Is It Possible to Live (eat) on $5/Day?

[gaijindabe]

Cheap Spanish food places in NYC and you would gain weight on $5 a day. Lots of rice & beans...

[charleskieffner]

san felipe baja you can get a shrimp taco for a buck. so 4 tacos and a buck for a corona to wash it all down! now thats healthy eating!

[vash]

i completely agree that you can eat on $35 per week. EASY! $5 per day is harder. if you buy the load of beans, rice, frozen veggies, oatmeal (i pity the man that doesnt get enough complex carbs), you can come out a real healthy winner. imagine spending $140 for a month??!! wow. lots of car parts/improvements waiting to happen.

[bryanthompson]

Don't forget chicken pot pies and the bag 'o chimichangas... they kept me alive for half a semester

[Eric 951]

why would it have to be 3 meals a day?

Heck, I only eat 1 or 2 a day as it is. Unless you count coffee and chewing tobacco.

[Tim Walsh]

How about this. Menu to properly feed a family of 4 for a week on $45.
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/40dollarmenu.htm

[onlycafe]

if i could feed my targa on $5.00 a day i would be very happy.

[89911]

Is It Possible to Live (eat) on $5/Day?

Let's ask Rachel Ray? I can just picture her eating a Sheetz Hot dog and rolling her eyes lovingly immediately after downing the delectable morsel (Anyone else here have issues with that show!)

[silver912e]

Originally posted by LubeMaster77
I So I figure that a Banana and Coffee / Tea for breakfast, PBnJ for lunch and a salad for dinner with a can of Salmon or Tuna or Chicken every other day or every third day.

Better check the tuna calculator first unless you want to start behaving like the Mad Hatter:

http://www.ewg.org/issues/mercury/20031209/calculator.php?gclid=CLWssv7or4YCFUBpGgodGiwypg

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally posted by 89911
Is It Possible to Live (eat) on $5/Day?

Let's ask Rachel Ray? I can just picture her eating a Sheetz Hot dog and rolling her eyes lovingly immediately after downing the delectable morsel (Anyone else here have issues with that show!)

I can't stand her.
It's too bad she's se friggen' hot!

[89911]

Originally posted by WolfeMacleod
I can't stand her.
It's too bad she's se friggen' hot!

Hot in a way most 5'2" 140lb woman are?

[RickM]

Originally posted by 89911
Is It Possible to Live (eat) on $5/Day?

Let's ask Rachel Ray? I can just picture her eating a Sheetz Hot dog and rolling her eyes lovingly immediately after downing the delectable morsel (Anyone else here have issues with that show!)

Ya think the eaterys she goes to for her $7.00 dinners are a bit prejudiced by the cameras....lol

BTW, I think she's cute but not really hot...she's kinda build like a boy.

[CamB]

Yeah, definitely possible. In fact, if I changed to $5/day I would eat more, not less, healthy food. It'd force discipline on me, so less fatty prepared foods, more stuff I make myself. What you gain in cheapness of food is paid for in time though. I love cooking, but don't take the time to do it...

... plus getting fruit/vegetables on that budget might be hard at certain times of the year. However, since I don't eat much of them anyway, no big deal

My next comment unavoidably comes from the bleeding heart liberal within. You guys know that a family of 4 with $5/day is a weekly budget for food of $140 (that $7k pa). For some families, this'd be an upgrade - see this (note, I'm from the other side of the world, so have no idea how many $$$ in food stamps the theoretical family in poverty would get):

http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/tour.htm

[artplumber]

Originally posted by 89911
Is It Possible to Live (eat) on $5/Day?

Let's ask Rachel Ray? I can just picture her eating a Sheetz Hot dog and rolling her eyes lovingly immediately after downing the delectable morsel (Anyone else here have issues with that show!)

"That's soooo good, and with only 0.50 tax + tip (for the tipping thread), I have $13.50 left for dinner!"

[M.D. Holloway]

Its gotta be healthy. I asked a few more people (including my Wife who thinks I'm nuts) wants to include the following:

Blueberries
Eggs
Oatmeal
Apples
Chicken (in the can)
Soup
Carrots
Beans
Potatoes
Oranges
Peanut Butter
Whole Wheat Bread
Rice
Pasta

$5/day? Nope, I'm thinking $3/day when calculated out. The spices and herbs would add to the initial cost but would be recovered soon.

[Noah930]

Actually, my college roommates and I did this exact $5/day thing for a summer. Of course, we spread it out to $35/week/person to make the shopping and calculations easier. But it worked out pretty successfully, without having to resort to any mooching or skipping of meals. And we usually had meat on a daily basis (whether it was sandwich cold cuts, or occasionally a roasted chicken or steaks for dinner). Buying in bulk and stuff on sale, and freezing it helped. So did cutting out junk food.

That was 10 years ago, though. I suppose it's still possible with a little bit of work. But you certainly eat better if you spend a bit more (there's a reason why plain-wrap items cost less than name-brand items, and it's not just marketing/profits).

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally posted by 89911
Hot in a way most 5'2" 140lb woman are?

Doesn't look it to me. She looks to be in decent shape. And I do prefer women who aren't so thin I could shine a flashlight up thier butt and use them a nightlight.
And I like short women.
Of course, I don't watch the Food Network a lot, so her shape may have changed somewhat...
My issue with her is that she's incredibly annoying. And she's go no upper "appendages" Her facial features is what I was mostly commenting on.

[svandamme]

i spend 200 a month on groceries
but that includes dishwasher and clothewasher chems, cat litter and cat food
if i take out the cat grub and chemicals, i probably end up with 150, wihch is 5 a day...


i do have lunch at work, but it's poor quality and i cook every day when i get home...

true, mine are Euro's , but i doubt that a Euro buys you more in Europe then a Buck does in the US, at least not when it comes to groceries...i do not do any ramen noodles or any other microwave crap, but i tend to make large pots, and freeze it in in my own MW dinners ( spaghetti bolognese, soup, macaroni, chicken curry for instance)

[TerryBPP]

If you have time to cook it would be easy to eat on $5.

8:00am - 2 whole eggs
10:00 am - 1 piece of wheat bread w/ crunchy PB
12:00 pm - 1 can chicken w or wo light mayo
2:00 pm - 1 can of tuna w or wo light mayo
5:00 pm - 1 8 oz chicken breast, 1 handle full of brown rice

If you stuck to this diet not only would you be rich you'd be in some insane shape.

Add some weights and cardio = 1 shredded bum.

[M.D. Holloway]

Terry - Thanks! I bet if I sub a can or 2 of the heavy metal fish with a banana, almonds or blueberries I could bounce a dime off my gut in 3 months!