Living on £1 per day

Are you not using stuff you already have along side that though?
Yeah but so are the others in the house and I'm not using anything bought in. For example I was using the milk and butter in the house but that had gone after 2 days. Thats been replaced but I've bought a 1 pint carton for 34p and I'm using that and I've got no butter because I can't afford it.
There isn't a load of frozen meat or anything because I'd already started to use what I had to economise. What I do have loads of is veg because of my allotment and dried stuff like lentils which hardly ever got used

My wife has bought a new house and is waiting for completion which should be in the next couple of weeks so it will be easier for me to do then because I can ration things.
 


I was quite interested to see if it can be done and so done some "research", going off the Aldi website.


0.5 kilo parsnips - 39p
2.5 kilo wonky potatoes - 89p
0.5 bag carrots & swede - 39p
beef stock cubes(12) - 47p
1 kilo wonky onions - 49p

0.5 kilo penne pasta - 32p
2 x tins chopped tomatoes - 56p

2x tins baked beans - 44p
6 eggs - 69p

500g tub buttery spread - 85p
3 x white loaf - £1.08p
stawberry jam - 31p

6.88p will get you dinners, a basic stew 3 days?, pasta and sauce 2 days, egg, chips beans 2 days and breakfast egg/beans/jam on toast.

Not exactly top quisine, but doable.
It’s good that you’ve done some actual price checking to back things up. More than most have done, but There’s very little in the way of protein there amongst other things (vitamins, calcium etc).

You can survive a very short time on that but it’s not sustainable at all if you don’t want to develop health issues.
 
It’s good that you’ve done some actual price checking to back things up. More than most have done, but There’s very little in the way of protein there amongst other things (vitamins, calcium etc).

You can survive a very short time on that but it’s not sustainable at all if you don’t want to develop health issues.
I think there was plenty of protein with egg, beans and bread. Plenty of vitamins in that list as well although i like eating more vegetables.
 
I think there was plenty of protein with egg, beans and bread. Plenty of vitamins in that list as well although i like eating more vegetables.
With the quantities given there’s only about 45g protein per day. The RDA is about .75g per 1kg of body weight. The average UK male is about 84kg so would need about 63g protein per day. A fair old deficit.
 
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Swap the jam for peanut butter
A good option, but a jar a week only adds about 4g protein per day. We are still in a protein deficit of 14g per day.

At 99p per jar, it knocks the budget up to £7.56 (I think).

Just for clarity, I don’t want to be naysaying all of folks efforts to get to the pound a day point and I don’t have all or even many answers.

What it highlights for me that living on a super meagre budget is difficult. It is more difficult again when you want to eat in a balanced and healthy manner. I don’t envy anyone having to go through this. Kudos to the op for even trying it as an experiment.
 
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A good option, but a jar a week only adds about 4g protein per day. We are still in a protein deficit of 14g per day.

At 99p per jar, it knocks the budget up to £7.56 (I think).

Just for clarity, I don’t want to be naysaying all of folks efforts to get to the pound a day point and I don’t have all or even many answers.

What it highlights for me that living on a super meagre budget is difficult. It is more difficult again when you want to eat in a balanced and healthy manner. I don’t envy anyone having to go through this. Kudos to the op for even trying it as an experiment.
Is it as cheap?
Won't be far off . What this indicates to me is yes , while its correct that the arbitrary target of £1 a day is a tough one , however put that up to £2 ( still ludicrous to some ) and add in potential economies of scale for families and you can eat well on very little if you can cook .
 
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Won't be far off . What this indicates to me is yes , while its correct that the arbitrary target of £1 a day is a tough one , however put that up to £2 ( still ludicrous to some ) and add in potential economies of scale for families and you can eat well on very little if you can cook .
£2 a day would be an interesting one to try. Could even introduce a bit of variety.
 
Sainsbury's tonight, not the cheapest place.
Full priced:
4 tins of baked beans 4 x 21p = 84p.
250g butter £1.75
400g Mature Cheddar cheese £2.25
2.5kg potatoes £0.95

Reduced price
Large loaf of Warburton's toastie bread 29p.
300g vine tomatoes 20p

Total cost £6.28. That's 72p left over.
That lot would feed me for more than a week.
Beans on toast, baked potatoes, cheese and tomato sandwiches, cheese on toast, and if I stocked up on lard for a month using the 4x72p to buy 7 blocks of lard at 39p, I could have chips every day.

So basically you're sacrificing your health.
 
Well I found an unopened jar of M&S chicken liver parfait enriched with a butter, port and brandy reduction at the back of the fridge. It was well out of date and I'm gutted
 
Be a cinch for a family of 4 £8.00
Not quite sure it’s a cinch, but definitely easier than £1 a day.

The weekly food spend per UK person is £40 including takeaway food and drinks. £26.50 per week on food shopping per person.

Got to get 84 meals for £56 if feeding a family of 4, just 67p per person per meal.
 
Not quite sure it’s a cinch, but definitely easier than £1 a day.

The weekly food spend per UK person is £40 including takeaway food and drinks. £26.50 per week on food shopping per person.

Got to get 84 meals for £56 if feeding a family of 4, just 67p per person per meal.
Personally I only eat twice a day and breakfast / brunch is minor . Depends on energy expenditures ages etc I suppose .
 
Personally I only eat twice a day and breakfast / brunch is minor . Depends on energy expenditures ages etc I suppose .
I don't usually eat until around 2.30 - 3.00pm. I had a ricotta and tomato pasta today and I'm stuffed. I've still only spent £1.65 all week and 75p of that was on herb seeds.
So basically you're sacrificing your health.
Loads of people ate chips fried in lard most days when I was a kid and I hardly ever saw a fatty, especially not kids. I think processed for is more of a problem.
 
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Not quite sure it’s a cinch, but definitely easier than £1 a day.

The weekly food spend per UK person is £40 including takeaway food and drinks. £26.50 per week on food shopping per person.

Got to get 84 meals for £56 if feeding a family of 4, just 67p per person per meal.
I do cricket teas with my daughter . We feed people very well and I have in my head a budget of £1.50 a person . That could easily be cut down..

They get bag if branded crisps, minimum of one round of sandwiches each. Ham, cheese, egg mayo, tuna sweetcorn, scones with jam and cream, fruit platter , selection of bahjis, samosas etc, tea and coffee, squashes and loads of cakes, biscuits .

Cater for 26 and never spend about £35-40 max. Few weeks a bit more but then it's cancelled out on. Other weeks as they will have squash , teabags etc in
 
I do cricket teas with my daughter . We feed people very well and I have in my head a budget of £1.50 a person . That could easily be cut down..

They get bag if branded crisps, minimum of one round of sandwiches each. Ham, cheese, egg mayo, tuna sweetcorn, scones with jam and cream, fruit platter , selection of bahjis, samosas etc, tea and coffee, squashes and loads of cakes, biscuits .

Cater for 26 and never spend about £35-40 max. Few weeks a bit more but then it's cancelled out on. Other weeks as they will have squash , teabags etc in
That’s good going, but it’s one meal at £1.30-1.50 a head. We are talking about averaging 67p per meal, so halfish of what you’re spending. It’ll still be a struggle to feed a family of 4 their total dietary requirements for £56 a week.
 
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£2 a day would be an interesting one to try. Could even introduce a bit of variety.
We ( 2 adults and young teen) have occasional weeks where we only spend that much but most weeks it’s more like 75 quid and occasionally more like a hundred if a few things run out at the same time.
 

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