I can eat on 1.50 a day! Limbo, how low can you go?

[ORANGE]

So I wanted to see just how low I can go.  Now I found this youtube, and there is a website with all her how to.  I'll see if Im allowed or too newbie to post any links here.

https://rawvana.com/vegan-meal-prep-1-50-day/

This is the greatest thing for me! Cook once eat all week!  Now up the cost a bit with one egg, a few sardines, or some canned salmon, not all in one day mind you.  Just a bit more nutrition. Id add one can of greens for the week(spinach or kale or collards)

So as soon as I move into my new place I'm doing it and having a food budget of 50 bucks a month. Yee Haw

Oh, I can see her food calories isnt enough for large women or men, so I guess your costs would be more. But not by much! This has no added fat, so calories can go up with peanut butter or any fat you chose. But heck, if you want to try it why not, see how low you can go!   Limbo

 

[Dingfelder]

When I was in college they told me I was too poor to get financial aid. (They didn't believe anyone could live on so little.) I was eating a can of peas daily and as much rice as I wanted, along with some soy sauce, garlic powder, and a pat of butter. Sometimes spaghetti, but that sauce can be expensive. So I know I've gotten by on less than a dollar a day. And even though that was a long time ago, a can of peas can still be had for 80 cents or sometimes cheaper, if you look around or buy in bulk. Rice is so cheap it's basically free, same with soy sauce. A table spoon of butter costs very little.

I don't think I could do that today, though. I'm bigger and eat more and am not used to feeling like I'm starving all the time.

However, I can sometimes find mixed frozen vegetables for around a dollar to a buck-fifty per pound, and rice and 1/3 pound of vegetables can get me by on one meal without discomfort. So I think I could do it for under two dollars per day if I didn't mind the utter bland monotony of it. Luckily I know a little more about spices these days, and Sriracha sauce can rescue a very boring meal.

 

[ClassyGlobal]

This was super useful. I find that there are tons of recipes, articles, blogs and stories about eating practices but rarely a the A - Z. The front page gives you everything you need to get started. Thanks for the share!!!!

 

[skyl4rk]

This is about $2 a day for lunch and dinner:

Veggie Chili Tacos
Tortillas
Onion
Can of beans
Can of diced tomatoes
Bag of frozen mixed vegetables
Chili seasoning packet
Simmer chopped onion in olive oil till soft, add beans, tomatoes frozen veggies, simmer until defrosted. Add chili seasoning packet, simmer for about 20 minutes or until thickened up a bit.

You can used canned veggies but pour off some of the liquid, unless you like soupy chili. Sometimes I add a few tablespoons of dried refried beans to thicken things up.

This makes food for 3 days.

 

[Dingfelder]

I'm surprised you can keep that in a taco.

 

[jacqueg]

Thanks for the link, very interesting. I’d have to adjust for my Internal Food Censor, so I couldn’t do this as cheaply as she does. And I would add eggs and a bit of fish, but it’s very doable.

 

[Desertthorn]

My secret for cheap eating is Costco Chicken. There are two of us and I can make 3, sometimes 4 meals from it. First night we eat the legs and thighs, second night, I take one breast and slice it for hot chicken sandwiches and the third night we eat the second breast in chicken salad. Then I take the bones, made carcass soup for the 4th night. Costco chickens are $4.99.
I also make a big pot of chili and one night have chili, one night have Frito Pie and the third night have Chili dogs or Chili burgers and if there are still left overs I boil up some noodles, and add that to the pot.

 

[Anhedonic]

If you're just looking to keep body and soul together, you can live on beans and rice. You can get a 50 lb. bag of rice for around $25. Dry beans are also very, very cheap. Some salt, some spices, and you're living on well less than a dollar per day.

 

[B and C]

I can't get into this. I like meat way to much and meat ain't cheap. My favorite is beef, then pork, fish and last chicken. Turkey only on holidays.

Beans and rice is the cheapest there is to my knowledge. Maybe ramen but does it have any protein?

 

[Dingfelder]

No, and it is fried in palm oil so is supposedly quite unhealthy for that reason too.

On the other hand, everything in perspective. Compare it to a hot dog or some other junk, and it may start looking better fat-wise ... even though there's no nutrition in ramen, really, just junk calories ...

 

[velojym]

I love beef, and can cook it cheap too. I just use the cheaper cuts of meat, especially if they're marked down for clearance, and use it in stew. Carrots, potatoes, celery, etc... depending on what you prefer. I've made it for what I think ended up being about $.80/bowl, and was able to eat on the pot all week. Storage, obviously, can be an issue depending on what you have equipped, but a fridge is plenty for that length of time. You can serve it on rice or something if you want to make it more filling per serving.
I used to frequent a bent-n-dent store for some of this. I never really trusted the boxed dry food after finding weevils once, but canned and fresh tended to be good... and cheap. If I got a deal on canned soup or the like, I'd see what else was there and 'doctor' it up on the cheap.
One of my favorite go-to methods was to get whatever they had that looked good and was cheap, and chop it up into fried ramen, which was just normal ramen noodles, fried-rice style.
An egg was usually added to this. I did tend to go light on the seasoning packet from the ramen, as I'd gotten used to not using much salt. Probably a good idea for those who need to keep their sodium down. Maybe not a lot of nutritional value in ramen, but it made good filler for the 'good' stuff.

I rarely added up what this stuff cost per meal, but the few times I did, I hovered between about .90-1.50 depending on what it was.

PS. The Costco chicken (or walmart, Sam's, Wegmans, etc.) is a great idea. Roast chicken can be used in a wide variety of ways, and you can section the cut up meat into between 4 and 6 servings (depending on what you want per meal), then prepare and serve it with whatever sauce or sides you have handy and are in the mood for. Heck, I may do that this week. Maybe a little sweet-n-sour drizzle on one, with some roasted brussels sprouts and rice, some BBQ sauce on another with a cut up potato, baked then fried til slightly browned... lots of great ways to do it.

 

[Dingfelder]

Lately I've been getting the 10-pound bags of chicken legs and thighs(connected) at Winco for $5.00 to $5.50 or so. So topping out at 55 cents a pound. That's about about as cheap as you can buy any kind of food these days, but of course it's meat so it's got that vital protein and is nice and filling, to boot, without releasing a lot of sugars into your bloodstream either.

The other day I saw the same product at Walmart too,same price.

That is a LOT of meals for five bucks!

 

[JuliaAnne2018]

I eat some vegetarian and some meat meals. Depends on how busy I am. I prefer to cook larger meals for more than just me. I often buy those shredded stir fry mixtures because they keep longer than salad mixtures (I look for the ones with the most nutrients), five-layer taco dip, hummus or guac and make wraps with them. I try to pick items with as low of sugar, sodium, fat, etc. as I can w at least some protein and maybe sometimes too many carbs. I use various nuts and seeds. My favorite meats, by the way, are beef and chicken. I often will use yogurt instead of sour cream for the probiotics and sometimes add a moderate amount of ranch spices. I'm still overweight, but I feel good when eating well. If I have to, I could live on $1/day but prefer $2-3/day for a well-balanced menu. One thing of taco dip, for instance, and a bag of veggies could last me 4-5 days, for instance. W/out extras, that's cheap.

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[RoamerRV428]

I don't do how low can I go on meals.
I eat as I love. I am zero carb eater. I eat only meat and seafood, nothing else and it is the healthiest I have ever been!! (disclaimer here, if you are interested in true carnivore/zero carb eating then hit the internet and research it , it is super healthy eating. Not here to debate this one bit LOL)

But thing is I live on hamburger mostly. I can get by one 1.5 lbs of burger per day. Like velojym mentioned I also buy cheaper red meat cuts and throw in crockpot. Yum. Eat on those for a few days and stretch out my grocery dollars.

Seafood can get pricey so I only shop major sales on those.

I guess my lowest how low can I spend is about $5 per day for my type of eating. Can get down to around 3-3.50 if I use a lot more eggs and pair that with a bit less meats. Some lunch meals I just drink beef broth so that cuts down my costs for that meal that day.

Cheap chicken used to be my go to and I thrived on it til I got 'chicken'd out' big time Now it is mostly buy a store rotisserie chicken and eat 1/2 at one meal and 1/2 at dinner and that comes in at about 2.50 per meal, so while I am not cheapest in meal cost, I know I am spending a lot less than many on my meals at this point in my life. Hey it beats the fast food options which are getting quite pricey out there for junky foods.

 

[Dingfelder]

 Some lunch meals I just drink beef broth so that cuts down my costs for that meal that day.

Wow, if I did that I would probably just have my appetite stimulated and be even more hungry afterward.

Cheap chicken used to be my go to and I thrived on it til I got 'chicken'd out' big time

Sometimes I get hit by a wave of that, but usually find it fairly easy to get past by just changing my spices or delivery method -- like, sandwich instead of pasta, or tostada instead of sandwich, etc.

 

[RoamerRV428]

beauty of my type of eating Dingfelder is I am in deep ketosis. My appetite is fairly low. I get high quality protein all the time and my appetite is just not big anymore. The broth is great to sip when I want something hot and since I gave up tea and hate coffee the broth is just a great add for me.

So hear you on the spices. I do that on my meat/seafood meals to keep it interesting. Like when family wants to go out for pizza, I just take the cheese/pepperoni top off the crust and eat that with buffalo style chicken wings. But so agree that spices is a biggie for me. Cajun spice on pork chops, meat magic spice I love on steaks, chicken I can pair up with a ton of different tastes, garlic butter shrimp and of course old bay taste...yea, spices have saved my 'taste' a lot of times LOL

 

[DannyB1954]

I also started a **** diet and eat one large meal a day, (called intermittent fasting).
My goal wasn't to eat cheap, but it just turns out that way. A head of Cabbage costs 50 cent and is good for several meals. A pressure cooker also does wonders with cheap cuts of meat, (managers specials get em before they rot). Soup made from bouillon is cheap, ( the best I found comes in a jar, called " Better Than Bouillon" It costs about $4 but makes more than 30 servings. I like to mix the chili with the chicken flavors.
If you want to eat real cheap, volunteer at a food bank for a couple of hours. They will usually give you a bag of food in exchange.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Chicken leg quarters go on sale here for sometimes as low as 19 cents a pound, but more generally 29 or 39 cents a pound. I buy 10 pound bags, separate the backs and freeze it. About once a month, I take out some backs, boil them until I can pick the meat off, throw it in a pot and make about 20 big bowls of stew, which I also freeze. It costs me about $12 total if I buy everything and don't have vegetables from the garden. I throw the bones in the crock pot for about 24 hours, drain the broth and I freeze that as well. Then the dog gets what's left of the bones. The only thing I throw away is the bag it came in. I do the same thing with ribs and other cuts of meat. Pretty much anything with a bone in it.

 

[Dingfelder]

They really are a force multiplier when it comes to food, aren't they? Spices are all it takes to make one meal taste like a dozen different ones.

 

[JuliaAnne2018]

They really are a force multiplier when it comes to food, aren't they? Spices are all it takes to make one meal taste like a dozen different ones.

So true about spices, and I love experimenting with them. Also, if eggs keep on being .48 USD per dozen at this store near me, I can use them every day and eat for $1-2/day, and they are another versatile item to use on a sandwich, in a salad, etc. Even 99 cents a dozen is cheap though.

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