Gaining weight on a budget

[JCavin]

Oatmeal or rice for carbs, maybe?

Eggs and milk.

Maybe lots of uncooked beans for protein. I wanna say you can buy a 10lb bag of pinto beans for around $10.00. That should last you a while.

[Paul Sousa]

Also, check the supermarkets for turkeys. Post-Thanksgiving they pretty much give them away. I bough an 18 pounder this week for $.47/lb.

[gzt]

A pocket calculator will save your life. Calculating calories per dollar is the way to go. Make it easy on yourself and just do it pre-tax, since most of these things will be taxed at the same rate.

Milk has been mentioned. It's often a loss leader at grocery stores. You can sometimes get 1000 cal/$. Use the milk prices as a standard to evaluate other purchases.
Look up calories/pound for a variety of raw meats. It varies considerably and it's not on the packaging. Calculate calories per dollar at the grocery store. Some things that look like a good deal aren't. Knowledge is power. Shop the sales. Meat is often a loss leader.
Peanut butter can be very economical. Buy in bulk, make sure it's one that you can stand. The cheap ones are sometimes too sugary.
Bread is sometimes economical. What else is economical if you're down for it: making your own bread. Flour is CHEAP.
Eggs: shop the sales. They're often a loss leader. Once, my store was selling at $.69/dozen. That is a better deal than milk.
Oils: you may overlook this, but sometimes they have great calorie/$ ratios. Yes, it's straight fat, but you need fuel if you want to gain weight.
Butter: see above, at least when on sale. It's worth calculating.

Remember: you can get McDonald's at around 400 cal/$. You can get milk at at least 800 cal/$. Evaluate your purchases by these yardsticks.

[gzt]

Oh, yeah, dry uncooked beans in bulk: great cost ratios.
Dry uncooked beans in like those 1# bags: pretty good.
Canned beans: not great, but not bad, usually not as good as ground beef.

Use your calculator.

[homerj742]

For Milk, see if you can find a local "Farmer's Market'. I recently found one (I live in NY). Milk is $2.09/gal and Eggs $0.69/dozen (eggs were on sale, they are now $1).

The farmer's market milk and eggs are fresher than what's available at the grocery store. The milk's exp date is one week longer, and the eggs exp date are about 3-4 weeks longer.

[knox]

If you're strictly talking calories peanut butter is right up there with milk. My 28oz. jar of PB has 4750 calories and cost $3.49.

Maybe we should add a Jar of Peanut Butter a Day (JOPAD) to the 70s big diet.

JOPAD + GOMAD = 70s Big

...although I have trouble eating more than a couple of sandwiches worth of PB, and can't even imagine eating an entire jar in a day.

[Paul Sousa]

Maybe we should add a Jar of Peanut Butter a Day (JOPAD) to the 70s big diet.

JOPAD + GOMAD = 70s Big

...although I have trouble eating more than a couple of sandwiches worth of PB, and can't even imagine eating an entire jar in a day.

That would get you 7150 cals and 278g protein. That would get you big.

[Cmanuel]

Supermarkets often sell manager's specials on cheaper cuts of beef. If you go late at night, you can often get $2/lb for ground chuck that is about to pass the expiration date. Go right home and cook that shit up into some chili.

This is what I do. Don't be scared of expiration dates. Whole cuts of beef are safe to eat in excess of the expiration date.

Saves me ~20 bucks every time i go to the grocery store.

[Tom Woodward]

I'm a cheap bastard but still need to eat a crap load to gain weight, and try to do it as cleanly as possible. My staples are the seemingly always on sale items at safeway....

18 pack egg cartons for 3.00
54oz coconut oil for 21.00 (amazon.com)
bone in pork loin for 1.00/lb
sweet potatoes at .79/lb
apples at .79/lb
oranges at .79/lb
gallon of whole milk 2.49 (if you buy two)

[Benthic]

Just got back from the grocery store. Scored a 3lb pork shoulder roast (Boston Butt) for $6.78. That's about 2500 calories and 240g of protein. Not too shabby.

Brian