Two Dollars a Day

In article <[email hidden]>,

Blair P. Houghton said:

Quoted message said:

I live in a very old neighborhood in Orange County, Ca. I think it was
the law when they built the houses that every yard had to have at
least one citrus tree. JK, but it does seem that every house in the
older neighborhoods has an orange tree.

Same deal in Phoenix.

By far, the best grapefruit I've ever had are the ones
that come off the trees in people's backyards.

It's criminal what they're putting in the supermarkets
and calling grapefruit.

--Blair

Depends on where you shop!

We get the thin skinned ruby grapefruit here pretty much year round.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a [censored]" -- Jack Nicholson

In article said:

Christine Dabney said:

Koko said:

I think I need to try and eat on two dollars a day also. I haven't
been real good about putting away money for the New Mexico cookin'

Good Luck.

Koko

That might be an interesting challenge, for anyone that wants to go
along with it... After I get back to NM this Sunday, I will be able
to see what I can do to meet the challenge....

snip-to-my-lou

Quoted message said:

Christine

Excluding booze of course.

And coffee.

Koko said:

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:39:36 -0400, Christine Dabney
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Excluding booze of course.

Koko

Of course. I would never count the booze/wine in with the food!!!!
LOL.

Christine

Well, on $2.00 a day, you'd better add roadkill to your list. . .I
have some recipes, if you're interested;-)

Quoted message said:

Friends,

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

That being said, there are a few things I have in mind:

*Eggs - fried, scrambled, and boiled.
*Potatoes - fried, baked
*Pasta - 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, garlic, onions,
herbs, 1lb pasta
*Tuna salad
*Home baked bread - loaves, rolls, cornbread, pita, soda crackers

That's pretty much the list I've come up with. I really need some help
coming up with more menu items.

Checking prices at the supermarket, I've come up with a list of some
food stuffs I can afford:

*Veggies - potatoes, carrots, onions (not much else looks affordable
on my self imposed budget)
*Fruit - bananas, melons (also, lemons and oranges from trees in the
yard, though I don't think many, if any, oranges will be available)
*Grains, beans, pasta - rice, beans (red, garbanzo, pinto), peas,
lentils, barley, pasta
*Meat - Not much looks particularly affordable. I may be able to
squeeze some chicken in, maybe even some ground beef, and I plan on
splurging on a pound of bacon.
*Dairy - no milk, cheese, or butter. But margarine is surprisingly
cheap. Eggs, or course.

I have an ample supply of herbs, spices, oils, vinegar, soy sauce, and
some rather esoteric condiments (fish sauce, black bean and garlic
sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce).

Anyways, your help is greatly appreciated.

What other food items to you think I can add to the list?

What interesting menu items would you recommend?

thanks,

b.
misanthropia dot com

Christine Dabney said:

Of course. I would never count the booze/wine in with the food!!!!
LOL.

In that case, it's a shoe-in. Two burritos and a six-pak, all that's
required to sustain life.

nb

Quoted message said:

Friends,

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

That being said, there are a few things I have in mind:

*Eggs - fried, scrambled, and boiled.
*Potatoes - fried, baked
*Pasta - 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, garlic, onions,
herbs, 1lb pasta
*Tuna salad
*Home baked bread - loaves, rolls, cornbread, pita, soda crackers

That's pretty much the list I've come up with. I really need some help
coming up with more menu items.

Checking prices at the supermarket, I've come up with a list of some
food stuffs I can afford:

*Veggies - potatoes, carrots, onions (not much else looks affordable
on my self imposed budget)
*Fruit - bananas, melons (also, lemons and oranges from trees in the
yard, though I don't think many, if any, oranges will be available)
*Grains, beans, pasta - rice, beans (red, garbanzo, pinto), peas,
lentils, barley, pasta
*Meat - Not much looks particularly affordable. I may be able to
squeeze some chicken in, maybe even some ground beef, and I plan on
splurging on a pound of bacon.
*Dairy - no milk, cheese, or butter. But margarine is surprisingly
cheap. Eggs, or course.

I have an ample supply of herbs, spices, oils, vinegar, soy sauce, and
some rather esoteric condiments (fish sauce, black bean and garlic
sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce).

Anyways, your help is greatly appreciated.

What other food items to you think I can add to the list?

What interesting menu items would you recommend?

thanks,

b.
misanthropia dot com

Check the vacant lots for small milkweed pods if they're still
available. Steammed they are a great (free) vegetable.

Boron Elgar said:

Blair P. Houghton said:

kilikini said:

We buy the store brand, too. It's not bad!

Quoted message said:

I only buy the store-brand orange soda, which is pretty
good and goes perfect with popcorn when the DVD machine is
rocking. The rest of the store brand sodas taste like can.

I was going to say they taste like ass, but that is really a more
polite way of putting it.

Boron

How do you know how ass tastes?

Christine Dabney said:

Koko said:

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:39:36 -0400, Christine Dabney
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Excluding booze of course.

Koko

Of course. I would never count the booze/wine in with the food!!!!
LOL.

Christine

LOL, so sayeth the Queen of the Cocktail! 🙂

kilikini said:

Quoted message said:

Friends,

Quoted message said:

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

Quoted message said:

We're always on a really tight budget, so I've learned some tricks to get us
by when we're in a serious pinch.

1. Homemade soups. For instance, bean soup is probably one of the cheapest.
It may cost more than $2.00 initially, but you get a week's worth and you
can always freeze some.
2. Frozen, non-breaded, fish filets - I get mine at a place called
Sav-a-Lot. For about $3.50 I get 5 frozen pollock fillets. Yes, it comes
to about $.70 a fillet, which is about 65% of your daily allowance, but if
you eat ramen for lunch ($.15), 2 eggs for breakfast ($.40) that allows you
about $.75 cents of veggies to go with the fish for dinner. And, if you
haven't finished all the ramen (I never do), you can stir-fry the veggies
and place them on the bed of left-over ramen.
3. Buy off-brand canned goods at surplus stores like Dollar General. The
sell-by-date is usually expired, but that's not important for canned goods.
Spaghetti sauce can be had for under $1.00 and again, you can get at least
3 - 4 meals out of a jar. These kind of places are also good for cheap,
dried pasta.
4. You mentioned rice. Fried rice is cheap and it's a great way to use up
any veggies. I make a batch and it lasts me all week. What I don't end up
eating (because I can never eat it all), I end up feeding to my pet rats.
They love it, too!
5. It's summer - think tuna salad. Go to the Dollar store to get your
tuna, pasta, mayo and whatever else you want to add. That's another one
that lasts me a week.
6. Casseroles. Filling, cheap and they go a long way. A casserole can be
as simple as frozen broccoli and mushroom soup (or broccoli cheese soup),
baked, with breadcrumbs on the top. Again, if you go to the Dollar store,
you can get frozen broccoli and canned mushroom soup for cheap.

I could write a book on this and to all the foodies out there, yes, I know
most of this is processed food. I like to eat as fresh and healthy as I
can, but sometimes you have to cut corners.

Anyway, I hope this helped!

kili

Thank you, 'kini. Very useful advise.

b.

Sheldon said:

If it was 1960 I'd say go for it. But in 2007 people on welfare
allocate more than $2 a meal for a beverage. I don't think yoiu can
eat nutritiously on $2 a day, in fact I know you can't. Sure you can

I suppose that depends on your definition of "nutritiously". If you
are referring the fhe FDA's Food Pyramid, you're probably right. But
many people in the US (I dare say most - and I have no statistics, so
don't ask) already do not eat nutritiously. Certainly myself among
them.

But, if you add in that gardening and fishing that you had
recommended, I think a person can come darned close.

I actually think that I will be eating more nutritiously on two
dollars a day than I am currently eating. Mainly because I will be
very conscious of every single thing that goes into my mouth (and
before you ask, no thanks). I will certainly be eating less, but if
you saw me, you'd know that that is a good thing 🙂

My main concern, I think, is going to be calcium. I don't drink much
milk, but I eat cheese almost every day. Well, milk and cheese are
outside of my 2dd budget. I've got spinach and chard coming up in the
garden, but I'm not sure how much is going to be ready to eat in July.
They're certainly not ready now. I'm hoping to find green leafies on
sale, or perhaps frozen on the cheap.

Quoted message said:

fill your belly but after a few weeks you'll incur medical bills that
will far offset normal food bills. Did you ever hear the term "kishka
gelt"... that's small change saved from depriving ones belly.

I seriously doubt that I will be incurring any diet related medical
bills during the month of July.

Quoted message said:

Sheldon Fress

Thanks again for your opinion, Sheldon.

b.

Quoted message said:

Friends,

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

That being said, there are a few things I have in mind:

*Eggs - fried, scrambled, and boiled.
*Potatoes - fried, baked
*Pasta - 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, garlic, onions,
herbs, 1lb pasta
*Tuna salad
*Home baked bread - loaves, rolls, cornbread, pita, soda crackers

That's pretty much the list I've come up with. I really need some help
coming up with more menu items.

Checking prices at the supermarket, I've come up with a list of some
food stuffs I can afford:

*Veggies - potatoes, carrots, onions (not much else looks affordable
on my self imposed budget)
*Fruit - bananas, melons (also, lemons and oranges from trees in the
yard, though I don't think many, if any, oranges will be available)
*Grains, beans, pasta - rice, beans (red, garbanzo, pinto), peas,
lentils, barley, pasta
*Meat - Not much looks particularly affordable. I may be able to
squeeze some chicken in, maybe even some ground beef, and I plan on
splurging on a pound of bacon.
*Dairy - no milk, cheese, or butter. But margarine is surprisingly
cheap. Eggs, or course.

I have an ample supply of herbs, spices, oils, vinegar, soy sauce, and
some rather esoteric condiments (fish sauce, black bean and garlic
sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce).

Anyways, your help is greatly appreciated.

I reread this post in hopes of figuing out the WHY of $2/day for
food. It appears the poster is attempting to save money... my grocery
bill is the last place I'd look to for saving money. I'm sure folks
can save far more than $2/day in many other areas other than food. I
realize that some grocery bills can be exhorbitant when rife with
luxury foods but $2/day is much less than many subsist on in many
third world countries.

I've seen grocery shoppers spend more dollars on beer and ciggarettes
than on food... and then spend even more on rub-off lottery tickets
before leaving the stupidmarket.

Sheldon

Sheldon said:

Quoted message said:

Friends,

Quoted message said:

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

I reread this post in hopes of figuing out the WHY of $2/day for
food. It appears the poster is attempting to save money... my grocery
bill is the last place I'd look to for saving money. I'm sure folks

This is purely an experiment.

Quoted message said:

can save far more than $2/day in many other areas other than food. I
realize that some grocery bills can be exhorbitant when rife with
luxury foods but $2/day is much less than many subsist on in many
third world countries.

I recall reading that, according to the World Bank, half of the worlds
population subsists on $2 a day. That's not just food, that's
everything - rent, car insurance, satallite tv, everything. And those
are "adjusted" dollars so the $2 I spend here in Orange County, Ca.
are worth the same as $2 spent in Somalia.

There's more info about that here:
http://www.2dollars.org/

Quoted message said:

I've seen grocery shoppers spend more dollars on beer and ciggarettes
than on food... and then spend even more on rub-off lottery tickets
before leaving the stupidmarket.

I brew my own beer at the cost of about 25 cents per glass (and you
can be damned sure it ain't coming out of my 2dd) and roll my own
ciggs from bulk tobacco purchased over Internet - maybe 75 cents a
day. They're not coming out of my 2dd either.

If you're interested in my rules, there's a rough rundown at my
website. On the 1st or 2nd, I'll post exactly what it is that I'm not
paying for (mostly just parishables left over from June, my herbs and
spices, and my oil, vinager, and condiments).

misanthropia.com

Quoted message said:

Sheldon

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 08:33:10 -0400, Goomba38 <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Christine Dabney said:

Koko said:

On Thu, 28 Jun 2007 23:39:36 -0400, Christine Dabney
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Excluding booze of course.

Koko

Of course. I would never count the booze/wine in with the food!!!!
LOL.

Christine

LOL, so sayeth the Queen of the Cocktail! 🙂

Moi?!?! LOL!!

Didn't I see you twice with a gin and tonic in your hand??? Once,
before dinner (when we got there), and then at dinner and then when
that nice gentleman bought you a drink....

I only had wine....
I almost asked the bartender at the hotel if they could make a
sidecar, but then decided wine was a safer choice....

Christine, who thinks she will make either a Delilah, or a Sidecar
when she gets home to ABQ tomorrow evening

Sheldon said:

Boron Elgar said:

Blair P. Houghton said:

kilikini <[email hidden]> wrote:
>We buy the store brand, too. It's not bad!

Quoted message said:

I only buy the store-brand orange soda, which is pretty
good and goes perfect with popcorn when the DVD machine is
rocking. The rest of the store brand sodas taste like can.

I was going to say they taste like ass, but that is really a more
polite way of putting it.

Boron

How do you know how ass tastes?

Sorry you have had such a deprived sex life.

Boron

Quoted message said:

Sheldon said:

On Jun 28, 7:22?am, [email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Friends,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

Quoted message said:

I reread this post in hopes of figuing out the WHY of $2/day for
food. It appears the poster is attempting to save money... my grocery
bill is the last place I'd look to for saving money. I'm sure folks

This is purely an experiment.

Quoted message said:

can save far more than $2/day in many other areas other than food. I
realize that some grocery bills can be exhorbitant when rife with
luxury foods but $2/day is much less than many subsist on in many
third world countries.

I recall reading that, according to the World Bank, half of the worlds
population subsists on $2 a day. That's not just food, that's
everything - rent, car insurance, satallite tv, everything. And those
are "adjusted" dollars so the $2 I spend here in Orange County, Ca.
are worth the same as $2 spent in Somalia.

Really dumb... nowhere on the planet do people afford automobiles on
$2/day. Your experiment simply proves how DUMB you are.

Sheldon said:

Quoted message said:

On Jun 30, 6:07 am, Sheldon <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Jun 28, 7:22?am, [email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> Friends,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
> day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
> raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I reread this post in hopes of figuing out the WHY of $2/day for
food. It appears the poster is attempting to save money... my grocery
bill is the last place I'd look to for saving money. I'm sure folks

Quoted message said:

This is purely an experiment.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

can save far more than $2/day in many other areas other than food. I
realize that some grocery bills can be exhorbitant when rife with
luxury foods but $2/day is much less than many subsist on in many
third world countries.

Quoted message said:

I recall reading that, according to the World Bank, half of the worlds
population subsists on $2 a day. That's not just food, that's
everything - rent, car insurance, satallite tv, everything. And those
are "adjusted" dollars so the $2 I spend here in Orange County, Ca.
are worth the same as $2 spent in Somalia.

Really dumb... nowhere on the planet do people afford automobiles on
$2/day. Your experiment simply proves how DUMB you are.

You're gonna have to turn your sracasm detector on, Shel.

And please explain how my experiment makes me dumb?

thanks,

b.

Quoted message said:

Sheldon said:

On Jun 28, 7:22?am, [email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Friends,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

Quoted message said:

I reread this post in hopes of figuing out the WHY of $2/day for
food. It appears the poster is attempting to save money... my grocery
bill is the last place I'd look to for saving money. I'm sure folks

This is purely an experiment.

Quoted message said:

can save far more than $2/day in many other areas other than food. I
realize that some grocery bills can be exhorbitant when rife with
luxury foods but $2/day is much less than many subsist on in many
third world countries.

I recall reading that, according to the World Bank, half of the worlds
population subsists on $2 a day. That's not just food, that's
everything - rent, car insurance, satallite tv, everything. And those
are "adjusted" dollars so the $2 I spend here in Orange County, Ca.
are worth the same as $2 spent in Somalia.

There's more info about that here:http://www.2dollars.org/

Quoted message said:

I've seen grocery shoppers spend more dollars on beer and ciggarettes
than on food... and then spend even more on rub-off lottery tickets
before leaving the stupidmarket.

I brew my own beer at the cost of about 25 cents per glass (and you
can be damned sure it ain't coming out of my 2dd) and roll my own
ciggs from bulk tobacco purchased over Internet - maybe 75 cents a
day.

You smoke cigarettes but can't spend money on decent food... then
you're one of the lowest IQ types on the planet.. you are going to die
the most horrendous death possible, you'd be much better off getting
run over by a train today than to continue to smoke.... fact, no
experiment.

notbob said:

Christine Dabney said:

Of course. I would never count the booze/wine in with the food!!!!
LOL.

In that case, it's a shoe-in. Two burritos and a six-pak, all that's
required to sustain life.

nb

I could definitely live with that

Koko

Sheldon said:

Quoted message said:

On Jun 30, 6:07 am, Sheldon <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Jun 28, 7:22?am, [email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> Friends,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> I have decided to live the month of July spending just two dollars a
> day on food. Other than vague notions of pasta, rice, beans, and
> raman, I have little idea what I'm gonna eat.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I reread this post in hopes of figuing out the WHY of $2/day for
food. It appears the poster is attempting to save money... my grocery
bill is the last place I'd look to for saving money. I'm sure folks

Quoted message said:

This is purely an experiment.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

can save far more than $2/day in many other areas other than food. I
realize that some grocery bills can be exhorbitant when rife with
luxury foods but $2/day is much less than many subsist on in many
third world countries.

Quoted message said:

I recall reading that, according to the World Bank, half of the worlds
population subsists on $2 a day. That's not just food, that's
everything - rent, car insurance, satallite tv, everything. And those
are "adjusted" dollars so the $2 I spend here in Orange County, Ca.
are worth the same as $2 spent in Somalia.

Quoted message said:

There's more info about that here:http://www.2dollars.org/

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've seen grocery shoppers spend more dollars on beer and ciggarettes
than on food... and then spend even more on rub-off lottery tickets
before leaving the stupidmarket.

Quoted message said:

I brew my own beer at the cost of about 25 cents per glass (and you
can be damned sure it ain't coming out of my 2dd) and roll my own
ciggs from bulk tobacco purchased over Internet - maybe 75 cents a
day.

You smoke cigarettes but can't spend money on decent food... then

I can spend money on decent food. The two dollars a day for July is an
experiment. Besides, I think even on two dollars a day I will be
eating decent food.

Quoted message said:

you're one of the lowest IQ types on the planet.. you are going to die
the most horrendous death possible, you'd be much better off getting
run over by a train today than to continue to smoke.... fact, no
experiment.

The health effects of smoking are a topic for another thread, and
another group. Let it suffice that I will not die the most horrendous
death possible. But I do appreciate your concern for my well being.

Sheldon, why is it that in earlier posts, you provided helpful, even
enthusiastic information, but then suddenly resort to unwarranted ad
hominem attacks?

b.

Quoted message said:

Sheldon, why is it that in earlier posts, you provided helpful, even
enthusiastic information, but then suddenly resort to unwarranted ad
hominem attacks?

How nice that you didn't retaliate in kind🙂 I am just learning to do
that🙂

Well done🙂

O