$1 a day for food for 30 days. Can you do it?

[logo908]

Well it depends on the reward. For a shitload of money, yah I'd do it. Obese people can survive up to a year with nothing but water with no physical exertion.

 

[darkxshade]

Why does the fact that it is liquid matter? All these suggestions are starvation diets (except for the 'I'd bum food' posts). Rice and Ramen? At least I'd be getting protein and fats.

Not all, it's quite possible to get by on $30 for 30 days, your choices will just be very limited but that's beside the point. What I was getting at is that you will feel miserable and have to live 30 days with your stomach pretty much in pain because you're not putting any solid foods in you, liquids passes right through your system. This is not about nutrients. It's about being satiated... about feeling full. On $30, there's no need to punish yourself with a quart of milk a day, there are far better deals than that.

 

[goog40]

Now that I think about it, $1/day probably isn't even enough for me to cover the gas money it takes to go and buy food.

 

[Gillbot]

Now that I think about it, $1/day probably isn't even enough for me to cover the gas money it takes to go and buy food.

Walk or ride a bike

 

[TheNinja]

You can buy like 100 1cup servings of oatmeal at Costco for $6.

Oatmeal
Whole Milk
Butter
Beans

You can get all that stuff cheap and could live on it. You'd feel like $hit without fruits and veggies though.

 

[DT4K]

It's other required ingredients too.

Bread is cheap to make...by volume. But expensive if you want to make one loaf. You need baking soda and baking powder but those can run $3-$4 if you had to buy them new...but they can last you months worth of cooking. Same with stuff like vanilla and honey.

If you also knew where to score good deals (bakery outlets and quickly expiring milk for cheap) you could expand your options more.

You don't need baking soda or baking powder to make bread. You just need flour, water, and yeast. And for just being able to survive, you don't need spices, honey, vanilla, etc.

But your point about volume is still true.
That's why it depends on the scenario. If you started with $30 and had to make it last 30 days, that would be much easier than starting with $1 and getting another one each day.

Found this on some blog, so I have no idea how accurate it is, but it sounds reasonable. Some guy was calculating the cost of different foods per 1000 calories.

Flour, $0.019 per oz, 108 cals, $0.18 / 1000 cals
Corn Oil, $0.051 per oz, 240 cals, $0.21 / 1000 cals
Sugar, $0.025 per oz, 110 cals, $0.23 / 1000 cals
Rice, $0.026 per oz, 104 cals, $0.25 / 1000 cals
Peanuts, $2 / lb bulk, 161 cals per oz, $0.77 / 1000 cals
Ground beef 80%, $.15/oz, 75 cals, $2.00 / 1000 cals
Cheddar Cheese, $4 / lb, 100 cals, $2.50 / 1000 cals.

If those numbers are accurate, you should actually be able to get 2000 calories per day for less than $1 per day fairly easily.
Flour and Rice for your carbs. Peanuts (or maybe some kind of beans) for protein. Corn oil or some other kind of oil for some fat.
Actually, you could probably come up with your own bread like concoction using flour, water, oil, and peanuts, for a good balance of carbs/protein/fats, and just live off that. If that's all you ate, you might have enough money to buy some multi-vitamins to make up for the lack of vitamins in your diet.

 

[gaidensensei]

Now that I think about it, $1/day probably isn't even enough for me to cover the gas money it takes to go and buy food.

​

Walk or ride a bike

 

[Kanalua]

Surprised no one posted the One Dollar Diet Project yet...

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Not even close. Even if I gave up meat entirely and went with beans, seeds, eggs, milk and bread (store brands only; on sale), and bought a few cheap veggies and fruits at a local market.

Food is more expensive here than in the US - there's no way you could do it on $1/day, even if you saved up and bought in bulk a week at a time, or 2 weeks at a time, looked for sales and used coupons, etc.

I would probably feel run down and malnourished by the end of the experiment, as I wouldn't have all the necessary vitamins.

Moreover, the whole premise is flawed. While it's important to have a food budget, too many people focus on buying the absolute cheapest (often most unhealthy) foods simply to stave off hunger. If I were poor, I would sooner cut out just about everything else (sell my car, electronics, wear second-hand clothes, etc.) than survive on ramen and McDonald's.

Good nutrition is important for staying healthy long-term, having proper mental functioning, and having energy. It is the best thing you can do for your life (exercise is second), and it is foolish to cheap out in this area unless you have already reduced your expenses to a bare minimum everywhere else.

 

[Hacp]

Not even close. Even if I gave up meat entirely and went with beans, seeds, eggs, milk and bread (store brands only; on sale), and bought a few cheap veggies and fruits at a local market.

Food is more expensive here than in the US - there's no way you could do it on $1/day, even if you saved up and bought in bulk a week at a time, or 2 weeks at a time, looked for sales and used coupons, etc.

I would probably feel run down and malnourished by the end of the experiment, as I wouldn't have all the necessary vitamins.

Moreover, the whole premise is flawed. While it's important to have a food budget, too many people focus on buying the absolute cheapest (often most unhealthy) foods simply to stave off hunger. If I were poor, I would sooner cut out just about everything else (sell my car, electronics, wear second-hand clothes, etc.) than survive on ramen and McDonald's.

Good nutrition is important for staying healthy long-term, having proper mental functioning, and having energy. It is the best thing you can do for your life (exercise is second), and it is foolish to cheap out in this area unless you have already reduced your expenses to a bare minimum everywhere else.

Rice and beans. You'll do fine. Oil is a lot of calories per dollar also. Probably a multi-vitamin a day to make sure you get all your required nutrients.

 

[DesiPower]

Cheap Rice from Chinese store and some salt n pepper maybe...

 

[lxskllr]

Moreover, the whole premise is flawed. While it's important to have a food budget, too many people focus on buying the absolute cheapest (often most unhealthy) foods simply to stave off hunger. If I were poor, I would sooner cut out just about everything else (sell my car, electronics, wear second-hand clothes, etc.) than survive on ramen and McDonald's.

Good nutrition is important for staying healthy long-term, having proper mental functioning, and having energy. It is the best thing you can do for your life (exercise is second), and it is foolish to cheap out in this area unless you have already reduced your expenses to a bare minimum everywhere else.

I took this more to be a contest of will than an advocate of bottom feeding. Barring grow/hunt/fish your own, it would be tough having a quality diet on $1 per day.

 

[gaidensensei]

Just run your own farm like vi edit and a few others said. You pay nothing and get anything you want.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

I took this more to be a contest of will than an advocate of bottom feeding. Barring grow/hunt/fish your own, it would be tough having a quality diet on $1 per day.

True, I got off on a bit of a tangent there 😀.

As a contest of will though, I still don't think I could do that for 30 days. I work out a lot and I consume about 4000 cal/day. I really don't think I could do that on rice, beans and seeds (all of which I do eat on a regular basis). I would be hungry and miserable.

Gardening/hunting/fishing would be a great solution. Nutritious, natural/no preservatives, and sustainable. Although, I'd have a lot to learn, as I'm a city boy and I don't have any of those skills.

 

[Locut0s]

True, I got off on a bit of a tangent there 😀.

As a contest of will though, I still don't think I could do that for 30 days. I work out a lot and I consume about 4000 cal/day. I really don't think I could do that on rice, beans and seeds (all of which I do eat on a regular basis). I would be hungry and miserable.

Gardening/hunting/fishing would be a great solution. Nutritious, natural/no preservatives, and sustainable. Although, I'd have a lot to learn, as I'm a city boy and I don't have any of those skills.

Go out to Surrey and hunt the red necks. 😀 Population needs culling anyway.

 

[JMapleton]

If you had prior planning you could grow your own food and probably do it.

 

[JTsyo]

Here's something else, go through you county's laws and see what get you 30 days of jail time. Then you're getting 3 square meals a day.

As much as I'm against government intrusion, it's in everybody's best interests to have wildlife hunting regulated. Ducks were almost completely eliminated from the Chesapeake bay due to over hunting with the use of big guns. They'd take enormous guns out in the flats, and kill whole flocks at one time. The same thing's happened with oysters, blue crabs, and other sea life. The Chesapeake is the faintest of shadows of what it once was due to the raping of it's resources.

Don't forget the buffalo.

 

[coloumb]

Sure you can - who's to say you have to stay home and eat? You can easily live off $1 a day depending upon where you are and if you're not squeamish about killing/eating small animals and skinning/cooking your own fish. 🙂

Even staying at home and eating is possible on $1.00 a day - just be smart about what you buy and you can easily do it.

 

[alkemyst]

IRT hunting and meat utilization....some people like to eat ass, some don't.

Most butcher guidelines are for the parts most would consider palatable.

 

[InflatableBuddha]

Go out to Surrey and hunt the red necks. 😀 Population needs culling anyway.

Surrey just has bony crack-whores and meth heads. The meaty, juicy rednecks are in Langley and Abbotsford :awe:.

 

[Pantlegz]

What do I get if I do? If it's worth the pita I would have to go through, then of course. otherwise I work for money so I don't have to starve myself, thanks tho...

 

[oogabooga]

I might be able to. I doubt it though.

5 bucks a day I'd definitely be comfortable.

 

[Locut0s]

Surrey just has bony crack-whores and meth heads. The meaty, juicy rednecks are in Langley and Abbotsford :awe:.

Yeah true. Parents own some property out in Surrey. Every time I go out there I swear I keep expecting to hear some southern Alabama drawl from the next guy who opens their mouth. It's a scary scary place. D:

 

[Patranus]

With money leftover

 

[Locut0s]

With money leftover

For pure MSG, preservative infused goodness nothing, and I mean nothing, beats the utter tasteless bland mash that is Mr.Noodles:

Used to eat these all the time as a kid. You can get these down to about 30 cents a pack or less.