The Unofficial Kiwi Poorfag Resource Thread - share recipes and resources for your area (both government and personal) here

[toilet_rainbow]

They're lying because they want to make you feel bad for the poors so you'll do what you want, or because they themselves want to eat a drive-through hamburger. If you start helpfully penciling out the costs, they'll move the goalposts and talk about prep time or "spoons."

I witnessed this firsthand while working in the grocery store. Once had an older deathfat couple buy about $80 in ribs that were not on sale on top of a fuckton of the usual junk food, all while ranting to me about how it was cheaper to go to Chick Fil A every meal for their family of four vs this one dinner they were about to have. I just blinked and replied "k" because even with the way food prices have shot up that was pretty ridiculous.

If you want a cool drink that's not plain water, homemade iced tea is easy and very cheap to brew. You can even replace the black tea with different varieties like mint or earl grey, add different flavorings, etc to create your own unique brew.

There are different methods (including sunbrewing), but my preferred method is similar to this Natasha's Kitchen recipe.

Ingredients
8 cups (2 L) water
6 tea bags or 2 T (30g) loose leaves
1/3 c (40 g) granulated sugar (optional, or adjust to taste)

Directions
1) bring 4 cups water to a boil on stove, remove from heat
2) add tea bags or leaves and let steep for 10 minutes
3) remove tea bags or leaves, add and stir in sugar until it dissolves if using
4) add remaining water, let cool and chill. serve with lemon, mint, etc if desired

I will also often reuse the tea bags at least once while the original batch is cooling to stretch their use. I boil 2 cups of water before steeping bags for 8 minutes and finishing off with 2 more cups of water. I can get about 3/4 gallon this way for pennies per serving, even if I add sugar.

If some of your family members prefer black vs sweet, you can also choose to leave the tea black and create simple syrup for the others to add to their tea as desired. All you need is 1 cup (240 ml) water and 1 cup (120 g) granulated sugar. Combine and stir over low heat on the stove until sugar fully dissolves. Let cool and pour into squeeze bottle or jar. Then when you're ready to have tea, just squirt some syrup into your tea and stir before drinking.

 

[Spungus]

If you want a cool drink that's not plain water, homemade iced tea is easy and very cheap to brew. You can even replace the black tea with different varieties like mint or earl grey, add different flavorings, etc to create your own unique brew.

I've been doing this myself, but instead of straight sugar, adding a can of juice concentrate (I don't like the flavor of straight tea). So far the best one I've found is apple-raspberry, but apple by itself is fine. Also add a bit of lemon in any form to cut the tannin taste

 

[mold]

But thats not what theyre doing. Im the guy being hired by the middle and lower class to fix their stuff. I would get if it was tools or car parts or somesuch, but its just a bunch of crap. Im no different, Im throwing all this junk out in preparation for a move, all this stuff I paid money for that has no value.

Use excel or whatever spreadsheet software you can to plot out your monthly spending and it will really open your eyes to where you are getting fucked. Just knowing that goes a long way to fixing your finances and pinching pennies.

It's extremely easy to nickel and dime yourself into living paycheck to paycheck.

there's a set of personality traits that correlate with being rich and ime one of them is brutal realism about time and opportunity cost

a huge amount of the clutter in poorer people's houses is stuff from hobbies they don't have time for or have abandoned, clothes they think they're going to lose weight and fit into again, "heirlooms" they're keeping around to pass on to kids who don't want it

this is only a moderate correlation, there are definitely rich hoarders too

 

[56 others]

there's a set of personality traits that correlate with being rich and ime one of them is brutal realism about time and opportunity cost

a huge amount of the clutter in poorer people's houses is stuff from hobbies they don't have time for or have abandoned, clothes they think they're going to lose weight and fit into again, "heirlooms" they're keeping around to pass on to kids who don't want it

this is only a moderate correlation, there are definitely rich hoarders too

People with money also tend to be anal and lean towards OCD.

 

[annikaguts]

Does anyone have a good pepper jellly recipe? I don't plan on canning it
eta: or using any bell peppers.
tia

 

[YHWH's Strongest Soldier]

Use excel or whatever spreadsheet software you can to plot out your monthly spending and it will really open your eyes to where you are getting fucked. Just knowing that goes a long way to fixing your finances and pinching pennies.

Late response, but I recommend checking whether your bank already does this. Mine gives me a nice spreadsheet and bar/pie charts monthly (upon request) with recommendations where to cut spending based on the history of my expenses and income. Similarly, it reminds me of any subscriptions and asks if I want to cancel them. Mind you, this works best only if you usually use debit/credit cards.

 

[toilet_rainbow]

You know how people will search for recipes of how to use leftover turkey after Thanksgiving? Applying that to other foods/meals is a great way to make leftovers interesting and still save money since you'll either be using other things you have on hand or only have to buy an additional ingredient or two to transform it.

It's also a great way to exercise your creativity. Fried rice to use leftover rice and meat or veg is a classic, as is banana bread for ripe bananas or all sorts of bread based items for stale bread. Leftover mashed potatoes are great for things like topping cottage pie or making potato rolls or a quick potato soup.

Most recently I used leftover chicken adobo to make fried rice with. I had run out of soy sauce, but the leftover adobo sauce in my tupperware container that I was going to use anyway was enough to replace it. Even with one thigh chopped up, I managed to turn leftover rice and chicken into an additional three serving dish by adding a little oil, an egg, and frozen veggie mix.

 

[Dawdler]

You can save a lot by just cutting bread from your diet and replacing it with rice/potatoes. Pasta is still just processed grains and cooked potatoes (with skin) last a week if they are refrigerated. You can then bake taters fast and serve them with eggs, pan fried ham, burgers and so on.
The best exit out of powerty is to just find a job that pays well. No amount of penny pinching will create something from nothing.

Best is to also remove all the subscriptions (TV, Mags etc...)

 

[Diet Coke 4 Life]

Or, if you don't want to cut things from your diet, just make your bread at home - it's very easy to do, and recipes can be scaled down such that you can make mini loaves in a toaster oven if your living space is miniscule. I did this when doing long-term living in a tiny camper. It costs very little to make a basic loaf, and for just pennies more you can add things to spice it up and make your sandwiches or slice of bread with your meal a smidge more exciting.

 

[Spungus]

Or, if you don't want to cut things from your diet, just make your bread at home - it's very easy to do, and recipes can be scaled down such that you can make mini loaves in a toaster oven if your living space is miniscule. I did this when doing long-term living in a tiny camper. It costs very little to make a basic loaf, and for just pennies more you can add things to spice it up and make your sandwiches or slice of bread with your meal a smidge more exciting.

At least where I live, bread machines end up in thrift stores all the time due to people making a single loaf, having it not turn out right, then giving up and never trying again. It's probably my most used "gimmick appliance" by a long shot, and when you got a good recipe down, you can make perfect loaves for extremely cheap and with minimal effort. The dough function is also very nice for lazy people like me who live in cool climates who don't want to worry about finding a warm place for dough to rise.

 

[DickMain]

It's actually kind of hard to tell what's in there, sorry, but a very quick/poor thing you can throw together is just overnight oats. I like to layer fruit and a little cinnamon in mine (this one has raspberries and blackberries). Sometimes a little vanilla. Plain whole milk is what I soak mine in, but I'm sure there's all sorts of things you can use. I save old jars of jam and reuse them for these sort of things. They take minutes to put together, and you just set it/forget it. Pretty filling too. Pardon my cutting board, it's well-used.

 

[April the Not-So-Hotwife]

Kiwi’s. If you grew up poor, or are poor in general then you should know the wonders of poor people/white trash food. Growing up I was always made fun of because what mom made us for dinner. I didn’t understand it until I realize not many people in my class had to get creative to stretch a dollar.

Specifically casseroles.

I could give you pages full of recipes for casseroles that we have made over the years. Tuna Casserole, Dorito Casserole, Hashbrown Casserole, Poppyseed Chicken, you name it. Anything you can throw into a 13x9 pan that you can eat over the course of a week. It’s a lot more to make some of these meals in today’s economy with how prices are. But still some are filling and satisfying to make.

Let’s not forget they are not healthy by any means. Portion control is always key but when you pack on the cheese, especially fake cheese Josh would be disappointed but not surprised about you using, you’re not really cutting calories.

The best part about them though is that you can customize them to be literally anything you want them to be, flavor-wise.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Let’s not forget they are not healthy by any means. Portion control is always key but when you pack on the cheese, especially fake cheese Josh would be disappointed but not surprised about you using, you’re not really cutting calories.

The best part about them though is that you can customize them to be literally anything you want them to be, flavor-wise.

If you can customize them that means you can ease off the Calories.

 

[Ash's_Chainsaw_Hand]

Speaking of home brewed ice tea or other drinks, if you make sugar sweetened drinks you should use simple syrup. 1 cup water plus one cup sugar, bring to a simmer till the sugar dissolves and cool. Cheap and no grit

 

[April the Not-So-Hotwife]

If you can customize them that means you can ease off the Calories.

That is absolutely true. Thank you for saying that! Another thing is if you have a certain type of meat listed you can substitute that for any type of other meats that you enjoy. Hamburger for chicken and things like that.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

That is absolutely true. Thank you for saying that! Another thing is if you have a certain type of meat listed you can substitute that for any type of other meats that you enjoy. Hamburger for chicken and things like that.

I might have watched the Green Bean Casserole episode of a cooking show last night before bed and it looked quite healthy. Would love to make it if I didn't hate Green Beans.

 

[Diet Coke 4 Life]

I might have watched the Green Bean Casserole episode of a cooking show last night before bed and it looked quite healthy. Would love to make it if I didn't hate Green Beans.

It's not overly healthy, but it is very tasty. WRT the hatred of green beans, I have the same in my household, so we do squash casserole instead - it's also quite cheap when squash is in season and selling for about the price of dirt.

Spoiler: Squash Casserole recipe for those interested

Ingredients

• • 1½ lbs yellow squash cut into ¼" slices
  • 1 lb zucchini cut into ¼" slices
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup carrots, peeled and grated
  • 10.5 ounce can Cream of Chicken soup
  • 8 ounce container sour cream
  • 8 ounce can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
  • 1 box Stoffer's savory herb stuffing
  • ½ cup melted butter

Steps

1. Boil squash, zucchini and onion with 2 tsp salt in water (once water is boiling, boil for 5 minutes on medium-high heat). Once boiled, drain well and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir together carrots, cream of chicken soup, sour cream and water chestnuts. Once well mixed, fold in the squash mixture.
3. In separate bowl, mix together stuffing mix and melted butter.
4. Preheat oven to 350F (~175C).
5. Lightly grease a 9x13" (23x33 for metric folkx) casserole dish. Coat bottom of dish with 1/2 of the stuffing mix. Spoon squash mix into casserole dish, then top with remaining stuffing mix.
6. Bake casserole for 25 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil, then bake an additional 15 minutes.
7. Let stand 10 minutes to cool before serving.

If you don't use lower calorie substitutes, this serves 8 at about 325 calories per serving. Using light sour cream and light butter will reduce it to 250 calories per serving.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

this serves 8 at about 325 calories per serving.

325 Per Serving isn't absolutely terrible to be honest, it's about on par with my normal breakfast (2 eggs, 2 sausage links, a Cup of Coffee and a bite of cheese)

 

[pylosurf]

Thought this $20 Thanksgiving dinner was pretty impressive. It's not Norman Rockwell, but decent. SouthernFrugalMomma's whole channel is about eating cheap, and looks worthwhile.

 

[DickMain]

My measurements are just sort of 'vibe-based', so hopefully you're able to intuit, but barring the price of the beef itself, this is a cheap treat that usually gets me through a week.

~Meat & Taters~
1 pound Ground beef (I like fattier stuff for stews)
Kielbasa sausage
Potato gnocchi
~Veggies~ (you can just sort of pick whatever tbh but this is what I prefer)
Cremini mushrooms
Frozen 'Normandy mix' (I didn't throw it in this time, but I usually do)
I'm trying canned sweet potato this time around
~liquids~
Half a carton of beef stock (usually quite cheap, but if you want to splurge you can go for bone broth)
1 cup white wine (optional, but a cheap bottle can be used for a lots of different recipes if you're not straight up drinking it)
Barbecue sauce (I prefer the hot ones)
1 12oz can tomato paste
~Spices~
The sauce should have plenty of spices in it, but if you decide to cut it there's still plenty you can play around with on your own. I always like to throw in smoked paprika and cayenne.

If you're using an instantpot like me then make sure you grease the hell out of it before you throw anything in. I have a bad habit of forgetting to oil it up enough and wind up getting a burn warning each time, but it's easy enough to 'slow cook' it for like half an hour. Most of these ingredients I can find for quite cheap, and I usually get four or so days out of it.