I came across a very interesting blog last week, where a young couple, Christopher and Kerri, challenged themselves to eat for $1.00 a day each for 30 days as a way to bring attention to the consumerism, food waste, and poverty. They blogged about their experience at the One Dollar Diet Project. I read through all 30 days, where you can read about their daily “menus” where they only spent $1.00 a day each, and how they felt each day eating a very limited menu-a lot of peanut butter, beans and rice and very low cost homemade dishes. You can start by reading about their experience by starting with Day One.
Could you eat for $1.00 a day? I don’t think I could, at least not right now. I would like to get my food costs down, and have been “cheating” by not bringing my lunch to work and eating out a little too often. Reading through their blog, it really made me want to cut back on how much I (and the family) spend on food.
I have also been reading the Early Retirement Extreme 30 Day Makeover, where Jacob talked about grocery shopping on Day 3. He spends (or recommends about $50-$75 per person per month, or about $1.50 to $2.00. That’s still pretty low!
I participated in the Carnival of Personal Finance this past week, hosted by FFB at Free From Broke in the “Don’t Go Broke Over the Holidays Edition”, which included my article “10 Tips for a Financially Stress Free Christmas”.
My favorites from the COPF:
Best Coupon Sites for Online Shoppers at the Digerati Life
Bailouts Hurt Our Standard of Living at Mighty Bargain Hunter
Striving for a Mortgage-Free Life at Go to Retirement
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the mention and the round-up.
Thanks for linking back to the carnival!
When I graduated and started my first job I was broke and ALMOST managed to eat for $1/day.
I used to make a pot of curry with chick peas and ground beef and it would last me the entire week. It took a lot of discipline plus my taste buds got a little tired.
@TSTrump- I know I didn’t get it that low, but I ate pretty frugally in college as well. I know what you mean about getting tired of eating the same thing, though!
Yes – I also came across the One Dollar Diet Project and it played a part in establishing my own ”dollar-a-day” challenge. It truly is amazing how much we spend and consume.
I recently returned from Tajikistan on a mission trip where the majority of the country lives in poverty, earning around $2.15 USD a day. I now have the opportunity of doing some work in Zambia here in the new year and wanted to get a feel for what it’s like to live on just $1 a day.
Always open to feedback and suggestions in my adventure:
http://1-dollar-a-day.blogspot.com
Thanks for the other recommendations / tips of some good, similar reads. Will be sure to check those out.
@Karla- Thanks for visiting! Your travels sound very interesting- I will have to keep up with your challenge.
@RC — Yes, please do track our progress.
We’re currently on Day 14 and what a life-changing experience this has been! Very impactful on so many levels…
http://1-dollar-a-day.blogspot.com
Handful of ‘cheap eats’ recipes — a great one is for our Turkey Taco Soup which makes 10 servings – $0.36 per serving!
Congrats!-Will definitely keep up with your progress!