30 People Reveal "Broke 'Til Payday" Meals That Everyone Can Rely On To Get Through Till The Next Paycheck

Thrifty cooks are happily shared their budget meals

Maryjane

• Published in Interesting
• May 25, 2023

In 2022, the number of Americans experiencing financial hardship increased along with the rise in the cost of living. Six in ten American people work two jobs to make ends meet.

What are your favorite "end of the month" or "broke 'til payday" meals? This is a question a Reddit user named GetFreeFromFood posted on the r/EatCheapAndHealthy in an effort to learn how others cope with hardships. Some people wrote saying, "Groceries are hard to come by [and] I'm waiting on payday."

"What are you making that's relatively healthy with what you have left? I know what everyone has left differs, just trying to get ideas that may be helpful for more than just my family!"

In all honesty, the call was answered, and frugal cooks delightedly shared their inexpensive fare. The Reddit post got more than 400 comments, along with a thousand upvotes. We've gathered a few of their replies, so scroll down to see the ones with the finest tones.

More info: Reddit

The question:

1. As simple as this

2. Baking

I always have flour and baking items on hand. If I needed to I could make a variety of breads. Pancakes are popular, but I also like dumpling stew. For dumpling stew I flavor some water with pepper and chicken bouillon, then make drop dumplings with flour, salt, pepper, and any other spices I want.

After I spoon the dumplings in to the boiling water, I add a dash of milk to cream up the soup, but you can keep it thin if you need to. Basically, if you added chicken, it would be chicken and dumplings.

3. "Peanut noodles! Ingredients are peanut butter, soy sauce, and pasta, plus some things to jazz it up if you've got them."

For the sauce, mix roughly equal parts of PB, soy sauce, and water, adjusting the ratio to taste. If I have them, I add red pepper flakes, garlic powder and ground ginger, a few drops of sesame oil, and sesame seeds, but it's also decent without.

You just put it on cooked pasta and voila! I like it with steamed frozen broccoli. In an ideal world, you'd have spaghetti, fettucine, or linguine for the pasta, but any shape is fine.

4. Baked potatoes

5. "White rice + black beans is my favorite cheap/healthy meal. Add some tomatoes and cilantro, and avocado if you can afford it, drizzle lemon or lime juice and you have a super filling and delicious meal for super cheap (except the avocados lol)"

6. "Savory pancakes - - you can put anything in ‘em and/or anything on ‘em"

7. "Ramen + PB + sriracha basically feels like poor man's pad Thai. Even better if you have an egg to put in"

8. "Baked beans on toast"

9. "Ramen with an egg and frozen veggies Pasta, jarred pasta sauce, frozen veggies and shredded cheese"

10. "Frittata using whatever odds and ends I have. Or a regular quiche if I have a box of pie crust in the fridge. If I have frozen hash browns, then a hash brown crust quiche! :)"

11. Chili

12. "Potatoes are cheap. French fries are tasty!"

13. "Grilled cheese and tomato soup will always be a favorite of mine."

14. "Butter noodles"

15. "Pantry 'chili'- cans of beans, diced tomatoes, corn, tomato paste and green chilis if I have 'em."

LSaute onions in cumin & chili powder, then add beans, then rest of it. Simmer for a bit, but usually tastes better next day.

16. "Lentil and carrot soup. So tasty and good for you, but extremely cheap."

17. "Soups from the leftovers. One main stock can be split for different spices and proteins. It can serve as is or further watered down as the basic broth for a variety of (yes I’m saying it) ramen."

18. "other peoples comments are better but so you dont feel hungry in the "breaks" between your (real) meals: oatmeal. so filling. add some lineseeds for fibre, omega3 and a bit more chewiness"

19. "My fave one is egg and chips. It's fried eggs and English style chips but you can do fries it doesn't matter. My English mom used to make it growing up so it's super comforting and it's delicious and cheap"

20. Beans

Beans! I've been leaning on pintos a lot recently and have come to really appreciate them. Served with a bit of cotija cheese, a garnish of cilantro and it's really good, but you can get much more fancy with them also.

One thing I learned the 'hard way' is to plan for those lean times by adding some pantry staples every time I go shopping to make sure I have enough of those important building blocks available for quick, easy, and inexpensive meals.

21. Lentils

22. "Maximize your beans, lentils, carrots, potatoes, and eggs as meat substitutes. Curry with any of those can help stretch it. Or bbq sauce."

23. "Mustgo soup, all the leftovers you have in the fridge and some broth of your choice or just some Mater sauce"

24. "My absolute cheapest meal is mujadara. Well browned onions, lentils, rice, s&p. It's so much more than it sounds."

25. "Rice bowls. Throw together whatever left over meat and vegetables you have left in the freezer, add sauce, and go. There's so many different ways to make it it never gets old. If you're not in the mood for rice, add beans and salsa instead and make burritos."

26. "Rice, eggs, whatever beans or veg is left over, top with hot sauce"

27. "pinto beans and cornbread was my great grandmother's go to during the depression. It is one of my top comfort foods. Make a pot of dried beans and experiment."

28. "Canned tuna mixed with mayo on toast. Served with a pickle spear"

29. Pasta Salad

Pasta salad, sometimes I just add a can of green beans and a can of corn, both drained, fresh herbs, if I have it (basil, cilantro, mint, whatever's in the fridge) and some Italian dressing, garbanzo beans, if I have it. The best part, the longer it sits, the better it gets, so it's good as a leftover, and it's filling

30. Google is your best friend

Google "I have these ingredients".

You'll get a ton of websites that will help you put something together.

I was down to potatoes and flour. And this how I learned about gnocchi! Turned into one of my fav things.

The best way to save money on food is definitely to keep economical staples stocked in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. These few components can be utilized to produce a variety of meals if you have a well-stocked pantry with different spices, sauces, and cooking oils.

Drop your own affordable meals if you have any and share this post as well.

Maryjane