$13.30 for three days of food
Replies
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For anyone who is interested, this is what I ate today:
Breakfast:
• One slice of buttered toast
• One small sausage patty
• One fried egg
Lunch:
• Ramen with fried egg and veggies
Dinner:
• Mac and cheese
• One slice of bread with butter
Nutritional info:
I have also calculated my personal averages from the last six weeks for all of the nutritional statistics to see how each day compares:
Overall, today was a fairly lazy day and I did not exercise as Saturdays are my rest day. I never felt hungrier than I normally do around meal times, but my stomach has seemed to be a little upset (not sure if related or not). Tomorrow, I am going on a fairly strenuous hike, so I will see how this diet holds up against a more vigorous day.
Thank you for reading, and have a good evening!
[EDIT] I am aware that my calorie averages are low, but when I am at school (it's currently spring break) I do not prepare any of my own food. I live in a sorority house and all of my meals are provided, so I do my best to estimate what I am eating. I leave extra calories to account for cooking oils and the errors that come from guesstimating.9 -
I think it would be fun for anyone who wants to, to do a experiment like this. Maybe we could have have a special thread for it.0
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Someone in that position would need a different kind of assistance (low-income housing, a shelter, a soup kitchen, and/or assistance with utilities). Given the restrictions on how food assistance can be spent (can't eat in restaurants or by prepared foods), a bigger food budget might not help much.kenyonhaff wrote: »You also need things like pots, pans, a working stove/microwave/hotplate, fridge, freezer, washing up facilities, and the like. For a person living out of a car this is problematic. If your electricity is turned off you may not be able to cook pasta. People in dire straits may lack the facilities others take as given. It's more than just food.
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Eggs, Bread, Oats, Beans, Bananas. Find a store selling chicken breast on sale (can be found between $1.79-1.99 per lb. on sale).
Make bean & egg breakfast sandwiches. Make pancakes out of eggs and bananas (one banana, one egg, mix together, cook like a pancake). Use bananas for snacks.0 -
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Why does it have to be about pretending to be poor? It could be a great thing for people who could benefit from tightening up their food budget on occasion.
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I'm not suggesting pretending to be homeless or anything of that sort. I don't think OP was trying to do that either. She did this experiment for school as a learning experience and I think the same learning experience might be good for me too. And I think learning and sharing are fun.6 -
I'd suggest a dozen eggs, a carton of old-fashioned oats, a bag of dried beans, and a box of rice. Then add fruit and veg with whatever money you have left. You'll eat similar meals all three days, but it would also let you cook once and then reheat. Good luck!
That was a cheat meal for me in college. I usually ate snack Ramon0 -
Why does it have to be about pretending to be poor? It could be a great thing for people who could benefit from tightening up their food budget on occasion.
There's tightening up my food budget, then there's trying to live on as little as possible... I don't think it sounds fun either. It's kind of like going from the diet extremes of all "clean" to all "junk" food without considering the middle ground.1 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
Why does it have to be about pretending to be poor? It could be a great thing for people who could benefit from tightening up their food budget on occasion.
There's tightening up my food budget, then there's trying to live on as little as possible... I don't think it sounds fun either. It's kind of like going from the diet extremes of all "clean" to all "junk" food without considering the middle ground.
If it were a matter of living on as little as possible, I don't think I would find it fun either. Although there are people who do things like that - not buying anything, or dumpster diving. More power to them, but not what I'd want to do. But this experiment doesn't seem extreme to me.0 -
I once kept meticulous record of all my food costs. I managed to get my food costs down to $85 a month while eating quite well.
I just made sure I made everything myself. I didn't buy processed food. (I also didn't buy meat. So... that helps.)
Op... just wander a market. Go around the edges of the store. It's really quite easy.1 -
I do keep meticulous records of all my food costs ... and while I don't spend as little as $85 a month, my last 2 months of records show that I spent an average of $3.54 on groceries per day .... and not all of them have yet been used up ... actually, I don't have to shop again for at least another 10 days. And, I do eat well from all the food groups, cooking everything from scratch at home. ...
The area I live in is not inexpensive ... although I'm certain there are areas more expensive, as well as less so. The way I save on food is to buy when things are on sale and work my menus around that.
Of course, it helps that I don't purchases a convenience foods like canned soups and gravies, cookies, crackers, and don't often buy bread either. That's cause I cook from scratch ... but then, I have the time available to do that kind of cooking because I don't have an outside job, being retired.0 -
It's great that she's shown it can be done. I've read articles where a public official tries it and just whinges about it being an impossible task with the money provided.3
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Good luck on your assignment!0
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No, it wasn't fun when I had a tiny food budget (and it's not huge now), but there was a certain satisfaction in making it work. It made me feel like I could take care of myself, that there was something I could do. Planning carefully so the money and food would last put power in my hands. And over time I built my pantry, and saved my pennies, and breathing space came.9 -
This is where I share that my food budget is currently $30 / week, right? I have to say, eggs, cereal and bulk supplies (even bake my own bread) are a big advantage. And just like @Sara1791 said, you build the pantry up bit by bit. I've had to start over from scratch a couple times. But very rarely is anyone in the position of not even affording salt or pepper.
Also, if anyone wants to REALLY understand a place that money gets eaten en masse when you're having limited means, look no farther than the laundromat. Those places are complete money sinks with no realistic way to avoid a lot of the expense without hookups in most apartments.8 -
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This is where I share that my food budget is currently $30 / week, right? I have to say, eggs, cereal and bulk supplies (even bake my own bread) are a big advantage. And just like @Sara1791 said, you build the pantry up bit by bit. I've had to start over from scratch a couple times. But very rarely is anyone in the position of not even affording salt or pepper.
Also, if anyone wants to REALLY understand a place that money gets eaten en masse when you're having limited means, look no farther than the laundromat. Those places are complete money sinks with no realistic way to avoid a lot of the expense without hookups in most apartments.
YES!!!!!
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Chef_Barbell wrote: »
Yeah it's one thing to do this when a little short for a few days. And it can be fun to figure out how to put together a "cooking challenge" to come up with a healthy cheap recipe. But it's allure loses its luster when it's a lifestyle.
That's why I've been trying to have people not think that putting together a lentil soup means they really "get" living on food assistance. An insight, sure, but it's not the same as living it.4 -
It's great that she's shown it can be done. I've read articles where a public official tries it and just whinges about it being an impossible task with the money provided.
But that's often the only way they really understand that people needing assistance aren't living comfortably. People who get into higher office rarely have lived a lifestyle like that. So they don't understand.3 -
How did you manage on Sunday doing the hike? Was your energy level ok?
Thanks for sharing menu, looks good and what a great life lesson--- those were nice days for me with dorm living and dorm eating.0 -
This is where I share that my food budget is currently $30 / week, right? I have to say, eggs, cereal and bulk supplies (even bake my own bread) are a big advantage. And just like @Sara1791 said, you build the pantry up bit by bit. I've had to start over from scratch a couple times. But very rarely is anyone in the position of not even affording salt or pepper.
Also, if anyone wants to REALLY understand a place that money gets eaten en masse when you're having limited means, look no farther than the laundromat. Those places are complete money sinks with no realistic way to avoid a lot of the expense without hookups in most apartments.
I can't use laundromats because fabric softener makes me very, very sick. So when looking for an apartment I look for one with washer/dryer hookups. In my area, they are considerably more expensive than those without. When I was looking in 2012 I found a place that was cheap and perfect except for the lack of hookups and my landlord let me pay to have them put in. This investment quickly paid for itself, but of course one has to have the money to do this upfront.0 -
This assignment has definitely been a thought provoking one for a much broader audience than the professor intended! OP, you should let him/her know how much discussion it has triggered. It certainly made me very thoughtful as I was at several area shops over the weekend. Since I am a history buff, and really like food, I read extensively on the history of food, and knew that Irish (and French!!) peasants were able to subsist VERY well on just potatoes and milk, supplements by random foraged greens or seaweed. So I kept that in mind as I priced things out. Here is what I would get, and it is important to note that I am lifting so I need to get a high protein macro, but I could subsist very happily on the following for a much longer period than 3 days. Of course, if you did another 3 days you would get another sum of money so you could shake things up a little and stretch the milk and potatoes.
Dozen eggs 1.25 (4 a day)
Gallon 2% milk 2.50 (4.25 cups a day)
10 lbs. potatoes 3.99 (3.33 lbs a day)
1 lb. onion 1.00 (5.3 oz a day)
Single stick butter 1.39 (2.6 T a day)
6 large bananas 1.60 (2 a day)
Franks hot sauce jar 1.00 (unlimited)
That leaves me with 0.57 for some cheap scratch-and-dent fruit or veg.
Breakfast: 2 eggs and banana
Lunch: 2 eggs and hash browns with onions and hot sauce
Dinner: baked potato, onions, butter, hot sauce, banana
Here is the nutritional profile:
2460 calories
383 g carbs/ 92 g protein/72 g fat
37 g fiber
9,167 mg potassium
70% vit A/ 69% vit C/ 142% calcium/ 122% iron/1506 mg sodium
That's a pretty awesome nutritional profile, would fuel a hard physical work day for me, and would get me pretty close to my protein goal.
Elsewhere on this site, I have lauded the poor neglected dandelion. I don't know if the assignment allows for foraging the kind of stuff we trample on all day, but if you add in 100 g dandelion greens, which are an insane nutritional powerhouse, it improves the entire profile, but most notably the following:
+3 g protein
+4 g fiber
+224% vitamin A
+40% vitamin C
+206% calcium
+3% iron
Depending on the time of year, there are all kinds of awesome foods that can be foraged, but right now dandelions are plentiful, and the taste is a little peppery but not as bitter as after they start blooming. Either way, all greens (violet leaves, nettles, plantain, garlic mustard, and many other "weeds" that were originally European culinary imports) are great sauteed in butter and onions and kicked up with Franks or other seasoning, as most poor people throughout the centuries could tell you.
And if you are allowed to eat out of your own garden, another historic trick of poor people through the centuries that just boggles people's minds today, I have chives, garlic, garlic chives, Egyptian walking onions, leeks, thyme, and oregano, all of which would be great in the hash browns and baked potato.
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Day two meals:
Breakfast:
• Two slices of buttered toast
• Two fried eggs
Snack:
• Half of a peanut butter sandwich
Lunch:
• Ramen
Snack:
• Cheese cubes
Dinner:
• Rotini topped with tomato sauce and sausage
Nutritional info:
Comparison to baseline and day one:
Yesterday, I planned my meals around my hike and added some snacks in. I ate breakfast and then left for my hike. The mountain I hiked was about an hour away and I hiked for a little over three hours. I was fairly hungry during the last hour and waited as long as I could (until we reached the base of the mountain) to eat my half sandwich. The sandwich satisfied me, but I was tempted to buy a snack when we stopped at the gas station on the way home (I didn't). Since I had just eaten the sandwich, I wasn't too hungry and only ate a serving (half a packet) of ramen for lunch. Later, I was watching the NCAA tournament with some friends and ate a few cubes of cheese more to keep myself from eating the dips than out of actual hunger. For dinner, I made spaghetti (with rotini, haha) and was very satisfied.
Overall, I had no real challenges staying within my budget and feeling satisfied, it was more an issue of social inclusion. I struggled to not buy a snack when my friends were, and could not eat the food provided during a social setting. Although, it was no cost to me, so someone on SNAP could and probably would have eaten the dips/party snacks, I did not because I can only eat the food I purchased.
Thank you for reading and I am sorry it took me a little longer to post yesterday's meals!9 -
kenyonhaff wrote: »It's great that she's shown it can be done. I've read articles where a public official tries it and just whinges about it being an impossible task with the money provided.
But that's often the only way they really understand that people needing assistance aren't living comfortably. People who get into higher office rarely have lived a lifestyle like that. So they don't understand.
This. I feel like everyone would benefit from having been poor (or even "poor") at some point in their life. While I fully recognize that having no money in my bank account while I was a university student means that I still had the privilege of attending university and living in a nice neighbourhood (albeit in someone else's attic or basement) and, well, having a bank account, to this day it colours decisions that I make in my life.3 -
I lived off of $75/month in groceries during college
that was back in 2008-09, but it was also in Southern CA, with inflated prices. 0 -
kenyonhaff wrote: »It's great that she's shown it can be done. I've read articles where a public official tries it and just whinges about it being an impossible task with the money provided.
But that's often the only way they really understand that people needing assistance aren't living comfortably. People who get into higher office rarely have lived a lifestyle like that. So they don't understand.
Like I said earlier, I think this - or something similar - should be a mandatory exercise for people getting degrees in social work, urban planning, any policy/government degree, family medicine, pediatrics, and internal medicine.1
This discussion has been closed.
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