Hey Y'all,
I'm a longtime MMM reader, but this is my first time posting in the forum. As part of a blog post I wrote (which I won't link to, per the anti-spam rules; you can find my website in my signature), I gathered a bunch of data about how many calories per dollar are provided by a whole bunch of foods and I thought it might be handy for my fellow Mustachians. So here's the chart:
Link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-fhE764vXGU2R4qMcXvoXhusGB4zpGoRrCIIeWtNv74/pubchart?oid=1433310807&format=interactiveHere are my takeaways from going through all of the numbers:
1. If you want to feed yourself on the cheap, then grains, starches, and oils should comprise a significant portion of your diet.
2. Meat can be surprisingly cheap, despite it's reputation, especially chicken (and eggs). Even ground beef isn't too bad.
3. If you are not lactose intolerant, milk is a total life hack, especially for growing children. It's cheap, available everywhere, and it contains carbs, fat, and protein in a proportion that is optimized for growing mammals. Doesn't work for a low-carb diet, though.
4. For fats, you should be looking at oils, butter, and cheese.
5. Fruits and non-root vegetables are a luxury. Consume accordingly.
6. Eating berries and seafood is like lighting money on fire.
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And here's a link to the Google Sheet that I created to generate it, in case anybody wants to dig into my methodology (some of the formulas are pretty advanced, so feel free to ask questions):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-fhE764vXGU2R4qMcXvoXhusGB4zpGoRrCIIeWtNv74/pubhtml#I should note: all prices were gathered from my local Fred Meyer in August 2016. I heartily encourage you to gather numbers from your local grocery stores. Using the nutrition facts on the label, the basic formula is: Number of Servings, multiplied by Calories per Serving, divided by Total Cost.
Here's a (real) example (Tillamook Cheddar cheese):
Number of Servings: 80
Calories per Serving: 110
Total Cost: $18.79
So: 80 servings * 110 calories per serving = 8,000 total calories per block of cheese / $18.79 cost = 468 calories per dollar
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Let me know what you think!