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See the original image at nytimes.com

How to Survive in New York City on 99 Cents

nytimes.com — ...So when I heard that the food you can buy at 99-cent stores is more diverse than you might imagine, I decided to conduct an experiment. I ’d make dinner every night for a week using mostly ingredients bought at these stores and then...

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  • headnickels, on 03/28/2008, -0/+75interesting story but a bit of a misleading title
  • RedHawk911, on 03/28/2008, -9/+2good read
  • hollyminkowski, on 03/28/2008, -2/+15You could sleep on a steam grate and eat a white castle.
    • IOIOIOIOIOIOIOI, on 03/28/2008, -0/+6Interesting, but is the steam grate REALLY necessary on a diet of white castle?
    • nycmac247, on 03/28/2008, -2/+2no white castles in Manhattan unless UPTOWN - you want those lebanese gut wagons but the "meat" there costs a few bucks and you'll get mud butt
      • lordsandwich, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2There's one next to the Empire State Building, and another somewhere between Penn Station and Port Authority.
  • jjive, on 03/28/2008, -3/+8...or buy 99 pieces of one cent gum and blow your brains out.
    • Scottievm, on 03/28/2008, -0/+6Good luck finding one cent anything in NYC.
      • tidu, on 03/28/2008, -7/+1Your mother doesn't work there, does she?
        • DangerMouse9, on 03/28/2008, -2/+0Why? Was your mother going to get into a whore-off competition with her?
  • Ascendancy5, on 03/28/2008, -15/+7Thanks for the advice that I will never use in my life, good article. Can we cure AIDS now?
    • Takteek, on 03/28/2008, -1/+7With items from a 99 cent store? I doubt it.
    • Gutterpunk, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2Glad to see that you devote every waking moment of your time to finding a cure to aids! Amazing that you find time to post anything...
    • troye, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2Wow, this is one uptight MOFO.
    • DangerMouse9, on 03/28/2008, -1/+0The cure for AIDs has already been found. You just have to grind up $160,000 and inject it directly into your body.
  • bxblox, on 03/28/2008, -7/+25Inaccurate title... buried.
  • ronin688, on 03/28/2008, -1/+17for 18 seconds.......
    • Ascendancy5, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Not if you get mugged. Then it's probably like 5 seconds.
  • tehjarvis, on 03/28/2008, -3/+26When I was poor as hell, living on my own and had absolute no cash I would scruonge together 4 bucks and buy spaghetti noodles, a generic jar of spaghetti sauce and the cheapest thing of ground beef they had.
    I'd eat spaghetti and meatballs everyday for lunch for $4.
    Hard to beat the cost to flavor ratio of that.

    I'd also buy some generic tortillas, the big bulk can of refried beans, a bottle of hot sauce and some brown rice and eat burritos all week and that would cost a little less then 5 bucks also.

    Eating cheap as hell is easy...or was. That was a few years ago.
    • SKick, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4I don't know... A cheap bag of pinto beans, and a bag of potatoes can go for quite a while on very little money. And the possibilities of potatoes extend from mashed to french fried.
    • ISIfunded911, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3There is one big problem that most people ignore about the effects of an unbalanced diet: the brain suffers. Watch this fascinating conference by Russell Blaylock, M.D., which draws on hundred on studies to explain how much industrial food influences our behaviors:
      http://www.livevideo.com/video/ConspiracyCentral/1 ...
      Scary! You won't look at the food in the supermarket the same way after that!
  • pentak, on 03/28/2008, -16/+3Buried for 1: seriously misleading title & 2: being about a week old. bye
    • MacEnvy, on 03/28/2008, -0/+7A whole week old? Why, they must have had to transcribe it from stone tablets!
    • DangerMouse9, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Just because you can afford the fancy-smancy high-speed internet doesn't mean the rest of us can. While it may be a week old for you, this story just now loaded on my dial-up connection.
  • i4ybrid, on 03/28/2008, -1/+17Quite the misleading title...you know how to eat on 99 cents a day? Eat two potatoes and salt. Or straight up ramen it every meal. You'll probably die eventually, so I guess you wouldn't be able to call the thing "surviving on 99 cents"
  • Elliottx, on 03/28/2008, -8/+12Too...much...smugness...can't...take it!
    Honestly...this is one crappy article, I thought I'd be reading about how you can create a gourmet meal out of 99 cents crap but ended up having to vomit over the misleading title, and the ***** poor excuse of what this journalist calls "Writing"
    • diggopolous, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2et tu ....too....much....snarkiness.....must.....visit....gawker
      • Elliottx, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Snarkiness is my name, pointing out other peoples flaws whilst ignoring my own....is my game.. ;)
  • BingoPower, on 03/28/2008, -0/+18"Disparate nibbling yielded several polite, neutral comments. My guests stared off into the mid-distance as if in the throes of Art Appreciation"

    If I cooked and my friends did that *****, they'd be ***** out, pretentious *****.
    • DangerMouse9, on 03/28/2008, -0/+0Maybe they'd think you can't cook.
  • TonySki, on 03/28/2008, -0/+11dollar store food is awesome. amazing what you find there compared to the prices at k-mart (***** walmart)
  • laughandsing, on 03/28/2008, -0/+9Why does everyone seem to have a problem with cheap food. Some food I have gotten at discount stores is of the same quality or better than in more expensive stores. You can always search for sales and make really good food. And it isnt always bad for you. I dont see why someone would want to pay more for the same thing. It doesnt make sense
    • ISIfunded911, on 03/28/2008, -1/+2How do you judge the quality?
      Do you know that organic food contains between 30% and 50% more vitamins and trace elements on average than the food produced with fertilizers and over kinds of poisons that make such a food carcinogenic devoid of nutrients.
      Basically, you buy a spectacle in lieu of substance. Guy Debord was right: we live badly in the Society of the Spectacle.
      • laughandsing, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2My jugdement is on the basis of taste and caloric intake. Depending on which food it actually is. I am not convinced that organic food is completely better for you. Unless you are researching each companies definition of organic. But I guess if you do have the money to spend on all organic products its worth it. But those of us trying to make ends meet will have to deal with the other products on the market.
      • ChrisSennRox, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4"Do you know that organic food contains between 30% and 50% more vitamins and trace elements on average than the food produced with fertilizers and over kinds of poisons that make such a food carcinogenic devoid of nutrients."

        do you have a source for this claim?
        • ISIfunded911, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Hundreds of studies found the same results. It is obvious if you know about the microbiology of soils. Industrial agriculture destroys life in the soils with all kinds of poisons (pesticides,...), and then forces vegetables and fruits to grow faster with fertilizers: as a result they contain more water but less nutrients.
          • ISIfunded911, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2 ...
            "Benbrook released a review in 2005 of the research comparing antioxidant levels in conventional and organic foods. On average, antioxidant levels in organic produce were 30 percent higher."
            "Earlier this year, a Swedish team of scientists demonstrated that extracts from organically grown strawberries slowed the proliferation of colon and breast cancer cells to a significantly greater degree than extracts from conventional strawberries did. The levels of all the antioxidants analyzed by the team were higher in the organic strawberries than in the conventional."
            "Our push for higher yields per acre and cheaper food is largely to blame for the decline in nutrient levels in conventional produce. With irrigation and fertilization we can get more pounds per acre, but often not without sacrificing nutrients per pound produced. This "dilution effect" on nutrient density was widely observed by agricultural scientists even 20 to 30 years ago. The use of hybrids selected for high yields has probably compounded the trade-off between yield and nutrients. Davis writes, "Modern crops that grow larger and faster are not necessarily able to acquire nutrients at the same, faster rate, whether by synthesis or by acquisition from the soil."

            In addition to pushing a plant to grow big fast, heavy fertilization can interfere with a plant's ability to synthesize vitamin C. A plant will increase protein production and reduce carbohydrate production when it absorbs an abundance of nitrogen. "Because vitamin C is made from carbohydrates, the synthesis of vitamin C is reduced," writes Worthington. "
          • laughandsing, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1I wasn't disputing these facts. Just that many companies market merchandise as organic when there is no set standard. Some companies definitions of organic differs from competition. I just think that consumers should research each companies definition before purchasing the food.
  • allemande, on 03/28/2008, -0/+6Sure, of course you can live off eating cheap food, and to be honest i'm the kind of person who believes that going out to eat and spending more than 10$ on a full meal is just ridiculous (and to be honest, 10$ is a little much), but i'm not talking about fast food, im talking about real food. Yes, they exist, places that prepare real food for cheap. It's not that easy finding them though, generally the most obvious places to go and eat are the expensive ones. You got to get up, get to know the area you live in, walk around, try, and find all those small hidden restaurants or food places that make delicious food for a lot less $.
    I'm not saying that it's difficult to eat less, it's just easier to spend a lot of money, and anyone who lives alone and has to go out grocery shopping and cook for themselves and has the slightest idea of what general health is will know and agree that buying and living off fresh food and vegetables has, sorrowfully, a higher price.
    • Jektal, on 03/28/2008, -1/+2You can still eat cheap and have fresh food and vegetables.
      A staple of my cheap-ass diet are salads. $1.50 for a "salad mix" bag that will last ~5 days, $1.00 for bacon bits that will last for at least a week, another $1.00 for croutons that will last 1-2 weeks, and maybe $2.00 for some salad dressing that will last a month. Not the healthiest salad in the world, but incalculably better than Ramen or HotPockets or some other crap.
      This article writer is just a moron for thinking that everything must be a gourmet meal, and that buying 10 99-cent items makes for a cheap meal.
  • hendriks, on 03/28/2008, -0/+9Everything is cheap if your time is free.
  • cyberdash, on 03/28/2008, -0/+39For anybody who is about to count, the picture does in fact contain exactly 99 cents.
    • hendriks, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2Thanks man! That would have kept me up at night.
    • bluesatin, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Talk about dedication to the Digg community!
    • prophetpimp, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4Rainman? is that you?
  • RickyBarnes1960, on 03/28/2008, -1/+4Always, when I do my shopping, I'm looking to feed my body - not the egos of the people around me. I shop at dollar stores, thrift stores, Half-Price books, you name it to maximize on the dollar. On the subject of feeding egos, I think we've far too long fed the egos of the large corporations who wish to charge us whatever the hell they want to for what amounts usually to useless crap. These people will be out of business when the bulk of available consumers actually thinks first before opening their wallets. We can survive and survive very happily on far less than most of us do - me included.
    • Spirckle, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2Hmmm. nobody was thinking about ego until you mentioned it.
      • diggopolous, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2It was a typo - let it slide. they meant feeding other people Eggo's not egos.
  • urbanight23, on 03/28/2008, -0/+7This is actually kind of silly. Sure the ingredients are 99 cents a piece, but the meals add up to much more than that. I live in central NJ, prices are lower, but fairly close to NYC. My wife and I shop at wegmans which is by no means a thrift type store. By buying fresh in season food, and almost nothing preprepared, we spend less than 5 dollars per person per DAY for ALL groceries (including things like soap, toothpaste, etc). So this person goes to a 99cent store, eats like crap, and still spends more on food than I do. Way to go!
    • jake1986, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3I guess this might have something to do with prices being lower in podunk Mississippi, but my groceries end up being about $2.00 per person per day including everything.
    • MacEnvy, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1My wife and I can't get out of Wegmans for less than $10 per person per day. Unless the NJ Wegmans are a lot cheaper than the NY Wegmans, your $5 per person is pretty impressive.
    • bilbravo, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1I love Wegman's.
  • WilliamDavis, on 03/28/2008, -1/+10This guy is boring. He should get a job boiling chicken bones or something.
  • g33b33, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3buried. inaccurate title.
  • leonwehttam, on 03/28/2008, -2/+5FTA "particularly young Debbie’s Oatmeal Creme Pies, whose velvety filling so perfectly captures an imagined marriage between buttercream frosting and Noxzema."

    i think i threw up a little in my mouth.....
    • BuddyDoQ, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4Indeed, I also would have accepted: "Oatmeal Creme Pies, they taste like good."
    • Jektal, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2It's just the writer's attempt at sensationalism.
      Oatmeal Creme Pies are actually quite tasty, just not gourmet-level like this ***** and his friends seemed to expect from everything.
  • JQP123, on 03/28/2008, -7/+1Back in high school, a friend of mine took a trip to New York City one summer for a week, strictly for the fun and adventure of mixing it up with the Yorkers for a little while. Very little money, no hotel room, nothing but the clothes on his back and a return airline ticket. His biggest problem, finding a place to take a shower. According to him, food was the easy part --- on several occasions he just walked into a restaurant, ordered, ate then casually got up and walked out. Noone ever protested or tried to stop him, not once. I guess his audacity took even the Yorkers by surprise.
    • ShadyG, on 03/28/2008, -0/+7Yes, it turns out lots of things are very inexpensive if you just steal them.
    • robertml1, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1he's lucky he didn't get his ass kicked, which i've seen happen while working at restaurants in NYC to people who "chew and screw".
      • JQP123, on 03/28/2008, -2/+1We always called it "dine and dash".

        Getting assaulted would have been a lucky break for my friend as long as no *serious* physical damage was done. His plan was to sue if anyone assaulted him and return back home with more than he started with. He had a decent cover story prepared in advance. He never ate more than half his food. If anyone tried to stop him, his plan was to claim the food sucked and the service was so rude that he left in protest. Also, if the cops ever got involved, he planned to accuse those who beat him up of stealing his money since he had none on him.

        Just a smart, scrappy, underage kid mixing it up with the Yorkers for fun and adventure. You'd think the Yorkers would appreciate this. They're always looking for some sort of angle on the system.
    • diggopolous, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2Listen you F'ing BUM and tell this to you little cowardy friend - The next time he tries to mix it up with us "yorkies" there are certain parts of the city where I advise him not to do the dine and dash. We are - quite contrary to the rep - quite a friendly trusting bunch of citizens- most
      of the bad rep comes from transplants from elsewhere "trying to mix it up with us Yorkies" by
      thinking being rude is what "yorkies" do. BTW I also advise you to avoid a slap in the face and not call anyone here "yorkies" on your next visit.
    • nelav, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Wow, your friend must be a class act.
      • JQP123, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1I think he has something against "yorkers" for some reason. Personally, I could never really understand it, they always seem like such polite and courteous folks to me.
  • dtzitz, on 03/28/2008, -1/+2I guess I shouldn't be surprised that an article in the NY Times is written this well... but I am and it was.
  • protodon, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2Okay, I stopped reading when the guy said he was going to jacks which has prices from .99 to 4.99 AND seems to be equipped a lot better than even the classy whole-dollar stores I've been in.
  • punchinelli, on 03/28/2008, -1/+8This article provided no value whatsoever. It had no conclusion and no real ending. It doesn't even tell you how to survive on 99 cents in New York City. Buried like a bomb shelter!
  • pe5t1lence, on 03/28/2008, -3/+2DIE YUPPIE SCUM!
  • saigumi, on 03/28/2008, -0/+5Ok, so, the guy learned to make gormet-esce meals on the cheap. Wow... what a bit of trop he is.

    Growing up, I knew nothing but cheap food. Hell, I still can serve a meal for 4 for a little over a $1.00! Ok, you could just say "Buy Ramen" but that isn't healthy. I'm talking a full nutritional meal here.

    Mac + Cheese - $0.25 for the noname stuff.
    Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup - $0.25
    Can of Tuna - $0.50
    Milk + Butter (You only use a little of both), so about $0.25. Milk has been skyrocketing recently, though.

    You now have Tuna Noodle Caserole at a cost of a little of a quarter per person.
    • Elliuotatar, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1You make tuna casserole with macaroni? You're supposed to use egg noodles!
    • arcsbite, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2hardly a full nutritional meal though
  • NikRDC, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4This is an interesting article, but you've chosen a very misleading title so I haven't buried it but many people have and probably will.
  • ohcoaster, on 03/28/2008, -1/+1well at least the image of 99c only cost 99c to make
  • jordanleegauci, on 03/28/2008, -1/+2you owe me 99c for the 5 minutes i just wasted reading the article.
  • appletoapple, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3I love to cook, and I love a bargain, so I thought this article was great. I often shop at Aldi's (a chain grocer). Though while not a 99 cent store, is a great place to find bargains. You can even get gourmet items like imported chocolates, wine and cheeses at low prices. Plus, they always have beautiful fresh roses in stock for $2.99 a half dozen.
  • Arvin, on 03/28/2008, -1/+4Soylent Green 99¢
    Soylent Red 79¢
  • dsa202, on 03/28/2008, -2/+0How did he survive on 99 cents? This guy is obviously a homosexual.
  • KingGorilla, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1There are people around the world living on less than a dollar a day
    • TheWindBlows, on 03/29/2008, -0/+1foods cheaper for them, or they just dont eat real food.
  •  

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