Surviving while being broke

I really want to make this elaborate and expansive but I really don't have the time right now (seriously, I have to be somewhere in 10 minutes) but I'll expand on this throughout the weekend and maybe I'll even bring a little traffic to this blog. Right now it's just a picture show but I promise this will be awesome soon.

Carolina Rice mixes: These are usually on sale for around $.75-$1.00. Makes enough for about two people, super easy to make, and requires nothing but hot water. Most supermarkets have at least one brand of these rice mixes on sale for around that price, carolina tend to be a little more for the amount you get, but they are better for you and in my opinion tastier.




Souper Meals: Much tastier than the typical ramen noodle soup and Dollar Tree carries these for (!!) $1. Sometimes I'll see them at Pathmark 2/$1. While they are absolutely horrible for you, if you're broke (and starving) these will definately hit the spot around lunchtime.



Adobo Seasoning: $2.99

While spending 3 bucks on something that isn't food while your broke may seem like splruging, this will definitely add a nice kick to whatever you're eating. Now what's inside adobo? I have no clue, it's salty and peppery and a bunch of other stuff, but you can put it on everything and it's amazing, and there are hundreds of recipes online for things to make with it.



Chicken thighs/drumsticks, 80/20 beef, pork chops: Varies
When buying meats on a really tight budget, you've gotta look for thighs and drumsticks. These tend to be the cheapest at the supermarket when it comes to poultry, not really sure why, but they just are, and there are plenty of different ways to make them. The 80% lean/20% fat beef at supermarkets in my area are always a dollar or less than the 85/15. The other day Pathmark had patties on sale for $1.15/lb for the 80/20 and $2.17 for the 85/15. The choice is clear. And pork chops, yeah these things are delicious and very cheap, I've seen them for $.70/lb just last week.

Wendy's chili and baked potato: $2
Excellent cheap and filling lunch for when you're on the go. Not looking at the caloric count (Wendy's chili actually isn't THAT bad), with a boatload of beans and beef (and fiber) the chili probably fill you up by itself, but cut open the baked potato and pour it inside and you've got yourself a lunch fit for a king.


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Splurger - McFarmer(along with a bunch of other names): $2
Take the patty of a McChicken and stuff it inside a Double cheeseburger, and ask for extra tomatos, lettuce, pickles.

Labatt Blue 24oz: $.99

This is definitely a personal opinion, but for the price of a 40oz of Olde English you can get 3 of these much better tasting beers. When it comes to cheap beer, you definately should not be paying more than $.50 a 12oz. Substitutes are Pabst blue ribbon 6 packs ($3.59) or miller high life ($3.69)



Splurger - Mississippi Mud Black and tan: $3
While this beer is almost an urban legend due to the difficulty it is to find it (In reality my guess is that it ships most during spring and summer months, and not during the winter), if you do manage to find it, buy up as many as you can. For the price of a 40oz you get a much better tasting beer, something with actual aroma, color, and taste. Not to mention it comes in a cool little mini growler bottle.



Free TV/Movies/Internet:
There are tons of websites with free movies and shows, anything in the first 10 results should be good and for free wifi try here, here,and specifically here

Cigarettes: If you're broke, and you're not rolling your own cigarettes and buying them from the store, than you are wasting hundreds of dollars a year (on a pack a week habit). Rolling your own cigarettes is 1/3rd the price of buying them store bought, and the tobacco is (for the most part) simply pure tobacco, and not sheet tobacco or chemically treated. A safer smoke, not necessarily SAFE but safer. Plus the smell associated with cigarettes isn't really there with rollies, it's just a smell of burning, not the cigarette smell we all hate, and it doesn't stick to your clothes. Anyways, there are a few ways to go about this. You can simply hand roll them like you would a joint, and many companies such as Drum, Bali Shag, and Captain Black offer the tobacco in one ounce (or more) pouches with the rolling papers. But these are more expensive, around $5-$10. Note: While these tobaccos can be as expensive as store bought, the quality is MUCH MUCH better, these are premium tobaccos here. For a good smoke on a budget I recommend Bugler, Gambit, or Tops. Depending on where you buy it, they range from $3-$5. You can also get rolling machines which help roll the ciggarette for you, injectors, which inject the tobacco automatically into empty ciggarette tubes with filters, so they look and smoke more like regular store bought, or tobacco pipes. A good resource is Roll Your Own.com

I'll add more to this during the weekend, and I'll even show you what the best deals are when you find a couple quarters under the couch and want to splurge a little.