Gaining weight on a budget

[BryanM]

I guess this is a question extremely relevant to people who are poor, or want to save money now so as not to end up poor later: What are some good ways to gain weight by spending a ridiculously low amount of money?

My current crappy diet of poverty is this:

1 peanut butter sandwich
4 plate-sized belgium waffles
1 plate-sized home made pizza (+~5 large slices of pepperoni)
~.75 pounds of beef or fried chicken

Some extra incidental food sometimes falls in front of me like mana from heaven, but isn't a dependable boon.

So this particular diet is only good for getting to around 205 pounds - my own personal situation will require some ramping up without adding moar waffles, as the second waffle meal is already soul crushing. Bean burritos are what I kind of want that's also realistic.

It all comes in under $4 a day, but I know there must be a few ways to squeeze more out of a dollar. In an ideal world, I'd be eating all my meals at the Texas Roadhouse and a chinese buffet nonstop, but not all of us can be like Madoff with his hookers and backrubs.

So uh...

* Please share poverty diets you or someone you know have used.

* Are there cheaper meats out there than ground beef? That isn't pet food?

And some random nonsensical anecdotes about food:

* One time I tried eating two pounds of ground beef a day. About a month and a half later my heart kind of hurt for some reason.

* The upper limit of liver an average person can consume in a sustained manner is around three or four slices a week apparantly. Vitamin A toxicity is poo.

[misspelledgeoff]

at 2.99 per gallon, i have yet to find a better protein bang for the buck ($0.023/gram protein) than milk.

scout around for fast food deals. burger king has $1 double cheeseburgers right now. 30 grams protein for $1 aint bad, but at $0.033 per gram protein it stil isn't as good as milk.

[Benthic]

The first thought I had was to up your protein intake. Probably the cheapest way to do that is probably with eggs and milk. Eggs can be had for less than $2 per dozen (even cheaper if your local grocery carries those 2.5 dozen cartons) and milk runs around $3 per gallon.

Brian

[knox]

Agree with milk. $3 for 2500 calories (whole milk) - you're never going to find a better deal than that.

[Paul Sousa]

Agree with milk. $3 for 2500 calories (whole milk) - you're never going to find a better deal than that.

If you're strictly talking calories peanut butter is right up there with milk. My 28oz. jar of PB has 4750 calories and cost $3.49.

[stronger]

sunflower seeds are also dense in calories and pretty cheap

[Benthic]

If you're strictly talking calories peanut butter is right up there with milk. My 28oz. jar of PB has 4750 calories and cost $3.49.

Good one. Actually nuts in general are calorically dense. So picking up a bag of your favorites might be another idea. Some kinds of nuts are a bit spendy though.

Brian

[Jamie J. Skibicki]

Wharehouse stores and butchers should be your friend.

Do not eat out, unless it's crazy burger deal like BK's.

Chicken thighs can be had for less than a $1 per pound, but there are some bones, still an awesome deal.

Not sure where you live, but I know hunters that don't eat all of what they kill, so you might be able to get that cheap.

You could also work on the "Poor" part of the problem. A job, donate sperm, sign up for studies if there is a hospital or college near you.

[StLRPh]

Eggs are cheap.

[strongdaniel]

Supermarkets often sell manager's specials on cheaper cuts of beef. If you go late at night, you can often get $2/lb for ground chuck that is about to pass the expiration date. Go right home and cook that shit up into some chili.