Eating Well On One Dollar A Day

[jeffrey]

I am going to attempt to eat well on $1 a day for the month of May. All food must be purchased at the store (no supplementing it with free food from friends, gardens, dumpster diving, etc). I know that by using coupons (I'm limited to printing off of 2 computers and using only 2 inserts from the Sunday paper) that I won't starve, but eating well will be a challenge. Any advice to help make this challenge successful?

[creditcardfree]

You'll need vegetables and fruit. I think frozen would probably give you the most for your $1, unless you can get some canned ones for free. I assume this is an average of $31 for the whole month. You aren't going out each day to feed yourself on $1, right?

[Elisabeth]

Are you allowed to use spices you already have? More parimeters, please. Also, I would need to know the drugstores and grocery stores in your area. Ex. I got 4 boxes of Special K cereal and a coupon for a free gallon of milk from foodlion for $1. The milk coupon allowed $4, I used 2.65for the gallon of milk and the other $1.35 went towards my other items. You would have to have had a Foodlion near you. Will you use Ecoupons (downloadable to your store cards)?

Plan on meat as a rare condiment. If you eat meat look for cheap fish $2lb or less and buy 1/4lb. If you average a $1 a day you might get meat every 2-3 days. Memorial day is coming up in May so you might get 1/2lb hamburger at $1lb if you are lucky.

I really like the Lentil-Rice Casserole recipe on p151 of the Tightwad Gazette. I got the cost of the recipe down to less than $1.16for the whole dish, not a serving. It serves 4-6, four adults or 2 adults and 4small kids. I use brown rice, not white. It tastes very good. Lots of rice and beans for you.

For breakfast I would recommend oatmeal with flavoring. Powdered milk is usually cheapest. Your area may vary. If eggs get below $1 a dozen you might be able to have eggs. Omelets, maybe?

Nutritionally fresh is best but frozen veggies are next. You'll have to compare prices in your area. Sometimes organic is the same or less than regular priced fruits and veggies. Alway go organic, if possible, nutrition is higher and denser in organic. Bananas and blueberries don't have to be organic.

You will have to adhere to strict serving size, no overeating. No large portions.

[maat55]

Beans and potatoes.

[jeffrey]

You'll need vegetables and fruit. I think frozen would probably give you the most for your $1, unless you can get some canned ones for free. I assume this is an average of $31 for the whole month. You aren't going out each day to feed yourself on $1, right?

No - average. I have $31 to begin and have to make it last the entire month.

[jeffrey]

Are you allowed to use spices you already have? More parimeters, please.

Nope, not unless I buy them. I don't think that should be a problem on my end. I lived in Japan for a large number of years, so non spiced food is fine -- I do hope that I will be able to find some on discount along the way, but can survive if I don't.

Also, I would need to know the drugstores and grocery stores in your area. Ex. I got 4 boxes of Special K cereal and a coupon for a free gallon of milk from foodlion for $1. The milk coupon allowed $4, I used 2.65for the gallon of milk and the other $1.35 went towards my other items. You would have to have had a Foodlion near you. Will you use Ecoupons (downloadable to your store cards)?

I travel a lot so I won't be in the same place all the time with the same stores (just to make it all the more challenging). Safeway is probably the store that will be in most places I am during the month. I am pretty confident with my use of coupons and know I an get plenty of cereal at next to nothing. It will be moving beyond that to get fruits and vegetables to make the meals healthier that will pose the challenge while staying within the minimal budget.

Plan on meat as a rare condiment. If you eat meat look for cheap fish $2lb or less and buy 1/4lb. If you average a $1 a day you might get meat every 2-3 days. Memorial day is coming up in May so you might get 1/2lb hamburger at $1lb if you are lucky.

Not a problem - how most meals in Japan were cooked.

I really like the Lentil-Rice Casserole recipe on p151 of the Tightwad Gazette. I got the cost of the recipe down to less than $1.16for the whole dish, not a serving. It serves 4-6, four adults or 2 adults and 4small kids. I use brown rice, not white. It tastes very good. Lots of rice and beans for you.

Much appreciated. Will definitely look into it. I have a feeling that rice and beans will be a staple, but hopefully not the only thing on the plate.

For breakfast I would recommend oatmeal with flavoring. Powdered milk is usually cheapest. Your area may vary. If eggs get below $1 a dozen you might be able to have eggs. Omelets, maybe?

Nutritionally fresh is best but frozen veggies are next. You'll have to compare prices in your area. Sometimes organic is the same or less than regular priced fruits and veggies. Alway go organic, if possible, nutrition is higher and denser in organic. Bananas and blueberries don't have to be organic.

Good to know and will keep in mind

You will have to adhere to strict serving size, no overeating. No large portions.

That should be good for me

[bjl584]

Pasta. You can get a lot for only a few dollars. If you don't add sauce and only use butter, you can get several days worth of meals for cheap.

10lb bags of potatos are cheap.

A dozen eggs is about a buck.

Loaves of bread are cheap if you get the store brand

Peanut butter can be found for about a dollar a jar if you get the generic

Packs of hotdogs are cheap at around a dollar if you get the off brand

[b4freedom]

Good Luck!

Go to this website: SNAP-Ed Connection: Recipes Finder

Scroll down to the bottom and put $1 into the part that says, "Cost Less than ___ per serving." You'll find 518 recipes.

There are lots of additional resources as well on government websites about how to eat healthy for very little money. Resources

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Go to farmers' markets at the end of the selling day, when they will sell very low rather than have to cart the produce back home only to spoil.

Ha-ha. I just removed 5 suggestions after reading again where you said all food must be purchased.

[cschin4]

I think you should plan it for the entire month and go out and buy 1 months' worth $30 and see if you can. I would buy a bag of rice, beans, frozen veggies, dozen and half eggs, flour for making bread, bag of apples and a bag of frozen chicken thighs, etc. That would be more feasible than trying to just go spend only one dollar per day.

[jeffrey]

Pasta. You can get a lot for only a few dollars. If you don't add sauce and only use butter, you can get several days worth of meals for cheap.

10lb bags of potatos are cheap.

A dozen eggs is about a buck.

Loaves of bread are cheap if you get the store brand

Peanut butter can be found for about a dollar a jar if you get the generic

Packs of hotdogs are cheap at around a dollar if you get the off brand

If it comes downs down to this, I know that I can survive on these, but I'm hoping to eat better than I did in college. I can already tell that I will be at the whim of what the stores place on sale each week that lines up with coupons, but I'm hoping that I can have more than beans, potatoes and rice.

[jeffrey]

Good Luck!

Go to this website: SNAP-Ed Connection: Recipes Finder

Scroll down to the bottom and put $1 into the part that says, "Cost Less than ___ per serving." You'll find 518 recipes.

There are lots of additional resources as well on government websites about how to eat healthy for very little money. OpenDNS

This is where the challenge gets interesting because I don't have $1 per serving -- I need to make it $0.33 per meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and even less if I want snacks in between. My goal is to not be hungry because I know my productivity will plummet if I am and I also will be grumpy all day. That means I will need to have more than just the basics. There will definitely need to be some creative shopping done to make this happen.

[jeffrey]

Go to farmers' markets at the end of the selling day, when they will sell very low rather than have to cart the produce back home only to spoil.

Ha-ha. I just removed 5 suggestions after reading again where you said all food must be purchased.

Love the farmer's market suggestion -- may be the only way that I can get fresh veggies with this current budget. I actually think that I could eat quite well if I could get food from other sources other than retail outlets, but my sister said that would be cheating since I said I thought I could eat well from just couponing. Just keeping my fingers crossed that I didn't bite off more than I can chew (pun intended)

[jeffrey]

I think you should plan it for the entire month and go out and buy 1 months' worth $30 and see if you can. I would buy a bag of rice, beans, frozen veggies, dozen and half eggs, flour for making bread, bag of apples and a bag of frozen chicken thighs, etc. That would be more feasible than trying to just go spend only one dollar per day.

I have $31 to spend for the month May (average of $1 a day). IO can spend it all on day one or over the course of the month. I will be spending it on things determined by the grocery stores sales that match up with coupons from the Sunday papers, coupons I can print online and catalina coupons (those coupons that come out at the cash register for money off your next purchase). If I buy for the whole moneth on day one, then I miss out on fresh fruit and veggies -- something I want to try and include in my daily meals. Hopefully there will be enough good deals each week to make it possible for me to eat well on the very limited budget.

[creditcardfree]

Good luck! I know you will keep us posted on your progess. This has to be healthier than eating at McDonald's for 30 days. And in this case you might lose weight, rather than gain it!