Food Rationing,does anyone do this?

[missmich]

My friend says that I ration out my food and he teases me about it. Sometimes I get low on food and money so I tend to eat a little less,ok a lot less then I normally would. I'll also (quite often) water down my juice. Sometimes if I just have a small amount of milk left and want a full bowl of cereal I'll add a little water. I'll make a meal and then I'll only have a small portion,like maybe 1/2 of that and still be a little hungry but try and wait until the next meal to eat just my hunger doesn't take over. I do feel hungry,but I never feel weak or faint when I do this,so I don't think it's a health issue.

He says that I'm being cheap and should just use my CC for groceries. I do pull out the card when things get really bad,but if I still have food in my house that I can make a meal out of I want to hold off as long as I can. I owe so much money on my CC and don't want to have to pay any interest on any new charges.

Does anyone else ration out their food when things get low?

[kijip]

I grew up truly poor (not no vacations, lived in a small house poor but holes in the shoes, ate government rations and stood in line for stale bread and food pantries poor) so this is a big issue for me. For me it comes down to:

I would rather sit in a cold dark house than not eat enough food to feel satisfied between meals. Now I have never needed to make this choice and for that I am very grateful, but I would cut pretty much everything before I cut food in any way that left me, or more so my children even a teensy hungry right after meals. In fact, for my children this issue extends beyond having enough to having a decent variety. It makes me very happy that my son can choose between fruit options or can pick from a couple nice cheeses. It's really important to me.

Certainly, I can economize on food when needed including replacing a high priced item with a bit of filler but whatever we serve be that crab cakes or lentils and rice, we are fortunate enough that there is enough of it to sate all of us completely.

I don't think what you are doing is wrong...some things are sensible like watering down juice (which I do for health reasons). Pulling out the CC for food is not a habit to get into for sure. Would planning a menu help you (so you even things out a bit rather than going into emergency mode when funds get super low)? Eating with friends/potlucks/family/community events?

For me personally however, I simply must eat enough to not feel hungry after meals. I don't need to be stuffed, just able to not wish I had eaten more.

[Poddi]

I think that's perfectly fine if you're trying to lose some weight. If you're in the middle of normal range that's fine occasionally. I wouldn't recommend it if you're skinny.

You don't have to tell your friends you're rationing food. You can just tell them you want to fit into your size 4 pants again or something. Then you'd be admired instead of teased.

[missmich]

I grew up poor too for the most part. I do hate to be hungry! It can be quite painful as well in different ways. So I get mad at myself for not having what I need when it comes to food.

I don't meal plan,but it's a new goal that I have. I'm going to have a look at some of the meal planning threads here for some ideas and try and stock on some basics with my next check. I think meal planning will help me to save money and to explore new and exciting receipies! I'm vegetarian and I eat to much pasta and the same boring old stuff and don't have a lot variety. I think that contributed to me feeling like I was low in iron,something I need to have checked as soon as I get my medical card in the mail!

I think that this weekend I'll have to either borrow $20 from a friend or use the CC for groceries. I'm low on food/money this month b/c I quit my job and started a new one all in a span of 3 weeks and needed to pay rent as well. My first pay was really low b/c I missed the cut off day,but my next check will be much bigger

I wouldn't mind losing a few pounds at all The juice thing I do often,even when I can afford to buy 10 bottle of juice a week! LOL

[onlyzombiecat]

We don't have a CC.
We buy food for 2 weeks at a time and use what we have. Sometimes that means I eat a bit less or only drink water so dd can have the juice or milk if things are getting low.
I ration our food before we get low though. I don't mean going hungry but only consuming a certain amount daily. For instance if I buy fruit and someone eats all of it in one week then the next week is not going to be nutritionally balanced. Fruit is rationed to so many servings max per person per day. Same with milk. We're more free with oatmeal, beans or pasta.


I recommend meal planning if you aren't doing it already.
You might find the hillbilly housewife helpful for low cost ideas.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...22/ai_97724879

There are some foods that are inexpensive and very filling like beans or lentils. Soup is a good budget stretcher.

[UberMama]

Yes, I do that quite often. I never do it with the kids (like I do for myself, I mean) and DH never does it himself.

I never do it to the extent that I am starving feeling. But in doing this, I am learning that my portions can be smaller and I won't starve. So in a way it's a good thing.

I do limit the intake of milk, fruits, bread, etc. that the kids eat. Which I should do anyway, since too much of anything is never good. They are learning more and more to like water during snacks instead of watered down juice or milk.

We were hit hard two weeks ago with a large unexpected bill (garnishment) and DH is working about 20 hours per week vs his regular 40-50. I started rationing my own intake of food quite a bit and I'm down three lbs in two weeks. I won't complain about that, being I have a good thirty to lose!

[missmich]

I actually hate soup! LOL Well that isn't true,I will eat a nice thick soup that's filling and I have to eat from a cup and never,ever a bowl! I'm not sure why I can't eat from a bowl I did have a nice thick soup tonight from Knoor I think and really liked it. I found what seems to be a good receipe for a bean soup in another thread here and I'll try and make that within the next 2 weeks.

[mamamelia]

I'll also (quite often) water down my juice. Sometimes if I just have a small amount of milk left and want a full bowl of cereal I'll add a little water.

i do the above. i don't think there is anything wrong with that. too much sugar in the bloodstream is not good and juice isn't really essential to health - water is. juice is more of a luxury and luxuries i do not mind having in small bits.

sometimes we will buy a punnet of blueberries (the cheapest they get, even in season is $4 per punnet) and i won't touch it but rather save it for the kids to eat even though i love blueberries and crave them. i'll often eat the cheaper fruit (like a banana) and give them the fruit we can't afford too much of.

i would definitely advise against using your CC to pay for food.

[velochic]

We don't ration now, but I grew up poor, the youngest in a family with 4 kids, and we did back then (60's, 70's). I remember things like very watery can of soup divided among the 4 of us kids, me getting the least because I was smallest. To make it more filling, lots and lots of flavorless white bread. Sandwiches didn't have meat, but we ate a lot of hot dogs. We ate a lot of cheap peanut butter. No juice *at all*. I agree with my mom that juice is empty calories and that your money is better spent for one good piece of fruit for nutrition and just drinking water. My mom would never buy us juice (but then we'd eat hot dogs often, go figure!)

Since you're vegetarian (I'm assuming not vegan, then), my guess is that part of your hunger issues is not getting enough protein. Protein fills you up. Eggs can be a good filler for less money. Also, stirring beans into *everything* will help make food stretch. You can buy a big bag of beans for just a couple of dollars, cook up a large batch and then keep them in the fridge to add to whatever you happen to be eating. Pinto beans are cheap, and refried beans are easy to make. Homemade tortillas take a bit of effort, but are really inexpensive to make. Bean burrito can be very cheap and filling.

I guess what I'm saying is that based on your post, it sounds like you are eating processed prepared foods (cereal, juice) and rationing them instead of cooking from scratch, which is much less expensive and you have the ability to really stretch it. (I'm guessing based on your post... perhaps I'm completely wrong.) My mother cannot cook and she was faced with similar issues. Once I was out of college and really on a shoe string on my own (I was living in Moscow, Russia), I realized that by cooking from scratch, it helps to not have to go hungry.

Since we're in this mindset because of the economy, I'll mention that as a fan of old cookbooks, Depression-era cookbooks are *GREAT* for ideas on how to make your cooking stretch.

Good luck!

[Mama Dragon]

CC for groceries, unless you can pay it off before the cycle is over (or how ever interest is calculated) it the dumbest thing anyone can do. I'd go to a soup kitchen before putting food on credit.

[bwylde]

We don't ration, just eat "cheaper" food. I grew up food deprived and it had a lasting effect on me, negative effect.

[Ruthiegirl]

Yes and no.

We always have bean, rice and oats on hand. I buy them in 25-50 pound bags to get the best price. I can always make up oatmeal for breakfast and rice and beans for lunch and dinner.

But! I have gotten more careful with the toppings. We normally eat a lot of nuts and dried fruit with our oatmeal and I have been a bit more careful with those spendier foods. I now set a small bowl of fruit and nuts on the table to have with breakfast instead of bringing out the bag. A small pitcher of milk, rather than the half gallon.

I am buying less meat and dairy products. This means more rice and beans, less shredded chicken and sour cream in our burritos. A couple of veggies in our rice stirfries rather than a mountain of veggies and a salad.

Again, no one is going hungry and our foods bills have remained level.

I find (and this is just me) that when I deny myself good nutrition, I tend to get sick, cranky and resentful. I have gone hungry while the kids feasted and while I know they were happy with what they were eating, they were not happy with their depressed mom. I do not make a good martyr.

[amyamanda]

Well, this may not be the same thing you're talking about, but I do ration food in some ways.

If we run out of other snacks before the end of the month, we eat a lot of popcorn instead.

I keep my pantry stocked, but I ration our usage of what is in there. We have a freezer full of meat, but we're not eating meat every night.

If I run out of something, I do my best to make do until the end of the month. We creatively work around what we have. But if I've run out of carrots, I don't use up my freezer meat to make up for it, you know?

Sometimes the kids will get meat and DH and I will not have any, because we know the kids need it more than we do.

I have cheap filler backup options that are available when the main/interesting foods run out for the day or the month.

I buy a few things for special occasions (packaged tofu for soccer day, for example) and I won't let the kids eat them up during the rest of the week. My picky eater loves tofu, but the kind we buy is not cheap, and it's a convenience food we can't have every day.

End of the month, we eat a lot of peanut butter and eggs.

I might buy a case of corn chips on sale, but then only bring out two bags a week until they are gone.

I think of that as rationing. But that may not be what you meant.

[Norasmomma]

I personally would never use a CC to buy groceries unless it was a true emergency, I would feel guilty about it, unless it was on my one card that I pay in full every month.

I would however go about things differently than you are doing, not eating and rationing your food is not healthy and if you are wanting to become a mom someday you need to be healthy.

My DH and I have been totally broke before, and we have gone to our food bank in the past(that was a long time ago). I started a few years back stocking up and buying cases when our local store has case sales, that way I always have stuff to make spaghetti. Noodles are cheap and so is the sauce. We always have rice and beans, we used to make Indian tacos when we were broke a lot, fried bread and beans-they were so good. When we were really broke we didn't even have a credit card, so that was not an option. We made do with powder milk-which I highly recommend having-we just recently mixed it with a gallon of milk to stretch it for a few days.

There are better ways to go about things, but I *need* to eat otherwise I get dangerously cranky because of my low blood sugar and rationing food would be bad.

We are currently living out of my pantry.

[kijip]

Originally Posted by velochic

Since you're vegetarian (I'm assuming not vegan, then), my guess is that part of your hunger issues is not getting enough protein. Protein fills you up. Eggs can be a good filler for less money. Also, stirring beans into *everything* will help make food stretch. You can buy a big bag of beans for just a couple of dollars, cook up a large batch and then keep them in the fridge to add to whatever you happen to be eating. Pinto beans are cheap, and refried beans are easy to make. Homemade tortillas take a bit of effort, but are really inexpensive to make. Bean burrito can be very cheap and filling.

I guess what I'm saying is that based on your post, it sounds like you are eating processed prepared foods (cereal, juice) and rationing them instead of cooking from scratch, which is much less expensive and you have the ability to really stretch it. (I'm guessing based on your post... perhaps I'm completely wrong.) My mother cannot cook and she was faced with similar issues. Once I was out of college and really on a shoe string on my own (I was living in Moscow, Russia), I realized that by cooking from scratch, it helps to not have to go hungry.

I agree with this. When I have been on a tiny budget as an adult, what got me through while eating well was the scratch cooking I learned from my dad- spaghetti sauce in the crockpot, homemade baked goods, stews, curries etc. Plus things like oatmeal instead of boxed cereals. Eggs are a wonderful way to fill up for less money. Figuring out your food budget for the month and dividing by the number of days is a good way to make sure you don't get stuck at the end of the month with nothing in the cupboards. for example, I knew my freshman year of college that I had say $4 a day. Made it easier to plan what I was going to buy. We still do cook from scratch and it has many other benefits besides saving $$.

[Jannah6]

"I'll also (quite often) water down my juice. Sometimes if I just have a small amount of milk left and want a full bowl of cereal I'll add a little water."

:

But I don't do the food rationing. In the past If i didn't have enough I'd make sure the children were fed and DH was fed and just finish what the DC left on their plates. This was due to poor cooking planning though.

[melmel2849]

We ration, but not in the way you're talking about. We put up a lot of food in the summer and fall and butcher animals twice per year. We also buy large quantities of staples when they're on sale. We eat from the garden in season (no rationing then!), and when the fresh stuff is gone, I take inventory of my pantry and freezer. I make a graph for meat and a graph for everything else, with what we have (43 quarts of applesauce or 27 pounds of ground beef, for example) in the x axis and the number of weeks in the year in the y axis. I then ration out how much can be used per week, taking into account holidays and special occasions (ie, a leg of lamb needs to be available for easter). I got the idea from the Tightwad's Gazette, and its been really helpful for us. Like the author, I used to find that in March, we had no more onions but needed to eat spinach 4 times a week!

[slsurface]

Originally Posted by onlyzombiecat

We don't have a CC.
We buy food for 2 weeks at a time and use what we have. Sometimes that means I eat a bit less or only drink water so dd can have the juice or milk if things are getting low.
I ration our food before we get low though. I don't mean going hungry but only consuming a certain amount daily. For instance if I buy fruit and someone eats all of it in one week then the next week is not going to be nutritionally balanced. Fruit is rationed to so many servings max per person per day. Same with milk. We're more free with oatmeal, beans or pasta.

I recommend meal planning if you aren't doing it already.
You might find the hillbilly housewife helpful for low cost ideas.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...22/ai_97724879

There are some foods that are inexpensive and very filling like beans or lentils. Soup is a good budget stretcher.

I wouldn’t want to use CC for food either. Like many of the pp, I also grew up poor and ate a lot of government rations from the VA. But I’m a pragmatist and I don’t have any qualms about food rationing. I don’t let anyone go hungry, least of all my son, but I do try to stretch food as far as possible. I water down juice (mostly because I think it’s too sweet) and limit myself and ds to one glass a day – one quart will last us all week. Our milk is delivered once a week, so sometimes I might run low and need to ration or water it down a little. I also limit servings of fruit, fresh vegetables, cereal, and granola bars. When I cook homemade sweats, graham crackers, and bread, I ration servings to make them last as long as possible. I make my own yogurt – one batch has to last a week, so I dole out carefully. At dinner, I serve small servings first, but everyone is allowed seconds. I often skip seconds myself in order to save leftovers for lunch the next day. If there are enough leftovers, I divide them into three servings so that everyone has lunch for the next day. When I buy goods and meat in bulk on sale, I also ration these out and plan meals to make the products last as long as possible. I think rationing is a good strategy when money is tight, as long as no one feels hungry at the end of the day.

Personally, I don’t think there is anything wrong with eating less and learning the difference between being satisfied and full. I used to fast every Friday (as a meditation for all those people starving around the world, to help me be more grateful for what I have, and to help maintain a health body weight). I started this practice when I was studying yoga very intensively five years ago. I don’t fast any more mostly because it’s hard to concentrate in an office job with no food in my stomach.

[bobandjess99]

I'm not sure about your personal situation, but since you don't have any kids(no daycare to pay)...could you just work more? i mean, increasing income us just as valid a way to make ends meet as cutting spending...and if you are so close to the line of making it or not that you are literally rationing food....?
It's a personal choice of course, but I'd get a second (or third..) job before letting my family go hungry, if it was at all a possibility.

[T&D2005]

I was doing this so I will simply say "beware". I got into the habit of eating less or eating just enough so I wasn't starving or dizzy. DH and DS were always fed well and even had seconds. I sort of did this in secret- not as an eating disorder but because I knew we had big money troubles. My first priority was my son and he is super well fed. My 2nd was DH because I didn't want to hear his mouth about a lack of food or how he was still hungry so I sacrificed my portion to make everyone else happy.
One day a few weeks ago, I was undressing for a bath and DH came in. He was shocked at what was hiding under the clothes (we aren't that intimate and when we are, it's at night-lights off). He stood me in the mirror and pointed out my ribs you can count under my skin, my breasts were almost gone (they were always on the small size), my face was overall thinner and I was more bones than anything. I went from weighing 135 to 118 in just a matter of 2 months. DH thought I was losing weight from the stress of being unemployed and the stress of the household chores ect.. he had no idea what I was doing to save money. Again, it is not an eating disorder, I knew this was happening but we just didn't have the funds to change it. Anyway, DH was ticked off and felt so bad about what I was doing. Needless to say, he said he would rather be in cc debt than to see me wither away. Now, we put the "extra" groceries that don't fit within our budget on his cc.
Make sure you don't fall into a trap and habit of this. It gets so easy to "save" extra money if you just eat until you aren't dizzy. It was the idea that I could save an extra $3 a day if I didn't eat like everyone else~ that's almost $100 a month I was "saving". That is my view on it.