Food Costs
A large package of Wegman’s boneless breast chicken (approx. 12 pc.) costs $10.81, or 90¢ per breast. A loaf of Wegman’s hearty multigrain bread (14 slices, excluding the ends) is $2.49, about 18¢ per slice. A package of teriyaki marinade will run you just 79¢. Given these figures, a teriyaki chicken sandwich will run you about $1.52, assuming you marinated three breasts and used one for each sandwich. Wegman’s Diet Wedge soda (calorie free, caffeine free) costs $2.50 for a 12 pack, a scant 21¢ per 12 oz. can. Total meal cost: $1.73.
Chicken on multigrade bread is far healthier than Kraft Macaroni & Cheese Spirals, my quick-and-easy dish of choice. A bowl of Mac & Cheese costs under $1.25 by my estimate, including the 99¢ box and small amounts of milk and butter needed for preparation.
I spend around $5 every time I go to Taco Bell, which I consider the most affordable fast food place around. I can usually stay under $5 at Crossroads here at RIT as well. Lunch at The Ritz runs me at at least $7, without fail.
I’ve been meaning to tally this up for a while, as my financial situation is a little tight for the next few months. Has anyone else done this for their daily meals?
Um…just about everyone I know has done this at some point.
And yes, it’s almost always cheaper to cook your own, especially when you buy large packages and then freeze or store portions.
There are lots of ways to stretch food dollars when you’re a starving student; I suspect most (if not all) of your professors have a list of their own secret methods.
I ate a lot of ramen noodles; I’d buy chicken, pan sear it, and cut it into small pieces. I’d mix the pieces into the ramen noodles so that there was some protein; the noodles were filling, so I didn’t need as much chicken.
I made a lot of chili, with sale-priced ground beef (or turkey), using Wick Fowler’s 3-Alarm chili mix (the best chili mix I know of). I’d include a can of beans to stretch it further (beans are cheaper than meat), and I’d serve it over egg noodles to stretch it even further.
And the best trick of all was to identify which bars had “all you can eat” happy hour buffets, and eat dinners there on a regular basis. Buy one beer or soda (or better yet, go with several people and split a pitcher…even cheaper) and load up on hot appetizers.
*Craves professors with such knowledge*
Look’s like I’ll just have to mooch off Adam’s for now.
mmm..I Smell a blog coming on.
I second Liz’s happy hour buffet thang. I lived off of those, and have lost track of where they are nowadays. (Although if you go to the Distillery, after 10, all appetizers are half price).
Being of the asian variety- You can get a 10 pound bag of rice for 5 bucks. That, butter and soy sauce sustained me…and eggs.
Tell you what, give me a ping and I’ll TAKE you to the farmer’s market this Saturday. You can get a ton of produce, eggs and bread for 10 dollars.
Ah, rice. We have a 20 lbs. bag of jasmine rice in the pantry. Now _that_ was a good deal.
You didn’t even buy that bag of rice (: This is its third quarter in the appartment I think.
Yeah, Chris brought that with him fall quarter. I’ll polish it off this summer.
One benefit to being in the music program at the University of Southern Maine *which can also be a real pain in the butt* is that everyone knows everyone. It’s like a little planned community where everyone has the same…
Heh… the old “food for thought” game. I’ve played it a few times myself. though, never with quite as much math involved. I don’t think i ever figured out the cost of one particular meal, but i’ve been known to stretch $10 for a weeks worth of food. $15 is much more appetizing though. You’d be surprised how far noodles and rice get you in this day of age. Also watching and waiting for things to go on sale, or even possibly (although a little bit scary) going shopping at Aldi’s. yes, yes, the food game. I too find it odd that i could feed my self for a week at the same cost of going to one nice (well, not too nice) restaurant once.
Yes… i know the feeling of being without and trying to get by on the bare minimums. It’s amazing what you can do without in life.