Is there food inyour fridge right now? or do you eat out a lot?

@saralee1 (1983)
United States
June 25, 2007 2:22pm CST
I remember when my husband and I were going to school, we rarely kept groceries at home, because we just didn't have the money. We went a year and a half like that, and it was so embarrassing when his mother came by bus all the way from back east to see how we were doing. unfortunately, all we had were a few bags of microwave popcorn that had to last us till next paycheck. She was in a bad situation herself, and went to the store, and bought MORE popcorn, for herself!:( She finally left after about a week, because our diet was just too strange for her (as it was us) but I was wondering, what weird stuff have you had to eat, when you were broke? how long did you keep it up for?
6 people like this
26 responses
• United States
25 Jun 07
Luckily I have never been so broke that I had to go without food. When I was in college would be the closest. I lived in a dorm and I pretty much ate Easy Mac all the time. I went to the cafeteria every once and awhile. But sometimes you just can't get to the cafeteria so Easy Mac had to do it.
2 people like this
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
26 Jun 07
I love it when family comes to the rescue like a superhero or something. That makes my day.
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Jun 07
Our fridge (and freezer, and pantry) are all really full right now, because we just did the grocery shopping yesterday. My fiance hadn't eaten breakfast before we left the house, so he was really hungry while we were shopping, and wanted to buy just about everything he saw. I teased him later that when the apocalypse comes, at least we won't go hungry. We just have to eat all of the frozen and refrigerated stuff before we go into the pantry. :) Back when I was in college, I used to eat quite a bit of mac & cheese, as well as cheese sandwiches (cheddar cheese on white bread). I had to do that for one semester, and then I got a job so I would have more spending money for food!
• United States
26 Jun 07
There is a lot of food in our fridge right now. We have quite a bit of leftovers taking over shelf after shelf in our fridge. We usually only buy boxed items anyway that only take a few minutes to whip up. We're not big on buying fresh foods, I'm not exactly sure why that is, but that's true in this house.
1 person likes this
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
26 Jun 07
hmmm, well a lot of fresher foods might goto waste, whereas processed foods in boxes tend to last long thanks in part to preservatives maybe?
• Singapore
26 Jun 07
If you are talking about the perishables, then we normally only buy enough for the week. After all, why would we want the food to turn un-fresh? Fresh food always tastes better so we buy just enough. But of course, we have other breakfast or snack thingy lying around but those will not need the fridge.:P
1 person likes this
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
27 Jun 07
Well, I am actually talking about all foods, in general. Fresh veggies are always good,but there are different ways of storing them, like in the freezer, though they may not taste as good.
@ryanphil01 (4182)
• Philippines
25 Jun 07
right now our fridge has practically nothing inside except for some noodles. we are really in bad days as of the moment. we just add one piece of egg to one pack of noodles and that's it, enough for breakfast. we try to cook 'champorado' or a chocolate-flavored porridge for my grand daughter since she likes this much. later the day, we would just have to prepare boiled bananas which could satisfy our body needs. it's gonna be like this if we really have not enouih resources on hand. anyway, we are approaching the end of the month and it's gonna be pay day. hopefully we can buy enough groceries for the next few weeks.
1 person likes this
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
26 Jun 07
those are definitely some strange fixings I am not used to. Live anywhere near a wholesaler? I have found it more beneficial to buy in bulk, rather than by piece because it lasts longer, especially staple foods. regardless, I hope things go well for you in the future.
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
30 Jul 07
Well, it sounds like you do buy in bulk when you can, and that is good, because it helps you prepare for the months ahead. You might need to be a little creative when it comes to the money, which understandably, that is probably why you are on mylot! :)
• Philippines
26 Jun 07
thanks saralee for your concern. four more days to go and we could eat better foods. we really wanted to buy in bulk but can't be possible this time. we don't have much money left towards the end of this month as i mentioned.
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Jun 07
I always have something in my fridge. I have six kids and they make it hard but theres always milk bread and eggs. When we do run low on food and mony we eat a lot of sandwiches and ramen noodles. We makes ramen noodles for the kids and add cooked carrots,peas,and corn. They love it and it's cheap for when times get hard.
2 people like this
• United States
26 Jun 07
i have alot of stuff in my fridge. we stock up on spagetti for when we dont have much in the fridge
1 person likes this
• United States
26 Jun 07
I remember making pie crust for a snack when I was unexpectantly called in to work on a day that I usually had off. Now, I don't have to do things like that, but I can't eat a lot of things due to health reasons. So, I don't eat out because a lot of the food in restaurants make me sick due to all the sodium that most places have too much of.
@eaforeman6 (8979)
• United States
25 Jun 07
We always buy groceries and cook. We do eat out but we always keep food in the house. My hubby and I are both capable cooks and we like to cook....as a matter of fact , hes cooking for me now.....
1 person likes this
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
26 Jun 07
My husband keeps promising to make his famous pasta. it has been 4 years now, so feel blessed. LOL!
@kitkat1 (1227)
• Canada
26 Jun 07
I always try to keep the fridge full of healthy foods to eat as i have three children and eat healthy myself. I only use eating out as a once in a while treat it is also very hard to eat healthy when dining out and it is too expensive when you are on a budget. When we do go out to eat i try to make it our local sub shop as you can eat fairly healthy there and the kids enjoy being able to create their own sandwich and watch it being made for them.
1 person likes this
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
26 Jun 07
My husband and I use eating out a treat, usually to celebrate a new skill,a new job, getting a promotion, or something special which encourages us to be the very best people we can be,and then we are rewarded for it! There is a fantastic buffet in my city that serves steak and shrimp for a reasonable price,so needless to say, we work towards the achievements to enjoy the harvest! Steak is always a juicy reward.
@laltu86 (1249)
• India
25 Jun 07
I always have something or the other in my fridge as i cant go a single minute without munching as a matter of fact i am right now savouring on the left-over pizza :)
1 person likes this
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
26 Jun 07
left over pizza with Ranch dressing is the bomb! yummy
@jeanbug23 (992)
• Philippines
26 Jun 07
I always want the fridge to be full but i eat a lot especially my kids when they came home from school. I keep watch on anything missing out there. I never missed out on fruit cocktails, jellos, etc. It's nice to see your fridge or the pantry is full of stocks there, isn't it? lol
1 person likes this
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
26 Jun 07
I have so much food now, I am inviting the neighbors over to help me eat all of it! Now it seems my fridge is never empty!
@pallidyne (858)
• United States
25 Jun 07
Ah the poor days--- We did some really funky things in those days. There was one time I was so broke, that me and a roommate got this 5 pound bag of rice, then took sauce from the Taco Bell next door and used it to flavor the rice. These days I keep the fridge, freezer, and extra freezer full. We can cook something up anytime, and actually save a good deal in doing so.
1 person likes this
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
26 Jun 07
I used to use the ketchup packets from McDonalds, or another chain to make meatloaf. Unfortunately, my meatloaf back then was 75% bread, and 25% meat.
@FSCAries (881)
• United States
25 Jun 07
We went through rough times when my parents got divorced and we were pretty desperate ourselves. My mom joined this survey group that gave us different new "tester" cereals and we had to tell how if we liked them. That's pretty much all we ate for sometime. Now, it's Honey Bunches of Oats, and even though I didn't really care for it then, probably because that's all we had, but it's one of my faves now.
1 person likes this
@saralee1 (1983)
• United States
26 Jun 07
LOL! I have done food testers, plasma centers, food banks, emergency centers, etc in rough times. I am glad that is over now!
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
26 Jun 07
thank God that i never really go that broke until i don't have food to eat... that's the reason why i always work so hard to make sure that i have enough money to survive... i never ask God for more... i just want to be an ordinary person with sufficient money to survive and i am happy with it...
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Jun 07
we can save a bit of money if we'll have food stuffs in the fridge and we can cook immediately like rice, any meat and vegetables we can stir-up. noodles and egg are always a great survival food that we can stock as well.
1 person likes this
@aweins (4199)
• India
26 Jun 07
Yaa, i am having and we alwayz have something atleast , we never broke down in such a manner, by GOD'S grace. and the advantage was that i was with parents so, i do not had to shoulder everything for my survival on my own. now after marriage , me and my hubby are living together, i never got the chance to stay all on my own shouldering everything on my own. i was always helped by someone or the other.
1 person likes this
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
26 Jun 07
My fridge is always full or near full regardless whether we eat in or out. They will be laden mostly with fruits and spreads with some fattening snacks. The freezer will contain fresh and leftovers, chilled to be heated for immediate consumption when there is a need.
1 person likes this
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
25 Jun 07
I really don't like to eat out very much. I do have a kinda empty refrigerator right now as I had company and most of what I bought was to serve them. When I was married and we didn't have any money I made some potato soup and just kept adding milk to make it stretch until pay day. We had other times that we were lucky to have a milkman stopping by and we had to pay the bill once a month. That was truly the worst we had.
1 person likes this
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
25 Jun 07
Not cooking at Home and not knowing how to cook, is one of the growing problems of our society. Obesity is becoming a way of life. Eating out is not healthy. Teach your kids how to cook, for God's sake. If you don't know how, get some info and teach your self! I Love to cook! My fridge is always filled with fresh vegetables, cheese and Milk. Fresh fruit is an important food source. Read the labels on every food item you buy. I ate a Cobra snake when we were touring Vietnam. There was some talk about eating dogmeat too, but we let that one die uneaten. WE saw rats and wild birds eggs for sale in the market. So much for eating Out!