The truth about cooking on a budget
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Date: 2025-03-08
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Comments and reviews: 20
Pandrogas
We should talk about meat for a moment, because the off-hand comments about it needing to be a treat and environmentally bad might apply more to industrial systems of farming, but aren't totally grounded either. Meat prices in this country are affected by the fact that the animal is a secondary product, but we also have a massive amount of monopolization that has driven the prices up in the past couple of decades way beyond where they should be (and put many farmers out of business. It's also worth noting that there are vast tracts of land in the US that are non-arable, but perfectly fine for livestock.
On the environmental front, we need to continue to promote rotational grazing (and high-density rotational grazing) as a better alternative to the factory farming. This has the added benefit of revitalizing the land the livestock are on. Even better if we can rotate through multiple groups of animals that are complementary. This is not a new notion in farming, but a lot of people tend to laugh it off or disregard it, basically saying that cow emissions are killing the planet or some such garbage. We had millions of bison on this continent and the world didn't end before, having a fractional population of cows isn't the threat people think it is (before we even get into the carbon cycle. Fertilizer runoff is just as bad as any animal product, so what we need are better farming methods that make sense for the land, not less animals.
It's about balance.
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We should talk about meat for a moment, because the off-hand comments about it needing to be a treat and environmentally bad might apply more to industrial systems of farming, but aren't totally grounded either. Meat prices in this country are affected by the fact that the animal is a secondary product, but we also have a massive amount of monopolization that has driven the prices up in the past couple of decades way beyond where they should be (and put many farmers out of business. It's also worth noting that there are vast tracts of land in the US that are non-arable, but perfectly fine for livestock.
On the environmental front, we need to continue to promote rotational grazing (and high-density rotational grazing) as a better alternative to the factory farming. This has the added benefit of revitalizing the land the livestock are on. Even better if we can rotate through multiple groups of animals that are complementary. This is not a new notion in farming, but a lot of people tend to laugh it off or disregard it, basically saying that cow emissions are killing the planet or some such garbage. We had millions of bison on this continent and the world didn't end before, having a fractional population of cows isn't the threat people think it is (before we even get into the carbon cycle. Fertilizer runoff is just as bad as any animal product, so what we need are better farming methods that make sense for the land, not less animals.
It's about balance.
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elainebelzDetroit
Had to come back to this b/c I couldn't stop thinking about the comment about being glad to live in a country that incentivizes hard work. Assuming you live in the US, that's not true, sadly. Some of the lowest-paying jobs involve perhaps the hardest work (as in labor, with one's body.
We want to convince ourselves we live in a just world, but we've wound up redefining some terms. Hard work really means well-connected, white-collar, intellectual work - and even that won't necessarily be rewarded monetarily.
What we really have is a culture that rewards already having money (money earns a lot of money, maybe more than most people do) and criminalizes poverty. It's capitalism: It rewards owning capital. And it values everything by the market, so that the market gets to say who has a shot at living and who doesn't, and up Maslow's hierarchy of needs from there.
Other than that, this was a fantastic video. I love your videos, especially the way you're so anti-snobbery & encourage people to do the best they can with what they have or can acquire, realistically. So these videos are actually useful!
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Had to come back to this b/c I couldn't stop thinking about the comment about being glad to live in a country that incentivizes hard work. Assuming you live in the US, that's not true, sadly. Some of the lowest-paying jobs involve perhaps the hardest work (as in labor, with one's body.
We want to convince ourselves we live in a just world, but we've wound up redefining some terms. Hard work really means well-connected, white-collar, intellectual work - and even that won't necessarily be rewarded monetarily.
What we really have is a culture that rewards already having money (money earns a lot of money, maybe more than most people do) and criminalizes poverty. It's capitalism: It rewards owning capital. And it values everything by the market, so that the market gets to say who has a shot at living and who doesn't, and up Maslow's hierarchy of needs from there.
Other than that, this was a fantastic video. I love your videos, especially the way you're so anti-snobbery & encourage people to do the best they can with what they have or can acquire, realistically. So these videos are actually useful!
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justinguitarcia
Me and my girlfriend rarely go out to eat, usually once a month. So we end up cooking most of the time. We live in the nyc area, which will factor in all this, also I use to work as a linecook in a restaurant am a fulltime freelancer while she is a 9-5. That said, we spend a gran total of 6-650 a month for all our groceries. This includes:
-Weekly CSA box with seasonal produce and two dozen eggs 54$ (reduces to 30$ when farmers market opens in spring)
-monthly pantry at trader joes 130$
-monthly trip to butcher 160-180$ (this month was whole chicken, 5lbs chicken breast, leg n thigh quarters, picanha, skirt steak, ground beef, beef liver and chorizo
-monthly fish monger 70-80$ (this month 5lbs salmon, 2lbs shrimp)
We eat pretty varied dinners (minus her lunchly meal prep, hence chicken breast. Also have a wine budget, etc. plus i bake bread.
We are also both immigrants fwiw, so grew up being crafty with simple modest ingredients like liver and stock bones for example
Idk maybe this is helpful to someone thinking about shop budget
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Me and my girlfriend rarely go out to eat, usually once a month. So we end up cooking most of the time. We live in the nyc area, which will factor in all this, also I use to work as a linecook in a restaurant am a fulltime freelancer while she is a 9-5. That said, we spend a gran total of 6-650 a month for all our groceries. This includes:
-Weekly CSA box with seasonal produce and two dozen eggs 54$ (reduces to 30$ when farmers market opens in spring)
-monthly pantry at trader joes 130$
-monthly trip to butcher 160-180$ (this month was whole chicken, 5lbs chicken breast, leg n thigh quarters, picanha, skirt steak, ground beef, beef liver and chorizo
-monthly fish monger 70-80$ (this month 5lbs salmon, 2lbs shrimp)
We eat pretty varied dinners (minus her lunchly meal prep, hence chicken breast. Also have a wine budget, etc. plus i bake bread.
We are also both immigrants fwiw, so grew up being crafty with simple modest ingredients like liver and stock bones for example
Idk maybe this is helpful to someone thinking about shop budget
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SixofQueens
It's funny that the implication of this video is that many people in the US don't know how to be poor. And I mean this genuinely. The notion of making as calorie dense of a meal as cheaply as possible to be eaten for days on end only to switch to a slightly different version of the same the next few days seeming so foreign is so far out of my experience it's almost laughable.
The knowledge that beans and rice (not just long grain enriched, though that's a fair one to use if it's all you can do) with a few veg (don't forget canned and frozen! Often more nutritious than folks give it credit for, though it certainly has it's deficits) and a modicum of meat with variety focused in the seasoning being able to get one through nearly indefinitely seems to be lost on many is a travesty. I lived on that for over 5 years and have lived on a more dynamic version of it (featuring more fresh veg content) for more than 10 years and have had doctors ask me if I would allow them to tell others of their patients about my diet plan. It's really not that hard.
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It's funny that the implication of this video is that many people in the US don't know how to be poor. And I mean this genuinely. The notion of making as calorie dense of a meal as cheaply as possible to be eaten for days on end only to switch to a slightly different version of the same the next few days seeming so foreign is so far out of my experience it's almost laughable.
The knowledge that beans and rice (not just long grain enriched, though that's a fair one to use if it's all you can do) with a few veg (don't forget canned and frozen! Often more nutritious than folks give it credit for, though it certainly has it's deficits) and a modicum of meat with variety focused in the seasoning being able to get one through nearly indefinitely seems to be lost on many is a travesty. I lived on that for over 5 years and have lived on a more dynamic version of it (featuring more fresh veg content) for more than 10 years and have had doctors ask me if I would allow them to tell others of their patients about my diet plan. It's really not that hard.
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aragusea
I think my best trick for making sure I'm not eating the same budget meal for 5 days straight (ok, it's really only 3 days worth with my husband around) is recycling the leftovers into something else. Beans with rice one day, mashed potatoes another, in breakfast burrito with some egg and the leftover rice on another, with chopped weenies the last day. just because the package has two pounds of food in it doesn't mean you need to prepare it all in one go.
Getting creative helps too, learn what substitutions you can make if you like using recipes. I have one very amazing cookbook and it's a great reference and starting point, but I believe all the times I've used it, only once have I ever made a recipe to the letter without any substitutions. It calls for cream, I have milk. It calls for shallots or red onions, I have cooking onions. It calls for fresh peppers, I used jared fire roasted red peppers, it calls for a specific cheese, I use what I've got in the fridge.
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I think my best trick for making sure I'm not eating the same budget meal for 5 days straight (ok, it's really only 3 days worth with my husband around) is recycling the leftovers into something else. Beans with rice one day, mashed potatoes another, in breakfast burrito with some egg and the leftover rice on another, with chopped weenies the last day. just because the package has two pounds of food in it doesn't mean you need to prepare it all in one go.
Getting creative helps too, learn what substitutions you can make if you like using recipes. I have one very amazing cookbook and it's a great reference and starting point, but I believe all the times I've used it, only once have I ever made a recipe to the letter without any substitutions. It calls for cream, I have milk. It calls for shallots or red onions, I have cooking onions. It calls for fresh peppers, I used jared fire roasted red peppers, it calls for a specific cheese, I use what I've got in the fridge.
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dc8836
I usually just do beans in the crockpot, no soaking beforehand. About 4-5 hours on high, 7-8 on low. I do use meat to flavor my beans, but usually just some salt pork, ham hocks, etc - what would otherwise be seen as waste products.
On the subject of the economics of meat, it's important to note that not all land is arable - not in terms of producing crops that humans can eat, anyway. And many ruminants can consume food waste products that would otherwise just go into a landfill. Chickens, goats, and pigs are the most notable examples of this and it's probably not a coincidence that their meat is generally much cheaper than beef (which does require a substantial investment of resources and often uses land that could be used to grow crops for humans)
I would say we should treat beef, in particular, as an occasional treat. But its price is trending up to the point that it's going to be seen that way for most folks, anyhow.
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I usually just do beans in the crockpot, no soaking beforehand. About 4-5 hours on high, 7-8 on low. I do use meat to flavor my beans, but usually just some salt pork, ham hocks, etc - what would otherwise be seen as waste products.
On the subject of the economics of meat, it's important to note that not all land is arable - not in terms of producing crops that humans can eat, anyway. And many ruminants can consume food waste products that would otherwise just go into a landfill. Chickens, goats, and pigs are the most notable examples of this and it's probably not a coincidence that their meat is generally much cheaper than beef (which does require a substantial investment of resources and often uses land that could be used to grow crops for humans)
I would say we should treat beef, in particular, as an occasional treat. But its price is trending up to the point that it's going to be seen that way for most folks, anyhow.
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Plant-Based-Gains
It's not just cooking itself, but the foods you choose to cook. The cheapest way to eat requires maximizing whole foods, limiting things pre-prepared, pre-packaged, and ultra-processed. The more physical work and prep you have to do the less money you'd have to spend on the meals you cook. What's also required is limiting the bigger expenses like meat, dairy, and eggs.
You can keep eating those but they do cost a lot more per macro compared to a wide and varied fridge and pantry full of whole plant foods. Some of the least-well off places eat less meat, dairy, and eggs and a lot more plant heavy meals. The former costs a lot more than it does in more well off places, but plants are even cheaper.
We put meat, eggs, and dairy in almost everything but if saving money is the goal then they must be limited, it won't limit nutrition just your comfort. That is to say, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
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It's not just cooking itself, but the foods you choose to cook. The cheapest way to eat requires maximizing whole foods, limiting things pre-prepared, pre-packaged, and ultra-processed. The more physical work and prep you have to do the less money you'd have to spend on the meals you cook. What's also required is limiting the bigger expenses like meat, dairy, and eggs.
You can keep eating those but they do cost a lot more per macro compared to a wide and varied fridge and pantry full of whole plant foods. Some of the least-well off places eat less meat, dairy, and eggs and a lot more plant heavy meals. The former costs a lot more than it does in more well off places, but plants are even cheaper.
We put meat, eggs, and dairy in almost everything but if saving money is the goal then they must be limited, it won't limit nutrition just your comfort. That is to say, you can't have your cake and eat it too.
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clownform
wanted to add that grocery stores DO benefit from the same economies of scale that restaurants do. they both use wholesalers, and restaurants aren’t shopping at the grocery store. actually, grocery stores have it better, because they are multi/national corporations. the ONLY difference is variety. you can eat as good as at a restaurant, for cheaper, if you’re ok with eating that meal for a few days to a week. if you use a freezer etc even easier.
the economy of scale of energy (the oven example) is valid though. but if restaurants got such amazing prices on goods they would sell to consumers on the side but they don’t because grocery stores have better deals on unprepared goods
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wanted to add that grocery stores DO benefit from the same economies of scale that restaurants do. they both use wholesalers, and restaurants aren’t shopping at the grocery store. actually, grocery stores have it better, because they are multi/national corporations. the ONLY difference is variety. you can eat as good as at a restaurant, for cheaper, if you’re ok with eating that meal for a few days to a week. if you use a freezer etc even easier.
the economy of scale of energy (the oven example) is valid though. but if restaurants got such amazing prices on goods they would sell to consumers on the side but they don’t because grocery stores have better deals on unprepared goods
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aragusea
I must note that sugar (fructose, specifically, which makes up 50% of white sugar, brown sugar, honey, high-fructose corn syrup etc) is INSANELY bad for your overall health, starting from the liver, gut and mitochondria.
Besides your body simply tolerating it instead of needing it (exactly like ALCOHOL, and it being addictive (exactly like ALCOHOL, it oxidizes your body 5x worse than glucose, which is to say it makes you age 5x faster per same amount. The list of horrible stuff it does to your body goes on and on and on.
Seeing you put that much sugar into the beans made my forearm hair stand up.
Eliminate your fructose intake, folks. Eat raw stuff and eat fiber first.
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I must note that sugar (fructose, specifically, which makes up 50% of white sugar, brown sugar, honey, high-fructose corn syrup etc) is INSANELY bad for your overall health, starting from the liver, gut and mitochondria.
Besides your body simply tolerating it instead of needing it (exactly like ALCOHOL, and it being addictive (exactly like ALCOHOL, it oxidizes your body 5x worse than glucose, which is to say it makes you age 5x faster per same amount. The list of horrible stuff it does to your body goes on and on and on.
Seeing you put that much sugar into the beans made my forearm hair stand up.
Eliminate your fructose intake, folks. Eat raw stuff and eat fiber first.
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HSDclover
ok like, 14 dollars is too much money for me to pay for takeout. that's gotta be 2 entire meals or i'm going broke on it, and even then its an occasional splurge, or i'm going broke.
Also who just buys one onion i buy a huge bag and they can last for a month. I'd say with a bit of creativity you can eat cheap and have a variety of food, but it kinda becomes a job in of itself, so, not really compatible with a lot of people's work-life balance
In any event, it sucks being multiply disabled because you make no money and then you have to spend it all on medicine before you even get to spend the rest of it on food, and you'll never really get out of this without extreme luck.
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ok like, 14 dollars is too much money for me to pay for takeout. that's gotta be 2 entire meals or i'm going broke on it, and even then its an occasional splurge, or i'm going broke.
Also who just buys one onion i buy a huge bag and they can last for a month. I'd say with a bit of creativity you can eat cheap and have a variety of food, but it kinda becomes a job in of itself, so, not really compatible with a lot of people's work-life balance
In any event, it sucks being multiply disabled because you make no money and then you have to spend it all on medicine before you even get to spend the rest of it on food, and you'll never really get out of this without extreme luck.
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wxlf809
Meal prepping is not only way more affordable but makes it way easier to eat healthier. Cook a large batch on a Sunday that gives you like 5 portions, eat 2, freeze 3. After a few weeks, you've got a variety of meals in your freezer to pick from so you aren't just eating the same stuff 5 nights in a row.
I couldn't imagine cooking from scratch every single night, not only for the cost but the time! Having something healthy to just put in the microwave for a few minutes is amazing. Then on a Friday or Saturday night I'll cook something nicer from scratch, maybe a Ragusea recipe!
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Meal prepping is not only way more affordable but makes it way easier to eat healthier. Cook a large batch on a Sunday that gives you like 5 portions, eat 2, freeze 3. After a few weeks, you've got a variety of meals in your freezer to pick from so you aren't just eating the same stuff 5 nights in a row.
I couldn't imagine cooking from scratch every single night, not only for the cost but the time! Having something healthy to just put in the microwave for a few minutes is amazing. Then on a Friday or Saturday night I'll cook something nicer from scratch, maybe a Ragusea recipe!
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cocdcy
At 8: 59 you say you're glad to live in an economic system that incentivizes people to work hard. Then at 16: 41, you say it's probably not your fault that you're poor, acknowledge we have an economic system that is not equitable, and not everyone gets paid what they're worth. As well as saying too many people are poor.
That second part to me seems contradictory with your first statement. I would conclude we do not live in an economic system that incentivizes hard work. We live in a system that incentivizes exploitation. Otherwise we would not have as many poor people as we do.
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At 8: 59 you say you're glad to live in an economic system that incentivizes people to work hard. Then at 16: 41, you say it's probably not your fault that you're poor, acknowledge we have an economic system that is not equitable, and not everyone gets paid what they're worth. As well as saying too many people are poor.
That second part to me seems contradictory with your first statement. I would conclude we do not live in an economic system that incentivizes hard work. We live in a system that incentivizes exploitation. Otherwise we would not have as many poor people as we do.
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aragusea
this video is really weird and offputting. the only comparable one is an old one where he's yelling the entire time that he's making chili or something. why are all the lights off some of the advice makes sense, but other things are completely insane. the fridge thing makes no sense at all and feels like when people used to say oh woe its so expensive to be rich or like some kind of public self-humiliation the way he talks about it. maybe he should just return the damn thing and use the money for some plywood, paint it white, to fill the gap left by a smaller, normal fridge.
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this video is really weird and offputting. the only comparable one is an old one where he's yelling the entire time that he's making chili or something. why are all the lights off some of the advice makes sense, but other things are completely insane. the fridge thing makes no sense at all and feels like when people used to say oh woe its so expensive to be rich or like some kind of public self-humiliation the way he talks about it. maybe he should just return the damn thing and use the money for some plywood, paint it white, to fill the gap left by a smaller, normal fridge.
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sourhill2292
Thank you for the video, I love beans and rice but I didn't know the thing about vitamin C so I'll be adding onions to my food from now on.
Most people when they reach your level of wealth or fame will begin to lose their humanity, thinking it better that they don't share their thoughts on the world so they don't alienate parts of their viewerbase. You use your platform to say what you think people need to hear and I appreciate it a lot.
Thank you for all the videos you've made. If it wasn't for you, my culinary skills would begin and end at the air fryer.
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Thank you for the video, I love beans and rice but I didn't know the thing about vitamin C so I'll be adding onions to my food from now on.
Most people when they reach your level of wealth or fame will begin to lose their humanity, thinking it better that they don't share their thoughts on the world so they don't alienate parts of their viewerbase. You use your platform to say what you think people need to hear and I appreciate it a lot.
Thank you for all the videos you've made. If it wasn't for you, my culinary skills would begin and end at the air fryer.
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kevindavidson8281
Overall this is a great video that’s only gonna be more and more relevant once we realize most our food comes from countries the president is placing tariffs on but I’m kinda disappointed that you implied poverty being bad incentivizes hard work. Yes you at least agreed that the inequality is far beyond anything reasonable, but 1. Hard work doesn’t make you rich. It’s luck. 2. We don’t need bad conditions to incentivize creativity and effort and inventiveness. In fact we need a basic standard of living to even consider those things.
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Overall this is a great video that’s only gonna be more and more relevant once we realize most our food comes from countries the president is placing tariffs on but I’m kinda disappointed that you implied poverty being bad incentivizes hard work. Yes you at least agreed that the inequality is far beyond anything reasonable, but 1. Hard work doesn’t make you rich. It’s luck. 2. We don’t need bad conditions to incentivize creativity and effort and inventiveness. In fact we need a basic standard of living to even consider those things.
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zakosist
I kinda assumed everyone has a refrigerator at home, even if its not a very fancy one. Just as long as it works. But yes it is kinda expensive now that I think/look at it. Cost of electricity and water (both in the food and washing afterwards) need to be taken in account when deciding how economical it is. But that can be hard to calculate and prices are not even consistent. I think thats why people usually dont take it to account. If you want to cook cheaper, cook everything in one casserole, and use a lid, at least it could help a bit
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I kinda assumed everyone has a refrigerator at home, even if its not a very fancy one. Just as long as it works. But yes it is kinda expensive now that I think/look at it. Cost of electricity and water (both in the food and washing afterwards) need to be taken in account when deciding how economical it is. But that can be hard to calculate and prices are not even consistent. I think thats why people usually dont take it to account. If you want to cook cheaper, cook everything in one casserole, and use a lid, at least it could help a bit
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caeloMius
So here's the thing about rice. Day1: Eat rice over beans that is beans soup with rice as a croton. Day 2: Sweat more onion pepper and garlic in a pan with a bit oil, reheat your bean i said pot, add left over rice cook until not quite dry (arroz mamposteado) Day 3: beans over rice self explanatory. Day 5 Add frozen corn cilantro and more onions and peppers bean salad. 4 day 4 different meals all the same ingredients eh voila. If you truly having trouble getting your macros (calories) any calorie is a good calorie.
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So here's the thing about rice. Day1: Eat rice over beans that is beans soup with rice as a croton. Day 2: Sweat more onion pepper and garlic in a pan with a bit oil, reheat your bean i said pot, add left over rice cook until not quite dry (arroz mamposteado) Day 3: beans over rice self explanatory. Day 5 Add frozen corn cilantro and more onions and peppers bean salad. 4 day 4 different meals all the same ingredients eh voila. If you truly having trouble getting your macros (calories) any calorie is a good calorie.
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jurrich
No, having an economic system that forces people to work in order to eat better is an insanely backwards system, you should reward people for being productive, but not _demand_ productivity. Everyone should be baseline not so poor they can't afford decent nutrition on the daily. The you don't deserve things unless you work for them is completely backwards reasoning in a world that can literally afford to feed everyone quite well, just refuses to because people didn't work hard enough to deserve it.
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No, having an economic system that forces people to work in order to eat better is an insanely backwards system, you should reward people for being productive, but not _demand_ productivity. Everyone should be baseline not so poor they can't afford decent nutrition on the daily. The you don't deserve things unless you work for them is completely backwards reasoning in a world that can literally afford to feed everyone quite well, just refuses to because people didn't work hard enough to deserve it.
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mujajajajajaja
I really like your videos, but I have to strongly diagree with your point at 9: 04 on incentives and the economic system. When we are talking about this kind of distinction (fresh produce having more qualities) we are talking also about health, just because you are poor your health shouldn't be jeopardozed. You cannot be glad to live in a system like that.
Working hard or inventiveness be dammned.
PD: also working hard and getting better rewards in this system is highly doubious.
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I really like your videos, but I have to strongly diagree with your point at 9: 04 on incentives and the economic system. When we are talking about this kind of distinction (fresh produce having more qualities) we are talking also about health, just because you are poor your health shouldn't be jeopardozed. You cannot be glad to live in a system like that.
Working hard or inventiveness be dammned.
PD: also working hard and getting better rewards in this system is highly doubious.
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Anonymoose-2750
Btw another good poor version of this is Rice a Roni (can usually buy bulk for a $1. Get the Spanish Rice and add the cheapest canned diced tomatoes you can find can of black or pinto beans sour cream. It's cheap, filling, edible, and actually pretty healthy; rice-a-roni gets a bad rap but it's not that ultra processed and they throw in a bunch of enrichments to make it nutrientally complete. It's dirt cheap and you can basically eat for the day for a couple bucks.
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Btw another good poor version of this is Rice a Roni (can usually buy bulk for a $1. Get the Spanish Rice and add the cheapest canned diced tomatoes you can find can of black or pinto beans sour cream. It's cheap, filling, edible, and actually pretty healthy; rice-a-roni gets a bad rap but it's not that ultra processed and they throw in a bunch of enrichments to make it nutrientally complete. It's dirt cheap and you can basically eat for the day for a couple bucks.
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