Yes We Can: How to Eat Three Square Meals on $8.25 a Day

A lot of people think healthy food is expensive and so either give up on the whole concept or take a bunch of vitamins and supplements and call it a day. Thing is, healthy food is not expensive. And by “healthy” I don’t mean organic or available only at the local farmers’ market. I mean at the very least 7 servings of fruit and vegetables, plus protein and carbohydrates. Some fresh produce is nice, but canned and frozen stuff will do too, nutritionally speaking. Like in this USDA table:

I’m going to set a daily food budget of $8.25, based on the current maximum SNAP (i.e., food stamps) benefit for a one-person household of $250/month. Is it actually doable to meet one’s nutritional and calorie needs on this budget? Yes. Here are some ideas:

Yeah, it’s tight with almost no wiggle room. It means the cheapest brands, bargain hunting, and creative cooking. But it can be done.