I spent a month eating on $2 a day — here's what a typical day looked like

Kathleen Elkins/Business Insider

It turns out eating on $2 a day is more than possible — if you buy in bulk and don't mind eating the same thing every day.

I know because I tried it for the month of January. I was inspired by a young Elon Musk, who gave it a whirl as a teenager to see if he had what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

While I don't recommend this nutrient-starved lifestyle (and neither does Musk), if you're curious as to how I did it, here's what a typical day looked like. I also included the cost and caloric breakdown, to give you an idea of just how far you can stretch $2:

Every morning started with oatmeal and a banana (topped with a sugar in the raw package, which I scavenged from various places):

Breakfast cost: 1 banana ($0.19) + 1 serving of oats ($0.20) = $0.39 

Breakfast calories: 1 banana (100) + 1 serving of oats (170) = 270 

I typically ate a second banana mid-morning to hold me over until lunch, which was normally a tortilla loaded with peanut butter:

Snack cost: 1 banana = $0.19

Snack calories: 1 banana = 100

Lunch cost: 1 serving of tortilla ($0.25) + 2 servings of peanut butter ($0.36) = $0.61

Lunch calories: 1 serving of tortilla (120) + 2 servings of peanut butter (380) = 500

My mid-afternoon snack — sunflower seeds — held me over until dinner, which was anywhere from three to five servings of pasta topped with a heaping tablespoon of butter:

Snack cost: 1 serving of sunflower seeds = $0.14

Snack calories: 1 serving of sunflower seeds = 200

Dinner cost: 4 servings of pasta ($0.48) + 1 serving of butter ($0.10) = $0.58

Dinner calories: 4 servings of pasta (800) + 1 serving of butter (100) = 900