Hacker News Reader

Comment by wireprotocol | Hacker News Reader

Traditionally, when I hear about eating cheaply, I think "rice and beans". So I'm a little surprised to see those absent. Comments?

View on HN

He has dried chickpeas and lentils, both of which are beans. Rice can be substituted for pasta with some cost inefficiency as they are both basically straight carbs. So, the majority of the nutritional content of his purchase is essentially rice and beans.

Funny, I actually just had that for dinner tonight. Trader Joe's instant jasmine rice, organic black beans, cherry tomatoes from the local farmers' market. Surprisingly cheap, easy, and delicious.

I don't think a $30/week grocery budget is unreasonable at all, with a bit of ingenuity (and, critically, proximity to the aforementioned vendors; food deserts turn this whole thing on its head).

The cherry tomatoes were cheap? You must not go the same farmer's markets that I do.

On a per-calorie basis, almost all fresh fruits and vegetables are insanely expensive - someone on $30/week could perhaps afford an occasional banana.

Recently my local Trader Joe's was selling onions at $1.09 (or was it $1.19?) per onion. Per onion!

Wal-mart and TJs are non-representative locations for resuplly for your average person, tho. While it might not seem like it, both are quite selective on locations. For example, if you are 20 miles from an interstate, a major freeway, etc. You will (generally) not find a Wall-Mart. Trader Joes is not even in all of the "NFL" cities, as some are not large enough markets.

TLDR, heaven forbid you are rural poor.

I was going to say the same thing. It was backup in college. Rice, bean, tortillas, and a taco sauce. There are huge challenges though with condiments. Olive oil was an example of something which is really expensive but it lasts multiple weeks (if used sparingly) but it can blow the current week's budget.

I believe most North Americans are unaware of the beneficial properties of that combo.

Well, he said he rarely goes grocery shopping. I assume that means he has someone else to do the shopping and cooking. So he is probably not as savvy as someone who shops and cooks regularly.

He may not have many bean soup / bean salad / crockpot recipes.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com