This is the most frustrating post because the majority of the text is telling you something is possible without telling you how to do it.
It reads like a timeshare brochure or coupon book sales pitch.
It's easy enough to live off $2 a meal though.
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Bananas/Raisins/Cinnamon (no sugar though
- it will make you hungry sooner) and tea or coffee from whole beans
bought at IKEA. Eggs.
Lunch: Beans and Franks or Sandwiches with coldcuts from Costco or Pasta.
Dinner: Pasta; Rice and Costco Dumplings; PG's Rice & Beans; or
homemade Pizza (cut large loaf of bread in half, add oil, sauce, cheese,
misc. meat toppings, bake appropriately.) Homemade fries or mashed potatoes
make for a decent side. Frozen stir-fry veggies. IKEA sells woks for $9.
Snacks: Ramen, Costco Granola Bars, Chips.
This should give you a bit of leeway in case you want to go out once a week or buy a case of beer.
I forgot to mention loads of apples, clementines, oranges, PB&J sandwiches and the occasional salad.
IANAD, but it did get me through a summer of bootstrapping. It certainly isn't the healthiest diet, but we were hard pressed to do any better without resorting to coupon scavanging or food co-ops.
Also if you don't exercise already, but decide to take it up - the health benefits will probably more then compensate for the poor diet...probably.
That doesn't make much sense. Exercising makes you need proper nutrition even more, it doesn't make up for poor nutrition. The only way exercising "makes up for a poor diet" is if you have tons of extra calories on top of a full set of nutrients.
You can also reduce costs and increase quality if you have low cost whole vegetables nearby (like Milk Pail in Mountain View) and if you like to cook the minutes spent in prep are a good break and time for discussion.
It reads like a timeshare brochure or coupon book sales pitch.
It's easy enough to live off $2 a meal though.
This should give you a bit of leeway in case you want to go out once a week or buy a case of beer.PG's Rice and Beans recipe here: http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html#f1n