MONEY-SAVING

Tips

FOOD

Cook from scratch at home as often as possible. It’s a lot cheaper than any restaurant or take-out, it’s cheaper than buying prepared foods like frozen dinners and pre-packaged mixes, and it allows you to fix wholesome foods that you like and whose ingredients you know.

Avoid fast food and other restaurants except as an occasional treat.

For one month, write down everything you spend on food so you can see where your money is going and where you might be able to cut down.

Think of every food purchase as what it costs for the month, not just for that day. For instance, paying $3.39 for a fast food meal seems reasonable, but buying two of those meals a day every day for a month would add up to $210. On the other hand, a big bowl of homemade lentil soup costs about 30 cents. If you ate two meals a day that cost about 50 cents to prepare at home, your expense for the month would be only $30.

Anything we spend money on every day can turn into a budget killer by the end of the month.

Don’t give up the foods that you or your kids really love. Splurging every once in a while is okay as long as it doesn’t overwhelm the budget for the month.

EATING IN:
Breakfast
2 eggs on toast, 40¢
Coffee, 25¢
Glass of o.j., 40¢
Store-brand cereal, 10¢
Milk, 20¢
Lunch:
Sandwich from home:
Egg salad, 55¢
Turkey, $1.75
Peanut butter and jelly, 50¢
Water, $0
Dinner:
Two chicken thighs and a
drumstick, 75¢
Baked potato with pat of
margarine, 15¢
Pasta with tomato sauce
and cheese, 60¢
Rice and beans, 50¢
Glass of soda (from 2-liter
bottle), 12¢
Water, $0

EATING OUT:
Breakfast:
2 eggs on toast, 99¢
Coffee, 75¢
Glass of o.j., $1.00
Muffin, $1.25
Danish, 79¢
Lunch:
Deli sandwich and drink, $4.50
Big Mac, fries and drink, $3.99
Slice of pizza, plain, and water, $1.50
Dinner:
Fast food chicken dinner, $4.00
Plain cheese pizza, $8.00
(or about $2 per person)
Order of Chinese vegetables
and rice, $3.25
Plate of Spanish rice, beans,
and meat, $6.00
Fast food taco dinner, $4.00

Average Monthly Expense
(based on the meals listed above)
Eating at Home:
One person: $50 to $150/month
Four people: $200 to $600/month
Eating Out:
One person: $160 to $450/month
Four people: $650 to $1800/month
(and it could be much more)

RECIPES
Lentil Soup
1 lb. Bag of dried lentils (69¢)
1 can of spinach (79¢)
1 medium onion (20¢)
½ of a carrot (5¢)
½ of a celery stalk (10¢)
¼ cup of corn oil (5¢)
In a pot, bring rinsed lentils to a boil in about 10 cups of water. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 40 minutes. Add the spinach. Meanwhile, in a pan, fry up the onion, carrot and celery, all finely chopped, in the corn oil, until golden-brown. Add to the lentils. Cook 10 minutes more or until lentils are tender. Salt to taste.
Serves 4 to 6. Total cost: $1.88

Tomato Rice
1 ½ cups rice (25¢)
1 8oz. Can tomato sauce (35¢)
½ an onion (10¢)
½ a green bell pepper (35¢)
1 garlic clove (5¢)
¼ cup of corn oil (5¢)
6 oz. Diced cheddar cheese ($1.50)
In a pot with a tight-fitting lid, fry up the onion and pepper, both finely chopped, until the onion is golden. Add the garlic, finely chopped and cook 2 minutes more. Add the tomato sauce. Wait 2 minutes, then add the rice and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then cover tightly and reduce heat to very low. Simmer 18 minutes. Fluff with a fork and add the cheese just before serving.
Serves 4 to 6. Total cost: $2.65

Some Inexpensive Foods:

dried beans: $0.59 to $0.99/lb.
rice: $1.20 to $1.49 for 3 lbs.
pasta: $0.50 to $1.09/lb.
potatoes: $1.29 to $2.00 for 5 lbs.
onions: $0.99 to $1.29 for 3 lbs.
carrots: $.035 to $0.50/lb.
eggs: $.49 to $1.69 for twelve

Corporations and big business

Corporations and big business have a greater and greater influence on our world. Through lobbying and campaign contributions they buy laws that benefit them and hurt regular people. By convincing us to want their products, they make themselves richer while making us poorer. The richer we make them, the more power they have over the political process, and we all suffer: incomes fall, jobs go overseas for even lower wages, and the environment gets more polluted. Instead of helping corporations make the world a worse place by buying their stuff, help make your own life better by building your independence from debt and increasing your ability to make choices about your money.

It's your money. Don't make it their money.

The Common Wheel
P.O. Box 371
St. George Station
Staten Island, NY 10301