zucchini,squash,carrot,broccoli,cauliflower,3-4 cloves of garlic, add some chicken/pork if you have it and you have a healthy cheap meal,dosnt make for good leftovers,gets soggy

next would be chili,pintos,hamburger and spices,i only make a large pot so the neighbors get some to

hard boiled eggs for snacks,anyone with chickens usually has more eggs than they can handle

apples keep a long time and are healthy and easy to come by,same with local nuts

[justjim]

A can of store brand soup is 66 cents.

[Blacktank]

A can of store brand soup is 66 cents.

heck,for like $5-10 you can make a bunch of better soup,1 chicken breast,a couple bullion cubes,celery,bag of frozen mixed veggies,rice or noodles,parsley,touch of salt pepper

[B and C]

Breakfast. One egg fried, 1 slice of toast (1/2 with preserves) and a 1/4 cup of freeze dried hash browns with some ketchup. A dollar at most.

Same as above but costs a little more. Egg, 1/2 handful of frozen potatoes O'brien, 1/2 handful of crumbled bacon, a little shredded cheese all rolled up in a flour tortilla. Maybe a buck fifty.

[Ddarnell]

a fried egg sandwhich with coffee for breakfast.
$.05 an egg + $.07 bread + ~$.10 coffee

$.22-25

Ramen noodles for lunch with homeade iced tea and tuna sandwhich $.45-.55

Next might be spaghetti with sauce from paste. Maybe $.50-60

Another cheap but good one is aldis brand soup mix (bear creek substitute) @ $2.50 a pack. You can make 6-8 large bowls of soup or chili. throw in some crackers - good eating ~$.50-.75

I average about $2.50 a day. With snap i get $197 a month x 3 months = $49.25 a month over a year. Without any other sourcing I spend maybe $25 a month. With alternative sourcing more like $10-15 out of pocket.

[Kaylee]

Snik:
Great idea for a thread!

Breakfast. One egg fried, 1 slice of toast (1/2 with preserves) and a 1/4 cup of freeze dried hash browns with some ketchup. A dollar at most.

Same as above but costs a little more. Egg, 1/2 handful of frozen potatoes O'brien, 1/2 handful of crumbled bacon, a little shredded cheese all rolled up in a flour tortilla. Maybe a buck fifty.

So far, Brian's the winner, IMO. Not only accurate cost estimate, but he used the "b" word.
Mmmmm, bacon!

In the last month, I've several times made those hashbrowns and fried egg. Works out to about 40 cents just for those two ingredients, not counting cooking fuel, oil, and ketchup.
Let's say about 50 cents total.

With toast & preserves, would be close to a buck.

I have been tracking my use of ingredients, but have not yet counted up how many meals I typically get out of a pack of Bacon Bits or a pouch of shredded cheese. I'll try to do that soon. I have been carefully measuring the amount of butane I've used for most meals (except when my scale broke, before I fixed it).
Yes, I'm a Numbers Geek.

Eggs are more expensive in many parts of the country ($1.25 for my last dozen up "here", $0.75 at the last Aldi on my way up North).

Brian turned me onto those hashbrowns - thanks bro!
A box costs about $1.25 at Walmart, and gave me 4 servings. They can also be found at Dollar Tree for $1, but they're smaller and only gave me 3 servings.
They're available thru Amazon, but cost more. There's currently a 15% off coupon for 8 cartons of Hungry Jack. If I don't find them for cheaper during my grocery run this week, I'll almost certainly order them from Amazon, cuz even at their price, they're cost effective and a wonderful morale food.
Soon, I'll take Brian's advice and make them with bacon and veggies.

Dollar Tree just starting carrying some Indian rice retorts, and I foolisly only bought one ("Tikka Masala" 450 calories/pouch). It produced two moderate meals, when combined with one fried egg each, for a cost of about $0.65 per meal (including cooking fuel cost).

Grilled cheese and tomato soup are also very cost effective.
I have several small cans of tomato soup, bought on sale ~2 years ago for 50 cents each. Total cost under a buck, and oh-so-good on a chilly rainy day.

[Ddarnell]

With toast & preserves, would be close to a buck.

Try getting bread from aldis, around here $.79 a loaf. All can goods are always $.50

You can stock up on jelly packets from any fast food place that serves breakfast and some gas stations. And even motel lobbies.

That would get you down about 1/8th your estimate. If you love bacon theres your cooking oil and bags full of free ketchup packets are very easy to aquire.

Right now around here is great time to make blackberry preserves as well. Get some pectin and get to picking.

[Cammalu]

Bacon breakfast burrito with hot sauce from Taco Bell. About a buck

For dinner one of my favs is also very cheap. I like navy beans or pintos with chopped sweet onion and cabbage.