Bean(s) (dishes) are cheap and filling.
Minced meat and peppers to go with it.
Or white fish.
All can be found reasonably cheap.

Poor people food like fatty hamburger and 99 mac n cheese. Chili dogs. Burritos. Eggs are good, cheap protein. Cereal n milk. Lunch meat n bread. Oatmeal is great and good for you, maybe add honey or cheap fruit.

As an aside. This is why a lot of poor people are overweight. Look at @KNOWITALL ‘s list. It’s accurate. Cheap and filling is carbs carbs carbs. Pastas and breads and potatoes and peanut butter. It’s sad and I live it too.

@annie
Food pantries here give everything except fruits, veggies and fresh meat. You get a pantry box of carbs and sodium, maybe milk. Its terrible. The holiday baskets at least have turkey or ham. Its sad.

A large potato, butter and some slices of liverwurst.

Vegetables are filling and will not spike your blood sugar like simple carbs.
Serving sizes for beans though, should be watched for excess carbs.
I’d supplement my diet by growing/canning what I could in pots on a balcony if I were living in a small space.
I am thinking of this from a Type 1 diabetic’s perspective.

Cheap and healthy ingredients:

- whole grain rice
– beans – if you can, buy dried beans and let them soak
– whole grain pasta
– frozen vegetables (green beans, cauliflower, peas…)
– potatoes
– actual oats – not the instant kind

You can also save a lot of money by making bread and other baked goods instead of buying them.

@Yellowdog I’m sorry you’re having such a hard time lately. I don’t think most answers here take into consideration your diabetes. You cannot eat a lot of carbs as a diabetic.

In moderation, beans are an excellent and cheap food, but they do have carbs. Potatoes are the same, but have even more carbs. I would suggest shopping for canned goods at the dollar store.

@KNOWITALL I go to my food pantry here. I am very lucky. While there are a lot of carbs, we also get a ton of produce. Actually as much as we can carry. And vouchers for 2 1 gallons of milk. So I shouldn’t complain. But when those things all run out it’s back to carb citty.

You might get some ideas from the Diabetes UK Budget Meal Planner

Buy bulk foods-I’m not sure about your area, but go to a place that sells the basics by weight. You can typically bring your own receptacles.

Dry beans
Brown rice or quinoa
Real oats, not instant
Potatoes

Try food banks in your area or shelters that serve meals. What about food stamps?

Seriously though, when I was growing up beans and rice were a staple, not just because of my culture but because it was cheap and filling.

Also, if you have any ethnic stores in your area, I notice many of them have very cheap staple foods.

Tattie hash, seriously…look it up.

This isn’t going to sound great, but it is. Ramen noodles, and added, cheap ingredients.

For example, start with two bags of the noodles, on stove top (choose your flavor.) Once it begins to boil, break a couple eggs, and drop them in. Stir thoroughly. You can add store brand cheese (it melts easily,) and scallions (green onions,) or even canned beans (without the juice,) raw onions, or any produce. Whatever you want.
Let it boil, for a few minutes. You can put pretty much anything in there.

The results will be two, or three big plates, of super cheap meals. I usually just ate my fill, from the pot, then, I could put it back on the stove the next day, and either reheat it, or add some more stuff to it…

Because of the variety of flavors of Ramey noodles, it can be something that you can get different “recipes” for, and change ingredients. I always throw in the eggs though.

A pack of Ramey noodles, is VERY cheap. A dozen eggs, is like $2–3 bucks. Scallions, are like $1. Canned beans, $1. You can even bye canned mixed veggies, for about $1.50.

It’s not something that you have to eat every day, but it can last a couple days, and save you money.

A bag of flour tortillas, is about $3. You can put beenie weenies in one of those, and it isn’t too bad. Beenie weenies, are also about a dollar.

Peanut butter and banana sandwiches, do the trick, just as well. Store brand bread, bananas, and store brand PB.

Grits, are great too.

Many restaurants, sell loaded mashed potatoes. Those are usually under $5.

If you have water nerebye, catch some fish. Or put out a crab trap.

Keep an eye out for coupons. It’s not necessarily healthy, but two Arby’s beef, and cheddars, for $5, isn’t that bad…

Do you have a back yard to grow your own garden vegetables?
Is there a Community Garden centre that sells fruits and vegetables much cheaper,especially in Harvest season?
As for income..do you qualify for disability Pension and also does the people that you acre for qualify for there own disabilty pension..check this out perhaps?

Chili is always good. You can make a pot big enough to feed two people for three meals for next to nothing. A pound of ground beef ($3), a couple cans of beans ($0.75 each), a couple cans of diced tomatoes or fresh tomatoes ($0.75 each), maybe a can of tomato sauce ($0.75), some hot sauce, peppers, salt, pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, etc. Most of these things, once they are bought, can go into many, many meals. You are under $10 for the pot and it can be eaten for a couple meals. And it can be diabetic friendly.
More importantly than what you eat is where you shop. We have a store called Aldis nearby and it can really stretch your food dollar. Most of their stuff is not name brand, but most of it is very good. But every grocery store has BOGO sales which can help.
There are many meals that are basically vegetarian, good for diabetic, and not too expensive to make. Example: I made a dish that required me to boil ravioli, though any small stuffed pasta would work. I used a mixture of 4 cheese and spinach/cheese ravioli. While it was boiling, I put a little olive oil and butter into a pan and got it hot. Added some fresh green beans I had chopped into pieces about an inch to 1.5 inches long and sauteed them until they were just starting to get tender. Added about two cloves of garlic and some grape tomatoes I had chopped in half. After a couple minutes of all this being on the heat, I drizzled a little balsamic vinegar over it and mixed it well. Pulled it off the heat, mixed it in a bowl with the drained ravioli, tossed it all together and served it. This fed 4 adults for a dinner, everyone had seconds, and there was a small amount left over. Again…a couple bucks for the beans and tomatoes and another couple bucks for the ravioli.

Good call. Chili, is another good cheap source, of food.

I was thinking chili too. Or buy a pound of ground meat and brown it and add spaghetti sauce and server over pasta.

Rice and beans would be another cheap dish.

Pork chops are cheap where I am. $4 for two good chops. Chicken is cheap too.

@rRedDeer Free range is not cheap here, at the store. Ten bucks for two breasts.

Now that IS cheap.
That usually costs thousands.

Potato omelette. Not sure if it’s good for diabetics.
Raw carrots for a snack.
Vegetable soup.
Chicken soup.

+1 for raw carrots. They’re cheap, healthy and filling.

A large baked potato with butter and sour cream.

@Yellowdog What would be a filling meal for someone who doesn’t have a lot of money?

A free meal at a charity soup kitchen.

Eating cheap and being mindful of your diabetes is hard.
Rice is cheap, but plays hell with your sugar numbers.
Try eggs. You can prepare them a million ways, and they aren’t expensive or high in carbs.

Two bean burritos from Taco Bell is a filling and nutritious meal, especially if you add a serving of a vegetable.

Oh, and if you’re diabetic beans are a perfect food for you. You’ll be able to add rice to your beans since the glycemic value of rice diminishes when eaten with beans.

I love this recipe I saw online for vegans: slice an Idaho potato into three pieces. Put in a frying pan with half a head of cabbage sliced, salt and pepper and a pat of butter. Put a lid on it and , stirring the cabbage occasionally, it all steams together and the cabbage that turns light brown is delicious.

@Aster That’s what we used to call “bubble and squeak”. It’s surprisingly tasty.

@flutherother Wasn’t bubble and squeak made with mashed leftover potatoes?

@janbb Yes, you’re right, it’s basically fried cabbage and potato. Very cheap, especially if it is leftovers.

@Aster The only person, before now, I’ve ever heard use the term ‘Idaho potato,’ was my aunt. I never knew exactly what she meant. What do you mean by an Idaho potato? I’ve never seen “Idaho Potatoes” in the market. I know potatoes are grown in Idaho but they grow many varieties.

They are a certain type of potato, just like sweet potatoes, baking potatoes, etc. They are sold as such in bags where I live, at Kroger and Sam’s Club.

@Yellowdog I shop at SamsClub and Publix. They have red, yellow, white, yukon gold, and russett potatoes. I have never seen a bag of “Idaho Potatoes.” However, I decided to see what Google had to say about this. Turns out Idaho believes that no other state can grow a russet potato equal to the russets grown in Idaho, and that is what is called an Idaho potato. I never, and I mean never, buy russets. They have that thick skin and dry crumbly meat. Well, now I know. I guess that my aunt bought russet potatoes. They are the cheapest. But really back then no one would have thought to pay over a dime a pound for “Idaho (russett) taters.” That didn’t change for many years. It still floors me what groceries cost, especially things like potatoes…..they are over $1/lb in a 5 lb. bag now.

@Sagacious “Idaho potatoes” are not a type of potato. It is a description for where they are grown. Usually they are like Russet potatoes grown in Idaho, but I have seen Yukon Golds, Red or White potatoes as well. Many of the bags of potatoes I have seen in my life actually say “Idaho potatoes” on the bag and almost all of the potatoes say they were grown in Idaho.

@seawulf575 I just said in the post right above yours that Idaho potatoes are nothing but russets that are grown in Idaho, the only variety I will not buy. That is from the Idaho website.

@Sagacious I use the term Idaho for any potato that is beige and thick skinned – never red potatoes. Yes, they’re russets but I don’t call them that.

It’s prettyfunny in light of the question that the last tree answers are spam.