I was talking with my sister and explaining to her that with couponing, I think that I could live on $1 a day for food and have plenty to eat. She looked at me skeptically thinking that I was exaggerating.
“No, really, I could live on $1 a day and not be hungry,” I said.
“All you would eat is cereal and junk food,” she countered. That is not a healthy diet for a month.
“I think I could have a fairly healthy diet on $1 a day,” I replied. “At least a lot healthier than you think.”
“Including fruits and veggies?” she asked, the skepticism in her voice coming through again.
“Including fruits and veggies,” I said.
“You couldn’t last a month,” she said sure of herself.
Thus the “Eating Well on $1 A Day” challenge was born with the following rules in place:
1. I will begin on May 1 and will have no accumulated food of any kind. I have $31 to spend ($1 for each day of the month). I can start buying food on May 1 and can not exceed the $31. I must document the cost of the food with receipts.
2. I can only use 2 computers to print coupons. Although I have access to more which would make this challenge much easier, we agreed that not everyone will have access to a lot of computers. However, we also agreed that anyone reading this has access to at least one computer and should be able get access to another one using a bit of creativity.
3. I can only use 2 inserts from the Sunday paper each week. Although I have access to many more than this (I usually pick up anywhere from 3 to 5 copies for free from the local coffee shop alone each week), we decided that not everyone would have access to dozens of inserts. We agreed that anyone could get the coupon inserts from at least 2 Sunday papers with a bit of creativity. I am allowed to use up to 2 of previous week’s coupon inserts that I already happen to have.
4. I can use as many coupons as I want that I can get in the grocery store where they are available to everyone.
5. I can only buy food from retail outlets (grocery stores, drug stores, food markets, etc). I can’t supplement what I buy at the store with free food from trees, dumpster diving, friends, food banks, donations, growing my own, etc.
6. I can only use deals that anyone else would have access to getting.
It should be an interesting challenge and I will have my work cut out for me, but I think that it will be possible. If nothing else, it will certainly be a food event that will bring some surprises and humor…
Eating Well On $1 A Day
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Originally Posted by brandon
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