Food expenses

Snuggle

Snuggle

Well-Known Member
So I noticed I was spending a significant amount of money on crappy airport food and have been searching around for food I can carry with me on a trip . A lot of microwaveable food is high in sodium, but I recently found this stuff (http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/ExecMacro/tastybite/home.d2w/report ) which seemed pretty healthy. As long as you are into asian vegetarian food it's a pretty good way to go. I did the math and I end up saving around $130 per month. I pack approximately 5 meals for a 4 day trip. I also pack a microwaveable container as they don't come with one.

I'm curious what everyone else brings with them to save some money and eat a little better.

Edit: If you end up buying them in bulk like I do, you get free shipping over $65.
 
I have a Backpacking cookbook packed away somewhere, lots of good ideas there.

Mountain House makes some excellent freeze dried meals that are really easy, just add hot water and let them sit.

The serving sizes are also pretty spot on, and the prices listed on the website are higher than I get these for locally.
 
To save money (and not kill myself with fast food) I've been making 3 peanut butter and honey sandwiches for each day I'm on the road. Along with that I bring a bunch of granola bars, canned fruit, and crackers. It gets old after a while but I've actually lost some weight (didn't really need to) and saved a bunch of money. Figure each meal at the airport is at least $7.
 
Screaming_Emu said:
To save money (and not kill myself with fast food) I've been making 3 peanut butter and honey sandwiches for each day I'm on the road.
Click to expand...
:yeahthat:

Throw in some strawberry jam, and you're on your way. I also used to pack protein bars for my breakfasts (clif builders -delicious stuff, especially the Chocolate Mint and the Chocolate flavors!!!)
 
Wheelsup had a great post here a couple years ago about what he packs and carries for trips to save money and eat better. It oughta be a sticky, honestly.

I am, however, too lazy to search for it.
 
I just did some more math and it's amazing what a diff this makes. If I do this until age 65 I save around $250,000 not counting any inflation. Wow that's a lot of money saved.
 
fender_jag said:
:yeahthat:

Throw in some strawberry jam, and you're on your way. I also used to pack protein bars for my breakfasts (clif builders -delicious stuff, especially the Chocolate Mint and the Chocolate flavors!!!)
Click to expand...

Clif bars are amazing! I love the peach and apple strudel ones. Yummm.:drool:
 
Buy a $5 flat iron steak (1 pound or so), cook and segment in 3's. then rice and potato's. All go into separate containers in the box and that'll hold me for a 3 day pretty easy (assuming late start early end). You can, of course, substitute chicken breasts (4.50 for 4) or pork. I find rice and potato's to be the best filler and just add some treats for a 4 day, i figure one day i'll be eating out.
 
So I guess the question is what is your total food expense for a 4 day trip?
With these meals I'm down to $17 - 18 dollars. I'm thinking if I throw in some PBJ I can get it down to $15.
 
I'll hold back from chiming in and telling you that I enjoyed my $30 New York strip that went on my company Amex this evening.
 
Well whenever I'm away from base for more than 24hrs, I get 35 bucks a day in Per Diem. I usually only spend about 15-20 bucks if that. That's eating a good free continental breakfast, a light lunch, and a nice dinner. I can get it down to 10 bucks a day if I'm flying into one of the major parcel hubs which have cafeterias. The food there is usually at a discount where I'd buy dinner and lunch for the next day. The rest of it is pure profit.

When I was flying scheduled stuff on the west coast, most of the layovers were company crew apartments. So I'd buy groceries and cook.
 
Snuggle said:
So I guess the question is what is your total food expense for a 4 day trip?
With these meals I'm down to $17 - 18 dollars. I'm thinking if I throw in some PBJ I can get it down to $15.
Click to expand...

15 sounds great to me. I would add though, that at some point you can't eat for free and 18 is FINE I would think

For four days I'd have to add a little extra
Steak - $5
Rice - $2.50 (I think with the bulk packages I usually buy the pilaf, 90sec rice is like 3.50ish...)
potato - 1.60 (for 2 potatoes)
Chicken - $1.12 (assuming one breast of a 4 pack at 4.50)
Other ingredients - $1.5 (overestimating here so spices/butter/oil/marinate/bbq sauce etc)

12-13 bucks

But keep in mind, nothing is gonna be cheaper than bread, deli meat, cheese, mustard.
 
That's a pretty good budget Joe. The only thing I ask is how do you keep the meat from going bad on a 4 day trip?
 
Snuggle said:
That's a pretty good budget Joe. The only thing I ask is how do you keep the meat from going bad on a 4 day trip?
Click to expand...

Well MEM is different than what ur doing. We are back every turn and theres abig refridge in the crew room. Honestly I've not had any trouble with the food spoiling but I to pack light going to Florida and Atlanta for just that reason, fear of it going green on me. Use ur best judgement, when all else fails steal from the breakfast bar.
 
Snuggle said:
That's a pretty good budget Joe. The only thing I ask is how do you keep the meat from going bad on a 4 day trip?
Click to expand...

Budwig Deli Meat. Its the ramen of lunch meat. They are super cheap and long lasting. I think you can pick up four packs for like $8 which should be plenty for 4 days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top