Budget for fictional couple each making $15/hr.

[an]

[quote=flu]What the heck are you going to do with 30 lbs of cabbage if you aren’t running a restaurant. I mean, it’s not like you can keep it for a long time..

Meanwhile, 5lbs of oranges at Vons this week… “Sale price” $5….
http://weeklyspecials.vons.com/customer_Frame.jsp?drpStoreID=2119&showFlash=false

Lol….[/quote]Kim chi, lots of kim chi :-). It’ll last for a long while. You can also make cabbage soup, stir fry cabbage with your choice of protein. I love kim chi soup too.

[FlyerInHi]

I would agree that Asian eating is generally healthier and cheaper because it involves preparing food and not packaged items. It’s too much starch and refined flour for me. Asian food is also too salty (some call that flavorful, but I prefer flavor to come from the natural ingredients than from added salt/flavor).
Having said all that, I make my food Asian fusion and modify it for my healthy eating.

I love Zion’s market. I was told they own farms around the region, so the produce/fruit is actually farm to table. Some of it doesn’t look “beautiful” but it’s better for you because you’re not eating all the wax/pesticide.

I like to watch Pai’s Hot Kitchen on youtube. She has a channel to teach Thai cooking and she’s really chef who’s studied Cordon Bleu. I was told her cooking is very authentic. But I only use her general instructions and modify it.

For everyday cooking, I would make an Asian fusion dish and put it on a bed of salad (chipotle style with at least 3 times the salad) with a little brown rice, beans, lentils, an apple, etc…

[Coronita]

[quote=FlyerInHi]I would agree that Asian eating is generally healthier and cheaper because it involves preparing food and not packaged items. It’s too much starch and refined flour for me. Asian food is also too salty (some call that flavorful, but I prefer flavor to come from the natural ingredients than from added salt/flavor).
Having said all that, I make my food Asian fusion and modify it for my healthy eating.

I love Zion’s market. I was told they own farms around the region, so the produce/fruit is actually farm to table. Some of it doesn’t look “beautiful” but it’s better for you because you’re not eating all the wax/pesticide.

I like to watch Pai’s Hot Kitchen on youtube. She has a channel to teach Thai cooking and she’s really chef who’s studied Cordon Bleu. I was told her cooking is very authentic. But I only use her general instructions and modify it.

For everyday cooking, I would make an Asian fusion dish and put it on a bed of salad (chipotle style with at least 3 times the salad) with a little brown rice, beans, lentils, an apple, etc…[/quote]

Uh.. I wouldn’t call Kung Pao Chicken, Pot Stickers, Egg Rolls, Fried Rice, Peking Duck healthy… I wouldn’t call Korean BBQ “healthy” either…

Healthy choices (or unhealthy ones) can be found in pretty much any culture… Salad and baked potato would be healthy if it wasn’t for all that butter,cheese, for example.

[Anonymous]

[quote=AN]Holy molly, $2950/month mortgage? A 2 bedroom PITI + HOA in Mira Mesa can be had with a mortgage of ~$1400/month. You can get a condo in other part of San Diego for less than that. Spending $2950/month on mortgage is a luxury. Your complaints are like those who complained that they can’t afford to live in La Jolla Farms on their engineering income, so life must suck and you can’t afford to buy a home.[/quote]

$2900 was the number UCGal posted in her hypothetical budget. It’s her number, not mine. You should probably redirect your “Holy molly”

(Although I’m not familiar with St. Molly – is she the patron saint of spartan living?)

I doubt UCGal was suggesting that anyone put the whole $2900 toward housing, but she did sorta phrase it that way.

Nevertheless, the budget is lacking a lot of real-world items that do add up. I already mentioned healthcare costs, which represents the biggest risk, but anyone with kids know there are lots of “miscellaneous” costs that are hard to avoid. Thus far, our hypothetical savers are bringing their free Craigslist furniture home on the bus and apparently don’t even do laundry.

And I’m definitely not complaining. Although I did grow up in modest conditions, I already said that I’m quite grateful that I don’t have to make these sorts of budget choices any more.

[an]

[quote=harvey]
$2900 was the number UCGal posted in her hypothetical budget. It’s her number, not mine. You should probably redirect your “Holy molly”

(Although I’m not familiar with St. Molly – is she the patron saint of spartan living?)[/quote]I meant to say holy moly. She’s the patron saint of guacamole.

[quote=harvey]I doubt UCGal was suggesting that anyone put the whole $2900 toward housing, but she did sorta phrase it that way.

Nevertheless, the budget is lacking a lot of real-world items that do add up. I already mentioned healthcare costs, which represents the biggest risk, but anyone with kids know there are lots of “miscellaneous” costs that are hard to avoid. Thus far, our hypothetical savers are bringing their free Craigslist furniture home on the bus and apparently don’t even do laundry.

And I’m definitely not complaining. Although I did grow up in modest conditions, I already said that I’m quite grateful that I don’t have to make these sorts of budget choices any more.[/quote]I read her post and take it as, you’ll be saving $2900/month, not spending $2900/month in mortgage and have no saving.

I was responding purely to the line item of grocery. You seem to think it’s not possible and I’m just disproving that statement. As for the rest of UCGal’s budget, I’ll let her debate with you on that.

[spdrun]

Thus far, our hypothetical savers are bringing their free Craigslist furniture home on the bus and apparently don’t even do laundry.

I think a car was mentioned at $300/mo. Insurance (liability-only) = $50/mo. Rego/smog = $20/mo. Repairs/oil changes = $100/mo. Gas = $100/mo. Misc = $30/mo. So $300/mo for a paid-off car is more than generous.

[an]

If I read Covered CA correctly, a family of 4 making < $59,625 would only have to spend $196/month in healthcare. So, subtract that from the $2900 remaining from UCGal's budget and you still have ~$2700/month left. Even with the $300/month for a car (I think that's pretty generous), you still have ~$2400/month left for housing.

[CA renter]

[quote=AN][quote=flu]The first step to saving a lot of money off or your groceries is shopping at places like Zion Markets off of clairemont instead of places like Vons or Ralph’s at full price.

I think the last time I was there at Zion, I bought 3lbs of peaches for like 89 cents total, when Vons and Ralph’s were selling peaches for like $1.50 per pound…

And yes folks, they were USA peaches, not grown in China…

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jun/25/zion-market-san-diego-relocation-clairemont-mesa/%5B/quote%5D
Exactly. Here’s Zion’s sale for this week:
http://www.zionmarket.com/sale/store1.htm

You can get 4.4lb box of Korean grape for $7.99, 7lb of lobok for $0.99, 3lb of Fuji apple for $0.99, 4lb of Kabocha squash for $0.99, 2lb of persimmon for $0.99.

As for those who say, you can’t have steak and potato and live with that budget. Of course you can’t. That’s like saying I can’t afford a house in Carmel Valley while making $100k/year, so it’s impossible to buy a house. There are many ways to live with your budget. You just have to open your eyes and your mind.[/quote]

We don’t eat steak and potatoes except for once a month or two. Our standard fare is chicken, fish, turkey (ground), veggies, fruit, and dairy (this is expensive and “bad for you,” apparently, but we aren’t going to give up dairy or coffee). We not only try to stay away from potatoes as much as possible, but also try to keep other starches, like pasta/noodles, at a minimum. So, our diets are largely protein and produce. Admittedly, we do not nibble tenderly on a small portion of salad…I’ve been known to eat a whole Pyrex bowl full of salad filled with herbs, healthy lettuces, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, carrots, celery, olive oil, salt/pepper, and balsamic vinaigrette (a staple of mine). We are not dainty eaters, even though we eat mostly healthy foods. It’s not cheap.

We don’t have a Zion Market around here, unfortunately, and all of our grocery stores probably practice that “pricing discrimination” where people in nicer areas tend to get better food/produce for a higher price. Our local Henry’s used to be better priced, but since the merger/buyout/IPO, it seems to have gotten more expensive.

Thanks for the recipes, AN. I’m still striving to become more like you and UCGal as far as grocery shopping is concerned, even if I never get there completely.

[CDMA ENG]

[quote=flu]The first step to saving a lot of money off or your groceries is shopping at places like Zion Markets off of clairemont instead of places like Vons or Ralph’s at full price.

I think the last time I was there at Zion, I bought 3lbs of peaches for like 89 cents total, when Vons and Ralph’s were selling peaches for like $1.50 per pound…

And yes folks, they were USA peaches, not grown in China…

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jun/25/zion-market-san-diego-relocation-clairemont-mesa/%5B/quote%5D

Yeah and the food court is right on to… Real authentic stuff…

CE

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=flu]
Uh.. I wouldn’t call Kung Pao Chicken, Pot Stickers, Egg Rolls, Fried Rice, Peking Duck healthy… I wouldn’t call Korean BBQ “healthy” either…

Healthy choices (or unhealthy ones) can be found in pretty much any culture… Salad and baked potato would be healthy if it wasn’t for all that butter,cheese, for example.[/quote]

True.

When it comes to food, I think of calories first, then healthful content, then taste.

Asian food is generally less calorie dense. I like recipes from Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam. None of the stuff you mentioned.

Steamed fish with soy sauce and ginger is really easy to make.

Other more “flavorful” items such as Korean bulgogi and kimchi are good too because, as AN said, you eat less. Good on top of a big salad (not authentic, but that’s my modified version of bibimbap, or Korean chipotle).

I just have to feed myself and I like wild caught fish so that’s more expensive. But I can see being to make it on AN’s budget, with economies of scale (more people in the family).

I know I will get flamed for saying this, but a measure of a well-brought-up person is having a broad dietary repertoire. When you’re able to eat all kinds of stuff, it’s easier to save money and buy things on sale.

Zion’s market is awesome. They have all kinds of produce. One time I drove up to East Escondido past the wild animal park and saw Korean signs. Someone (a shop-keeper in the mini-mall/food court there) told me that they own farms around CA, and even in Mexico.

[an]

I did some digging on public assistance and if you’re a young couple with two kids each making $15/hr., it would make more sense you have one parent stay at home. If you do that and you contribute some of your income to a 401k to bring down your gross income a little bit, then you would be able to qualify for CalWorks, CalFresh, Medi-cal, and WIC. I think you’re much better off doing that than if you have two working parents.

[spdrun]

Not everyone wants to be dependent on the government.

[an]

[quote=spdrun]Not everyone wants to be dependent on the government.[/quote]Yep, just like not everyone wants to spend time with their kids.

[spdrun]

True. BTW, not being judgmental, but you have to take it into account that not everyone wants to be on WIC or Medicaid.

[an]

[quote=spdrun]True. BTW, not being judgmental, but you have to take it into account that not everyone wants to be on WIC or Medicaid.[/quote]Agree. The free money is there. It’s up to you whether you want to take it or not. You can always have both parents work @ $15/hr. Just saying you would come out ahead of you just have one parent stay at home.

[Author]

Posts