January 2007: Eat for $5 a day (Updated)

For January 2007 I have decided to take on the challenge of living on only 5$ per day of consumables. Due to my snobbish preferences at the grocery store, the fact that I am hooked on Tim Hortons coffee, and a few too many meals out, I have calculated my total expenditures on food items (not including nutritional supplements, junk food and other extras such as beer) for November 2006 to be over $500.

To actually crunch those numbers and see that I am wasting money and food every day, while also working for the homeless shelter on the weekends, was a sobering experience. While it is true that I have a serious exercise regimen, I should be able to get adequate protein, vitamins, and quality carbs with a food budget less than half of what I have now.

To prove it, I am going to live for the next 31 days on $5 a day - or less - of consumables, including the small supply of food, spices and nutritional supplements I already have. I hope to teach myself the value of a dollar in terms of food, and to try and put myself in the clients' shoes... I acknowledge that those less fortunate may need to subsist on less than $5 per day, and do not have access to extras like multivitamins, which I will be taking and costing due to my additional nutritional requirements as an athlete.

Update Jan 2nd: All food purchased from Loblaws-Rideau unless otherwise noted. For brevity I have just posted the price per meal and general food-types in the blog, however I have a detailed cost breakdown, recipes, brands, and other info available if anyone is interested.