

Ask YC: where to order cheap food (generic cereal etc..) online? - jotto

I looked at Amazon and Froogle, and most are more expensive than the grocery store. Amazon has free shipping for orders over $25 though. I want to eat cheap but fairly healthy - and I don't care about taste but no monkey chow please.
======
SwellJoe
Here's my "startup" diet:

Breakfast:

Steel cut oats - $.89/lb at Whole Foods in the bulk bins

Dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, pineapple, papaya, etc.) -
somewhere between $1.50/lb and $8/lb, either in bulk or pre-packaged in the
bulk section at Whole Foods

Walnuts or pecans - $6-$8/lb from the bulk bin at Whole Foods or Nob Hill

Brown sugar and butter - small enough quantity that it barely counts. Probably
$.25 each day.

Total price for breakfast: Probably a buck or two...I've never added it all
up. It's surprisingly filling and enjoyable. I sometimes skip lunch, if I know
my girlfriend will be home early, or if I'm meeting someone out for dinner.

Lunch:

Rice - cheap as free. I have a rice cooker ($20, or $179 for the "fuzzy logic"
one that I now have that can do brown rice), so it takes little human time.

Vegetables stir fried, or in a fried rice - Whatever is cheapest at the Nob
Hill or Milk Pail. The cheapest stuff is what is in season and tastes best and
is most healthy. So, that's what I buy. It's about $2 per day for lunch.

Cashews or tofu or eggs for protein (I'm vegetarian). About $.50 per day.

Sometimes, I'll make enough hummus and stack of flatbread for two or three
days worth of lunch. That's super cheap. About $1 per meal. One <$1 bag of
garbanzo beans is enough for a huge bowl of hummus, though the tahini and
spices can add to the price a bit.

Total lunch price: Probably about $3. Prep time about 15 minutes.

Dinner:

Girlfriend is home for dinner, so she determines that meal mostly. It's either
eat out, order a pizza, or eat various crappy carb-filled meals. Pasta is a
staple. Mostly still pretty cheap when we eat at home, even though a lot of it
comes from boxes.

Add a bag of apples or other fresh fruit and some various nuts from the bulk
bins for snacks, and you've got a balanced healthy days worth of food.

I tried ordering from Amazon, but ended up never having all of the stuff I
needed, anyway. You've gotta have milk for boxed mac and cheese. Eggs for a
lot of stuff. Fresh cheese for good sandwiches. Bread (and I like the good
stuff...crusty sour dough and such). It just doesn't allow one to build
complete meals. I have been known to "wing it" by picking up a few fresh items
from the asian market that's walking distance from here, and buying large
quantities of the dry goods every two or three weeks...in order to minimize
time spent shopping.

But, the fact is, that I'm less productive when I fall into a rut of being at
home all the time. Sometimes dramatically so. Getting out helps.

------
mrtron
No offense, but there can be benefits from going out.

Exercise, social interaction, some downtime...make a trip to a grocery store!

If you are being frugal, it is almost certainly better to shop around locally.

~~~
jotto
agreed of course, but there is an ever-present stigma on reddit and news.yc
about "nerds" never "getting out", which is important but lets not forget that
when you're doing a startup you make some sacrifices, sometimes this includes
some or all of the following: exercise, social interaction, spending money

~~~
mrtron
Absolutely, it is all about balance and what you are willing to sacrifice
though.

I will not sacrifice exercising for a startup; for me personally it is
counter-productive. The time spent exercising pays great dividends in my
energy levels throughout the week.

I will and have sacrificed spending money, some social interaction, and
various other things.

To each their own though, I just feel that grocery shopping is trivial, only
takes a few minutes, and has it's benefits. Not to mention you could listen to
a tech podcast or think about an algorithm while shopping/running into other
carts.

