You have 1 dollar a day to feed yourself... explain how you would do it????

reply to post by geobro


I think without any food you're body can go like 40 days. So generally speaking no matter where you are you'll be able to find food. As long as you can find even a small forest you'll find some food. Like some eatable leaves, or dandilions, or whatever. Then if you're in a city you got a lot of options even if you're homeless. Like souplines and stuff. But even if there was an apocalypse you likely could just learn to live off the land. Like you'd learn to: hunt, trap, fish, farm, forage, beachcomb, etc.

reply to post by NightSkyeB4Dawn


That sounds delicious, how long would you leave it in the can approx?

I was waiting for someone to say something, but unless I missed it, I want to point out to those that don't know; the video is a spoof.

It doesn't make any difference, I like the the idea of the post, and now that we have it going, I hope we don't ruin it by focusing on the video, instead of the topic of feeding ourselves when having little or nothing.

It is a much needed wake up call, and we should always remember; "There the for the grace of God, go I".

Current exchange rate for me in the UK = £0.63 per day or £4.41 per week:

1 Kg rolled oats £0.75 (3800 Calories)
8 Bananas £1.15 (1240 Calories)
Instant Noodles X 7 packets £1.05 (1820 Calories)
170g tinned ham & pork £0.67 (502 Calories)
2 Kg Long grain rice £0.80 (7100 Calories)

£4.42 (14,462 Calories)

Works out 2,066 Calories per day

All this is from a major supermarket near me and although it would be pretty miserable eating this most of the time it would sustain life.
If I were to attempt this regime for a few weeks though I would miss out the tinned ham one week and buy Multivitamins Plus Iron tablets available from the same supermarket at £0.70 which would last 30 days.

If I could set the limit at GBP£1.00 per day It would be much much easier as that extra £2.59 each week would allow much more mixing and matching with various budget food items.

reply to post by spartacus699
it is quite easy to live off the land where i live big fishing river nearby and i have plenty ground i am the type that i would never go hungry .

i have done the living off light thing and felt great after 30 days for a bet with a friend years ago and have read of indian yogi's who have been decades without food .

i am living your ideal life now i stay rent free at my friends flat he lives with his g/f and i have his place free gratis all i pay is electricity i grow him stuff ,

free internet and i live all week for $30 and live well and i actually save money i sell the stuff i grow

if you read between the lines life is peachy get up when i want do what i want /sorted

Coupons and grow food.

Second line.

Mostly peanut butter.

Hrmm lets see. $1 per day.

Well here in Brisbane Australia I'd probably say i'd go to a fresh fruit and vegie shop.

I might be able to buy a 1kg bag of carrots for $1.

Or I could probably get an onion and a couple carrots.
Maybe a 500 gram bag of rice.

So if I were planning it out, i'd probably buy a kilo of carrots one day.
Some rice the next.
A small bag of peas or peas and corn the next.
Then some onions.
Should be able to make some fried rice on day five when i but another bag of rice?

Near starvation diet ey ;-p

Well maybe not starvation but it's just not really healthy now is it?

Interesting thread.
For $1 I would buy rice. Also if I lived near water chances are I would have fishing gear. I would fish and eat the fish and spend $1 on rice.

I think if it was me, well I'd check out the souplines and stuff as it's a good way to socialize with like minded people. Maybe even meet a girlfriend. who knows. But as for the money so I'd be spending about 7.50 per week. So I'd go to the dollar store and or walmart which are fairly common in most places. And there's this one grocery store in my area that sells a lot of stuff for a dollar.

So for 7.50 that opens up a lot of options:

1 pack of speggetti
1 can of sauce
1 tin of tuna or sardeens
1 can of peanut butter
a few apples
1 box of oatmeal
1 loaf of bread

I think that covers most of the food groups. I'd also do a lot of sampling if say I was at walmart or a grocery store and actually buying. the worst that would happen is someone might come up and say "hey no sampling". But generally they'd leave you alone as long as you're buying something. So you'd sample a lot of stuff from the bulk bins. Enough to get a free meal basically before you leave. Not that you want to cheat the system but if you're in that bad shape you might have to take advantage of any angle you can. Like even if you're in a food court and someone leaves some food on a tray you might eat whats left over. Stuff like that. I'd try and avoid dumpster diving for the simple fact that you'd start to sink after a while. Like it's really bad too. I drove my bike by this homeless guy and he stunk so bad I almost crashed my bike! And I saw him digging in a garbage which likely is why he smelled so bad.

If I could get all these rationed and also going to soup lines and stuff I could likely make it. I'd just eat small meals. Like I could eat speggetti every night for the week. Just portion it out so you have a small plate of it. I find that I could actually get by on two small meals a day easy now a days. Because i"m almost 40 and I need like half the food I ate when I was in my 20's and teens. If you were younger then this would be harder to do as you'd constantly be hungry most likely.

As far as cooking it goes you could likely rig something up so that you use some candles, or a mini stove you build that runs on small sticks. Or if you're able to get one of those backpacking stoves that are just a can filled with alcohol with a whic, you just lite that and it works. You could likely cook using that. It wouldn't be great but it would work.

reply to post by spartacus699


There is a bread store near me that sells old bread for $1.00 for 3 loaves. Make french toast.

Bountiful Baskets is a co-op that sells fruit and vegetables for $15 a basketful. It covers much of the country. That is enough food for 2 weeks.

You can live off of CVS or Walgreens very cheeply if you purchase sale items with coupons from the Sunday paper and from the store's coupon books.

Buy sale items at a store that doubles coupons and you can easily save 50%.

Dollar stores are great.

Great thread. I have lived like this off and on most of my life for one reason or another. In the UK it is getting harder and harder as the basics have leapt up in price this last year or so, flour, eggs , etc. I always make my own bread but as has been noted this is not much cheaper, healthier yes.
Bags of salad can be cheap if near to bb date and will give some vitamins.
Sometimes just the act of eating something hot can be a great help. Psychology is very important, as depression can mean the difference between giving up or surviving.
Stay away from simple sugars ( usually the cheapest foodstuffs) these can cause hunger and cravings.
Alfalfa, cress and sprouting beans eg mung are good for vits and don't take long to sprout.
Wood ant eggs can be harvested twice a year without damage to the colony
I know this is not strictly true to the thread, but when I was a bit younger I used to go to the local collage and just wander into the subsidised canteen.
Also if a pizza is ordered and not picked up they have to throw it in the dumpster.

The $.99 cent store...macaroni and cheese

Cheap curry powder turns bland rice into something more like a meal

reply to post by spartacus699


Just for kicks I went to that grocery store just to see what they had. Ya sure enough they had a lot of stuff for 1 dollar each. Like I bough 4 regular sized cans of tomato sauce for 1 dollar each. Any many other items. Enough that for say 7 dollar per week budget, you'd get by okay. I just think one day if I'm old and grey and living out of a van like a hobo, then I'm gonna need to know a lot of this stuff. If I don't strike it rich on the internet I might end up there one day ahhhhh

reply to post by adamtash


wait til the shtf before you get to the point where you're digging in ant hives. That's fracking gross!

reply to post by geobro

I think the thread was more intended towards no hunting/fishing/foraging allowed,just cash transactions.Forgive me if I misunderstood.My assumption was a dollar a day,no skipping,and no saving for the next day.Based on that,here's my idea.
My local store has small cans of tomato sauce 3 for a buck,sometimes 4.Buy 1 can,33 cents
Buy a small bag of spaghetti,59 cents

I don't even know why I started this thread. But I was thinking that you know it's weird, but I know this one person and I doubt they spend more than 30 bucks a month on food. I'm not knocking them. They just dont' have a lot of extra money. So in terms of a regular grocery routine, they don't do that at all. They just buy 1 small item here or there. Like they might buy a piece of corn, eat that, buy some old buns on sale, eat that. It's so weird. I probably eat way too much

reply to post by blkcwbyhat
i actually went for it for three days last week just on some brown rice and some carrots and a pepper and onion .
lived for about a $1.50 for that 3 days it is quite easy you can make a pan of soup for cents and that will keep you for days .

i got half a bucket of kfc the other day for nothing from my neighbour the lord will provide i was always told

reply to post by geobro


you made my point perfectly,thank you! Granted,you won't get a gourmet meal every day for a buck,but you will eat,at least something! Ignoring the starving actors,think like a college student...a Ramen noodle pack,say 20 cents,and a can of small mixed veggies added in,almost a meatless stew.If your really desparate,a bottle of ketchup and water for tomato soup.A can of cream of chicken and a can of mixed veggies,think of a pot pie without the pie,and pour that over a baked potato.....Anyway,my point is,budget not withstanding,is that if/when/should the SHTF,we'll all be needing to reconsider our eating habits,looking more to conserving or rationing,rather than trying to maintain our current eating habits.Great post,and a few great ideas