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How To Live (Comfortably) on $36 A Month For Food
- ojbyrne 17y agoExcept for breakfast, every meal seems to be above his own 33 cents/meal budget.
- andrewhyde 17y agoslightly, which is made up with a few skipped meals where someone else is providing.
- rawr 17y agoI stopped reading when he suggested dumpster diving.
- andrewhyde 17y agoI don't, but my neighbor does, and brings back an amazing amount of food. Not my cup of tea, but if you are really bootstrapping...
- rawr 17y agoFair enough. It looks like you aren't advocating vitamin deficiency so I can approve. I knew someone in college who ate nothing but mac and cheese. After a few months his hairline started to recede. When this happened he started eating cheeseburgers every now and then and it grew back.
- vuvtytivlui 17y agoTomorrows headline - "cheeseburgers cure hairloss"
- pavel_lishin 17y agoThere's hobo dumpster diving, and then there's grabbing a loaf of bread that was on a store shelf 5 minutes ago.
- sound2man 17y agoI stopped just shortly after that -- the end of the article.
- aplusbi 17y agoI've gone dumpster diving on a couple of occasions with some friends of mine. I actually think most people should, at the very least, watch other people dumpster dive at least once. You will be absolutely amazed at the amount of perfectly good food that gets thrown out. Go to a bakery right after they close. There will be garbage bags full of bread (and nothing but bread so it's relatively sanitary) that was baked that day. Even if you don't eat any, it will probably change your perception of waste.
- vuvtytivlui 17y agoWhen I was a poor starving student and worked in a supermarket the managers had to put all the expired cakes and cookies in the trash compactor to stop workers taking them. Not sure if this was so we would buy from the store instead or in case we sued if we got ill
- scndhndsmk 17y agoI believe the reason is actually to avoid intentional over production. If the employees know that they'll be able to take home any left overs, then why not bake a few extra cakes... that kind of stuff.
- 321abc 17y agoI think there are health department regulations that may require that. But it could be just that they were being bastards.
- trillablue 17y agoI'm still a student but when I was much poorer and starving I raided a Dunkin Doughnuts dumpster and ended up with an industrial sized trashbag of every doughnut they made sitting in my living room for 3 days, until me and my roommates got sick of eating nothing but doughnuts and threw them out proper.
- jpcx01 17y agoSame here
- truebosko 17y ago$36 a month is a nice number. It peaked my curiosity but he goes through a lot of work and his food suggestions basically mean you're going to miss out on a lot of delicious flavours. I understand the premise but .. meh :)
- alanthonyc 17y ago"piqued" ...sorry...
- thras 17y agoToo many carbs, not enough protein and fat.
- bendotc 17y agoEasy to fix: buy dried pinto beans and lard. Soak the pintos in water over night. The next day, pour off the water and simmer them in fresh water for about an hour. Strain your beans, put them in a pan (or cast-iron skillet), and pour liquid lard over top of them until the fat is about half-way up the beans. Cook over medium heat until the beans have exploded out of their skins. Now, take a potato masher to them. If they're too dry, add more fat. Season to taste. Refried beans are a great source of protein, fat, and flavor, and are one of the cheapest foods around. Pair it with some rice and vegetables and you've got a pretty nutritious meal (assuming you need all those calories).
- thras 17y agoYou'll be eating 2 grams of carbohydrate for every gram of protein that you get that way. Sure, getting your carbs from beans is not nearly as bad for you as getting them from sugar, but there are much higher quality, and more expensive, protein sources that one should prefer. Then again, medical bills are expensive too.
- bendotc 17y agoHonestly, I don't really buy into the idea that getting your protein from a mix of beans and grains will somehow cause you to end up making up the cost difference in medical bills due to the amount of carbohydrates you're ingesting, given the huge number of people on this earth who do so and who appear to have perfectly fine results from this sort of diet. Just make sure you're getting some exercise (which you should be doing regardless of your diet). That all having been said, tofu can be quite cost effective, low in carbs, and high in protein. Of course, you might tell me there's aggression issues associated with tofu ingestion, and that it contains chemicals that mimic estrogen. So, there's seitan, which is also high in protein, low in carbs, and can be made relatively cheaply from wheat gluten in bulk. Of course, there are lots of people who decry wheat gluten as well, not to mention people who're legitimately allergic to it. So that brings us to meat and fish. Meat often comes along with saturated fats and often raises your blood's LDL cholesterol levels, not to mention all the health, environmental, and ethical concerns of factory farming. You could take part in a co-op for your meat, but that is not going to enable you to eat for especially cheap. Fish is generally better in the fat and cholesterol departments, but many carry with them mercury content that makes a lot of people nervous and the threat of overfishing. There are fish that avoid most of these concerns, such as tilapia, which fit most of the criteria, but is still not anywhere close to as price effective as dried beans. If you don't want to get your protein from beans, that's fine. I personally advocate people pay a little more and eat a healthy, varied diet, including many (or all) of the above-mentioned dangerous foods. But this crap about "medical bills are expensive too" implying that somehow eating an incredibly traditional and largely vegetarian diet will send you to the hospital is just ridiculous.
- yan 17y agoWouldn't exactly call it 'Comfortably'
- splat 17y agoAs a poor college student I'm currently on a food budget of < $40 per month. I rarely buy anything but bread, bacon, peanut butter, cheese, bananas, eggs, yogurt, and butter. It's a bit monotonous, but I was surprised how quickly I got used to it.
- RyanMcGreal 17y agoTry replacing some of that with seasoned brown rice and beans. It will be cheaper, healthier and (depending on what spices you use) tastier.
- splat 17y agoThat's a good idea, I'll try that. Thanks!
- dbr 17y agoMy favorite thing to add to rice is curry powder. Gives the rice a completely new flavor. If you have peanuts add those, too.
- pbhj 17y agoBrown rice gives me severe abdominal cramps - YMMV. Rice is good for bulk and brown rice gives more fibre but whilst it's a staple for many it's not great nutritionally.
- Shooter 17y agoMost people undercook brown rice. My wife hated it and had stomach cramps whenever she ate it, until she started cooking it for 50 minutes or so. Using our rice cooker never cooked it thoroughly, so we use the stovetop now. Now she likes it. I agree it's not as nutritious as most people think it is...we eat quinoa more frequently, and we try to alternate with other grains and sides.
- rokhayakebe 17y agoFrankly I would suggest working an extra 4 hours per week and use the 30-40 dollars you will make and buy extra food. When we are young (like I used to be 10 years ago) we tend to think we can handle going with the least amount of food. Well, No. It definitely looks as if you are fine, but it takes sometimes years before poor eating habits start to show effects.
- fauigerzigerk 17y agoWhere I live you die from eating deeply discounted ground beef a month after buying it :)
- bendotc 17y agoDo you live in a place without freezers?
- fauigerzigerk 17y agoNo, but I bought my freezer for $36 ;-)
- physcab 17y agoSomething that always amazes me is how people are willing to sacrifice quite a bit when it comes to monthly food costs, when in reality these costs are incredibly low compared to the benefits you get (nutrition and health). Why don't people reconsider getting trashed on Friday and Saturday nights, where bar bills can run up to $20/night or find less convenient housing and save themselves $50/month. Or how about getting rid of the non-essentials like cable, internet, or a car. IMHO food is the one monthly cost that you should not cut corners, because the long term effects have actual measurable detriments to your personal well-being.
- sound2man 17y agoWith the audience on here, I doubt that internet is considered "non-essential". It sounds to me that he ate a pretty balanced diet. Not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination, but plain, and for the most part, healthy food.
- ryanwaggoner 17y agoI agree that it sounds like he ate pretty healthy, but stuff like this really freaks me out: Lard is the highest calorie per cent food you can buy. That just seems to be the epitome of penny-wise and pound-foolish for 99.9% of people, who would be far better off trimming their budget in other categories so they could eat healthier instead of viewing food as just a source of calories.
- cpach 17y agoI don't think I would ever eat lard, but some proponents of the low-carb diet surely would approve.
- biohacker42 17y agoI may be wrong, but I think lard has less saturated fat then butter and possibly even cream cheese. So while not good for you in anything other then tiny quantities, it may be less bad for you then other stuff you have problem putting on your bagel.
- notaddicted 17y agoIt is important to think about eating in terms of return on investment. You can spend more money on better food (you can also spend more money on worse food) and get better overall fitness and alertness and performance in general from your body. The important thing to know is what is the cost and what is the benefit. Nutrition is a vast science. * All carbs are not equal. * All fat is not equal. * All protein is not equal. Beans are not meat.
- WilliamLP 17y ago> Nutrition is a vast science. It ought to be treated as a science but often it isn't. If you ask 100 nutrition experts how much protein a person should get in a day, you're not going to get a consensus based on empirical evidence, but drastically different answers and emotional passions bordering on the religious.
- jeremymims 17y agoBeans are not meat. But beans combined with many types of rice, bread, pasta, or oats can make a complete protein (the same as you'd find in an animal product).
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- pmichaud 17y agoThe numbers you're using sound wrong now. In the last year or maybe 2 years food prices have skyrocketed. I'll go to store to pick up a few things and end up with a bag or two of groceries, and the bill is like $100 -- I know I could scrimp and figure out ways to spend less, but it wasn't always like that. The same stuff costs way more now. If you want to talk about really healthy food, especially if you have a strange diet like veganism, then forget it, your bill will be huge.
- andrewhyde 17y agoThe numbers are very regional (cheese in the northeast is 1/2 what it is in Colorado, for instance) and were lower a few years ago (you are right). If you shop the right stores at the right times, I am sure you could come pretty damn close, even today. Veganism can be spendy. I've only tried once (for a week). It didn't work out too well.
- jeremymims 17y agoThis doesn't have to be true. Purchasing mock meats and the like will probably get to be expensive. But cutting out meat and cheese are two of the very easiest ways to lower your monthly food costs and improve your overall health. Rice, beans, pasta, and (frozen) veggies combined with different spices and sauces isn't a bad way to go when saving money and trying to stay healthy. I'm much more skeptical of the health consequences from a diet including large quantities of eggs, cheap ground meat, and inexpensive cheese. I also think the key to living this cheaply would be a multi-vitamin to help replace whatever you're invariably missing from your diet. As a vegetarian who eats like a vegan 98% of the time (and for several years lived on no more than a $60.00/month food budget), you don't have to let budgetary constraints keep you from participating in a healthy and environmentally friendly way of eating.
- Shooter 17y agoAny good recipes, Jeremy?
- HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
- noodle 17y agoexecutive summary: base your meals around cheap food staples, such as rice, beans, oats. buy other cheap things, use coupons and buy expiring food in order to spice up each meal.
- edw519 17y agoBig mistake. A better title would be, "How to sacrifice you health for money." No thanks. I can be cheap with a lot of things, but not with the food I put into my body. The kind of diet OP proposes may work OK for a while. The younger you are, the more resilient you probably are, so that can be quite a while. But sooner or later, especially if you're a little bit older, you will be trading quality of life for a few bucks. AFAIC, the best possible use for limited resources is excellent food. This first thing this means is fresh produce, which, frankly is difficult to find "on sale". OP's advice to eat at home is excellent, OTOH, I'd rather spend 7 bucks on a restaurant salad bar than 3 bucks for a home cooked highly processed meal. Almost everything in life, including work, is a marathon, not a sprint. I intend to be just as strong at any point in that marathon with proper lifestyle, especially nutritional excellence. Saving $ intelligently is always smart. Sacrificing potential health and well being for a few hundred dollars per month is just not a good idea. Pass.
- andrewhyde 17y agoMost of the meals I listed are actually pretty balanced. If I listed 'eat mac and cheese and dollar menu items' I would be right with you, but salads, eggs, PB&J and rice and beef are pretty good staples to build any diet off of. I'm not advocating anyone goes near as far as I did, but something to keep in mind for that friend that eats like shit out every night spending 10x what you could by making a healthier option at home.
- edw519 17y agoI'm one of those "nuts" who insists that fresh produce comprises about 80% of what I eat, so that's my major source of disagreement. I have never found a way to eat like this for even 5x what you're recommending. Salads and frest fruit are definitely good staples to build any diet of. Eggs, PB&J, rice, and beef, OTOH are compromises. But that's another whole debate outside the scope of hn. If I ate like most people then $36/month sounds difficult, but achieveable. But I don't and I wouldn't advocate changing away from eating excellence to save money.
- 17y ago
- luccastera 17y agoA trick I learned from a friend while in grad school. When they have football games, walk around the tailgate parties right before the game is about to start, people will almost pay you to take their extra food so that they can get to the game. And it's usually pretty good food... For better results, go next to the ones thrown by corporations. They usually order too much food and the employees do not care and do not want to bring the food back home. Oh.. and bring an empty backpack :)
- andrewhyde 17y agoI remember carrying two flats of Gatorade from a football game back to my dorm room over two miles away to save some cash in college. My arms hurt for a week.
- aardvarkious 17y agoI had a friend in college who went everywhere with two tupperware containers. When he was asked whether or not he wanted left overs he would feign a no, but as soon as he was asked a second time he would say "I guess so" and pull out his tupperware.
- TrevorJ 17y agoI a lot of people are suggesting that this diet is not healthy, but I'm not convinced. Eggs, salads, veggies, fruits, rice, beans, cheeses, beef...As long as things are taken in the correct quantities I see very little problem here, am I wrong?
- lutorm 17y agoTo me, I'd just be suspicious of anything sold at those prices. You're a bottom feeder on the dregs of the food-industrial complex, and that can't be good.
- jonknee 17y agoNo, you're just buying at the right time and in bulk. Grocery stores run tight margins and frequent loss leaders. Just because someone at the grocery store over bought and has to run a sale doesn't make you a bottom feeder. It's the same food everyone else is getting.
- TrevorJ 17y agoYes and no. I mean, if your argument is to hold water than you'd have to buy homegrown or local produce. A loaf of bread marked down 50% isn't any different than the one at full price other than the fact that it will go bad sooner. It isn't as if stores sell recalled items or anything.
- thedjpetersen 17y agoWow! Its cheaper than buying taco bell every day!
- vuvtytivlui 17y agoQuiet, if the rest of America realizes that - our plans for world domination are over.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- tybris 17y agoSpending all that time working seems to be much more economical. I just eat bread in the morning and afternoon and cook a different meal every night. Probably comes down to about $20 a week. I could eat for less that $0.75 if I want to, but I don't.
- dugmartin 17y agoOr go wash dishes/clean up the back of the house for a hour or so every day in a restaurant in exchange for breakfast and dinner. You'll eat a lot better.
- gcheong 17y agoThe part about dumpster diving reminded me of when I used to help a friend of mine slop his pigs. He had arrangements with a few restaurants and old folks homes for their leftover food and we would drive around, pick it up in these large plastic garbage bins and feed it to his pigs. It would always surprise me when he would often pick over the food before we gave it to the pigs, looking for things like chicken legs which he would summarily devour. I never could bring myself to do it.
- eli 17y ago...for varying definitions of "comfortable" and ignoring certain opportunity costs
- kingkawn 17y agoThis is absolutely doable, but when life is stressing theres nothing like an extravagant meal to bring back some cheer. It doesn't have to be eating out, home-cooked is fine, but rib-eye ain't cheap either way. Green olives, goat cheese, and crackers really do melt away my troubles.
- xenophanes 17y agoa lot of comments focussing on health. one other issue is that finding all the best deals and using coupons takes time. if you treat it like a salary, maybe you could beat minimum wage(?), but it's not a good salary by any means.
- Devils-Avacado 17y ago"PB+J can be priced at $.25...Rice cakes and cheese was a favorite. " PB+J and Rice cakes = Living comfortably?
- DanielStraight 17y agoOr you could walk next door and mow your neighbor's lawn for $10 (at that rate, who would refuse?). Focus on earning more, not spending less.
- klipt 17y agoUnless of course you're an international student, in which case earning more is illegal, while spending less isn't.
- smithjchris 17y agoGet a bicycle, stop commuting and grow your own food. Works for me. Costs virtually nothing. Keeps you fit and healthy. Provides 75% of our food needs. Also stop the guilt complex on quality, organic foods and branded goods. People give you evil looks if you pick up the "value eggs" in Tesco in the UK. "Think of the chickens" they chant. Fuck the chickens.
- sidburgess 17y agoSo this is how the Japanese save so much money.
- sidburgess 17y agoThis comment wasn't meant to be derogatory. That is effectively their diet and they are some of the best savers in the world.
- Mz 17y agoI wish. I'm in the "eat well to avoid (huge) medical bills" crowd.
- Mz 17y agoI don't see what the problem is with my comment. It's a sincere comment. I wish I could substantially cut my food bill. But I have a serious medical condition and have gotten off multiple prescription drugs in part by changing my diet (and doing a lot of research on what works for my particular condition). I know lots of people with my condition who are taking several thousand dollars a month in prescription drugs -- more than my monthly income in some cases. What I spend on food is high but it's cheaper than the alternative.
- stinkytaco 17y agoBread machine. Pick one up at a thrift store for a couple of dollars. Thrift stores always have bread machines because people love to buy them but never use them. Put the ingredients in the bread maker, let the maker raise the bread and then throw the loaf in the oven to cook. Great bread for pennies.
- lucifer 17y agoPoor kid. Went through all that trouble to get some schoolin' and he still can't write proper English.
- tzury 17y agowhy not spending these efforts finding a side job which will add to your income $36 a day? This way you can eat anything you want as much as you want.
- csomar 17y agofood is very expensive those days, i live in tunisia and i estimate it (my spending) to $100/month I like to eat and spend on eating, i think it's better than spending it on some kind of mobile phones; isn't eating better. so $36 only if you don't have money: the poor, however a hacker can write few articles or code few lines and get an easy $150 a month and feed himself well;
- Goladus 17y agoJust curious how many calories in a typical day? That diet definitely looks very lean to me. One box of spaghetti is usually enough for 1.5 meals for me, if that. If I'm working out I'll eat an entire box in one evening.