Hacker News Reader

Comment by state | Hacker News Reader

Would you mind giving the details on how you got the cost that low?

It's not hard too eat so that it only costs ~5$ a day depending on your situation. Most simple meals like a sandwich or some pasta can be made for ~1$ and a little more effort. Where I live in Philly a little ad hoc produce stand sets up right down the street regularly with very cheap produce. 5$ would buy lettuce, some apples, carrots, potatoes, etc - enough for a couple days. I can go to the Italian market and get cheap rolls and meat. The Amish and Mennonites have markets around. There are grocery stores where I can get bags of beans, rice, and other staples very cheap.

The problem is if you're in a situation where it's like you get 5$ at the beginning of each day, you can't buy in bulk and save. Likewise if you live in a "food desert" it's harder to shop.

Can't speak for who you're asking directly, but: lentils, rice, beans, frozen veggies, corn tortillas. Can make delicious meals with a well-stocked spice rack (which costs an initial hundred bucks or so upfront, but depreciation maybe adds at most a couple quarters to each meal).

Fresh veggies are doable too, if you're smart about where you shop and what you buy.

I'd suggest people to go shopping at your local ethnic store for spices vs. buying pre-packed spice racks or those tiny spice bottles from whole foods or your local markets.

You'll get X times quantity for 1/Yth the cost. The same goes for Lentils, Beans and Rice

> well-stocked spice rack (which costs an initial hundred bucks or so upfront, but depreciation maybe adds at most a couple quarters to each meal).

Then there's the bulk options for spices you use regularly and in sufficient quantity to keep the quality of your stock reasonably high! Being from the Southwest, that tends to include copious amounts of chili powder, paprika, and a few others for me since I go through them so quickly.

I really like your post though. It doesn't cost that much to eat well, if you're willing to sacrifice some time in exchange. And it's probably healthier, too (lower sodium, plus you know more or less what you're putting into it).

My wife and I eat really cheaply. I generally eat three meals a day, usually tofu or some sort of fish like tuna or salmon. My wife eats similarly. It's not quite $5 a day, but we get by on about $200 a month with occasional spikes due to replenishing a store such as spices, flour, etc.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com