Drew Hamilton wrote:

> Eric Takabayashi  <etakajp@yahoo.co.jp> wrote:
> >With no regard to nutrition, I believe I could maintain my caloric intake on
> >less than 5,000 yen per month by eating mainly noodles (600g packs of
> >spaghetti) from the 100 yen store.
>
> "With no regard to nutrition" does not make a valid example.
> Sure, you could maintain your caloric intake that way, but with no
> protein or dietary fat intake, you'd end up with protein deficiency in
> short order.  No sense on being able to live on 5,000 yen/month if
> you will go into a coma.

If I were that poor, I would not have much choice.

> What's the smallest you could live on and maintain an appropriate
> intake of protein and dietary fat?

Wise shoppers on TV who take the 10,000 a month challenge do it for less than
10,000. Some celebrity housewives have done damned well and eaten well by buying
smart and preserving their own food.