If I’m short of money and have lots of time I would do more baking. When my husband and I were both unemployed I bought a huge bag of flour from Costco and make all kinds of stuff from scratch like cinnamon buns dirt cheap and my kids loved them for breakfast. The trick is to be gluten free and cheap. I’m not sure it’s doable but I now substitute bread for beans.
Gluten-free and cheap is not that hard; you can use corn tortillas or rice to go with your beans as your staples.
No corn also is bad. Same with potato. Not just gluten free, I guess I wasnt clear.
The debate about what gluten free really means is still raging, with arrested positions at both extreme. Scientists are alternating the positions but the consensus is that very few people are really gluten intolerant but many feel that skipping the industrial “gluten” products help them … feeling better. The are some studies that show that bread baked following the “new” recipes shared by aspiring “artisan bakers” are helping gluten sensitive people --whatever that is-- eat normal bread baked with wheat flour, salt, water, and either small doses of yeast or the new craze of “bread starter.” Living with a creature deeply involved in that “field” I can only say that is remarkable what can come out of giant bag of Costco flour. Not to mention the more expensive specialty flours.
Baking simple breads in a Dutch oven is also remarkably simple and not that time consuming in terms of actual labor. It is also remarkably forgiving considering that I could do it easily. A two pound bread would run well below one buck and last a person more than a week.
Re home-baked bread: it would only last a week if you added preservatives to the dough.
Re mercury content of tuna: canned tuna is also remarkably high in arsenic, which (if I understand it correctly) accumulates in the body and is thus subject to recommended lifetime caps by WHO and other organizations (in addition to shorter-term recommended limits). Eating tuna daily would send you over those recommended limits pretty quickly. The FDA market basket studies contain a wealth of information about this kind of stuff.
For anyone seriously interested in the subject, there is a wealth of information available on meeting nutritional needs on $5 a day /person. Here’s a good chart:
https://uhs.berkeley.edu/whatseatingyou/pdf/EatingWell5DollarsaDay.pdf
The daily calorie allowance is significantly higher than what an average woman would require, so this could be adjusted to meet the $30 limit. My own list would probably look pretty similar to this.
I just went to the grocery store.
I obviously don’t go to the cheapest grocery store, just the one in my neighborhood.
There is an outlet store a few miles away that I might try sometime, as long as you don’t have to buy it n bulk.
Dog food is really expensive, I buy Newman’s dry , and it is $21 for 7lbs.
When we had our lab, it was even more expensive as she got older, as she got picky, plus her thyroid medication, her pain reliever and her Cosequin.
But you gotta treat your pets right.
Three bananas for $1.02
Celery was 1.62 lb for smallest & $2.48 lb.
Onion $1.23
( I’m going to make egg salad & tuna sandwiches, already had tuna)
Dozen eggs on sale $2.99
Mayo was $4.79
I didn’t see any bread I liked on sale and since I don’t eat it often, I wanted something that made good sandwiches.
So $6.49 for a loaf of Rosemary bread.
( I could have bought it unsliced cheaper, but I don’t have a good knife)
two containers of broth ( for Risotto) $2.89 each on sale
I forgot Parmesan cheese, but I already have wine:)
Arborio rice $4.79 lb
Frozen peas $2.39
Peanut butter ( smallest jar of off brand was $3.49, I bought 2 lb jar of Adams) $7.39
Package of frozen breakfast sausage 12 oz $3.29
Whole chicken on sale under 5 lbs at $9.19
Now I have to go back out & get cheese and a lightbulb for the back porch which I forgot.
I buy less produce at the grocery in the summer, I already have lots of greens coming up, soon there will be blueberries, strawberries & raspberries.
I spent 150 today in the grocery store to feed 4 people. I bought chicken, chicken sausage, turkey, flank steak (really spendy BTW), fresh fruit, fresh veggies, milk, convenience snacks and enough food to feed everyone well for the week. I did however spend 10 on detergent, 18 on two bottles of contact solution, and 5 on tin foil, So I could feed everyone on what SNAP would provide my family if I were careful. Two things. SNAP should have a program to help people learn to cook. I assume, although I am not sure , that most people with kids who get SNAP get free/reduced lunch and or breakfast for the kids?
That menu is a sad reminder how unhealthy low cost eating could be. 
The menu calls for 4 slices of bread and 2 tortillas on day 7, for example, and very few fruits and veggies (even canned or frozen!) - that is 5 more pieces of pure carbs than an adult woman should eat and roughly 600 calories more than max allowable for an average sized, moderately active woman.
Interesting … I admittedly did not review the specifics very closely. Surprising that Berkeley’s nutritionists would come up with such an unbalanced diet, especially with respect to the carbs. I wonder if they were attempting to comply with outdated guidelines, ie the old pyramid that stressed carbs? Not sure.
Food prep also obviously take time, equipment and skill.
When you are perhaps working two jobs, &/or need to use public transportation, you are even more exhausted at the end of the day than the rest of us.
Remembering to soak dried beans the night before, isn’t as appealing as a cheap drive through.
Coupons also make you think you are saving money, but they are generally for new products/processed foods.
Post #90, I think the reason people get food stamp is because they don’t work at 2 jobs. Most likely. People who work long hours eat junk food.
Why do you say people who work long hours eat junk food? Really doesn’t have to be that way.
nottelling, you are right - I bet that menu was made based in the food pyramid and designed for an average male (hence the carbs and the 2500 calories).
Post #92, the emphasis is on long hours. Of course it doesn’t have to be that way but it always does. Take out food usually has more calories. Maybe I was slightly exaggerate about the term junk food. I don’t mean mcDonnalds only.
I think part of it is changing the mindset. I have experienced some long work hours, so I get it and understand it. Now, my work hours are much better, but with my other responsibilities, I usually don’t eat until 9 or 10. Part of eating healthier for me meant finding dinner veg and protein that I could cook and prep in under 10 minutes, and it’s doable!
Long hours don’t have to mean settling for takeout. Not to mention takeout is expensive, which is also a really strong reason I don’t order it.
My daughter has been very busy and I know she doesn’t have time to cook. I had to bring food to her to help her out.
Neither corn nor potato has the gluten that those with celiac disease have to avoid.
Or do you actually mean low carb? That may be harder to do cheap, but it does not seem impossible.
One of the problems with the diets that many of you are proposing is the emphasis on summer vegetables - leafy greens, tomatoes, etc. Root vegetables are a lot less expensive and have nutrients you’re not going to find in some of those expensive leafy greens. Buy beets instead of lettuce!
And, @BunsenBurner and others who are concerned about the dangers of eating tuna, you need to update your research! Do a Google search for “selenium tuna mercury” and see what you find. Fish oil is essential to a healthy diet, and albacore tuna (not light tuna!) is one of the best sources, and a heck of a lot less expensive than Alaskan salmon! Herring (which was on my menu several pages back) is an even better source, and sardines are a close second.
And it’s true, tuna isn’t cheap. And the tuna I buy (packed in no added water or oil) really isn’t cheap! But it’s probably better for you than that steak you just bought, @doschicos . . .
Albacore tuna is higher in mercury than most kinds of chunk light tuna, although the latter still have enough mercury to be cautious of consuming large amounts of.
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodborneillnesscontaminants/metals/ucm115644.htm
Canned wild Alaska salmon, which is much lower risk for mercury, is about the same price as canned chunk light tuna.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Alaskan-Pink-Salmon-14.75-Oz/10534321
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Chunk-Light-Tuna-In-Water-12-oz/19718007