Once again I am broke and trying to make money last with my food, so I bought MREs again (more soon arriving in the mail).

I asked the first time if it was a stupid idea, most people said no, so I figured I'd do it again (higher price per unit compared to last time, $5.50 per MRE, but still a deal).

all 13 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [S] 11 points 1 week ago*

Creative use of the "Chicken chunks" entrée - this is the MRE included tortillas, government cheese, and main fried in a pan, with some eggs from the fridge :)

  • source
  • [+] 10 points 1 week ago (1 child)
  • [–] [S] 4 points 1 week ago

    I'm well aware of that fortunately, luckily I've been trying to use the meal parts as components in a dish rather than just eating them as is from the pouches whenever possible.

    It's like a prepper version of those chef boxes people order XD

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago (4 children)
  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    Also, how expired are they? I tried them once before, but it was expired enough that I didn't trust the meat for more than a taste.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] [S] 4 points 1 week ago

    Inspection date 12/2025, there's also a temperature sticker on the MRE box that can be used to verify that they were stored in proper conditions.

    Generally these are meant to last a decade under ideal conditions (and the area I live in means the suppliers I buy from are storing these in ideal conditions)

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] [S] 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

    Ebay. They are legal for civilians to purchase and possess but are illegal for service members to sell.

    From what little information I have from friends in the DOD, these are often resold by contractors since there's often unused stock at various bases/supply warehouses.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 4 points 6 days ago (4 children)

    How is this cheaper than just making food yourself?

  • source
  • hideshow 4 child comments
  • [–] [S] 5 points 6 days ago (3 children)

    I compared it against my grocery bill, this is about 50% cheaper by month compared to it. (I'm not particularly frivolous with grocery trips either).

    Granted, I live in a very high cost of living area.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 5 points 6 days ago (1 child)

    I mean item-for-item, have you compared the cost of MREs to making something equivalent from scratch?

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] [S] 3 points 6 days ago

    Yes. I usually shop for groceries to try to cover a certain amount of days before I have to shop again.

    5.50 a day (1 MRE) is a bit cheaper than the usual cost per meal if you averaged out the amount of groceries I use per day and used that as a divisor for the grocery bill.

    That being said, if I had enough money I would prefer cooking everything from scratch (and prior to this new broke stretch I was).

  • source
  • parent