How to Hunt a Bargain!

Meat (think of meat as a side or for flavor instead of a main dish, put the meat in the dish to make it seasoning, that way you eat more rice or pasta than meat)

With these things you can make a lot of meals for very little money. Beans and rice make a complete protein, and will fill you up. Dried beans are the cheapest, but they take a bit of skill to cook well.

You will get sick of these things. Face it. On the first night you make a dish go ahead and freeze it up into single servings (if it'll be served over rice, include the rice, if over pasta, cook the pasta as needed). That way you can have some variety and the meals are fairly portable. Even if you don't have a fridge at work, a frozen meal will keep pretty well for a few hours (as long as it isn't in your hot car!). All you'll need is a microwave.

For a special occasion we have pasta. It's cheap and easy to dress up with good garlic bread ($.99 a loaf, make your own garlic butter), a salad, a bit of fresh parmesan cheese (yum, tastes so much better than canned but it is much more expensive), and a nice wine (you can get a decent bottle for under $10, but learn what you like. We bought a yucky one the other night--you can mix with 7UP when you get bad wine, any wine will usually make a decent spritzer)

If you are gardener, or want to try your hand, try growing some herbs. It will be cheaper (if they live) than buying them, and you can often find the little plants fairly cheaply.

Favorite Cheap Meals:

Macaroni and Cheese with Italian Sausage

Two packages of Ramen cooked with the liquid from a can of green peas, carrots or corn. Mix in the peas and a couple scrambled eggs. Add soy sauce to taste (only serves two). If you increase the number of packages of Ramen, combine different veggies for more flavor.

Fried rice with meat [I used to have my mom's fried rice recipe (when my parents were in Japan she took a Chinese cooking course, ironically enough), but I can't find it]

Spaghetti (I'll admit it, I use canned sauce and add my own meat and fresh garlic, but I'm just not good at sauce.)

My Tex-Mex Chili with Rice (the rice will really stretch the chili, make the beans a complete protein, and fill you up faster, eat without sour cream or cheese for cheapest route)

My cheaper Chili Without Carne with Rice

Jalapeno Corn (not as cheap, but when you need a covered dish makes great leftover meals)

Bachelor's Taco Soup great with rice or corn bread

Rice-a-Roni (or a cheaper knock-off) with chicken cut up in it

Scramble eggs and toss in any leftover veggies (or anything else that sounds good)

Tortillas [they are pretty cheap, but if you can't find them, they are 3 cups flour, 2 cups water (add last, until you get a doughy consistency), 1 cup oil, and salt, mix, flatten and cook on a griddle)] with anything in them are great for a change. Peanut butter, scrambled eggs, chili, honey for a sweet treat, toasted with sugar and cinnamon, if you can dream it, you can eat it!

Chili Spaghetti (sounds terrible, but actually tastes really good) just use chili instead of pasta sauce (we used canned, but homemade should be good too)

Crock Pot Cooking One reason we eat out a lot is not being able to come home to a meal that is ready and waiting. Invest in a simple crock pot and this will never happen again. Chili, taco soup, stew, jalapeno corn, and much more will all taste great in a crock pot!

Eating Out: sometimes you will have to or want to. We are really lucky in Texas, and I hope this has spread to other parts of the country. We almost always eat Mexican food. You get chips and salsa free, so we fill up on that. Get beverages (bottomless sodas or tea, not alcohol!), and an appetizer to split. They hate us, but we try to go there when we're flush too, to make up for it! Or we try to get a table at the bar and enjoy just the chips and salsa and a drink (to celebrate something) and fill up at home (if we're still hungry). Same works at many Italian food places that give out free bread, just more difficult to fill up on when the waiter keeps brining you more bread and you don't order!

Watch sales (and plan meals around them) and clip coupons (I hate the damn things, but they do work)

Oh, and clean up your place! I know you won't believe me, but not knowing what you have in your cabinets means you buy more when you don't need it. In the case of food, the old stuff goes to waste, in the case of other items you just end up with duplicates you don't need.

Please let me know if you have any more ideas!

TO BE CONTINUED...