<p>I go to a school that has rediculously expensive dorms/meal plans ($9500.00)in comparison to the price of renting an apartment (~$375.00)and buying/cooking your own food.(200.00) With that being said, my parents are going to give me 200.00/month for food. That seems reasonable for just one person....but if anyone has experience with this was 200.00 enough for you, too much, or just right? For any meals at restaurants I will pay for that with my work money. The 200.00 is just for normal meals at home. </p>
<p>I like to eat reasonable healthy so top ramen and sodium heavy frozen dinners are out. Does anyone have recipes or stuff that they cooked? Or just any advice in general? Thanks for any help!</p>
<p>$200 would definitely be more than enough for me. I probably eat on $100-150 a month now. A good tip is to buy dinners that will last multiple nights. You could fix pasta and have that last most of the week.</p>
<p>$200 should work well, especially since you say you don’t eat stuff like frozen dinner. Lord knows I’ve spent way more on food than a normal person because I don’t like cooking.</p>
<p>I probably spend around 300 a month on groceries, but I’m a healthy eater. It’s less then that for me during the summer because of farmer’s markets. Pasta and rice are great, but that is a lot of carbs. One of my favorite “go to” things to do is baked boneless skinless chicken breasts (you can buy the frozen tyson bags with so many pieces in it) - coat the chicken in some egg to keep it moist, cover it in some seasoning of your choice (I like italian blend and lemon pepper blend) and pop it in the oven… plus a sweet potato and some other veggie. When I make things like chicken or home cooked meals, I make a ton of it at once and then package it up in tupperware. That way I have a healthy and filling meal that I can microwave quickly and that tastes great. One of the best things is eggs if you eat them! So many uses and such a cheap food to buy! Same goes for oatmeal.</p>
<p>Corn is turned into not just ethanol, but a variety of other stuff. If you walk into the grocery store, probably 80% of the processed foods contain some corn in it. Also, it’s used as livestock feed.</p>
<p>Yes we actually eat the corn.</p>
<p>But think about how much healthier and smarter our livestock would be if they ate rice. Those chopsticks are tricky</p>
<p>200 is definitely doable. You won’t be able to buy buy a lot of premade stuff or fresh pasta but that’s not the end of the world. Get the giant bags of frozen chicken; I survived off of those, pasta, rice and potatoes for a little while.</p>
<p>I cook for 3 and we probably usually spend about $300-$400 per month on food. $200 should be doable if you’re just feeding yourself. Rice is very versatile and if you like chicken I would recommend getting a bulk pack of boneless chicken breasts to put in the freezer. They go well with rice or pasta if you chop them up nicely. If you get ground beef you can cook it on the weekend and put it back in the freezer, then just thaw the portion you need each day for a taco or whatever. Definitely get some nice veggies like spinach or peppers. </p>
<p>One salad I like consists of tuna, spinach, corn, black beans, peppers, and spicy ranch dressing. It’s yummy and not that costly.</p>
<p>$200 is doable, absolutely. Rice is a fairly cheap, easy to make staple food that goes with anything (for the poster who questioned our love for it). </p>
<p>Fresh fruit and vegetables are usually cheaper than canned things, which makes cooking from scratch pretty cheap. It also helps if you have a farmers market that sells inexpensive food(:</p>