Gwyneth Paltrow Will Live On A $29 weekly Food Stamp Budget

[lxskllr]

She bought one of them.

When you're poor $1(I'm being generous here. that's cheap but possible) for something that weighs 12oz, and is 35% pit, and 5% skin, is extravagant. She could have bought 1# of pasta for that, and made three meals.

 

[Rakehellion]

When you're poor $1(I'm being generous here. that's cheap but possible) for something that weighs 12oz, and is 35% pit, and 5% skin, is extravagant. She could have bought 1# of pasta for that, and made three meals.

If your budget it $29, it's an extravagance you can afford.

Aside from the avocado, nothing she bought contains any fat. You need to eat fat to live. I'd have bought a bottle of vegetable oil instead.

 

[lxskllr]

If your budget it $29, it's an extravagance you can afford.

Aside from the avocado, nothing she bought contains any fat. You need to eat fat to live. I'd have bought a bottle of vegetable oil instead.

$1 is 3.5% of your budget. That's a lot when going over budget means you go hungry.

 

[Rakehellion]

$1 is 3.5% of your budget. That's a lot when going over budget means you go hungry.

Eating 3.5% less food is not something that will ever cause you to starve.

 

[echo4747]

Cabbage is a good cheap fresh vegetable. Cabbage soup is very cheap and easy. Half head of cabbage 50¢, two Italian sausage links $1.50, wine vinegar 10¢, tabasco 20¢, black pepper 2¢?, and salt virtually free.

Do you just combine the items you listed above (along with water of course) in soup pot and boil until the sausage is fully cooked? I've never had Itailian sausage with cabbage before ( i always have it with peppers and onions or with spaghetti sauce) Anyway your list sounds like it would be a pretty tasty recipe. I may give it a try.

Getting back on the thread topic .. most soups seem to offer a lot of bang for the $$. Bread especially if you bake yourself has a very high calorie to cost ratio

 

[lxskllr]

Do you just combine the items you listed above (along with water of course) in soup pot and boil until the sausage is fully cooked? I've never had Itailian sausage with cabbage before ( i always have it with peppers and onions or with spaghetti sauce) Anyway your list sounds like it would be a pretty tasty recipe. I may give it a try.

Getting back on the thread topic .. most soups seem to offer a lot of bang for the $$. Bread especially if you bake yourself has a very high calorie to cost ratio

I've done that, and I've browned it in a pan first. No real preference; they both work. I cut the sausage in ~3cm sized pieces, and everything goes in the pot to cook until it seems done. The only requirement is safety if you haven't precooked the sausage. I typically use about 3L of water, but that can be adjusted to taste. That's the beauty of the whole thing. It requires virtually no thought, and it's hard to screw up. It may not turn out optimally for your tastes, but it'll be acceptable.

 

[Rakehellion]

This costs less than $29, will last longer than a week, and is nutritionally complete unlike Gwyneth's diet:

9lb, $10, 6400 cal

2lb, $3, 3300 cal

1lb, $2

1lb, $2

2.5lb, $5, 6660 cal

$1

Total: $23 a week

 

[Brainonska511]

She bought that with $29?

I could easily do the following:
$5-7: 7 apples + some seasonal fruit, carrots
$5: 10 yogurt cups
$3: One of those jumbalya or red beans/rice mix (just to splurge and provide a quick base for a meal)
$4: some type of sausage for the meal
$1: extra beans to throw into the meal
$5: PB&J/bread
$5: squeeze some extra veggies or fruits into the week

To drink: water - it's basically free.

If you stay away from overpriced organic nonsense, make a plan of what to buy (eg: pick out things on sale), then you could do it. At the same time there are lots of little gotchas:

-You need to have capital to be able to buy storable goods when they are on sale and cheap.
-You need time, knowledge, and appropriate tools (pots/pans) to prepare meals.
-You need access to markets that sell these foods at reasonable prices.

I'm sure to us, here on AT, these seem like common sense, but these gotchas stand in the way of people that work long hours at low wages and are living paycheck to paycheck with other bills to pay.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

So... hmm... two eggs for breakfast every day, a smallish salad for lunch maybe 3-4 days, and then beans, lima beans, and rice for every dinner.

I still think she'll be out of food by day 6 ready to kill somebody for a donut.

Also wonder if most people can stand eating the same thing every day like that. I mean, okay, it used to be a non-choice, but most of the FWP, organic food, life-coach-on-speed-dial, OMGTOXINS, Oprah-is-Jesus crowd I know are only skinny because they're picky eaters; they won't eat the same thing two days in a row and god Dr. Oz help you if you offer them leftovers!

 

[MongGrel]

limes are to prevent scurvy, obviously.

 

[Howard]

What about people who need to eat over 2500 calories a day?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

What about people who need to eat over 2500 calories a day?

I'm not sure that (diet in OP) would even work out to 1k/day.

Also, anybody working manual labor like that (to require that calorie intake) probably is earning enough money to buy decent food.

If your BMR is that high, you probably should lose weight.

 

[ultimatebob]

Yeah, you can tell that she's never actually had to try living on $30 a week for real.

If she did, you would be stocking up on Ramen noodles, canned Ravioli and soup, and a box of cereal.

 

[Imp]

One week is too little and distorts things. There are items that are "upfront investments" that cost a lot in the beginning but last a long time. For example, peanut butter is about $5 a jar, but I can make it last at least a week using it daily. Spices or sauces are probably like that. After you buy it, it frees up some money for the following weeks. You slowly accumulate condiments and spices to mix things up over time. Not saying $29 is a lot, just that you could stretch it better if you had to live on it longer.

P.S. She's paper thin, so kind of not fair.

 

[Imp]

Brown rice was definitely a good call (black beans too) but cilantro and limes aren't going to give her meaningful sustenance. Substitute oranges for the limes because she is going to need vitamin C.

Definitely scurvy, yo.

Also, my Costa Rican coworker told me about a trick with limes + avocado to prevent browning.

 

[Rakehellion]

Yeah, you can tell that she's never actually had to try living on $30 a week for real.

If she did, you would be stocking up on Ramen noodles, canned Ravioli and soup, and a box of cereal.

She already has rice and canned ravioli and cereal cost more than anything she bought.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I give her credit for this even though I bet it turns out to be all high and mighty talking down to people.

 

[Naer]

I get 50 dollars a week. Lol at gwyneths poverty food stamps

 

[Slew Foot]

My family of 4 budgets about 70/wk. Poor people need to stop being such lazy idiots

 

[ultimatebob]

She already has rice and canned ravioli and cereal cost more than anything she bought.

Huh? A can of Chef Boyardee costs 99 cents!

 

[gotsmack]

$29 a week is easily doable with minimal cooking. If I dropped fresh fruit, coconut water, nuts/seeds, organic stuff, and sugar from my diet I am around $29. I get most of my protein from eggs and whey isolate.

Lunch:
Fage yogurt - 6.50 for (48 oz) 5-6 servings at Costco

Dinner:
5 eggs $6.50 for 24 organic eggs, dunno how much regular costs, but it's less

Mixed organic greens: $6 for a 1.5 lbs bag at costco, about 5 servings

1 scoop of whey isolate $1.25

just fill in the rest with quinoa, potatoes, veges and ground meat.

 

[Grooveriding]

 

[Naer]

My family of 4 budgets about 70/wk. Poor people need to stop being such lazy idiots

Hate the poor, pardon the rich. How conservative of you

 

[HeXen]

Most foodstamp people I see at the store from the last decade or so buy around 6 packs or so of $13+ steaks. A lot of chicken products. Soda's and energy drinks.
I saw one woman a few days ago buy 4 Monster energy drinks and a candy bar at the quick mart, then swipe the ol EBT.

Bitch be keep'n dat card raw.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

My family of 4 budgets about 70/wk. Poor people need to stop being such lazy idiots

You're at $2.50 per day per person? 3 meals for everyone?