<p>Well, I always read about starving students on ramen. In fact, in an All-State commercial the spokesperson said "Emily's on a budget...like a ramen noodle every day budget." I thought was pretty comical. I don't know how many people are actually living on ramen, but I think my situation is starting to look like that. Since I only have so much to live on, I am expecting to have $100 per month at most to budget for food. I'd say it's more like $50-75. I think that'd be more than enough, but I generally don't shop for food so I don't know anything about that. </p>
<p>All I know is that my parents pretty much said that I'm going to be living on sandwiches, lol. And I guess I'm expecting to lose a lot of weight since I'm not going to be eating any fast-food at all or go out to eat ever. I have to commute, so I have to worry about gas. I also have to worry about my internet bill (which will be high because they only offer a certain type of fast internet) and my electricity. These are all pretty high expenses for my monthly budget, so I'm expecting to have to skip a meal or two.</p>
<p>How much did you gain? How much did you lose?</p>
<p>And I definitely need to know what are very cheap but sustainable meals if I get tired of eating sandwiches? Or ramen? Just thinking about this all I am starving already...</p>
<p>I spend less than $200 for two people/month. </p>
<p>I eat a lot of pasta, sandwiches, fruits, veggies, etc. I’m a vegetarian which cuts down costs considerably and I eat a very carb-heavy diet. I’ve gained weight since starting college but I’m now at a healthy weight. Before college, I was about 20 lbs underweight. </p>
<p>It really depends on where you live, where you shop, etc. When I lived in California, this type of diet would cost me at least double. I also look for sales, etc and take advantage of things like 10 for $10 sales.</p>
<p>100 a month is like 3 or 4 bucks a day. That’s impossible to live on, try and restructure your budget a bit. You’ll need like at least 200 to 250 at a very minimum.</p>
<p>Bulk oatmeal is filling, healthy and economical. It can be cooked quickly in the microwave. Perhaps 5lb sack of potatoes or sweet potatoes-again cooked in the microwave with a little bit of butter substitute after cooking. But that is a tight budget when just cooking for one.</p>
<p>My parents gave me $70 per week for everything - gas, clothes, food, etc (they figured $10 a day was reasonable), and I think I spent about $40 or $50 per week on food. As a general rule, I tried to avoid things that came in boxes (chips, cookies, etc), since packaged foods tend to be more expensive, and I would usually buy a couple of pounds of meat, eggs, bread, and pasta every week, with some fruits, etc. I think I managed to eat pretty well on a reasonable budget.</p>
<p>pasta can be cheap and filling. oatmeal is great. youll be able to buy some meat and veggies too. but still if you have to spend a littlem ore than do so</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You don’t need as much meat as you think. There are lots of healthy vegetarian meals worth trying.</p></li>
<li><p>Whole grains are your friends. Barley, oats, brown rice, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Legumes are your friends. Lentils, chickpeas, beans, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Learn the phrase ‘value-added’ by heart and avoid these foods like the plague. Packaged and processed foods seem cheap but they are not. Same goes for fast food. Unprocessed ingredients are almost always a better buy.</p></li>
<li><p>You can find good recipes from agricultural trade groups. For example, to learn about cooking with barley you can start at the National Barley Foods Council.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Another thing to try is to watch your portions. If you buy a box of cereal, it should last 12-14 days (they normally have 12-14 servings). Measure it out to make it last. If you watch the sales, you can get a frozen pizza for 3 dollars. I make it last for 2 days (lunch, dinner, lunch, dinner). You are going to have to cut out all soda. This last week Target had a sale on soup (82 cents a can, never pay more than 1 dollar a can). I stocked up (I bought 50 cans) and that makes dinner. I bought different ones to keep it interesting. </p>
<p>Be sure to keep fruits and veggies in your diet. Bananas are really cheap (I get mine for 20 cents each). If you know any freshman with a meal plan, ask them if they can bring you an orange or apple. I was allowed to take 2 pieces of fruit out of the cafeteria and I would get a banana for myself later and I would bring an apple or orange to a friend who was in a situation like yours.
You can make 100 dollars last. </p>