Eating Tons, Cheaper Than I Thought

[quote]gwchem wrote:
relativelyfunguy wrote:
what job only brings in 1200 a month for a grad student? unless it’s some 10/hour job or something.

I work as a research assistant in the chemistry department while I’m getting a Ph.D. The average stipend for this 60-90 hour a week job is about 20 grand. Add that to most schools being near or in large cities and things get pricey. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it’s hard.[/quote]

That’s partially why I did my p-chem grad work out in the corn and soybean fields. There’s little worth spending money on when you’re in redneck heaven a couple hours away from the nearest major city. LOL

You can just go buy some whole wheat pasta. It’s cheap as hell. Also, buy some brown rice and steam it yourself. Cheap again. Yogurt is a cheap carb source too but I see you already mentioned it. Shop at Costco!

[quote]Big Dan wrote:
relativelyfunguy wrote:
what job only brings in 1200 a month for a grad student? unless it’s some 10/hour job or something.

I make less than that. I am a graduate research assistant that makes 1100/month and that’s the top of the scale (900-1100/month). However, I’m a master’s student, and PhD students do make more (1100 to 1300/month).

It’s 20 hours of work per week, provides free tuition and medical insurance, and the research work overlaps with the student’s thesis. You also get paid to do research which is an incentive itself.

After tax, rent and utilities of $645/mo, car and insurance payments of $200/mo, I laugh at those who think $12 is a good deal for 3900 calories.[/quote]

Dude, it’s not like I don’t think I could eat cheaper if I ate worse foods, like a gallon of milk a day and other stuff like that, but I’m eating all the essential stuff necessary to build the perfect body and perfect health and all around balance and it comes outto only 12 bucks a day. THAT is pretty darn good.

[quote]Defender wrote:
relativelyfunguy wrote:
what job only brings in 1200 a month for a grad student? unless it’s some 10/hour job or something.

My teaching assistantship/research assistantship in grad school only paid me $1400/month.[/quote]

Wow, I made about 1600-1900 a month as a steelworker. Non-union in fact, but i did do a lot of overtime.

[quote]BarneyFife wrote:
Are aldi’s significantly cheaper on the food prices? [/quote]

Not sure if they’re all the same prices nationwide but here is what I pay.

dozen lg eggs-.59
42 oz tub of oats- 1.39
gallon milk-1.89
1 lb turkey chub-.79
1 lb bag salad-.79
24 oz cottage cheese-1.69

Just a tip. Superwalmart matches any and all prices. Even the ones you make up. :slight_smile:

[quote]relativelyfunguy wrote:

Of course, I do eat the most bland, cheap foods that one can find (2 dollar box of 30 serving oats, big jug of olive oil to drink from, eggs for super cheap, chicken, bulk broccoli store brand, unsalted cheap peanuts, canned tuna, malto, dextrose, whey protein, apple and banana, and lowfat yogurt).
[/quote]

I just got a visual of this guy walking around town with a gallon jug of olive oil and taking swigs of it throughout the day. Funny shit. Babes just love a guy that can handle his olive oil straight.

On a more productive note, its pretty crazy to see how much it costs to make your own meals for days straight as compared with the same calorie values of eating out.

the worst thing for me mentally about making/buying my own food is that with constnatly going to the store like every 3-5 days i feel like i’m spending so much money on food, cuz i’m always there and always spending it. only thing is i never realize that once all that bulk food gets spread out over tons of meals, it actually comes out to pretty cheap. much much cheaper than if i ate out, that’s for sure.

[quote]relativelyfunguy wrote:
what job only brings in 1200 a month for a grad student? unless it’s some 10/hour job or something.[/quote]

Better than what I made, I was bringing in 1000 a month in Las Vegas. Given that I barely worked 4 hours a week, it ended up being a decent hourly wage (around 60 an hour). The free tuition rocked too.

[quote]E-man wrote:
BarneyFife wrote:
Are aldi’s significantly cheaper on the food prices?

Not sure if they’re all the same prices nationwide but here is what I pay.

dozen lg eggs-.59
42 oz tub of oats- 1.39
gallon milk-1.89
1 lb turkey chub-.79
1 lb bag salad-.79
24 oz cottage cheese-1.69

Just a tip. Superwalmart matches any and all prices. Even the ones you make up. :slight_smile:
[/quote]

That’s really cheap. Where do you live?

[quote]Soco wrote:
relativelyfunguy wrote:
what job only brings in 1200 a month for a grad student? unless it’s some 10/hour job or something.

Better than what I made, I was bringing in 1000 a month in Las Vegas. Given that I barely worked 4 hours a week, it ended up being a decent hourly wage (around 60 an hour). The free tuition rocked too.[/quote]

Wait a minute since when is 60/hr “decent”…

I see you worked only 4 hours a week but 60 an hour is damn good. Heck you could have gotten another job on the side, like a man escort.

[quote]BluePfaltz wrote:
I actually talked about all of this yesterday, ironically. I have concluded that where I live, there is no real way to eat cheaply by any means. Bergen Co. NJ is well known for bieng pricey, but all the “good” food is exactly that, and even cheap is relative.

Whole Foods would be shopping place of choice, if I was rich. Next would be Wegmans. I would really love to see one of those where I live, they have more then wal-mart and better deals then Path-Mark (if you are familiar with that chain). Albertsons would outsell any minor chain supermarket, and when I lived in Florida, Publix was the go-to place. I have a feeling Amazon.com will soon be the cheapest bulk-rate grocery store for non-perishable and dry foods.

Of course, frozen chicken, fish and fresh foods cannot be replaced by online industry, as for us they tend to be the most and bulk of our spending and diet anyway. If anyone knows a way to cut down on any of these expenses (without sacaraficing quantity), I would greatly appreciate the advice.
[/quote]

I live in Fairfield County, CT, and it is just as expensive as Bergen County. You just have to find where the deals are.

A couple of towns away from me there are 3 Butcher shops within a 3 mile radius, they constantly compete with each other on prices. Occasionally, I will get Chicken Breast for $.99/lb (and I will buy a shitload then), but more often its $1.99/lb, still not bad.

For everything that doesn’t spoil go to Costco.

For vegetables and fruit, find a Farmer’s market (I also travel to Brooklyn often and stock up when I am there because it is so damn cheap).