$13.30 for three days of food
Replies
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JosetteGetsFit wrote: »Not a problem, hunt, fish and grow your own food.
I'd be willing to bet that's not allowed by the assignment either.
I'd be willing to bet you are right! I would do it anyway.
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google live below the line - i did it for this organization and there should be lots of idea, potatoes/rice and cheap protein are helpful. i think i did oatmeal as well.1
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definitely rice and beans. and eggs.
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I think this is a pretty awesome project.1
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sarahaflood wrote: »Hi everyone!
I'm a college student and I am currently in a class that addresses all different types of inequality. For an upcoming project, I have $13.30 (around $4.43 per day) to use to eat for three days (mirrors average assistance in my area).
I cannot use any food I already have, I cannot eat any free food (from friends, promotions, etc.), and I cannot buy from any restaurants. Unfortunately, I am also not allowed to buy in bulk (even though it would equal out to the correct cost for day).
For this time period, I will not be too worried about my calorie count or my particular fitness/health goals. I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas or sample meal plans for me?
Thank you in advance!
Does not using any food you already have include staples like salt? Eep. A 26 oz jug of store brand salt is $0.79 at a store near me and it would seem unfair to have to spend 6% of your food budget on an item that will last for months.
Especially if so, I concur with the suggestion of pooling resources with other students.
What exactly is meant buy not buying in bulk? A five pound bag of rice? A 25# bag of rice? Purpose of this prohibition?2 -
Actually, I think the intent of the exercise is to prove that it can't be done.VintageFeline wrote: »kommodevaran wrote: »To figure that out yourself... that's sort of the idea of the project, isn't it?
Yes. Isn't this an exercise in displaying how resourceful you have to be in order to manage such a small budget? I mean, sure I could point you in the direction of all sorts of resources and tell you how I have kept going on very little but I feel you need to work this out for yourself. Your fellow students and probably you will make some bad decisions and will be used in the analysis when the project ends.
Grown up teachery speech over.
I've lived on a similar budget. It can be done. Rice, beans, eggs, marked down produce.
I don't think the point is to show that "it can't be done". I believe it is to show how difficult it can be to feed yourself and receive truly balanced nutrition in poverty. For most people who say it can be done and there's no point, you probably have better access to resources and more education than someone living in poverty.
And whoever said whats the point of having empathy? You realize there are people who still work full time and struggle to feed their family? Not everyone on government assisstance is a leech. they are human beings. It would do the human race as a whole a bit of good to practice more empathy.
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However some thought should be given to the fact that it is EASY to make some of these choices for three days.
You can eat 12 packs of ramen and a family bag of 2kg or more of mixed frozen veggies and be fine for 3 days and even have money left over.
Can you do that for six months? Or a year?
ETA: add a ~730ml can of tomatoes and you're not only hitting just over 2k Cal a day; but, you're also meeting the RDAs for everything except calcium. (Sodium is very high and saturated fat is relatively high)
But the long term question remains...5 -
kshama2001 wrote: »sarahaflood wrote: »Hi everyone!
I'm a college student and I am currently in a class that addresses all different types of inequality. For an upcoming project, I have $13.30 (around $4.43 per day) to use to eat for three days (mirrors average assistance in my area).
I cannot use any food I already have, I cannot eat any free food (from friends, promotions, etc.), and I cannot buy from any restaurants. Unfortunately, I am also not allowed to buy in bulk (even though it would equal out to the correct cost for day).
For this time period, I will not be too worried about my calorie count or my particular fitness/health goals. I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas or sample meal plans for me?
Thank you in advance!
Does not using any food you already have include staples like salt? Eep. A 26 oz jug of store brand salt is $0.79 at a store near me and it would seem unfair to have to spend 6% of your food budget on an item that will last for months.
Especially if so, I concur with the suggestion of pooling resources with other students.
What exactly is meant buy not buying in bulk? A five pound bag of rice? A 25# bag of rice? Purpose of this prohibition?
My interpretation of not buying in bulk was not being able to go to a bulk food store and buy, say, a cup of oatmeal or a quarter pound of rice. Not being able to buy a 25# bag of rice makes no sense in the context of a 3-day experiment--who can eat that much rice in 3 days!?!?!?2 -
In my city, there is a pretty elitist university, and every year they do a sleep on the streets thing, which is similar to this project. I have mixed feelings about it - it is unlikely that if one graduates from this school that one would really anticipate having to live on the streets, so its a pretty artificial construct. I think its kind of a shallow exercise, as one or two nights in good weather with a bunch of friends on the street with a full belly isnt going to approximate the experience of real homeless people by a long shot. So I sort of think, whats the point? To really see the disparity between the haves (the students) and the have nots (the homeless) takes a bit more than this, in my opinion. I am not saying its TOTALLY stupid, because at least students will think about what it means to sleep on pavement, but I question that it will really and genuinely impact it will them sufficiently to give them a real taste of social (in)justice.4
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and my God people another thing...if you don't want to help, don't help! Everyone on here debating about what the assignment meant, what the professor wants...really? If you think its BS move on! Thats for the OP to worry about not you! Seriously! Jesus.8
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I got a bunch of those tuna packets for 99 cents each. Eggs, canned beans, rice, frozen vegetables, etc. Shop around. Lots of cheap (and healthy) ways to eat. You just have to be open to it and willing to look. I'm such a cheapskate that I'm used to doing this. This would be an easy challenge for me.2
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sarahaflood wrote: »Thank you so much to everyone who has been helpful!!
I'm sorry to those who I have offended and to those you believe that I am cheating. I understand your perspective and I will double check with my professor. Though, I do believe speaking to you all would be the same as reaching out to those in my real life for advice.
I guess the the question I'd have before any advice is given is .... do you have to ability to store and cook food for yourself, or are you living in a dorm where the only cooking appliance you have is perhaps a microwave and coffee pot?
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Mac N Cheese, if you have an Aldi near by check that out. But include the quarter for the cart in costs. These are stupid experiments though can be eye opening for all of 5 minutes for most college students who spend more than this at McD's.0
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Assuming it was me, I would go to Wal Mart and. Buy 2 pounds of dried beans for about $3. I would buy a pound or so of ham for about $4. Buy an onion let's say $1 there. A dozen eggs for $2. Should last you pretty close to 3 days with $3 left over for a spice or hot sauce
Cook the ham, beans, and onion into a soup. Black pepper, bay leaves, and hot sauce would be a bonus. Eggs for breakfast. You could eat 4 a day2 -
MyLovesMyLife wrote: »Mac N Cheese, if you have an Aldi near by check that out. But include the quarter for the cart in costs. These are stupid experiments though can be eye opening for all of 5 minutes for most college students who spend more than this at McD's.
You get the quarter back if you return the cart....
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MyLovesMyLife wrote: »Mac N Cheese, if you have an Aldi near by check that out. But include the quarter for the cart in costs. These are stupid experiments though can be eye opening for all of 5 minutes for most college students who spend more than this at McD's.
You get the quarter back if you return the cart....
haha. I've never been to Aldis, but this is a great idea on so many levels. 0 -
mburgess458 wrote: »Rotisserie chicken for sure, you can stretch that to feed you for 4+ meals! Shred all of the meat from the bird and then boil down that bones/carcass and make a soup base for another meal. Get a small bag of beans and rice and you can eat beans and rice w/chicken and then make a bean, rice, chicken soup for another meal.
Awful advice. You're trying to stretch your money, don't buy something someone else cooked... do you think they do that for free? It's going to be much cheaper to buy a chicken (or chicken pieces) and cook it yourself.
Precooked food is for convenience. Great if you have more money than time, not a good idea if you're super poor.
How so? I can get an entire chicken for $5 and it's already cooked (saves me $$ on my electricity bill) and seasoned. Not sure your logic is correct here.5 -
I always find it interesting when folks recommend Aldi's - I finally went to the one near me - its on my way, just off the highway...ultimately, I was disappointed - I didn't see anything there that I couldn't get for the same price or cheaper at either Giant or Shoppers - and both of those have a much wider range of food8
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cmriverside wrote: »Lots of great suggestions! I posted yesterday that I eat on $120 a month and people were surprised. I live near a big city and yet I shop at the same Krogers most of the time because they have great sales/specials. It's not that hard! You've got this OP, I do it every month.
I think in real life if I were on assistance I would ask these questions here. I don't see what all the knickers in a twist is about.
Oh. It's MFP.
@cmriverside, I'm curious what you typically eat/buy. For two people, we spend about $100/week on groceries shopping at Kroger. Admittedly this is buying stuff that would be luxuries if we were on a tighter budget (steak, fresh berries). I buy store brands for about half of it, the other half being items where there isn't a difference in price due to sales or no generic equivalent, and buy regular, non-organic produce.1 -
deannalfisher wrote: »I always find it interesting when folks recommend Aldi's - I finally went to the one near me - its on my way, just off the highway...ultimately, I was disappointed - I didn't see anything there that I couldn't get for the same price or cheaper at either Giant or Shoppers - and both of those have a much wider range of food
Depends on where you live.1 -
Yeah, you have to know which ones are cost effective and which ones aren't.mburgess458 wrote: »Rotisserie chicken for sure, you can stretch that to feed you for 4+ meals! Shred all of the meat from the bird and then boil down that bones/carcass and make a soup base for another meal. Get a small bag of beans and rice and you can eat beans and rice w/chicken and then make a bean, rice, chicken soup for another meal.
Awful advice. You're trying to stretch your money, don't buy something someone else cooked... do you think they do that for free? It's going to be much cheaper to buy a chicken (or chicken pieces) and cook it yourself.
Precooked food is for convenience. Great if you have more money than time, not a good idea if you're super poor.
How so? I can get an entire chicken for $5 and it's already cooked (saves me $$ on my electricity bill) and seasoned. Not sure your logic is correct here.
But I don't think "hot" food can be bought with SNAP.
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The_Enginerd wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »Lots of great suggestions! I posted yesterday that I eat on $120 a month and people were surprised. I live near a big city and yet I shop at the same Krogers most of the time because they have great sales/specials. It's not that hard! You've got this OP, I do it every month.
I think in real life if I were on assistance I would ask these questions here. I don't see what all the knickers in a twist is about.
Oh. It's MFP.
@cmriverside, I'm curious what you typically eat/buy. For two people, we spend about $100/week on groceries shopping at Kroger. Admittedly this is buying stuff that would be luxuries if we were on a tighter budget (steak, fresh berries). I buy store brands for about half of it, the other half being items where there isn't a difference in price due to sales or no generic equivalent, and buy regular, non-organic produce.
Ya know, I get asked that every time I say this.
If you look at the other answers in this thread already, you will see how to do it.
I buy just for myself. I eat two meals a day, 1500-1800 calorie usually. I use beans nearly every day in some way. The rest of it is just not buying stuff I know I won't use.
I'm not counting dry goods or pet food, just food for me.
Spices other than salt and pepper and cholula I buy once every year or five years depending, so I'm not counting them either.
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The meals would be boring, but doable. This includes foods that I eat on a regular basis.
$2.50 Canister of oatmeal
$2.00 Bread loaf
$2.00 Peanut butter
$1.25 3 apples
$2.00 Half gallon milk
$1.00 bag of frozen veggie
$2.50 3/4 lb sliced lunch meat
Meals:
Breakfast: Oatmeal w/milk and apple or PB
Lunch: PB sandwich w/apple and milk
Dinner: Dry sandwich w/veggies and milk1 -
Another thing to remember when you say to shop around. Often your transportation isn't dependable and you have to go wherever you can get.4
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deannalfisher wrote: »I always find it interesting when folks recommend Aldi's - I finally went to the one near me - its on my way, just off the highway...ultimately, I was disappointed - I didn't see anything there that I couldn't get for the same price or cheaper at either Giant or Shoppers - and both of those have a much wider range of food
True- not necessarily the cheapest on staples. They are excellent for cheap-priced gourmet junk food (chocolate, cookies, etc) & cheese, but I cut a lot of that stuff out of my diet for lack of self control.0 -
Chef_Barbell wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »I always find it interesting when folks recommend Aldi's - I finally went to the one near me - its on my way, just off the highway...ultimately, I was disappointed - I didn't see anything there that I couldn't get for the same price or cheaper at either Giant or Shoppers - and both of those have a much wider range of food
Depends on where you live.
possibly they change depending on location - I'm in Maryland, south of DC, so more affluent than some places - which is kind of why I expected it to be cheaper than other places...
plus, I'm still irked that the bread I got from them was moldy when I opened it a day later - that just permanently turned me off2 -
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deannalfisher wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »I always find it interesting when folks recommend Aldi's - I finally went to the one near me - its on my way, just off the highway...ultimately, I was disappointed - I didn't see anything there that I couldn't get for the same price or cheaper at either Giant or Shoppers - and both of those have a much wider range of food
Depends on where you live.
possibly they change depending on location - I'm in Maryland, south of DC, so more affluent than some places - which is kind of why I expected it to be cheaper than other places...
plus, I'm still irked that the bread I got from them was moldy when I opened it a day later - that just permanently turned me off
Here, the Aldi's I go to in NYC is far cheaper than the supermarkets close to me. Between that and Costco, I save a tremendous amount of money.
I never got moldy anything from them, but they do have a double money back guarantee on all their products no questions asked.2 -
Friendly reminder to not post political content; this discussion is not about politics, please do not make it such. Further posts with a political vent will be removed and warned. Lots of room to discuss the OP's question without going there.6
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This discussion has been closed.
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