Help BK budget! How can I live on $200/month for food?

[DC Al Fine]

DON'T get on hot pockets and Ramen. 

Beans, rice, and lentils are dirt-cheap, good for you, and filling. Frozen vegetables are a good option as well. So's pasta.

Dead0man and Strangeland are right. That stuff isn't great for your health, and you can get cheap healthier food.

Another overlooked source of food costs is one off items that either go bad or sit unused in the pantry after one recipe. Once you have a solid core of ingredients and some spices, you can have a decent variety in your diet without spending a lot.

Here are some reasonably cheap ingredients. Eliminate whatever doesn't suit your fancy:

Breakfast: Bread, Oats, Peanut butter, eggs

Lunch/Dinner: Rice, beans, lentils, chicken, ground beef, sausages, pasta, frozen vegetables, spices, canned diced tomatoes, lemon juice.

Oh wow... $200 a month would is $7 a day. I have no idea how it's even possible to survive on that budget in Los Angeles. I hope cost of living is a lot lower where you live?

Anyway, what I do is that I usually have only one meal a day (usually from fast food, since my cooking abilities are very limited), plus a snack (usually Oreos or ice cream). That still amounts to about $15-20 a day from what I've seen, but again hopefully prices are lower for you. Of course that's not a very mainstream choice.

Tony, you would not believe how expensive eating out is compared to home cooking. My dinner last night of chicken, rice, and vegetables cost about $2.50.

My wife and I together spend less than you on food, and that is in high-cost Canada. We enjoy three meals a day and expensive cuts of meat too

Seriously dude, learn to cook. Your wallet will thank you.

[DC Al Fine]

Also, cheap-a%^ soda makes for surprisingly decent marinade for all sorts of meats.

Very true. I can attest to the tastiness of Great Value Cola marinated pulled pork

I try to cook meat twice a week, but if I ate meat all week Alcon and others would rightfully get mad at me. Other stuff I know how to cook just take too long.

Haha fair enough. Remind me to buy you a slow cooker for Christmas.

[DC Al Fine]

Another step in this project will be sticking to it. It will be tempting to lapse and buy expensive food or eat out, especially as the semester wears on. I hugely recommend batch cooking to help stave the temptation.

Each Saturday or Sunday, commit a couple hours to making a meal or thwo in bulk and freeze them in individual portions. There are going to be days where you'll oversleep and not have time to make lunch, or be so tired from studying/working that you won't want to cook. It's a lifesaver to come home exhausted and you just have to heat up your frozen stew or whatever instead of cooking.

[DC Al Fine]

That's for one person though. BK needs to make that budget work for two people, and that requires cooking.

[DC Al Fine]

Bacon, without knowing the cost of living in rural Georgia, it sounds like what you're attempting is difficult but doable. Are there any other costs that you could cut to get more breathing room? You mentioned gasoline. Is it possible to just walk around your college town? Quitting smoking?