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I am going to be homeless soon and every penny is going to count (literally). So I want to be able to get the most out of my money and eat food that is going to give me the best possible coverage of my nutritional needs. My budget is probably going to be less than $15/day – practically nothing – what kind of food should one spend their money on in such circumstances? Canned stuff? Fruit? Bread?

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This is off topic, but I'll try to help anyway. Will you have some cooking facilities? – Robin Ashe Aug 27 '12 at 5:40
$15 is a pretty substantial amount even if you can't cook - just for example, it would buy 2200 calories of larabars which are sort of pricey. – J. Winchester Aug 27 '12 at 10:59
As sorry as I am for you, this is clearly off topic. – Informaficker Aug 27 '12 at 11:09
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Look for sales. At my local grocery store Sunday, they had pints of raspberries for 98 cents, "day old" bread for 1.50, chobani yogurts 10/10.00 (1 each), quarts milk for .95. It sounds unappetizing, but you don't necessarily have to heat up soups or chef-boyardee type stuff, and that's always on sale for 10/10.00, as well as canned veggies of various types, canned tuna, etc. Hang out at a place like Einsteins bagels on Sat/Sun, scope the ads from the paper, keep all coupons, etc. I wish you luck, man, that's a suck situation for sure. – JohnP Aug 28 '12 at 21:38
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$15/day for just food? That's plenty, but lack of storage will be an issue. Even at Whole Foods this would buy a tub of greens or hunk of broccoli etc and enough meat for a day. – Dave Newton Aug 29 '12 at 12:19
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closed as off topic by VPeric, J. Winchester, michael, Dave Liepmann, Matt Chan♦ Aug 29 '12 at 11:05

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2 Answers

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Bananas were always my go-to food when I was starving and didn't have much money, their regular price is always quite cheap, and they're quite beneficial (unless you have a sensitivity to histamines), especially if ripe. You don't get much of an advantage from organic bananas either, the cheap regular ones are hardly any worse.

Shopping while hungry is always a bad idea, so bananas also help for that. Go straight to them, buy 1-2, eat them, then shop for the rest of your food. You'll be able to make smarter decisions if you're at least moderately satiated.

I would also pick wild berries, although this is clearly not the season for that.

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Whole milk, bread, canned veggies, and peanut butter are all fairly cheap for their calorie content. If you are able to cook you'll be able to save a substantial amount.

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I find both milk and bread to be really expensive where I live. That's clearly going to be confounding here. – Robin Ashe Aug 29 '12 at 9:33
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Canned veggies have very little calorie counts (or at least should; they're vegetables). They're important, but not because of calories. – Dave Newton Aug 29 '12 at 14:28
Milk and bread may vary in price a lot, usually a gallon of whole milk retails for around $4.00 here and provides 2400 calories. – Narthring Aug 29 '12 at 15:17

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