Minimalist Menu

[catherine]

I was reading a Yahoo article (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-we-got-out-of--50-000-worth-of-debt-201705706.html) about a couple that ditched $50k in debt in one year, and they actually found an idea I hadn't thought of: the minimalist menu:


Gone were their days of eating out. Their grocery list shrank to just 10 basic items they’d use for all three meals: eggs, milk, bread, salmon, chicken breast, broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, berries and oatmeal.

Have you guys actually limited your actual types of items for frugality purposes? If you do, what items are on your list?

[try2bfrugal]

Have you guys actually limited your actual types of items for frugality purposes? If you do, what items are on your list?

We buy a variety of foods, but we have a few repeatable basic, lower cost meals. The ingredients are bulk rice, bulk shredded cheese and 1.99 a pound chicken from the local pack and save type store along with in season produce on sale from the local Hispanic market. From that mix we might have stir fry chicken, rice, fruit salad, and assorted steamed vegetables. Or baked potatoes with shredded cheese, stir fry vegetables, sliced oranges and barbecue chicken. Or chicken, vegetable, and rice soup with melted cheese on top. We eat a lot of meal variations with those ingredients.

[Blackdog Lin]

I saw that story - it was heartwarming to us simple-living types, wasn't it? I thought it wonderful that they "got it" at such a young age.

And I'd have to add onions to their grocery list - can't cook in Kansas without onions.

No, we've never done anything this hardcore. I only remember the times in our early married years when being poor we ate a lot of beans and rice, and our meats didn't very often go beyond ham hocks and hamburger. Also tuna - I used to do a lot with canned tuna.

And in more recent memory, we had the summer of.....was it '07? Hard times hit and we were adjusting to living on one part-time salary. And coincidently, a very nice coworker found herself with a glut of giant garden zucchini which she insisted I "help her out with". And so we spent that whole summer eating zucchinis most every day. It got to be a joke: "Hey honey, how should we prepare the zucchini for supper TONIGHT?"

I still give DH a lot of credit for that summer - he never complained, but jumped in there and helped me come up with new and creative ways to fix zucchini. We literally had a meal of zucchini, in one way or another, 5 nights a week that summer.

[puglogic]

It helps our frugality to be open to whatever's in season and on sale, rather than limiting to a small set of ingredients. Limiting processed foods (basically to pasta) cooking a small selection of frugal meals from scratch, buying in bulk helps us eat well and cheaply. Especially true with produce....if it's not in season and it's not in the freezer, we don't eat it. Great that they "get it" though. Good read, though their situation isn't one we all share. I've never had an $8000 tax refund in my life, and can't live with my parents. But hey, whatever it takes, right?

[Jilly]

I do that. It really cuts down on waste, which was happening when I was also buying rices, grains, beans, like that.

Now I buy eggs, whatever meat is the cheapest/on sale (mostly ground beef), poultry(mostly for first meal baked and then the rest, bones and all vegetable scraps for soup), frozen Brussels sprouts, whatever other vegetables are the cheapest, fresh or frozen, apples and citrus, greens, oats/grits, canned tomatoes, popcorn and I make my own bread.

The poultry comes from one of the discount grocery stores and includes duck wings, chicken feet (total yum!) and frozen chicken parts, mostly dark meat, which makes a much tastier soup or bone broth.

I have also found store brands on some items that are as good as the name brands. If I want something sweet, it has to be the $1.89 chocolate bars from Aldi, or I have to make it myself and it has to be something where whole wheat flour works.

When I was buying the more varied groceries, I had to keep trying new recipes to just not go insane from eating the same thing for a week or so. My fail rate on some of those recipes was high, which meant lots of wasted ingredients and the money that went to buy them.

I miss smoked meats, bacon and sausage mostly. I miss pasta and rice. Also, a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, although I am planning on growing sweet and hot peppers and tomatoes this summer on my porch. I do not eat dairy, liquid or cheeses. It does get boring sometimes, but when I am shopping and eating I remind myself that not one scrap of food is going to go into the garbage.

[Zoebird]

I'm not sure how someone saves $50k a year on food. $50k spent in a year on food is over $4,000 per month. For two people? yeah, that's a lot!

We spend -- with a very basic, simple, seasonal menu -- $1500/mo. That includes dining out for our family, too -- usually 2-3x a month for thai or mexican.

[SteveinMN]

I think I would die of boredom with that limited a diet. :0! In addition, though salmon and berries are "superfoods", they're rarely the least expensive foods of their kinds, so if the motive was cutting costs to the bone, buying only those (and asparagus and chicken breast; also more expensive varieties of vegetables and meat) strikes me as an odd choice.

There are food items I refuse, out of frugality, to buy. Much as I love good cheese, I blanch when I see cheese prices up in the $15-20/pound range. I typically don't buy skinless/boneless chicken breasts (a staple of quick low-fat cooking) because I'm too cheap to buy the healthful ones at the coop at around $6/pound and I refuse to buy factory chicken breasts at $2/pound. I rarely buy beef or lamb at $7-8/pound, though, for some reason, I don't have too much of a problem buying fresh fish at that price or even a little higher. :~)

But I'm all about trying new foods, and some of the best and most satisfying discoveries have been foods off the mainstream, like sweet-potato leaves, pea tips, and beef tongue, which typically cost less because they're not as popular as salmon and berries.

[treehugger]

I agree with everything Steve said (I think he and I have very similar approaches to food and cooking), especially this paragraph:


I think I would die of boredom with that limited a diet. :0! In addition, though salmon and berries are "superfoods", they're rarely the least expensive foods of their kinds, so if the motive was cutting costs to the bone, buying only those (and asparagus and chicken breast; also more expensive varieties of vegetables and meat) strikes me as an odd choice.

I do appreciate simplicity and I am definitely frugal, but I don't really understand setting arbitrary limits (e.g., using only 3-ingredient recipes or getting rid of everything but 10 items of clothing) on things or minimalism for minimalism sake. And if saving money was their goal, their list doesn't really make sense.

That said, articles about people going against the mainstream are never a bad thing, and if it worked for them, that's great. Me? I'll stick to being a frugal omnivore. Cooking = a creative outlet to me, but I certainly understand that isn't universal, nor does it need to be.

Kara

[Wildflower]

I'm not sure how someone saves $50k a year on food. $50k spent in a year on food is over $4,000 per month. For two people? yeah, that's a lot!

We spend -- with a very basic, simple, seasonal menu -- $1500/mo. That includes dining out for our family, too -- usually 2-3x a month for thai or mexican.


You would need to read the article above to see that it was much more than just cutting down on what they spent on food.

I admire everything they did, except the part where they moved back in with their parents.... We were dirt poor and probably subsisted on less food than what this couple did when we first got married at the ages of 17 and 19, but it was never an option for us to move back in with our parents.... and we always had only one car. No credit cards or loans either back in the day. We paid as we went.... I remember at one point wanting to get food stamps and we qualified for them, but pride kept us from taking them....

These days we spend about $400 a month on a pretty regimented diet, and it is healthy, fruits, veggies, protein, made from scratch recipes - but we pretty much eat the same things all of the time in variations and what's in season. We also eat out about once a week at one of the local ethnic restaurants, which is very affordable, included in our food budget, and is always a treat for us.

[Rosemary]

I find it far more interesting to work with sales and seasonal foods to save on groceries. I assume they had items in the pantry they were using up, at least at the beginning.
Also, I thought the inclusion of bread in a money-saving plan was odd, as packaged bread is far from frugal.

[Zoebird]

I found the article laughable.

The young man was earning $72k/annum. His wife also worked earning $18k/annum. their combined income was $90k. According to them, they lived on $36k/annum by living with his parents!

I don't get it. It's perfectly possible to live independently in an efficiency at $600/mo rent (and that's high for an efficiency) and that's $7200/annum. Spend $1200 per annum on food. Gas/Electric -- $1200 per annum. Transportation, $5200-ish (based on the article). Double it anyway, just for pity's sake. Now you are looking at $10,400.

That's a total of $20k per year on the basic expenses.

That leaves an additional $16k to save and spend on something else.

Or am I missing something?

[Zoebird]

Also, I don't have a problem with a eprson living at home. It appears they at least paid rent to the parents -- $700/mo -- which is great.

---

And, I might point out that a friend of mine does this for her kids. They take out student loans to cover whatever they can't pay (they have savings to do this -- and usually end up paying 2/3-ish, and the kids usually go to local schools).

Then, after graduating, the kid moves back home -- paying rent at a lower rate, and starting to pay back student loans. Since they tend to have less than $12k in loans, they usually pay it off within the year.

From there, they move out on their own (usually closer to work), and then are starting out debt free.

Her daughter -- who graduated two years ago with a specialized degree (highly sought after, but a narrow job market), finally landed her dream job a year after graduating. Living at home was a godsend to her, because she was able to volunteer at the place where she wanted to work, and work part time in retail to cover transportation costs and her student loan. At the end of the year, she'd paid off her debt, and then landed the great job with good benefits, pay, etc.

She was able to move into her own place (she actually shares with three roommates to cut costs), and she's saving up to buy her first place. She has her eye on a spot right near her work (walking distance), and she's hoping to move her roommates in with her when she buys it. At the end of this year, she should have more than half the cost of the house saved up, and she'd definitely qualify for the mortgage. But, she wants to work another year, save up the remainder, and buy cash outright.

Then, she wants to move her roommates with her, so that she can earn some income on the home once she has it.

She's a smart cookie, that one. And her parents helped out in the right ways at the right times (ie, saving up to pay for college -- though she worked her way through also, and that minimized debt), adn then helping her with housing/support after university so that she could pay off that debt, so now she's set up for real financial success. It's a good thing, really.

And her job security is high. She volunteered at this place in high school, interned throughout university, and volunteered after. As soon as a position became available, they gave it to her. She's basically guaranteed a place there until she wants to leave -- which I think is pretty awesome.

I'm proud of her. What can i say?

[ApatheticNoMore]

I found the article laughable.

The young man was earning $72k/annum. His wife also worked earning $18k/annum. their combined income was $90k. According to them, they lived on $36k/annum by living with his parents!

I don't get it. It's perfectly possible to live independently in an efficiency at $600/mo rent (and that's high for an efficiency) and that's $7200/annum.

I checked the location, California. Ok then California ... the studio you are going to get for $600 has a good chance of being a total dump, because the *average* studio in many places in California runs much more than this. The average room in an apt can go for $600 a month many places (now I didn't say it's absolutely utterly and completely impossible to find that $600 a month place, but since it's well below the average rental cost it's not going to be a high end place, quite the opposite I'm afraid).

Also healthcare, we could assume the employer pays it all, but many don't, copays, going to the dentist (assuming we're going to take care of our teeth here).

[Zoebird]

I understand COL in california comparatively. I live in the equivalent of manhattan. A relatively dry, small studio apartment here is going to run you $250/wk. That's very basic, nothing fancy, so-so area. Also known as "crappy." A nice, small studio apartment here is going to run you $325/wk. An american understanding of a crappy apartment here -- studio -- is easily going to run you $500/wk.

This is because americans expect all kinds of things in their apartments such as some kind of heat source, insulation (above, below, and in the walls!), windows that aren't cracked, broken, and are double glazed. They are going to expect vent fans (or windows) in bathrooms, as well as a vent hood in the kitchen over the stovetop, as well as a working appliances (many apartments here don't come with any appliances, including your range/oven -- if you are lucky, your kitchen comes with a range/oven, a microwave, and a fridge).

Likewise, my friend who lives in LA -- in NoHo -- rents an efficiency for $650/mo. It's safe and clean and in relatively good condition. Another friend rents a place in Silverlake with her husband -- a one-bedroom for $795/mo, and it's really nice by my reckoning (hardwood floors, lots of character, and just really nice). Another firend of mine rents a one-bedroom in San Diego for $650/mo.

So, it's not as if their $36k wouldn't have extended that far. I think the real pull was "why pay $700 to a landlord when we can live with your parents and it helps them pay down their mortgage?" And, if everyone is happy, I'm not one to complain.

But, even assume that they paid $1200/yr in food, $1200 in utilities, $10,400 in transportation, and $12,000 in rent -- they are *still* only spending $24800.

If insurance costs what my husband paid for covering the three of us before he left plus those copays it was $2400/year plus one physical and two dental check ups per year per person for $60 in copays, and you're still only looking at $27,260.

Still possible, right?

[Zoebird]

Also, i agree with Steve up there -- was it Steve? -- who said they were buying some pretty expensive food.

I mean, salmon here -- if i were to get enough for twice a week, it would be $26 for salmon. But then, the article doesn't say what they spent per week on food. But, I do know people in the US who do spend less than $100/wk on food. So, it's possible. But if I were buying salmon, I'm not sure it would be. LOL

Anyway, yeah.

[catherine]

I found the article laughable.


Well, as Thich Nhat Hanh says, even eating LESS meat is a miracle. Meaning, OK, these folks have been in boot camp. They haven't gotten bo be Navy Seals yet, guerrilla simple-living style.

I think any young person who has been raised in this culture of "I want it now" and who has a spiritual awakening about their finances and makes mindful sacrifices and cuts spending in half to correct the error of their ways deserves more than a smirk.

[Aqua Blue]

I do something similar, but probably not so limited. I get all of my produce from Bountiful baskets, so there is more variety than they have. I also pretty much only buy meat from the mark down bin, again more variety, but not as much as some. I baked from scratch with few ingredients I can have lots of different baked goods.

[JaneV2.0]

You don't need to limit yourself to a bland and boring menu to cut down on food costs; you can do that by careful shopping and limiting waste.

[Amaranth]

Zoebird, I wish all parents did that with college students. Saving up for housing that way is ideal too. The Amish have a similar system for housing to prevent debt.


Gone were their days of eating out. Their grocery list shrank to just 10 basic items they’d use for all three meals: eggs, milk, bread, salmon, chicken breast, broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, berries and oatmeal.

If you are going to do something like this, that's a fairly healthy minimalist grocery list. I'm with Blackdog Lin on the onions too. If you varied the multigrain breads, that would help too. Boredom could be reduced by changing out the vegetables and fruit about every two months to frugal seasonal ones. So
July/August: Tomatoes, Peppers, Green Beans, Summer Squash, Berries, Melons
Sept/Oct: Winter Squash, Onions, Sweet potatoes, Greens, Apples, Pears
Nov/Dec: Root Vegetables, Greens, Dried Fruit

Another way to do this is to have a rotation of flexible themed meals that accommodate seasonal vegetables.

Water or tea to drink, seasonal fruit for dessert
Sunday: Roast Chicken, Starch, 2 vegetables (use extra chicken for lunch sandwiches)
Monday: Chicken Vegetable soup, bread
Tuesday: Pasta with seasonal vegetables
Wednesday: Quiche and Seasonal Salad
Thursday: Stir Fried Chicken and Vegetables over Rice
Friday: Salmon, Starch, 2 vegetables
Saturday: Homemade pizza with seasonal salad

[flowerseverywhere]

it is so easy to judge with a limited amount of information. It isn't a contest but an opportunity to show that with some inventiveness large amounts of debt can be gotten rid of quickly. I applaud them and what they have done and although I might have done some things differently, the world would be quite dull if we were all the same. If they inspire just a few people to look at what they are doing by telling their story that would be fantastic.

[Amaranth]

Inspired by this thread, I started a thread over in the food forum for a minimalist grocery list for people to post their favorite choices.