Guide To Getting Food On A Low Budget - Starting At $0

This is going to be a huge post, with lots of stuff in it, and it is going to be a work in progress for awhile to get it all on here. I am going to post it unfinished, and keep editing it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A lot of people, may sometime face the reality of needing food for themselves or their family, and having very little, or no money at all. Whether accustomed to poverty, or one of the "new poor" due to awful circumstances, or someone who simply has hit a very low spot temporarily, the stark reality of needing to fill one or more bellies and not having having the means to do it, is one of the heaviest burdens one can ever face.
I have been there, both when I was a child and more recently after we moved, and I want to help you get through it.

My husband's paychecks were held by his work for two weeks even though he had transferred and was not a new hire. We were completely unprepared, and quickly went through the little food we had moved with us. We had an empty refrigerator, empty shelves, and four hungry mouths. My husband and I could (and have) absolutely gone hungry a bit to make sure our children had enough. But there, at that point, there was not enough money for food for even them. And there wasn't for two MORE weeks, while we tried to catch up on rent/gasoline/electricity.

With a bowling ball taking up the room in my stomach, I asked, Oh my God, what do we do?

When you get to this point, take a deep breath. Be calm, because freaking out isn't going to help. Realize there are things you can do, that might suck, but your family WILL eat. It won't be fun, you will sacrifice your pride, but you will all be fed. You'll be ok.

Here are the steps you have to take before getting started (used with permission):

Step One:

First and foremost: make a money budget. How much do you have to spend on food? How much do you spend usually? Get a hard number for what you CAN spend.

Step Two:

Make a nutrition budget. Estimate your daily calorie needs first, here is an online calculator to help. Next, figure out how much protein you need. Vitamins and minerals you may have to worry about on the lower end of the budget spectrum but in general, a western diet is not going to have many vitamin deficiencies if you're eating a somewhat diverse selection. Many foods are fortified now.

Step Three:

Figure out your grocery sources. For most people this will mean finding a few grocery stores, but do not discount the cost savings and nutritional benefits that can be made from alternative food sources such as: community supported agriculture clubs/ grocer co-ops, food banks, and local charity/churches. Key things to look for: mexican and asian markets in major cities typically make the majority of their money off raw ingredients and so sell ethnic food staples and produce quite cheaply. Here you can look up food banks /pantries in your area: Food Bank Locator   Food Pantry Locator

Step Four:

Understand that you will be preparing and cooking the food yourself. Unless you are buying discontinued or short dated food on the manager's special (and I encourage you to), there is a huge, unbelievable mark-up on prepared foods, especially baked goods. Twelve dollars in raw materials will make you delicious homemade breads for months. Tortillas can be made in less time than it takes to go the store and buy them for pennies. Even pasta, though time consuming, can be made cheaply and easily and frozen. Ravioli is stupid easy to make. Buying most herbs: $10 can get you potted herbs that will keep in your window and keep you going for long periods of time, considering the price of some of the containers of dried. Cheap cuts of meat like pork shoulder take a little bit more preparation than say, hotdogs, but have plenty of protein and fat and calories, and fewer bad stuff (sodium, preservatives... animal scraps). 

Step Five:

Plan your meals. You know how much food you need now, you know how much money you have to spend. Plan your meals out weekly. Make a meal chart, breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a week. Remember that this is a guideline: you will want to be able to take advantage of specials at stores and such, so you want to leave a little room in your budget for deals as they come up, and to build up your stock of staples, but you want to have a plan you can stick to and eat somewhat regularly. I find a weekly schedule to be nice because it's hard to get too bored if you're just eating something weekly.

After you have completed these steps, you're ready.

Budget: $0 per week

Assuming you have some family or friends nearby, give them a call. If you don't want to disclose the true nature of your situation, say something like, "Do you have any flour/sugar/eggs/cooking oil I could have? I've run out of pantry staples and can't get to the store/don't have the money/need a lot for a recipe." Almost everyone (and this is one of your goals) has a small excess of pantry staples, and will usually gladly give you some. If they ask, "Do you need baking soda/ powder/ lard /yeast too?" Say yes! Say you're running low, and you will take anything they can spare until you've caught up/gotten to the store. People usually don't think twice about an exchange like this, and you won't sacrifice too much pride for a few staples. Of course, if you aren't too ashamed and you have generous family, please ask them for food/food money until you get back on your feet, and you will be way ahead of the game. We were lucky that my in-laws gave us 2 large boxes of food those first two weeks. Thankfully we had just moved here, back to the bosom of family, but before that we had no family/friend resources, so the rest of this section is going to assume that you've done this already or it's not an option.

First, get yourself to a salvation army, bring an ID, and ask for an emergency food box for your family size. This service can be used once a month. Next get yourself to your community food bank. Another food box. These tend to be a little richer. Next, call local churches, it doesn't matter if you're not a member, and ask if they have a food pantry or know of one. This will get you another food box, usually with the same once a month restriction. 
Emergency food boxes typically contain:
peanut butter
jelly
1 lb rice
1 lb beans
1/2 carton of eggs
flour
sugar (white or brown, sometimes both)
salt & pepper
2 cans beans
2 cans other veggies, like carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, or green beans
1-2 cans fruit, such as applesauce or pie filling
2 boxes macaroni & cheese
2 cans soup
1 box instant mashed potatoes
Depending on family size and available resources, you might be lucky enough to have a box that includes things like:
powdered or evaporated milk
egg noodles or other pasta
dry cereal
boxed meal starter (like Hamburger Helper)
mayonnaise
pasta sauce
1 box cake mix

You now have enough calories to get through the next ordeal: waiting in line for the civil servant who will approve your food stamps. Food stamps are hard to get for people who make even small amounts of money. Emergency food stamps on the other hand, much easier to get. They will grant you an emergency boon, usually about 200/month$ for one or two months. At this time they will also collect the information to process an actual food stamp application, and if approved, you could have benefits in two weeks to a month, drastically improving your circumstances. Use it to supplement the food you've already received, and spend according to the advice below and you'll be back on your feet in no time. 

Understand that these are TEMPORARY solutions. If you have a long period of time to go with no money for help, you're going to have to look for some additional options. When you've exhausted all community and family resources, things are much hairier. Here's to hoping you don't end up waiting for old food outside of a fast food joint, but if you do - at least you will eat! If you have an internet connection available at home or the neighbors or the library, you can try:

Reddit Random Acts Of Pizza   Reddit Food Pantry   Reddit /Assistance

Most of these have account age restrictions and verification processes, but I don't think /r/assitance does, and it never hurts to ask. Be prepared to offer some other kind of verification if you don't already have an account of appropriate age.

You can also try:

Hero Network

Good luck, don't take advantage, and for goodness' sake, return the favor when you can.

Budget: $10 per week

Use your community resources outlined in the previous section. This is only enough for the absolute lowest essentials. Buy a lb. of flour, a carton of eggs, a lb. of dried beans, a lb. of  rice, and some lard or oil or butter. Buy powdered milk if you can afford it. Don't eat the eggs by themselves, use them in recipes to make larger amounts of food. It will be bland, but with just these things and your emergency food boxes you can make:
peanut butter & jelly sandwiches

milk & rice for breakfast

beans & rice

bean, rice, and tortillas for burritos

quick bread

biscuits

crackers

fried rice
peanut butter cookies

and more!

If you borrow or receive in your food boxes, any staples like baking powder, sugar, yeast, or salt, your baked goods options expand exponentially. Pancakes, waffles, fluffy bread etc.

Budget: $20 per week

Use your community resources if you haven't yet (first section), because you still don't have enough to eat well. You are still in staples territory, but it is easier to buy variety for a family now than just an individual. Buy your eggs/butter, an extra bag of rice and beans, and buy these staples. Get sugar, yeast, baking powder, baking soda, salt and dry milk if you don't already have them to make breads, noodles, gravy, puff pastry, etc. Buy some oatmeal for breakfast and recipes.Buy an onion and a garlic to add flavor to your food. Then use any room in your budget for whatever other cheap veggies/fruit you can find. Save some money to buy yourself the odd live herb plant to spice up your food. You will become really really good at cooking with a handful of ingredients.

Example meals (all roughly 1$ a meal):

scrambled eggs and pancakes with an orange

lentil soup and home-made bread, bean and rice burritos

brothy beans and rice with corn.

egg noodles with homemade alfredo

homemade roasted tomato soup

veggie chowder

Budget: $30 per week

You're practically home free from here on out. You've got the absolute basics, you've got the staples to improve your basics, and now you can afford a little variety. Buy a different variety of beans than usual, and make them into a dip or a different dish.Buy cornmeal instead of or in addition to flour. Use the extra $10/week for apples, oranges, bananas, cauliflower, celery, carrots, bunches of greens, etc. Buy seasonal so you can buy as much fresh food as you can get for that amount because you've been seriously deprived of it up to now. It won't be much. Apples will taste like heaven by themselves, but use them in recipes to extend them further.

Example recipes:

chili & corn bread

apple bread/turn overs

banana bread

steamed cauliflower

veggie & dumpling soup

apple oatmeal

burritos (always burritos!)

bean dip or hummus (if you buy chickpeas)