$50.00 for one month? Based on a challenge from the frugal living web site at about.com do you think you could feed just you on $50 for a month. No other people to worry about and you basically have nothing, not even a smidgen of salt to start with. However you have everything else you need to make you comfortable. You only have $20.00 the first week, then $10 each of the next three.
Here is what I came up with for 1 week. It's all I have so far.

I live in the country and being early spring I have already started some container gardening with seeds saved from last year. I have lettuce, radishes, onions, potatoes (although they won't be ready for a while yet), carrots, and herbs . Most of these will be ready to start harvesting in a week.
Week 1

grocery shop
1 5 lb. bag of potatoes for the week @ 1.69
1 5 lb. bag of flour @ 1.89
2 loaves of bread @ 98 cents
1 dozen jumbo eggs @ 89 cents
1 bag of frozen chicken legs @ 2.49
1 box salt @ 29 cents
1 small box ground black pepper @ 50 cents
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables @ 99 cents on sale
1 can corn @ 49 cents
1 can green beans @ 49 cents
2 cans of stewed tomatoes @ 98 cents
1 can frozen OJ concentrate @ 69 cents
1 jar peanut butter @ 1.49
1 2 lb. bag brown sugar @ 1.29
1 small bottle vinegar @ 69 cents
1 bottle canola oil @ 1.29
2 2 litre bottles of cola @ 1.00 total
1 chocolate cake mix @ .89
Total - $19.02 98 cents leftover.
I go home and put groceries away. I walk to neighbor's house and end up working all afternoon helping to clean out the barn and reorganize everything and in return I get 1 gallon fresh milk from the cow, a jar of strawberry preserves, and a jar of honey from their bee hives. I seperate the milk and cream and make butter in a cleaned out coffee can, and refrigerate the milk.
Week 1 menu: Almost any of these meals could be switched around, depending on my schedule and appetite, but I only cook enough for 1 or 2 meals at a time and refridgerate or freeze the leftovers.
Breakfast: either 2 eggs, toast and OJ, or french toast ( syrup made from brown sugar and water) and OJ, or hash browns, juice, and milk, or pancakes.
Lunch: peanut butter and jelly sanwich and glass of milk
supper: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, or homemade chicken noodle soup with frozen vegetables and homemade noodles, chicken with stewed tomatoes over homemade noodles and corn.
snack: cookies made from chocolate cake mix. these are the best! could also have some cola at any given time during the day, but mostly I drink water.

what do you think?

Yes, I think I could do okay for myself at 50 dollars a month. Last month I spent about 52 dollars in groceries... that's for myself, and occasionally my boyfriend also eats some of my food. A good number of the stuff I bought last month I still have... I freeze things and try and stretch out their life... also buy some non-perishables...

I feed our family of 7 on $200/mth so I don't see why not. Starting with nothing would make things more interesting, but it should be able to be done.

I think it could be done. Gee I look at it and think it probably SHOULD be done, help me get ahead a little!

Starting with nothing would make it hard. It is my stockpile that makes it easy to keep my monthly grocery costs low. I spend $200 now for the three of us, and that includes dog food, shampoo, dish and laundry soap, toilet paper, etc. So I think I could feed us (food only) for $50 each a month.

wow that would be a challenge..........i could probably do it (probably is the key word).......lol!!!

I truely had to live on $50.00 a month after my parents died as I had their bills to pay because I had the house. went from 3 to 2 to 1 pay check.
I paid my share of the funeral and headstone.
It wasn't real fun but can be done.

I have done it in the past, so yes I think I could too.

Great post Kathy! :thumb:

I feed our family of 7 on $200/mth so I don't see why not. Starting with nothing would make things more interesting, but it should be able to be done.

:yippee: Wow, I'm impressed!! $200 was my August goal for a family of 4!!!!

(you just gave me a bit more motivation! )

I'm actually going to give it a try. My DH will be starting NutriSystem as soon as the food arrives ($289 a month). So that means I'll only be cooking for myself.

I feed our family of 7 on $200/mth so I don't see why not. Starting with nothing would make things more interesting, but it should be able to be done.


I'm impressed too. You should be very proud.

I'm sure it can be done. JustJoy, let us know how it works out. :-)

Knowing what I know now I could do it but when I was younger, I don't think I could. I wasn't much of a savvy homemaker back in the day,lol.

I've done just that before. No somewhere I'd like to go back to but at the beginning of my frugal journey I was way in the hole to the point I could barely cover my bills before I took groceries into consideration.

Aldi's would be getting hit for sure. Some canned goods and some rice and noodles for cheap. Then a bunch of caseroles that I could eat off for mutliple days. Plus a bag of flour and yeast to make bread with.

No , its too exspensive here in pei, for 1 person at $50 a month unless your not eating half the time and living on coffee maybe.

I could do it easily and do it healthy with what I have learned here in the Village. If I had to have done it before I found the Village, I could have done it but it would have been a month of Raman noodles and iced tea. :)

Yes, I could...:chef:

I'm pretty sure I could. The menus might be repetitious and somewhat bland, but I could do it.

I could and have in the past. I get in the pioneer mindset of this is what's for whatever meal we are eating and if it's boring to bad, we will get through it!

The $50 a month part is easy. Breaking it down into $20, $10, $10 & $10 is a challenge as I'd want so many basics that first week and prices just are so high. However, I could do it and eventually stock up enough to eat very well on that amount.