Flavor does not matter, presentation does not matter but the food shouldn’t make you sick, and should ideally have enough calories per day for the average person to survive (2000 kcal min).
Edit: I am not in any danger of starving or malnutrition, nor am I insolvent. I’m mainly asking this question out of curiosity on how people would approach a solution :)
Soylent. Comes down to $3.42 CAD per meal if you have a year long, *pre-paid subscription (I have that price grandmothered in). All the amino acids and all the vitamins. I suggest having a normal meal once a day though, even if it’s just a sandwhich. I think not chewing anything really bums one out.
Maybe there are cheaper meals with beans or something, but those estimations don’t include the cost of travelling to and from the store or the energy it takes to actually cook it. On average it costs 35 cents to cook a meal and assuming one drives to the store; that’s another 78 cents for a 5km roundtrip. Soylent is shipped to your door, and you just mix it with water, so no cooking or travelling.
https://www.calculator.net/fuel-cost-calculator.html?tripdistance=5&tripdistanceunit=kilometers&fuelefficiency=10.7&fuelefficiencyunit=lp100k&gasprice=1.45&gaspriceunit=liter&x=Calculate
https://natural-resources.canada.ca/sites/admin/files/documents/2025-05/2025-FuelConsumptionGuide.pdf
https://www.directenergy.com/en/learn/home-energy-management/how-much-energy-does-oven-and-electric-stove-use
Why would you drive anywhere if you’re trying to save money?
Sometimes it’s necessary and cheaper than the bus. I used to live in a really cold place and if I walked or took the bus all my food would be frozen by the time I got home. Now I live in a warmer place so I walk everywhere; it’s 2.70 for the bus so I don’t use it at all.
*Also lived in fucking suburbia for a bit… awful. 10/10, do not recommend.
Do YOU walk 5km to get groceries?
I have many times, that’s really not very far.
Yeah, that’s gonna be too far for me, dawg.
It’s twelve blocks each way. You got this.
12 blocks is more like 2km, but nice try. It’s still farther than I’d tend to walk, particularly for groceries.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AIvbzI-1_K0
LOL tbf I HATE the bottles. They’re gross, especially if they’re room temp for some reason… also some of the bottles they gave me for a pormotion had mould on the safety foil… 💀