Can you live off of ramen noodles?

On a budget? Every time you go to the grocery store, buy a few extra cans of something you like that's shelf stable. Really - every time. Put dates on the lid with a Sharpie indicating when the can was purchased so that you know what to eat first. A FIFO rotation will maximize your shelf life. Also put aside some water - you'll want some water up front (you decide on how long you want to set aside for) and a system to use for collecting and cleaning an external source of water when you run out. This is just as - if not more important than - food supplies.

When you get more involved, you can look at bulk purchases of processable or ready to eat foods, methods for storing and handling it, etc. But the best place to start is the simplest; extra canned goods.

This.

And actually take advantage of your local stores sales cycles. For example the BigY near me has a week each month where it sells meats buy one get two free. I only buy meat during this time and store it in the freezer. At some point a brand of pasta and pasta sauce are $1 per box/jar. Also look at things like generic chunk light tuna, which is usually $.70-.80 per can versus $2-2.50 for solid white.

Also actually use coupons or get a discount card if your store has one.

When you move to bulk long term storage join a Sam's club or BJs immediately.
 
On a budget? Every time you go to the grocery store, buy a few extra cans of something you like that's shelf stable. Really - every time. Put dates on the lid with a Sharpie indicating when the can was purchased so that you know what to eat first. A FIFO rotation will maximize your shelf life. Also put aside some water - you'll want some water up front (you decide on how long you want to set aside for) and a system to use for collecting and cleaning an external source of water when you run out. This is just as - if not more important than - food supplies.

When you get more involved, you can look at bulk purchases of processable or ready to eat foods, methods for storing and handling it, etc. But the best place to start is the simplest; extra canned goods.

This.

And actually take advantage of your local stores sales cycles. For example the BigY near me has a week each month where it sells meats buy one get two free. I only buy meat during this time and store it in the freezer. At some point a brand of pasta and pasta sauce are $1 per box/jar. Also look at things like generic chunk light tuna, which is usually $.70-.80 per can versus $2-2.50 for solid white.

Also actually use coupons or get a discount card if your store has one.

When you move to bulk long term storage join a Sam's club or BJs immediately.


Sage advice. I helped a friend out here start to prep. With about $60.00 and a trip to Wal Mart, we were able to get his first month of food, (for 2)... It's not that difficult once you get going. Many think: "Man, I don't have enough money to buy a pallet of Mountain House", so they just give up. If every single time you step into a store - even a convenience store, you buy even one item, it adds up quickly. Going to Wal Mart to buy razor blades and toothpaste? Stop by the food section and buy a small bag of rice, a small bag of pinto beans and a foil envelope of tuna. It will add less than 3-bucks to your bill and you have a start right there. Going to the 7/11 for gas, lottery ticket and a big gulp? Buy a couple Cliff Bars and toss them in the same bucket with your rice, beans and tuna, (buckets are a few bucks at Home Depot). Get the point? Before you know it, you'll be on your way. Jump in on an LDS trip and you'll accelerate rapidly....
 
This.

And actually take advantage of your local stores sales cycles. For example the BigY near me has a week each month where it sells meats buy one get two free. I only buy meat during this time and store it in the freezer. At some point a brand of pasta and pasta sauce are $1 per box/jar. Also look at things like generic chunk light tuna, which is usually $.70-.80 per can versus $2-2.50 for solid white.

Also actually use coupons or get a discount card if your store has one.

When you move to bulk long term storage join a Sam's club or BJs immediately.

Bingo. I have both a BJs and Costco membership and it pays for itself the first week. I personally think it's good to have both choices because they both have their strong points. BJs has wayy more toiletries, rice /beans /Protein bars and even their meat section could be larger than Costco. If I had to choose just one wholesale store, it'd be BJs. Their monthly sales catalog has some incredible deals. FTR, I'm not a big prepper but I've been lurking on SurvivalBoards for quite some time trying to get as much info as I can. Budget preps can be easily obtainable!
 
Definetly appreciate all the info every time I look into something I find myself reading into it got days and days these forums are incredible source of knowledge.
 
psha, millions of college students do it every year....

my personal favorite, Oriental flavor noodles with a dash of worchestershire sauce and some crushed red pepper flakes...
 
psha, millions of college students do it every year....

my personal favorite, Oriental flavor noodles with a dash of worchestershire sauce and some crushed red pepper flakes...

Yum. Heating up home grown red pepper flakes seems a lot hotter in Ramens. So good , but just make sure to drink plenty of water because of the high sodium content. Guilty pleasure for me!
 
Thin sliced beef added to beef ramen, not a bad ghetto pho.

But Ramen itself is junk.. gotta go to H-Mart and get the Asian approved shit.
 
I've eaten Ramen once daily for most of my life - I throw in a few egg whites and vegetables. The best packaged stuff IMO is the Shin Ramyun made by Nong Shim. I also like the Maruchan Ramen beef flavor because it's cheap and tasty, but we don't have it out here and it costs too much to order.
 
The Yakisoba ones are pretty good and the Nissin equivalent. I don't know if I could live off them for long but I could probably get away with it for a while.
 
On a budget? Every time you go to the grocery store, buy a few extra cans of something you like that's shelf stable. Really - every time. Put dates on the lid with a Sharpie indicating when the can was purchased so that you know what to eat first. A FIFO rotation will maximize your shelf life. Also put aside some water - you'll want some water up front (you decide on how long you want to set aside for) and a system to use for collecting and cleaning an external source of water when you run out. This is just as - if not more important than - food supplies.

When you get more involved, you can look at bulk purchases of processable or ready to eat foods, methods for storing and handling it, etc. But the best place to start is the simplest; extra canned goods.

This.
When I started, I stored basics canned goods (Especially anything with meat), water, pasta, basics like sugar, dry milk, flour, paper towels, toilet paper etc.
Then after about a year, you have a good list of what you eat in a year. And you can start supplimenting, like things I added were jars of Garlic, spices, ketchup, mustard, jelly (Homemade or store bought) Things I found myself using a lot of in a year.
I also got into canning and dehydrating which changes things quite a bit as now I can store many other things than I could before
I used this when I started, everyone modifies it as we don't all eat the same though.
Nice guide to start though :

http://www.alpharubicon.com/~stryder/beans.htm

This starts you off with just picking up a few extra things each month for the year and continues from there.
(On a side note, I DO store some ramen noodles...lol. But only a few cases as I don't eat them too too often)

I have kids now, both young, so formula and diapers get stockpiled, I also rotate in rice and dry beans and a ton of other things. The biggest things is to eat what you store and store what you eat. you don't want whole wheat in 5 gallon pails if you've never ground wheat before....

I'll see if I can grab some photos of my basic storage when I get out of work if you like.
 
This.

And actually take advantage of your local stores sales cycles. For example the BigY near me has a week each month where it sells meats buy one get two free. I only buy meat during this time and store it in the freezer. At some point a brand of pasta and pasta sauce are $1 per box/jar. Also look at things like generic chunk light tuna, which is usually $.70-.80 per can versus $2-2.50 for solid white.

Also actually use coupons or get a discount card if your store has one.

When you move to bulk long term storage join a Sam's club or BJs immediately.

Just wanted to say...really pay attention to the prices of these things on the buy 1 get 2 free sales...I thought it was a deal once so i bought a bunch of chicken and didn't think anything of it. Got home, looked at the receipt and then realized the price of the chicken was more than double per pound what it was the week before when it wasn't on sale, so those extra 2 weren't really "free".
 
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