I'll start by saying I am 18. I wouldn't necessarily say I moved out, more that my mom did (Lives at BF's for now but still considers this home). So now it's up to me to feed myself but I'm always welcome to go with my mom.

Anyway, I have a problem with buying food. My money disappears to quickly, sometimes $10 a day. My uncle, who is a great cook, tells me that I'm always buying instant stuff; pop it in the microwave/oven and it's done. And this is true.

So what I want to know is some ideas on what to buy. What's cheap? Not too hard to make? Tastes Good?

Noodles + Fryable vegetables.

what about some pasta and some nice tomato sauce (or ketchup if you are really low on money)or perhaps some rice with chicken?

You could buy some meat (anyone you want) that goes well with both rice, pasta and potatoes, that way you can make a basic "stew" and one of the three suggestions and then you can eat the "leftovers" next day with one of the other three suggestions. That way it´s both cheap and with a bit of variation...

Try also to be creative and use a lot of vegetables (it is good for your health and more fun than just potatoes)

Look up a recipe on the net and see if you have the money and if it seems easy to do.

Why not speak in the other thread "New to cooking" with the topic creator and see if he has some good sugestions?

I'm from the "New to cooking thread," and >>4 gives the same advice I would:

> Look up a recipe on the net and see if you have the money and if it seems easy to do.

This is what I've been doing, and it works great. Make sure all the ingredients are easy to get, and also make sure to read the directions carefully so you can plan ahead. Generally, I like to find recipes that are simple but have some sort of meat in them, since they fill you up and have good leftovers.

For example, if you buy some ground beef and cook it, maybe with some spices, you instantly have more than one potential meal. You could stick the meat in tortillas and cover with grated cheddar cheese, and eat with chips. Or, you could boil some noodles, heat some tomato sauce, add the beef and you have spaghetti. Put the leftover beef in the fridge, and you can heat it up again for another meal.

As >>3 said, pasta is your friend. Just boil whatever pasta you buy in water and heat up your favorite sauce. If you get tired of just noodles and tomato sauce, I recommend buying a pasta packet with some meat or cheese inside (like ravioli) and a little jar of pesto. When the pasta is done cooking, put the pasta and some pesto in a bowl and mix it around until it's all covered.

As for money-saving tips:

• I've discovered that the best thing you can do for lunches is buy a loaf of bread, lunch meat, and cheese. If you don't let the bread and meat go bad, you'll save a ton of money on lunches. I was really surprised how much money eating sandwiches for lunch almost every day has saved me in college.

• Another way to save money is never buy sodas or fancy drinks, just drink tap water. I highly recommend this; if you're addicted to sodas, it might be difficult at first, but trust me, you can learn to love water.

• Avoid buying too many snacks. A few are fine, but keep in mind that chips don't have much substance, and can be quite expensive when they add up.

Hope this helps!

Very nice tips you got there >>5.
>>1 Listen to what he says

2 cans of cream of mushroom soup + chicken breast. Fry chicken on pan until lightly brown, then put the chicken in another pan and dump cream of mushroom soup in and cover and cook until chicken is fully cooked = amazing creamy mushroom chicken.

Rice! Rice! Rice! It is inexpensive, it is nutritious, it is fast and easy to prepare, and there is no waste!

Make a pot of rice and pour a can of stew or vegetable soup into it for a quick easy hot supper, for example.

Pasta is only a little more expensive than rice, and preparing it is more complex.