Can I live off this?

Question

I'm a vegan on a tight budget, i just left my parents house and moved into my own apartment. Can I live off $100/month on food? I'm planning on growing my own vegetables in my patio.

Also can I get ideas on how to live very simple. I'm going to be using candles instead of lights, maybe have one or two fluorecent lights. No tv, just internet.

Answer 1

Be sure to use healthy starches - no white break or white sugar. brown rice, and beans that are not from a can.

Your own metabolism will tell you if vegan and $100.00 is fine. Watch your skin for signs of stress - and check your tongue regularly for whiteness and lumps/cracks - those indicate vitamin deficiencies.

Is this a spiriutal vegan journey, or merely a preference?

I hope that you are able to live well. Vegetables take 6 - 16 weeks to grow depending upon the seeds you plant. Squash and others take longer yet. Get a book or two on "Container Gardening". It is not as easy as it sounds.

Can you go to Mother's house every week for a good meal and get the laundry done??

Answer 2

I would say yes you can live on $100 a month for food. You will need to make a budget and watch any excessive purchases. Depending on where you live it may be difficult to grow vegetables certain times of the year and you're never sure if you will be successful or not so don't depend too much on the garden.

I forgot this part. Be careful with the candles, they can be dangerous. As far as living simple I'm sure if you do some searching on Yahoo or Google you can find articles to help you along. I know there are magazines for this type of living but I can't think of the names. One might be Mother Earth or something along those lines.

Answer 3

Just use one or two CFL lightbulbs rather than candles, because candles are more dangerous, they cause indoor pollution (unless you use soy based which are expensive), and they will make your place rather warm in the summer.
Otherwise I think you could do it.
As for growing your own food, take some advise?
Instead of buying individual pots, think about getting some deep plastic storage bins like from Target. Although they don't look pretty, they will probably be cheaper than buying individual pots (depending on how many you planned on using) and you might be able to fit more plants in each, again depending on what you grow.
Also read this book : "How to grow more Vegetables (and fruits, nuts, berries, grains, and other crops) Than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine" -- by John Jeavons
Even though it isn't meant for patio gardens, you can apply the same techniques to get more food out of less space.
Good luck!

Answer 4

You will save alot in the growing season because you can grow quite alot of veg and don't forget fruit at home. We do it and it makes a great saving on food bills. So try to save the money in a savings account which pays interest so that in the winter when you can't grow so much you will have fund reserves. Make batches of minestrone soup, this can be added to pasta or rice to make good wholesome meals. We also make our own bread - and guess what we eat alot less - two loaves a week for two of us. We don't have tv - it's great you get to try out lots of other things like reading, internet, walking, tending the garden - we have been liberated since we gave up tv!! So carry on the good work and yes I think if you are careful you should be able to survive on $100 month for food. x

Answer 5

1. Use cold water when washing cloths.
2. Dry your cloths outside on hot sunny days
3. Unplug electronics that aren't in use.
4. Say "NO" to disposable items
5. Recycle anything that has the label on it
6. Wash your dishes and glass cups in the sink rather than the dishwasher
7. Use a ceiling fan instead of the AC
8. When you're not home, set your thermostat at 77 in the summer and 63 in the winter
9. When you are home, set it at 74 in the summer and 66 in the winter
10. Replace old appliances with new Energy Star ones

Answer 6

$100 a month is a very tight budget, but it can be done. Growing veggies is a good way to supplement.

There are groups here in Toronto who actually go "dumpster diving" (this is not people who are homeless, they are doing it to make a point about food waste ... remember the movie K-PAX when they were driving through NYC to the planetarium?), i.e. they collect the fruits and veggies that are being thrown out late at night by restaurants and small markets because they are not up to their high standards for presentation. The food is edible but doesn't look as pretty as customers expect.

I.e. they are stealing food from the racoons *lol*

One group of Ryerson college students actually has a website mapping out the best dumpsters in the city *lol* no kidding (link provided).

To quote:
"A non-profit organization in B.C.is also rescuing food from their dumpster-bound fate and redistributing it to the needy. They've set up relationships with about 245 food suppliers and last year, they rescued 7.15 million pounds of food from about 235 suppliers. Even though they rescued only 1 per cent of the food being thrown out, they managed to feed 60,000 people a month. "

As opposed to vegan, they call what they are doing "freegan"!

And they're "freegan right", too; we waste too much food!

If you were to volunteer for such a group in your city, you might be able to supplement your food suppply that way ... i.e. get paid in food for volunteering to help keep food out of the garbage.

Don't let pride affect your health negatively. Do whatever you have to to survive.

Answer 7

1stly, i'm not sure how well veggies will grow on an apartment patio. air polution, lack of soil, etc. might make it tricky.

candles aren't going to do much more than lights. candles burn and emit CO2. 1 well placed energy-saving lightbulb in an open-plan apartment should do the trick in the evening. also, you don't need everything brightly lit. you don't really need lights until it gets dark, especially if you leave all your doors open.

DON"T USE PLASTIC BAGS AT THE SUPERMARKET is my message for today.

Answer 8

actual, you may desire to no longer. My biology instructor as quickly as instructed me that the three minimum ingredients you may desire to eat to stay alive are liver, milk, and orange juice. There are different combos too. pink bull is genuinely terrible to your physique. it is even worse than like ingesting basically uncooked sugar water.

Answer 9

I suppose this life style can work out, think of it as camping( roughing it. if you are up to it then it could be done

Answer 10

get a bike and no eating out. try visiting local farmers markets sometimes you can get real bargins.