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There is so much you can eat from the free samples before eyebrows are raised.

Not true if every time you go back to get a sample you say it's for your dad...or mom...or grandmother...or brother...or sister...


It works at Costco when I'm there.
 
Del Taco FTW

39 cent tacos!!!! FTW

Jack in the Box:

2 tacos for $1

Taco Bell

79 cent, 89 cent and 99 cent value meal! FTW!

99 cent store FTW!

3 cheetos for $1

or 2-liter soda FTW!:D

i'm a college student too...:D
 
Hi.

I'm broke. I've got $20 to my name and it has to last me two week until my next paycheck. This money is for food only, because if I don't have food I will die of starvation. I've been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But I'm starting to get sick of them.

Does anyone have any suggestions for other types of (really) cheap food to eat? Note this $20 has to last me a whole 14 days. Suggestions are appreciated. :)

Mickey D's dollar menu? :p
 
Ramen is very good. You have no idea how much I can do with Ramen.

But if you're in college and if there is a food plan you should get on that. It's hard to believe that college students can starve.
 
Check out Angel Food Ministries

http://www.angelfoodministries.com/

They offer pre-boxed "menus" each month that really help stretch the food budget at reasonable prices. Hopefully there is a church nearby that participates for you. The order deadline is 12/8. I used them a few times before my schedule at work was changed - pick-ups are on a Saturday.

This is for ANYONE - no needs based system. Pay and go. Some churches I hear do provide free boxes for those in need, or subsidized boxes. Or you could offer to work the Saturday pick-up for them

This months "menu": http://www.angelfoodministries.com/menus/menu_2010-12_en.asp
 
Sorry to hear of your predicament. I think the suggestions on this thread are excellent.

Along with broke college students are broke musicians. One guy I know was able to get his minimum level of transporation legal in LA (used motorcycle) by using the ramen method. In the end, it all worked out for him once he was able to get around in that city.

Everybody hits a low point, and I hope you are able to keep your spirits up. It's as important as the good suggestions of inexpensive food people are offering you. PM me if you want as I am also in one of those low points financially. There are a lot of great ways to cope.
 
There is a good idea! Learn to finance things early and often!

It is a good idea

What do you think student loans are for? To fund school and school related expenses

He could get a second job as well

The OP has no money, is investing in themselves via school, and on the brink of starving? Hell, take out 1000 to make ends meet in the short term.

He won't have to start paying it back till 6mths after he graduates

Your "sarcasm" is misguided as student loans are not bad if you know what you are doing and making the most use of your time in school. It is merely an option to consider
 
It is a good idea

What do you think student loans are for? To fund school and school related expenses

He could get a second job as well

The OP has no money, is investing in themselves via school, and on the brink of starving? Hell, take out 1000 to make ends meet in the short term.

He won't have to start paying it back till 6mths after he graduates

Your "sarcasm" is misguided as student loans are not bad if you know what you are doing and makig the most use of your time in school
I was told by several banks that they would only pay the cost of going to school (that's tuition, room, and a pathetic meal plan) but I could not get more than that.

It's not exactly easy to get money for "expenses" anymore. I only have an income of $250 every two weeks thanks to my fabulous job here, which I was lucky to get.

I know you don't mean to but you have a habit of coming off as extremely condescending when it comes to topics such as this. Things are not always as easy as you make them out to be.
 
There were two things that kept me going through the "lean times" in college:
  • Ramen noodles, as stated above. I still like them, but they have to be the real Korean kind, not the 10-cent ones.
  • Military MREs. If you have a friend or family in the military/ROTC that offers some of these , GET THEM. They last forever, are surprisingly nutritious and are ridiculously filling; one MRE pack delivers the full daily caloric and vitamin/mineral needs of a grown adult male, by design. I had a relative in the National Guard who would occasionally bring me a small stock of these during my college years.

    When I heard that people trapped in the New Orleans Superdome during the aftermath of Katrina were turning down MREs because it didn't look like real food, I wanted to smack someone. They're not French bistro food, sure, but in a pinch they'll do.
 
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When I heard that people trapped in the New Orleans Superdome during the aftermath of Katrina were turning down MREs because it didn't look like real food, I wanted to smack someone. They're not French bistro food, sure, but in a pinch they'll do.
[/LIST]

Just think of it as Mother Nature doing her thing - Natural Selection :D
 
Buy a dozen eggs, and if you eat two a day, there's one meal for at least six days. You can scramble them, fry em, poach, etc. If you have salt and pepper, they are quite tasty.

I'd also invest in a large bag or rice and some chicken bullion to add flavor. It's boring, but at least it's warm and not PB&J.

If you can get to a Wal-Mart, maybe some caned veggies. Every few days, throw 'em in with the rice or even eggs.
 
When I heard that people trapped in the New Orleans Superdome during the aftermath of Katrina were turning down MREs because it didn't look like real food, I wanted to smack someone. They're not French bistro food, sure, but in a pinch they'll do.

It's call the comfort of saying I live in a 1st World country. Back when Hurricane Mitch hit Honduras, people took everything they could salvage in terms of food. A meal could be the same refried beans from yesterday, same day at a earlier time and no one complained.

I also raged when I head people turned down the MREs. I thought it was the most ungrateful thing ever.
 
I was told by several banks that they would only pay the cost of going to school (that's tuition, room, and a pathetic meal plan) but I could not get more than that.

It's not exactly easy to get money for "expenses" anymore. I only have an income of $250 every two weeks thanks to my fabulous job here, which I was lucky to get.

I know you don't mean to but you have a habit of coming off as extremely condescending when it comes to topics such as this. Things are not always as easy as you make them out to be.

Thanks for the update on how things are these days... "way back" when college loans for left up to the borrower to use as they needed... maybe not a good thing. But not a good thing as well. :(

Just remember some of us posters have a a few decades going here since our college days! LOL

<snip>

[*]Military MREs. If you have a friend or family in the military/ROTC that offers some of these , GET THEM. They last forever, are surprisingly nutritious and are ridiculously filling; one MRE pack delivers the full daily caloric and vitamin/mineral needs of a grown adult male, by design. I had a relative in the National Guard who would occasionally bring me a small stock of these during my college years.

When I heard that people trapped in the New Orleans Superdome during the aftermath of Katrina were turning down MREs because it didn't look like real food, I wanted to smack someone. They're not French bistro food, sure, but in a pinch they'll do.
[/LIST]

When one is hungry, one should not look at any food in disgust....

Though I heard a bad joke that MRE should have been called MREEOs - Meals Ready to Eat by Ethiopians Only... From friends in the Armed Forces - they may not be the best tasting, but they serve the purpose....
 
There were two things that kept me going through the "lean times" in college:
  • Ramen noodles, as stated above. I still like them, but they have to be the real Korean kind, not the 10-cent ones.
  • Military MREs. If you have a friend or family in the military/ROTC that offers some of these , GET THEM. They last forever, are surprisingly nutritious and are ridiculously filling; one MRE pack delivers the full daily caloric and vitamin/mineral needs of a grown adult male, by design. I had a relative in the National Guard who would occasionally bring me a small stock of these during my college years.

    When I heard that people trapped in the New Orleans Superdome during the aftermath of Katrina were turning down MREs because it didn't look like real food, I wanted to smack someone. They're not French bistro food, sure, but in a pinch they'll do.

Just a warning, this is technically illegal. I know some people who got in a ton of trouble for selling MREs. Odds are you won't get caught, especially if someone is just giving them away, but it is a possibility.

To the OP: Are there seriously no organizations that give away free pizza at their club meetings? If I were in your shoes I would pretend to be willing to convert to whatever religion offers free food at their get togethers :p
 
You can try fried rice, but you need to have a rice cooker. You can mixed it with scrambled eggs, or potatoes, or onion, or if you can afford it, diced chicken and a variety of ingredients which are cheap that you could mixed in. Cook it in the late morning and you can save it for your lunch and dinner.
 
It's end of term isn't it? Sell your books.

If I were in your shoes I would pretend to be willing to convert to whatever religion offers free food at their get togethers :p

That would be the [Southern] Baptists. Methodists expect you to bring something to the potluck fellowship supper, and I don't think he'd get very far on the sip of wine and bit of cracker the Catholics pass out.
 
There were two things that kept me going through the "lean times" in college:
  • Ramen noodles, as stated above. I still like them, but they have to be the real Korean kind, not the 10-cent ones.
  • Military MREs. If you have a friend or family in the military/ROTC that offers some of these , GET THEM. They last forever, are surprisingly nutritious and are ridiculously filling; one MRE pack delivers the full daily caloric and vitamin/mineral needs of a grown adult male, by design. I had a relative in the National Guard who would occasionally bring me a small stock of these during my college years.

    When I heard that people trapped in the New Orleans Superdome during the aftermath of Katrina were turning down MREs because it didn't look like real food, I wanted to smack someone. They're not French bistro food, sure, but in a pinch they'll do.

MREs were a part of my hurricane supply kit when I lived in Florida. Now they are a part of my winter storm kit in Colorado.;)
 
Pawn something.

Right?

Please don't take food intended for the truly destitute. Eat the Ramen, continue with the PB&J's, or use some of the other excellent suggestions here, but please don't listen to the people who think you should take a handout. Let the people who truly need that food have it. You have plenty of better options.

And good luck. I think we've all been there. If I didn't work at a restaurant in college, I would have surely starved!
 
Try not to skip meals. If you miss breakfast it only makes you hungrier later on. Have a good bowl of filling porridge (or similar) which has slow release energy and you will need to eat less for lunch and then dinner allowing you more leftovers for tomorrow.
 
You are not going to die.

You could actually eat nothing for two weeks and still be ok (as long as you had enough fluids).

But I second the suggestion of trying to bum off friends. That should get you a few meals.

Then maybe get some cheap food with the money that will last.
 
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