How to Eat on Just $1 per day

[Bobby Sue]

There was an interesting article at Time.com about eating for $1 a day for a month. I would post a link but I can't do it yet.
It's really interesting though. They basically ate beans and rice and bought massive amounts of food at a time to save money AND they lost weight.

[Holly]

Doesn't sound possible to me ( but what do I know )

[Linus]

The article is here: http://cheapskate.blogs.time.com/200...-dollar-a-day/

And it is possible to do (I had a partner who ate like they did but it did make me sick of rice for a long time) but it requires changing one's eating habits. North American diets are about excess rather than about what eating is about: providing fuel for the body.

[Grainlady]

Their book - On A Dollar A Day - can be pre-ordered from Amazon.com.

There was certainly enough there to keep me interested.... It sounded amazing until I did my own quick math, I have a $50/week food budget for 2 adults. That's 42 meals per week PLUS snacks = $1.19 per day per person. And I rarely spend the entire $50.

I nearly cut the food budget to $40/week at the beginning of the year, but decided against it and just keep adding to food in storage, which has ALL been purchased on my $50 week food budget. We eat very little rice (no more than 2 times a month), and I never dumpster dive for food and we've never eaten Ramen Noodles - EVER!!!

Bottom line, it's very doable, especially if you know how to use whole grains/seeds/beans and can cook from scratch. We still eat plenty of meat, but I keep that amount to around $10 of the $50 and quite literally eat much better than most people we know because we stick to whole foods.

[AmyBoz]

Before I got married, all I ate was white rice with cheddar cheese melted in. Seriously. It's all I ate. Cheap. I loved it.

Hmmm...maybe that's why I developed diabetes...all that rice.

If I had no health issues surrounding it and no kids to give healthy, well-rounded meals to, I'd certainly give it a shot.

[Contrary Housewife]

I've seen a couple of these blogs, and while the $ amount they spend seems amazing, I don't feel they are eating healthily. Beans, oatmeal and tortillas will fill you up, but it's not a nutritionally sound diet. This particular couple also has the advantage of being young and healthy already, no allergies or dietary restrictions to complicate things.

These blogs do make their point, that some parts of the world CONSUME far more than they need, and many other people live without. But I won't be pointing friends to the site and saying "This is a good idea to follow".

[frugalfranny]

They basically ate beans and rice and bought massive amounts of food at a time to save money AND they lost weight.

Could see where it could be doable.........beans and rice IS the norm. in Central and So. America. Even for breakfast, if you eat like the 'locals' you will get beans, rice, and a plantain (banana).

[Ebbie]

There was certainly enough there to keep me interested.... It sounded amazing until I did my own quick math, I have a $50/week food budget for 2 adults. That's 42 meals per week PLUS snacks = $1.19 per day per person. And I rarely spend the entire $50.

I nearly cut the food budget to $40/week at the beginning of the year, but decided against it and just keep adding to food in storage, which has ALL been purchased on my $50 week food budget. We eat very little rice (no more than 2 times a month), and I never dumpster dive for food and we've never eaten Ramen Noodles - EVER!!!

Bottom line, it's very doable, especially if you know how to use whole grains/seeds/beans and can cook from scratch. We still eat plenty of meat, but I keep that amount to around $10 of the $50 and quite literally eat much better than most people we know because we stick to whole foods.

Your math is wrong. You do $1.19 per MEAL per person per day. That's roughly $3.60 per person per day (3 meals a day). The book/website is talking about doing it on $1 per person per day (or about 33 cents per meal), so one third of what you're doing (not that what you're doing isn't good too, just that they are taking it to an extreme frugality).

[CrazyHomemaker]

IMHO, the weight loss came from NOT eating processed foods. Food additives pack on the weight more than you'd think. I eat mostly whole foods and very little additives these days. Additives are an allergy trigger for me. Since Oct 2009 and eating w/o additives, I've kept off almost 30 lbs of weight. It shocks me to realize this. Also, I am not thin by any stretch of the imagination.

I don't know about the $1/day thing. DH wants his meat and potatoes. That costs. I love veggies, fruit, rice and beans, which is what I live on during Great Lent. I try to be creative with foods, but I end up eating new stuff because DH won't.

I'm going to read about it to see what's up.

Interesting thread. Thanks.

[nuisance26]

~I actually think this would be fairly easy to do without resorting to beans and rice at every meal.
I currently average $225 a month for 4 people($1.87 per person per day). We eat very well with plenty of food 'luxuries' like soda, juice, candy, snack foods, ice cream and prepared cereal. I also keep a supply of ingredients to make all kinds of baked goods.
I believe if I just eliminated the luxuries, I'd average $1 per person per day. I know it's possible because there a few people on FV who do this(and better) already!~

[Grainlady]

Your math is wrong. You do $1.19 per MEAL per person per day. That's roughly $3.60 per person per day (3 meals a day). The book/website is talking about doing it on $1 per person per day (or about 33 cents per meal), so one third of what you're doing (not that what you're doing isn't good too, just that they are taking it to an extreme frugality).

My MANY thanks to you for catching my horrible math mistake. That will teach me be talking on the phone while figuring out anything math related....

[Mummy2]

I wouldnt be able to do this, especially if it was an experiment and beans and rice for most meals. My kids and husband would be begging to do the experiment all the time they love absolutely love beans and rice!

We are currently averaging .85cents per meal just based on my last grocery receipt and breaking it down perperson per meal, and there is very little left at the end of the week.

I guess I could do better...... Hmm.... Beans and rice more often??

[Shelli_wnj]

For us, we spend about $50 a week for a family of 5. Admittedly, my daughter doesn't eat much, as she is formula fed through a tube (formula is covered through insurance). So that leaves most of the $50 for the 4 of us. Husband consumes minimal breakfast and no lunch, says he can't do the labor on a full stomach! So it's just 2 kids and I for lunch, I don't do the math because of our strange situation, but I would imagine it's around $1.50 per person per meal. I don't know if I could do it for $1 a day - maybe if I stockpiled more sale foods?

[known2him5]

We do $1/day most times, with occasional splurges of $1.50 or $2.00/day.

We do meat as flavoring, garden and raise most of our foods, forage and glean lots and eat things that most people consider garbage or inedible. Acorns, cattails, carrot tops, etc.

[Thevail]

I think it sounds immenently do-able, during the summer, when you can have a garden. But it might be pretty unhealthy during the winter given the cost of fresh veggies.