$5 a day seems like a lot of money if you do your own cooking. Chicken is 70 cents a lb on sale. Cabbage, tomatoes, onions, etc are about 50 cents a lb. Potatoes are 30 cents a lb on sale. Heck, frozen pizza is $3 a day on sale, and that’s a full-grown adult’s recommended daily allowance. Even if you subsist on frozen TV dinners, if you buy the budget versions, you’ll never go hungry on $5 a day.
I can get a roasted Rotteseri Chicken at the local supermarket for $4.99 ( $3.99) on sale. There is enough meat on one of those things to make 3 meals. The rest can be cooked with vegetables to make your own vegie soup.Toss in a box of instant potatoes and canned beans or red beets and you have 5 days meals for a total of less than 10 bucks.