Author Topic: How to eat for $0.40 a day!  (Read 11057 times)

ajenns

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 1
How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« on: April 06, 2018, 09:42:47 AM »
This lady has it down!  She grows a ton of food in Vegas, stocks up on sales, and bulk cooks.  I've been following her for some time and it amazes me how frugal she is with every penny that comes her way.  I'm sure a lot of it has to do with her faith (she's Mormon, but doesn't preach on her blog). 

She also has 7 kids!  I think she could teach all of us a few things.  Anyway, thought y'all might like it

http://theprudenthomemaker.com/cooking/learn/40-cents-a-day

dougules

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2899
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2018, 10:56:33 AM »
Wow, I bet she's putting a whole lot of hours into that, though.

I wonder if she figured in the cost of water for her garden being that she's in the desert.  We're getting plenty of free water here today. 

mm1970

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 10880
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2018, 01:50:16 PM »
This lady has it down!  She grows a ton of food in Vegas, stocks up on sales, and bulk cooks.  I've been following her for some time and it amazes me how frugal she is with every penny that comes her way.  I'm sure a lot of it has to do with her faith (she's Mormon, but doesn't preach on her blog). 

She also has 7 kids!  I think she could teach all of us a few things.  Anyway, thought y'all might like it

http://theprudenthomemaker.com/cooking/learn/40-cents-a-day

Actually she has 8, and is pregnant with #9.

Cali

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 163
  • Location: SoCal
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2018, 08:44:13 PM »
Fascinating! She definitely has it down to a science!

alanB

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 220
  • Age: 36
  • Location: PA, US
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2018, 10:36:11 AM »
Quote
If a store has apples on sale for .79 a pound and oranges on sale for .39 a pound, I'll buy oranges, and lots of them. I know the oranges can last a few months in my refrigerator, so I won't hesitate to buy 40 pounds (or even 80 pounds).
Quote
My family eats 50 pounds of potatoes in a week from November through February. At .10 a pound, I'm spending $5 a week for 50 pounds of food.

Buying oranges and potatoes in bulk is cheating. ;P  Otherwise definitely some good tips, thanks for sharing!

jengod

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1219
  • Location: Near LAX
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2018, 04:10:44 PM »
She has a weekly "frugal accomplishments" post on her blog. The post is great and the comments are a great source of frugal inspiration and support.

stashja

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 81
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2018, 10:48:43 AM »
This is not real frugality. She has a full time orcharding and cooking job, for which she is paid only in food. All non food expenses, including what I assume is an enormous gardening equipment and consumables bill and the water bill, are paid for by her husband, A REAL ESTATE agent in a HCOL  area.
That’s a fine way to live, but not for those of us who also need careers in other fields, money, or both.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2018, 10:51:28 AM by stashja »

kpetar

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 21
  • Location: Somewhere in the middle
  • Blogger at Dollar Sanity
    • Dollar Sanity
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2018, 02:30:58 PM »
How about her time? As the old adage goes, time is money. It's a popular line for a reason, it's true!

jengod

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1219
  • Location: Near LAX
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #8 on: April 14, 2018, 10:30:39 PM »
This is not real frugality. She has a full time orcharding and cooking job, for which she is paid only in food. All non food expenses, including what I assume is an enormous gardening equipment and consumables bill and the water bill, are paid for by her husband, A REAL ESTATE agent in a HCOL  area.
That’s a fine way to live, but not for those of us who also need careers in other fields, money, or both.

1. Aren't there many ways to be frugal? Are one-income, two-parent households less "real" than other household styles?

2. She and her family lived out of her food storage (one of the principles taught by her LDS religion) for two years when her husband, a real-estate agent in a HCOL area, had little to no income during the Great Recession in 2007-2008 or so. She was raising four children and added a fifth baby during that time.

You can read about that experience here:
http://theprudenthomemaker.com/living-on-food-storage

mm1970

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 10880
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2018, 03:45:41 PM »
This is not real frugality. She has a full time orcharding and cooking job, for which she is paid only in food. All non food expenses, including what I assume is an enormous gardening equipment and consumables bill and the water bill, are paid for by her husband, A REAL ESTATE agent in a HCOL  area.
That’s a fine way to live, but not for those of us who also need careers in other fields, money, or both.

Meh, you know I doubt she'd be able to make enough money in a career to pay for daycare for her 9 children (though the eldest is in college now).

Las Vegas is HCOL?  I mean, it's not low, but it's no California, DC, Chicago, NY.

pbkmaine

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 8927
  • Age: 67
  • Location: The Villages, Florida
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #10 on: April 15, 2018, 04:04:26 PM »
I have her blog bookmarked, and look at it frequently, though my life could not be more different. Like Amy Dacyczyn, she uses creativity to lead an elegant life on very little money. Her husband’s income has been extremely variable and they rely on her housekeeping skills to keep expenses low. They also homeschool. I admire her.

Her garden is watered through a drip irrigation system they installed and maintain themselves. Her water costs are less than her neighbors’.

Abe

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2647
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #11 on: April 17, 2018, 01:21:57 AM »
This is not real frugality. She has a full time orcharding and cooking job, for which she is paid only in food. All non food expenses, including what I assume is an enormous gardening equipment and consumables bill and the water bill, are paid for by her husband, A REAL ESTATE agent in a HCOL  area.
That’s a fine way to live, but not for those of us who also need careers in other fields, money, or both.

fru·gal·i·ty: fro͞oˈɡalədē
noun: the quality of being economical with money or food; thriftiness.

I think it meets the definition. Not all situations that are frugal are directly applicable to your current life.

Seadog

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 268
  • Age: 40
  • Location: Halifax, NS
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #12 on: April 22, 2018, 04:18:16 AM »
This is not real frugality. She has a full time orcharding and cooking job, for which she is paid only in food. All non food expenses, including what I assume is an enormous gardening equipment and consumables bill and the water bill, are paid for by her husband, A REAL ESTATE agent in a HCOL  area.
That’s a fine way to live, but not for those of us who also need careers in other fields, money, or both.

This. If you conveniently ignore opportunity cost, a lot of shit can be skewed. Handy around the house and own it outright? Well I guess you're living more or less for just the price of property tax. Is that repeatable? Not really unless "Get 500k to buy a home, and take a year to learn these skills" are trivial steps, and you ignore the value of your time and what else that 500k could do. Can Joe 6 pack take some useful tips and do these things about food? Sure. All you need is to quit your job, somehow figure out how that new $50k deficit will be funded, manage to get some arable land, a bunch of farming equipment, spend all your time working it, and presto. Food for "free".

Similarly, and not sure if I should mention this but I've found a great trick for getting free money, all you need to do is come to this place each day for 8-12 hours and do what some guy in a corner office tells you. On a forum about finance, I'm surprised this obscure financial hacking technique for free money isn't more popular.   

Kyle Schuant

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1314
  • Location: Melbourne, Australia
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #13 on: April 22, 2018, 07:02:07 AM »
Yes, it is frugality. Remember that not everyone's goal is a money income and complete idleness. The things she does do not merely cost her time, but provide her other benefits. It's like walking or riding to work rather than driving - it costs time, but being out in the fresh air and getting your heart rate up help boost mood, cardiovascular fitness and reduce the risk of heart disease, and so on.

However we choose to live our lives, everything has costs and benefits. We simply have to each decide what costs we are willing to pay, and what benefits we get from the things we pay for - in time, effort and money.

alanB

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 220
  • Age: 36
  • Location: PA, US
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2018, 11:09:35 AM »
Similarly, and not sure if I should mention this but I've found a great trick for getting free money, all you need to do is come to this place each day for 8-12 hours and do what some guy in a corner office tells you. On a forum about finance, I'm surprised this obscure financial hacking technique for free money isn't more popular.   

They only pay you for the first 8 hrs ;)

mm1970

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 10880
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #15 on: April 23, 2018, 01:34:11 PM »
Similarly, and not sure if I should mention this but I've found a great trick for getting free money, all you need to do is come to this place each day for 8-12 hours and do what some guy in a corner office tells you. On a forum about finance, I'm surprised this obscure financial hacking technique for free money isn't more popular.   

They only pay you for the first 8 hrs ;)

Depends on the job!

Slow2FIRE

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 266
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #16 on: April 25, 2018, 02:14:36 PM »
This is not real frugality. She has a full time orcharding and cooking job, for which she is paid only in food. All non food expenses, including what I assume is an enormous gardening equipment and consumables bill and the water bill, are paid for by her husband, A REAL ESTATE agent in a HCOL  area.
That’s a fine way to live, but not for those of us who also need careers in other fields, money, or both.

Meh, you know I doubt she'd be able to make enough money in a career to pay for daycare for her 9 children (though the eldest is in college now).

Las Vegas is HCOL?  I mean, it's not low, but it's no California, DC, Chicago, NY.

Las Vegas is definitely not HCOL.

Only MCOL.  About the same COL as Phoenix area and Raleigh area.  Much, much, much cheaper than DC, LA, Seattle, NY, SF.

kite

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 900
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #17 on: April 26, 2018, 01:15:15 PM »
Haters gonna hate      I don't understand why anyone needs to chime into say "this isn't frugality" when it most certainly is.  I came from an even larger family.  Lots of what they've got going on is very familiar.  Except we went to school and my mother's sewing was abysmal.  The only "home schooling" we had was for foreign language and Music where the teachers came to the house on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  But otherwise very similar. 

What my upbringing, The Prudenthomemaker blogger as well as MMM + fellow mustachians prove is that a family can thrive on one income, contrary to conventional wisdom.  "It takes two incomes" gets repeated so much in mainstream and social media that people in the midst of a rat race believe it to be true.  They don't stop long enough to consider that they may have been duped into a lifestyle that is soul crushing.  Not to mention, the "it takes two incomes" lie ignores the reality of millions of single parents who do struggle, but persist on that one income.   

BookLoverL

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 431
  • Location: England
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #18 on: April 27, 2018, 04:49:36 AM »
If she enjoys the food growing and food prep stuff, it certainly is frugality. And as a method of supplying food it's a lot more robust to changes in the money economy than purely financial FI, too. The main thing it wouldn't be robust to is climate events that wrecked the harvest one year, and they might even be able to get through that if they had enough food storage.

AZDude

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1296
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #19 on: April 27, 2018, 11:00:54 AM »
This is not real frugality. She has a full time orcharding and cooking job, for which she is paid only in food. All non food expenses, including what I assume is an enormous gardening equipment and consumables bill and the water bill, are paid for by her husband, A REAL ESTATE agent in a HCOL  area.
That’s a fine way to live, but not for those of us who also need careers in other fields, money, or both.

With 9 kids, I would disagree. She pretty much has to be home anyway, since sending 3-4 kids to daycare and 6-7 kids to afterschool programs, etc, would be impossibly expensive. Think of it as turning a hobby into a money making enterprise.

bacchi

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7056
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #20 on: May 02, 2018, 01:31:39 PM »
Of course it's frugal. Being unfrugal would be buying hot pockets and frozen pizzas instead.

Speedmaster123

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #21 on: May 03, 2018, 02:02:59 AM »
According to the article:
"When it comes to fruits and vegetables, I'll look at what is the lowest in-season price per pound. Instead of deciding that I want to buy apples, I'll choose fruit based on what is the lowest price."
Can anybody think like that all the time?

jengod

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1219
  • Location: Near LAX
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #22 on: May 07, 2018, 10:24:17 PM »
According to the article:
"When it comes to fruits and vegetables, I'll look at what is the lowest in-season price per pound. Instead of deciding that I want to buy apples, I'll choose fruit based on what is the lowest price."
Can anybody think like that all the time?

Complainypants.

* In-season fruit is not only cheaper it tastes better than whatever has been hauled across the equator from Chile.

* She’s buying for a meal plan that feeds 10ish
people 21ish meals each a week. I’m sure she splurges on the occasional treat but she’s buying like a professional restaurant owner not an indulgent consumer.

Morena

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #23 on: May 08, 2018, 08:22:27 AM »
According to the article:
"When it comes to fruits and vegetables, I'll look at what is the lowest in-season price per pound. Instead of deciding that I want to buy apples, I'll choose fruit based on what is the lowest price."
Can anybody think like that all the time?


Sure, lots of people think like that all the time. Some as a lifestyle choice, some so they can keep food on the table reliably.

FireHiker

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1141
  • Location: So Cal
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #24 on: May 08, 2018, 03:25:17 PM »
I've read her blog occasionally; I think it's really fascinating. It is definitely very different than our life, but I like hearing about different ways that people live. Guess it's been awhile since I checked it though; I didn't realize she was expecting #9.

chaskavitch

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1029
  • Age: 38
  • Location: Fort Collins, CO
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #25 on: May 08, 2018, 03:53:18 PM »
I made her tomato soup the other day.  It's good, but I didn't pay attention to the number of servings.  Now I have ~8 mason jars of soup to freeze, so I guess I'm learning to batch cook :)

jengod

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1219
  • Location: Near LAX
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #26 on: May 08, 2018, 05:10:24 PM »
Her "peach pie popsicles" is dead-easy and nice to have in the freezer for kid treats.

BuffaloStache

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1283
  • Location: The boring middle accumulation phase
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #27 on: May 08, 2018, 09:10:29 PM »
Definitely a cool thing to read about- now I have another blog to read!

JoJo

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1851
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #28 on: May 09, 2018, 09:51:00 AM »
According to the article:
"When it comes to fruits and vegetables, I'll look at what is the lowest in-season price per pound. Instead of deciding that I want to buy apples, I'll choose fruit based on what is the lowest price."
Can anybody think like that all the time?

I pretty much do this, but the prices she claims to get apples, oranges, etc don't exist in the Seattle area - pretty much double.

Seadog

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 268
  • Age: 40
  • Location: Halifax, NS
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #29 on: May 13, 2018, 07:14:24 AM »
According to the article:
"When it comes to fruits and vegetables, I'll look at what is the lowest in-season price per pound. Instead of deciding that I want to buy apples, I'll choose fruit based on what is the lowest price."
Can anybody think like that all the time?

I agree, absolutely ludicrous. My take is more along the lines of:

Quote
When it comes to fruits and vegetables more or less any sort of food or consumable, I'll look at what is the lowest in-season price per pound. Instead of deciding that I want to buy apples, I'll choose fruit based on what is the lowest price."

I probably have spent on average about 50% of the "going rate" for every bit of food in my house. Going to the grocery store 2-3x a week simply chisels the going rate of most foods in your head. Further, sales are somewhat cyclical, as such you get an idea of what the going, a fair, a good, and great prices are.

eg: Bacon's gone up a lot in the last few years here. $6-7 for 500g is the "going rate" and sales are typically $2 off, but occasionally $3-4 off a few times a year. Try and time that along side bacon that's about to expire to get an additional 50% off, freeze it, and you pick up 6 months worth of bacon for 1/3rd the normal price.   

I have no fixed diet, just "whatever's cheap". When I casually notice stocks of something is getting low in the house, I'll keep my eye open for deals. Given that I have a couple months of food, even if I do run out of something, I'll just eat other stuff until the cheap prices invariably return. There's always *something* going for less than half what it costs.

Honestly I've started to notice other people at the grocery stores shortly before closing doing the same things. I wonder if the grocery store people know about us and refer to us as the scavengers? I probably would.

kite

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 900
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #30 on: May 14, 2018, 05:40:20 AM »
According to the article:
"When it comes to fruits and vegetables, I'll look at what is the lowest in-season price per pound. Instead of deciding that I want to buy apples, I'll choose fruit based on what is the lowest price."
Can anybody think like that all the time?

I agree, absolutely ludicrous. My take is more along the lines of:

Quote
When it comes to fruits and vegetables more or less any sort of food or consumable, I'll look at what is the lowest in-season price per pound. Instead of deciding that I want to buy apples, I'll choose fruit based on what is the lowest price."

I probably have spent on average about 50% of the "going rate" for every bit of food in my house. Going to the grocery store 2-3x a week simply chisels the going rate of most foods in your head. Further, sales are somewhat cyclical, as such you get an idea of what the going, a fair, a good, and great prices are.

eg: Bacon's gone up a lot in the last few years here. $6-7 for 500g is the "going rate" and sales are typically $2 off, but occasionally $3-4 off a few times a year. Try and time that along side bacon that's about to expire to get an additional 50% off, freeze it, and you pick up 6 months worth of bacon for 1/3rd the normal price.   

I have no fixed diet, just "whatever's cheap". When I casually notice stocks of something is getting low in the house, I'll keep my eye open for deals. Given that I have a couple months of food, even if I do run out of something, I'll just eat other stuff until the cheap prices invariably return. There's always *something* going for less than half what it costs.

Honestly I've started to notice other people at the grocery stores shortly before closing doing the same things. I wonder if the grocery store people know about us and refer to us as the scavengers? I probably would.

They count on you scavenging.  Disposal of spoiled or out of date food can be an expensive headache.  It attracts rodents and negative attention.  The fact that some folks are still willing to pay for what would otherwise cost them money to get rid of is a win on several levels. 

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #31 on: May 14, 2018, 05:24:24 PM »
I feel like I have my food budget down to a science... And I'm not sure how to get my food budget down to $.40/day. I realize she has a great garden setup, and that relieves her from buying a lot of the produce that I buy, but $100/month for food for a family of 10 (2 parents, 8 kids) is pretty amazing.

I'm also envious of her access to a Winco. We don't have any in Colorado, and that makes me sad :(

pegleglolita

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 122
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #32 on: May 17, 2018, 01:40:14 PM »
Eeeeeeugh, in what universe is having 8 kids frugal.  Zoinks.  Wasn't it Groucho Marx who said "I like my cigar, too, but I take it out every once in a while!"  Ba-dump-bump-cha.

jengod

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1219
  • Location: Near LAX
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #33 on: May 17, 2018, 06:44:48 PM »
I feel like I have my food budget down to a science... And I'm not sure how to get my food budget down to $.40/day. I realize she has a great garden setup, and that relieves her from buying a lot of the produce that I buy, but $100/month for food for a family of 10 (2 parents, 8 kids) is pretty amazing.

I'm also envious of her access to a Winco. We don't have any in Colorado, and that makes me sad :(

FWIW, I think the .40 a day was when they had no income and fewer kids. (They're up to nine now.) Her husband is in real estate and made no sales during the 2008 downturn. Her current blog has updates on her budget for food (which increases annually I think), and her associated food plan etc.

JLR

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 503
  • Location: Australia
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #34 on: May 17, 2018, 08:42:40 PM »
Inspirational. Thanks for the new blog to read.

herbgeek

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 252
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #35 on: June 11, 2018, 02:32:40 PM »
The black bean burger recipe on the site is better than any others that I've tried, and better than a number of commercial ones as well.

I've been enjoying her blog for years even though our lives are completely different (I'm older, employed outside the home, and am childfree).  I like her greatful attitude towards everything and how resourceful she is.

Gerard

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1570
  • Location: eastern canada
    • Optimacheap
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #36 on: June 12, 2018, 02:50:55 PM »
Thanks, that was useful!

It seems unlikely that she's putting that much extra time into any of it, except maybe the canning. And really, at what stage does "that's not frugal!" turn into policing people's behaviours? "What do you mean, you don't count the opportunity cost of drying yourself after a shower? You could be spending that time investing while the air dries you for free!"


11ducks

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 573
  • Location: Duckville, Australia
Re: How to eat for $0.40 a day!
« Reply #37 on: June 25, 2018, 05:29:37 AM »
Inspirational. Thanks for the new blog to read.

Seconded!