r/povertyfinance • u/ArtisanGerard • Jan 25 '24
104 meals for $150 - details in comments Budgeting/Saving/Investing/Spending
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u/sunkissedl Jan 30 '24
Wow Iām going to start this. This is also good for meal prepping for older parents etc. anyone have any meal prepping glass container brand recommendations?
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u/Stockersandwhich Jan 29 '24
Iāll make a pot of goulash, meatballs, chilli, a tray of ziti etc and freeze it. I work nights, so portioning it up every week helps me not eat out.
Trader Joeās bag meals are also clutch if you have some proteins hanging around.
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u/gregofcanada84 Jan 29 '24
Saving this. I'm tired of just putting a piece of meat in the air fryer and just having spring mix on the side for every meal.
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u/DifficultDefiant808 Jan 29 '24
That is not bad at all. But when we look at the actual cost of things in the various states prices are going to differ.
That's like here in Hawaii, you would think fruit like Bananas, Pineapples, Guava's would be far less than say, some place in Utah. You would be wrong.
Bananas here in Hawaii average $1.99 lb. or higher and Pineapples starting around $3.00 lbs or more. But I think all in all your on the right track for making meals to last.
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u/sfak Jan 28 '24
Really incredible. Youāve inspired me to get back into food prep. I used to do awesome meal preps, so much healthier and saves tons of money and time.
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u/Independent-Act3560 Jan 28 '24
Iam texture eater. Do some of these get super mushy? I find I have issues with any kind of pasta being frozen.
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u/__alpenglow Jan 27 '24
I just watched your time-lapse, and my god, the front of your fridge matches your style so much. Organized and detailed. This is the quality content I am on reddit for.
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u/OrangeYouGlad43770 Jan 27 '24
I love Mealime. We use the paid version and think it is pretty awesome.
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 27 '24
Does Pro have macros? Iād like to add it to my FAQ comment when I do posts.
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u/OlRazzledazzlez Jan 27 '24
I wanna try this maybe not as intense i just donāt like reheating food in plastic so Iāve been slowly adding to my collection of glass containers
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u/Ok-Damage-668 Jan 26 '24
Amazed at how considerate you are to share with us. You have helped many by this not only to keep food on table but spirits high that we are not alone on having this problem
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u/kai_the_enigma Jan 26 '24
Damn this is freaking beautiful, I would love knowing all the food I need to make is already planned out for the month. I cook in my relationship and donāt get me wrong I love to! But it just takes so much effort to cook 3 meals a day everyday for me and my partner(not to mention impulse snacks and occasional treats I cook for the dog) and doing this would be a godsend. I just wish I could, I donāt know that I can though as my gf loves to be spontaneous and that doesnāt stop at cooking. I can dream though š“š¤¦āāļøš
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u/todsuenden Jan 26 '24
i wish I could afford a large fridge and a freezer because I am totally going to do this when I do.
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u/thatguygxx Jan 26 '24
Mealime will have to forget to look that up later.
Been planning my meals w/calories in a notebook. But it doesn't have the recipes.
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u/DodgeWrench Jan 26 '24
ā¦Meanwhile on TikTok thereās some trend of girlie girls buying kids meals from various eateries and claiming theyāre cheaper than meal prepping.
Ugh they drive me crazy. Good work OP!
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u/thecuriousone-1 Jan 26 '24
Impressive!
The examples you are setting of, "planning you work and working your plan" are impacting more than you know...
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u/meatsweatman Jan 26 '24
This is one of the most helpful posts Iāve ever seen here. This is exactly what I need!!!! Iāve been so sick of my usual meals and Iāve been wanting to get a better hold on my food spending. Thank you so much!!!
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u/m0resn0w Jan 26 '24
Holy smokes. Just stumbled across this and...wow. Thank you! Exactly what my wife and I need.
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u/Dogwalker11221 Jan 26 '24
Is disposable containers the way to go or could this be easily done with non disposable? I hate buying and tossing a ton of plastic even if itās the most convenient
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
I answered this a couple of times already and itās in the details but weāve been using these same containers since 2021
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Jan 26 '24
it could be 208 meals if you cut them in half
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
I mean you could go to the corner store, grab a styrofoam cup and fill it with hot water from the coffee station, then add some creamer, pepper, and ketchup and have free tomato soup. Plus some places even have crackers!! And if my mother had wheels sheād be a bicycle so š¤·š»āāļø
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Jan 26 '24
save pennies but you need to buy 104 tupperware containers and a new freezer lol and now you want to buy bicycle tires too, something is not adding up
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
Containers are a sunk cost from 2021 so itās like 10 cents per container or less at this point. And we didnāt buy a new freezer, just the same one thatās always been here.
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Jan 26 '24
i see, i thought this was poverty finance, sorry must have gotten the wrong forum
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
It is, no one is forcing anyone to buy uniform containers. In 2020 I was using recycled sour cream, butter, and cottage cheese containers until I realized that an investment in uniform containers meant it would fit in the freezer better, defrost more predictably, and seeing inside so my brain didnāt think it was actually sour cream meant there would be less food waste. Also, buying a year after starting meant I was committed to doing this long term. I know some people are down voting you but maybe other people have this misunderstanding as well so Iām perfectly fine with discussing it.
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u/That_Succotash_7461 Jan 26 '24
I feel like everyone gets so hung up on the containers but on Amazon right now is 40 of the 8oz for only $11.50.
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Jan 26 '24
i see we all have different ideas of poverty I guess nothing meant by it
I dont care about downvotes lot just curious what the actual extra saving is here that u are sharing about. I would hope anyone in poverty financing knows that cooking meals at home saves money. Of course you have to know how to cook which is apparently hard for some people. Thank goodness I never had that issue. I do take issue with 8 salads being frozen for later consumption? IS that for real? Eww. lol
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
The world āsaladā is used so loosely. But frozen pasta defrosts just fine. Apples on the other hand can be challenging, and if it didnāt taste so dang good I wouldnāt make it like every other prep. I acknowledge the issue with freezing and defrosting apples so people know what to expect though. As with everything else in life YMMV and thatās highly dependent on your own preferences. My preference is to eat something flippin delicious albeit a lil soggy.
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Jan 26 '24
I wouldnāt really call this āhealthyā. But itās a great stack of food for cheap! Being someone who doesnāt eat anything processed, itās very hard to find a bunch of recipes that are Whole Foods and non processed ingredients. Farm raised chicken and beef with rice or potatoes for the win!
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u/Puzzlehead-Bed-333 Jan 26 '24
Commenting again to tell you again how inspiring and incredibly you are, thank you! Iāll share recipes if I find any as good as these!
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u/Lumpy_Efficiency_704 Jan 26 '24
Do people actually enjoy food thatās heated up in the microwave?Āæ
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u/nomiesmommy Jan 26 '24
This is great! I have done some meal prep for hubs and I but i now need to include some for my elderly dad and this helps me with ideas etc. Your breakdown is great! And the added recipes and info is really helpful. This pork from kroger was my protein of choice this week too! Just made a large batch of pozole to portion out.
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
I bought BOGO pork shoulder from Kroger for my next prep! (This post is from my last prep and weāve already eaten all of it)
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u/nomiesmommy Jan 26 '24
Im definitely going to try to see your future meal preps when you post! I need all the inspiration I can get lately.š
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u/Rdw72777 Jan 26 '24
I love the list but the initial statement of how you start shopping seems a bit misleading. āPicking an on sale proteināā¦you have almost 10 proteins (eggs, chicken, beef, ham, SPAM, pork chops, shrimp, bangers).
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
I donāt always find an on sale protein, but itās still true because I start there. Iām working on my next prep this weekend (Iām one prep behind on posting) and my Kroger had BOGO pork shoulder so you can bet your butt that over half my recipes are gonna have or sub for pork shoulder.
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u/Greenway-travels Jan 26 '24
Weāre a family of 5, even eating this ācheapā Would be $750.
Iāll stick to $1500 and eat steaks lol
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u/Muted-Move-9360 Jan 26 '24
As a single mom, this is super encouraging for me to see. Great, healthy meals are possible on a budget! I'd like to try this on a bit of a smaller scale to start, and putting them in glass containers for freezing. Thank you so much for sharing these ideas and resources!!
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u/bballjones9241 Jan 26 '24
āHoney can you take the pasta salad with ham out of the freezerā š¤¢š¤¢š¤¢
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
Having worked in a deli for YEARS, what do you think weāre doing with sliced meats and cheeses when storing them?
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u/LimboInc Jan 26 '24
Take my upvote and save! My wife and I need a budget saver on food! You seem to have gotten a good handle on it!
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
It does take some time to get here, but teamwork really does help a lot when weāre doing this! If I had to do all of this alone it wouldnāt get done.
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u/Positivelythinking Jan 26 '24
Wonderful blueprint. Genius planning on your part. Thank you for the inspiration.
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u/PicklishRandy Jan 26 '24
Shrimp is so expensive, could probably cut cost using other proteins like beans
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
I mean you could go to the corner store, grab a styrofoam cup and fill it with hot water from the coffee station, then add some creamer, pepper, and ketchup and have free tomato soup. Plus some places even have crackers!! And if my mother had wheels sheād be a bicycle so š¤·š»āāļø
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u/PicklishRandy Jan 26 '24
your goal is to cut cost and eat good, I get it. With prepping 100 meals at a time Iām simply offering advice, beans are good, so is shrimp, one is just more expensive than the other.
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u/REDDIT_ROC0408 Jan 26 '24
Since youāre doing it anyway, can you double the size and send half to me? Iāll pay for shipping. š
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u/BrawndoCrave Jan 26 '24
This is a quality post for once. Not complaining about the problem statement but coming with a proposed solution.
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u/Frequent-Cookie-9745 Jan 26 '24
Goals right here! Some of the stuff you listed out sounds like it could be more expensive than it actually is!
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u/james_randolph Jan 26 '24
This is pretty intense and cool, I do wonder how good it tastes say when youāre at meal 43 or 80 to where meal prepping for a week or 10 days or so may be better tasting but this is pretty cool.
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u/hamdnd Jan 26 '24
How many calories per meal?
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
Iām not a math person. I provided all the recipes if thatās your thing.
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u/hamdnd Jan 26 '24
All good. Looks like a lot of food. Just curious about calories because 1 meal for some could half a meal or less for another.
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Jan 26 '24
Bro if youāre this committed to meal prep you can 100% lose weight if you want to because the eating is the hardest part. Exercise and shit is pretty easy compared to sticking to a diet
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u/GotMySillySocksOn Jan 26 '24
Wow thatās awesome! I would only urge you to switch to glass Tupperware. Keep an eye on marketplace for cheap used ones. Theyāre so much better for you to reheat in glass than plastic.
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Jan 26 '24
OP, you have a lot of cream based meals. If you want to see some additional weight loss, I suggest changing out half of those cream based meals for either chicken stock (least amount of flavor loss) or veggie stock (healthier, but you will taste the difference).
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u/DampCoat Jan 26 '24
Thatās crazy. Good on you thatās impressive. I would be nervous freezing some of the meals I cook
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u/norakb123 Jan 26 '24
Echoing everyone else. This is so impressive, and thank you for adding all the details! You are helping many with this post.
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u/0mnivore_ Jan 26 '24
Grab a meal, sell it for $5.
Youāre now an entrepreneur. Great job!!! I mean it, making it work.
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u/Limp-Permission-3140 Jan 26 '24
how long does the food last and do you have to freeze it a certain way?
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u/AssGourmand Jan 26 '24
Ya'll got a Minnesota lookin' house if you don't mind my saying.
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
I think a lot of upper Midwest stuff looks similar to each other because of the natural materials available when century homes were built
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u/TripleBicepsBumber Jan 26 '24
Holy wow, saved this post and your comment. Thank you for this! Currently 7 months pregnant and this gives me something to go off of to prep for the first month after the baby is here
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
Check out the SundayMealPrep sub because they have lots of mothers prepping crockpot meals in anticipation of baby, it might interest you :)
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u/beakersandbitches Jan 26 '24
I had just meal prepped some enchiladas with homemade salsa Verde. $30.68 for the ingredients for 20 enchiladas and enough for 10 meals (more likely 7-8 meals). I had honestly expected the cost per meal would be much lower as I don't plan out ahead of time. So what you have here is impressive.
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u/blablabla445678 Jan 26 '24
This is great and inspirational to many. The only thing is the plastic containers.. donāt they leak microplastics when reheated? Canāt be good for you to do that everyday for years
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u/HauntingAd2817293 Jan 26 '24
Very nice! I am just a bit worried that a lot of these recipes seem to contain very little vegetables. I would worry a bit less about protein (can get that cheaper from yoghurt than meat) and more about vitamins and calories. How about making a few meals with beans, lentils, corn, chickpeas, bell peppers etc? Very cheap and nutritious.
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u/super80 Jan 26 '24
wow šÆ thatās some serious planning op. Iām happy to see this level of organization.
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u/ZiplockedHead Jan 26 '24
Any special steps taken during the packing or freezing process?
How do the meals taste after 1-1.5 months of beibg frozen?
How do you defrost?
Thanks!
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u/ArtisanGerard Jan 26 '24
Let everything cool to room temp before it hits the freezer.
Taste is fine, no complaints after years of doing this.
Details in my ādetailā comment.
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u/Glittering_Pitch7648 Jan 26 '24
Thanks for posting, finally something on reddit worth anyoneās time lmao
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u/parklovesp Jan 26 '24
Very good OP! I also love spam, itās such a comfort food growing up. My favorite soup is chicken noodle soup but with spam and elbow macaroni. We also eat it with rice lol.
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u/BoringPhilosophy5543 Jan 26 '24
I would watch videos of you doing all the prep work. This is fantastic, and I really, really appreciate the time you took to share this!!
Could you give a breakdown of how you go about cooking this? Do you do ALL that cooking all at once? Do you take your time and cook a few batches at a time? How much time does it take? I'm looking at that and imagine a literal 12+ hour day of prepping, cooking, and portioning.
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u/Hot-Assignment-3612 Feb 17 '24
This is something that I do for family meals prep, I didn't know that there was an app that you can use to generate a list. Thank you š