S/O of the $1.50 per day

[weesej]

My regular food budget is $1.67 per person per day. I do this all the time...I do not coupon. I garden and put up A LOT of food. I have ready to eat green beans, applesauce and peaches. We only eat meat 3-4 times per week. I have a local bents and dents store where you can buy out dated or damaged food for dirt cheap. We also have a friend who does a freezer order with out dated frozen foods for cheap. (Nothing like a case of Godiva Ice Cream for $6) Oh and we are gluten free!

Today's lunch - Tuna Salad on Rice Cakes 6 cans tuna (yellowfin in olive oil) 0.50/can, Rice Cakes (Lundberg Organic) 0.75 per roll total 3.75

Applesauce from our Pantry - Approx cost 0.75 per quart (figured when I made it) 0.75

Salad with Feta cheese and Eggs- Romaine from Walmart 1/2 pkg $1.50, Feta bought in quantity used about $1.00 worth, eggs from our own chickens $0.25 $2.75

Total meal $7.25 for a family of 10 0.73 per person

[PamPurrsDiapers]

I started a LBTL "Support Thread"

[phridae]

Originally Posted by alyssa&rylan's-mommy Okay, there's 5 of us, so $7.50/day- I would spend $2.50 on a bag of potatoes, $2.50 on stewing beef, and $1 each on carrots and turnip- $7 total and make beef stew. Bonus: This would feed us for at least a couple of days!

But that's just one meal. You still need breakfast, lunch, and maybe a snack to worry about.

[alyssa&rylan's-mommy]

Originally Posted by phridae But that's just one meal. You still need breakfast, lunch, and maybe a snack to worry about.

Hmm, true!.. I'll try again Toast ($1 for day old bread, a loaf will last a few days) with PB ($2.25) for breakfast. Then Ramen noodles ($1 for 5 packs, enough for us all) with carrots added ($1). Supper is spaghetti ($1) and sauce ($1).

Then the next day- Toast and PB again, then banana and PB sandwiches for lunch ($1 for 3 bananas). Beef stew for supper, $2.50 for potatoes, $1 for turnip, and $1.50 for stewing beef (I'll get a smaller pack). This leaves $1.50 for milk. Carrot sticks for snack

Then- Buy eggs ($3.25 for 30) and another loaf of bread ($1)- Egg on toast for breakfast. Lunch is egg salad sandwiches ($1.50 for the small bottle of mayo). Supper is leftover stew. This leaves $1.75 for strawberries for snack.

Then- French toast topped with sliced strawberries. Lunch is leftover stew (will probably be gone today). Supper is rice and mixed veggies ($2.25 for small pack of rice, $2 for bag of veggies). This leaves 3.25 for a litre of milk and some more fruit for snack.

[momomom]

Just popping in to say, NO I can't do it, because I won't . Our health would suffer, and for a preggo mama, $1.50 per day just ain't feedin' me and my babe. We eat a special diet and if we were very poor, we would all be pretty unhealthy- allergies and such.

If that makes anyone feel better- LOL!

We will gain empathy for the poor in other ways.

Also, though, I will try this on paper just for fun.

[momomom]

And I still see a lot of junk- er, what I consider junk- on a lot of these menus. Are we trying to do it with maximum healthiness, or just trying to do it? I'm just curious, not trying to flame. Because $1 store bread, white pasta, canned goods, and regular PB just aren't healthy foods imo, allergies or not, so any menu including them seems sub-nutritional to me....

Also, many of us live where there are NO discount food stores. I live in a town of 18,000 and there is ONE Kroger and a health food store. The nearest discount food store is over 2 hours away. FWIW.

[phridae]

Originally Posted by momomom And I still see a lot of junk- er, what I consider junk- on a lot of these menus. Are we trying to do it with maximum healthiness, or just trying to do it? I'm just curious, not trying to flame. Because $1 store bread, white pasta, canned goods, and regular PB just aren't healthy foods imo, allergies or not, so any menu including them seems sub-nutritional to me.... Also, many of us live where there are NO discount food stores. I live in a town of 18,000 and there is ONE Kroger and a health food store. The nearest discount food store is over 2 hours away. FWIW.

Well, I don't think people who actually live off 1.50 a day have the healthiest diet. That's the point of this challenge, so everyone else can see how hard it is to eat on so little money, much less eat a balanced menu. It's raising awareness.

[weesej]

Supper Menu:

Chicken and Dumplings- Bone broth and chicken bits made with leftover carcass from Sunday (I'll count half the cost $2.50) Dumplings made with King Arthure GF Bread Mix $1.00, 1 stick Butter (Costco-0.47) $3.97

Green Beans 2 Quarts - garden Last Year approx cost 0.13

Cranberry Sauce - fresh frozen cranberries bought in bulk last fall $1, brown sugar 0.50, apple juice (home canned .10) $1.60

Popcorn with Butter 0.47 plus 0.25 0.72

Total meal $6.42 or 0.64 per person

Our breakfast had been home grown eggs and home canned fruit the total cost about $2.00 or .20 per person. So that make my daily total at $1.57 per person

I know I did not follow all the rules....but to be quite honest most poor people are not just buying all their food at any given time (unless homeless) I know people who live off of very little, but with a little bit of land and knowing how to work, you can eat a quite balanced diet on very little. I couldn't live off this little without a lot of pre-planning and work. Just needing to buy veggies and fruits would do me in. BUT...in season fruit at the farmers auction is VERY reasonable, so I learned how to can. You can get windfall apples for $2 a bushel.....wait for a windy day, go out the next and get the fresh apples for almost nothing I don't LIKE picking green beans in the 90 degree heat and then canning them all in a hot kitchen, but it is so WORTH IT. I have healthy organic veggies, I know how they were grown, what I put in them, for next to nothing.

BTW I do not live on a lot of land. I have 1/3 of an acre, half of which is garden and chicken coop. I also borrow a friends yard to garden in.

[nrsenadenos]

A garden is great - but it requires time and money before it will actually produce something to eat. We've started one this year and are hoping to at least break even on what we spent (about $100 when all told for dirt, supplies, fertilizers, seedlings, etc.). Next year should be better as we won't need to buy as many items to get started.

I wish we could have chickens, but city regs won't allow it...

Another thing to think about is that many of the poorest people live in the cities...farming and chickens and so forth are not really an option...

[alyssa&rylan's-mommy]

Originally Posted by momomom Just popping in to say, NO I can't do it, because I won't . Our health would suffer, and for a preggo mama, $1.50 per day just ain't feedin' me and my babe. We eat a special diet and if we were very poor, we would all be pretty unhealthy- allergies and such. If that makes anyone feel better- LOL! We will gain empathy for the poor in other ways.

I wouldn't do this IRL either, but it was an eye opener to do it on paper! I could do it healthily IRL if I was allowed to use what is already in my fridge/freezer/pantry, but that was one of the stipulations given.